Chapter 4: Dialtone Shop

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Sorry for the wait, folks!!  Got inspiration block for a while, trying to get back into the groove!
(See end of chapter for more notes)

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Sample sits on the sidelines, curiously watching Spamton work for a while longer.  Spamton also eyes Sample cautiously out the sides of his glasses, making sure that the Blue is actually staying out of the way and not attempting to ‘help’ at all.  He's… not entirely sure how he should feel about the fact that someone besides a stray Tasque or rogue Virovirokun found his little hiding place, and especially not sure how he should feel about it with one of his own species, to say the least - one that seems determined to not leave, at least for the moment, despite the obvious discomfort on Spamton's part.  At the moment, however, he's standing off to the side, looking at Spamton anxiously as if he couldn't take his eyes off of the latter.

The awkward silence continues for a few hours more, until Spamton finishes working on the car for now, shutting the lid and tossing the wrench into the front seat through the smashed windshield.  He turns around to go back into his shop, almost blissfully entertaining the thought that Sample would get bored and leave.

“May I see the inside of your–” Sample says before clearing his throat awkwardly, obviously not entirely sure what to call it, “–your home?”

Spamton rolls his eyes behind his glasses, dragging his fingers through the top of his greasy, messy pompadour.

‘I know I agreed to let him stay for a while, but how has he not gotten bored and left yet?’

“MY [Storefront Website].”

“...your store,” Sample repeats, almost not quite believing that the thing that can barely even be called a ‘building’ is not only where Spamton lives, but is also just his own shop.  “May I see your store?”

‘Once a salesman, always a salesman,’ Sample supposes, but he can't imagine the White Addison gets regular customers here - or any business at all, for that matter.

Spamton pauses for a moment, gears clacking in his brain.  On the one hand, he REALLY doesn't want to interact with Sample any more than the bare necessities.  On the other hand…  maybe he can sucker the guy into buying one of his products.  Maybe steal a couple 10s out of their pockets, too, the night's still young.

“...F1NE.”

Spamton walks over to the door and somewhat reluctantly holds it open for Sample, watching him hover at the doorstep mildly curious facial expression, paired with the air of apprehension about entering.

He was always so paranoid about messy places, wasn't he?

♤~~♡~~♤

Sample takes a step inside the shop, his eyes immediately drawn to the mural painted on the entirety of the slightly uneven bricks that make up a divider between the shop and another room - it's painted in a bold shade of light blue, with white blobs on one side and a large yellow circle on the other.  Some pixels of the wall are out of place or discoloured, and the paint is clearly flaking, but it's still a pretty clear depiction.

‘The Light World's sky,’ Sample thinks to himself, remembering seeing a smaller and neater version of this within Spamton's old mansion room years ago, and how he always used to describe that sky in the beginning of it all.  The light of Heaven.  Seems that that's still something he thinks about after all of this time.

Once he finally tears his eyes away from the mural, his eyes travel around the rest of the shop as he steps a little further in to allow the other to come in as well.  There's a small counter in front of the back wall, and the actual ‘shop’ consists of two shelves flanking each side of the entryway, with objects ranging from broken weapons and trinkets to frayed bowties to even a stockpile of bottles consisting of differently coloured pixels…  Sample's not entirely sure whether he wants to know what kind of liquid that is or not.  No matter how hard he squints, his processors can't make out the prices, either.  They're constantly glitching and changing.

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