I saw stargurl28's Twitter prompt and couldn't resist. Acknowledgment is hereby made to thesoundofacolour, who posted the original item, but whose Tumblr appears to be empty now.
I should note that I haven't set foot in a Disney store in twenty years. Anything I say about them in this story is me making things up, so don't believe a word of it.
"You really should stay home," Rose said, frowning a little. Rey shrugged.
"I'm not infectious any more," she whispered, trying to project a bit. "And I can't afford to miss another shift."
Rose sighed, but she didn't offer another protest. Both of them knew the facts; rent came due every month, and they could barely pay it as it was. Rey didn't work enough hours to get sick leave. It was work, or go under.
"All right. Just...take it easy, okay?" Rose sighed again; the words were hollow. At a Disney store, you were on or you were out.
Rey nodded in lieu of actual words, and grabbed her bag. She couldn't afford to be late, either.
Fortunately, the manager on duty was Jannah, who was as reasonable as she could be within the confines of the company rules. Rey had shoved a small notebook and a pen into her bag before leaving; one hastily scribbled note later, Jannah nodded reluctantly.
"It's irregular, but we just got a new shipment of stuffies in and I need all hands on deck. Obviously you can't run a register, so lucky you, you get to stock shelves."
Rey rolled her eyes exaggeratedly; she didn't really mind the grunt work. Jannah snorted. "Pity your hair isn't red; you could be our Ariel for the day."
Rey blinked. Hey...
Five minutes, one sheet of printer paper, and three sparkly markers later, Rey was pinning a curlicued note to her company shirt. It wasn't protocol, but Jannah had snickered and given permission, and it would save a lot of time and annoyance. Rey took a deep breath and headed out of the back room. Big Disney smile...
It worked as well as she hoped. Can't speak, Ursula the Sea Witch stole my voice! But I'm happy to assist you! right next to her name tag was a boon every time someone came up to ask a question, and even if the customer was a small child, they had someone with them who could read. Rey put up rows of roosters and space aliens and tropical fish, folded down boxes, and wordlessly guided customers around the store to find what they were looking for. Sure, one or two of the adults were huffy about her inability to speak, and one jackass thought it meant she was Deaf and started shouting, but most of the kids were absolutely enraptured - even the ones old enough to know it was a joke.
Rey was just setting a plush firefly into the last space on a shelf when someone tugged at her shirt. She turned to look down at the little girl, who was probably no more than six; long dark hair, tan skin, and short two front teeth, with the big-eyed expression of someone whose question was of the utmost importance to them. "Ex-scuse me," she started, "do you have..."
She trailed off as her eyes went to Rey's note. Rey waited, smiling; the girl's lips moved silently as she read, and then her eyes went even wider. "The Sea Witch stole your voice?"
Rey nodded. The girl frowned. "Where's your true love? You need him if you're gonna stay human!"
Rey smothered her grin, spreading her hands and shrugging exaggeratedly. No idea, kid. If her true love was actually out there, she hadn't met them yet.
The girl's chin jutted out, and she grabbed Rey's hand. "Come on," she said, tugging Rey along like someone trying to walk a reluctant dog. "We gotta find him."
It was against protocol, but Rey couldn't extract herself without a voice to explain why she wasn't supposed to stop working. Oh, what'll it hurt? She'll get bored in a minute, or her parents will find her. So she let herself be herded deeper into the store.
Which was fine, until the kid halted next to the first unaccompanied man she saw. "Ex-scuse me," she said politely. "The Sea Witch stole Rey's voice. Are you her true love?"
The man, who was probably old enough to be Rey's father, scanned Rey's note quickly and then laughed. "Sorry," he said kindly, winking at Rey. "It's not me."
Rey, flushed with embarrassment and suppressed laughter, shrugged helplessly. The girl sighed. "Thank you," she said dutifully, and pulled Rey onward.
She had no more luck with the second, or the third, all of whom smiled and played along; the fourth, a short boy in a denim jacket, pretended to hesitate long enough for his girlfriend to smack his shoulder. By this time they had attracted a following of customers, and Rey realized with some dismay that they had become a Show. Why the hell hasn't Jannah come out here and broken this up?
At the chorus of disappointed awwws when Guy Number Five, a somewhat baffled man pushing a stroller, shook his head, it came to her. Our sales for the day are gonna go way up with this. Of course she's not going to stop it.
The little girl made a frustrated noise, still hanging onto Rey's hand with a firm grip. "We gotta find him," she repeated. "Or you'll turn back into a mermaid and have to go live in the zoo."
Rey shook her head, waving a hand, but the girl paid no attention. "There's one," she said, and pulled.
Number Six was tall, dark-haired, and apparently absorbed in a hardbound copy of Peter Pan; he closed it, startled, when the girl tugged on his pants leg.
"Are you Rey's true love?" she asked, no longer bothering with an opener. "She needs to get her voice back!"
Rey waved again, apologetically, but his gaze met hers in shy surprise, a crooked smile spreading over his face and transforming it from forbidding to absolutely charming. She couldn't help smiling back.
His eyes dropped to read her note, and then he looked back up, brows climbing as if in inquiry. Rey shrugged again, mouthing "Sorry".
The man shook his head minutely, then dropped to a crouch - the first one out of all of them to put himself on her level. "I'm not sure," he said solemnly, flicking another glance up at Rey. "How do you think we should find out?"
Oh, don't ask her, she could say anything. Rey cringed, and the girl pursed her lips, thinking.
"Go on a boat ride," she said finally. "With ice cream."
That's not too bad. And Rey had to admit, ice cream sounded pretty good just now.
"Maybe we will, then." The man straightened back up and held out a hand to Rey; conscious of their audience, she extended her own, but instead of shaking it he bent slightly and brought it to his lips in a gentle salute.
Rey blushed so hard her skin prickled. The little crowd cheered and clapped, cellphone cameras going off, and the man lowered her hand, holding it loosely enough that Rey could pull free if she wanted. His ears had gone pink where they poked through his hair, she noticed.
"There," the little girl said in a tone of immense satisfaction. "You can stay human now." She released Rey's hand and marched off with the air of a conqueror, and Rey was too flustered to figure out how to call her back and find out what her original question had been.
With a last flourish of phones, the audience broke up. Rey looked back to her putative true love, who still cupped her hand in his and was regarding her with a shy smile.
Rey pulled back with reluctance, grabbing her notebook and pen from her pocket and scribbling hastily. Sorry about that!
The man shook his head. "I didn't mind," he said quietly, smile widening a bit. "It's not every day I get to rescue a princess."
His tone was light but not teasing, and Rey felt her cheeks heating again. "I'm Ben," he added, stuffing his hands in his pants pockets. "I know all this was...accidental, but, um...would you like to get some ice cream anyway?"
Rey blinked. Considered. Met that soft, shy gaze, and felt something equally soft stir in her chest. What, no boat ride? she wrote.
He chuckled, and the sound made her want to laugh too. "I could probably find one. If you want."
Out of the corner of her eye, Rey saw Jannah starting to move in their direction. Let's start with ice cream, she wrote hastily, shift's over at 4.
She added her cell number, tore the sheet off, and - moved by sudden daring - tucked it into Ben's shirt pocket, rising on her toes to kiss his cheek.
He looked positively starry-eyed when she stepped back. Rey grinned at him, and hurried back to her duties.
They weren't allowed to look at their phones on the sales floor, but when Rey went on break half an hour later, the text message waiting for her made her smile - a fish, a musical note, a mermaid, and a clock.
And at three minutes after four, when she stepped out of the store, Ben was waiting, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. At the sight of Rey, he broke into that beautiful smile and held out a hand again.
This time she was prepared for the soft kiss on her knuckles. Rey beamed at him, and Ben drew her hand through the crook of his arm. "Häagen-Dazs okay?"
Rey nodded vigorously, and fell into step beside him. This whole thing is crazy...but I think I like it.
Boat or no boat.
I wonder how mint chip would taste on him.
She had the feeling she was going to find out.