It was just past ten o'clock in the morning on Saturday, and saying business was slow at Claire de Luna today was the understatement of the century. Penelope sat on a stool behind the cashier's counter, her cheek firmly planted in the palm of her hand. The grey lop defeatedly stared out of the front window, desperate to see any signs of activity. She had been counting for the past few hours, and only five or six folks had even bothered looking inside the store through the large pane out front, and only one of them bothered to enter. About an hour ago, a young tiger came in inquiring about a specific series of fantasy novels that Penelope could have sworn they carried before. Unfortunately, due to the alarmingly low stock in Claire de Luna at present, she was unable to help the lad find it.
Penelope thought back to earlier in the morning. To be honest, she had somewhat overslept last night due to her immense comfort. She scrambled to throw on the fresh pair of clothes her mother dropped off for her, her favourite white chao shirt, her blue sweater-vest, light blue athletic shorts, and black tights. Penelope even skipped breakfast in her hurry to open up Claire de Luna at a decent time, a fact which she was reminded of when her stomach growled at her. Even with the immense effort of her morning rush, it really didn't matter anyways. Nobody was coming into the store today, period. Penelope folded her arms on the counter and buried her head into them as she groaned in boredom. Even accounting for the suboptimal location of Claire de Luna, this was uncharacteristically poor performance. Why weren't people coming in? Penelope thought to herself. Don't people want a little escapism because of what's happened this year? In any case, If this showing was how thing really were over the past month, it certainly confirmed the dire situation Penelope saw on Luna's computer last night.
As Penelope was about to fall asleep again out of pure unadulterated boredom, the bells on the front door of the store actually rang as it creaked open and a customer stepped in. She shook the boredom from her mind immediately as the ecstasy of literally anything happening today caused her soul to nearly jump for joy. Penelope looked up from the counter and noticed an incredibly strange sight which stood before her. The customer was… eccentric to say the least. She was a snow-white lamb who couldn't have been much older than Luna, who herself was 19 this year. She was dressed in a retro red and white polka-dot dress and red heels, with a matching red bow in her curly hair. A loose red bracelet slid down one of her peach arms as she picked up a dusty book from a shelf and inspected it closely. Her pale blue eyes and face with naturally shaded makeup gave a somewhat judgmental glance as she twirled the book between her hands.
Penelope, raring to go when it came to starting literally any social interaction she could right now, enthusiastically approached the lamb from behind and began her routine. "Excuse me, miss. Welcome to Claire de Luna, can I help you find anything today?" The lamb, without looking back to Penelope, gave an ominous and somewhat menacing chuckle as she slid the dusty book back on the shelf from where she found it. "Oh, ho. Darling, please. Buying from this crumbling little establishment doesn't interest me in the slightest." Penelope was understandably taken aback by such a bold initial statement. "Uh, miss. If you're not interested in the books or Claire de Luna, then what can I help you with?" She still tried to be helpful despite the rudeness in the lamb's statement.
"Oh, I don't need help young man. I'm just here to… observe." The lamb turned to Penelope, her pale-blue eyes moving up and down the rabbit's figure as she giggled under her breath. A young man? Who does she think she is!? Penelope though to herself, seething in rage underneath the professional face she was trying to maintain. Struggling to keep her composure, Penelope responded as calmly as she was still able. "Miss, I'm a girl, actually. Please don't call me that. If you're not here to buy or don't need help, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the store."
The lamb put on a genuinely surprised expression as she listened to Penelope's retort. "So, you are a girl… hmm? Well, darling, you certainly don't dress like one." Penelope was tomato-red at this point, she wanted this… bully out of her sight desperately. "Ma'am, please leave." She said one last time in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The lamb gave another slight chuckle as she lazily strolled behind another table on the far side of the shop. "Oh, no worries darling. I wasn't planning on staying long. Not like this bucket of a store's going to be around for much longer anyways. I'm just sad Luna wasn't around to say tootles today. I was soooo looking forward to seeing that little monster getting what she deserves."
Penelope had enough. She didn't care who this woman was, why she just called Luna a monster, or why she had such a massive stick up her butt, she had just crossed the line. "Listen here you hag! You don't talk about my friend that way!" Penelope yelled as she rolled up her sleeves and approached the snarky lamb. "If you have beef, let's go. I'm sick of you." Penelope gestured towards her new enemy that she was ready to fight, no matter how fancy of a bully she was dealing with. The lamb rolled her eyes sarcastically as the drab curtain's hooks sounded the timely arrival of Luna. Penelope and the lamb both looked back as the blonde wolf stood in the entryway with a deadpan expression.
Penelope cheered on the inside as she saw her friend finally proper in her trademark green sundress, white open-pawed sandals, golden bracelets, and straw sunhat that had a matching green polka-dot ribbon. However, due to the circumstances Luna saw before her, she was anything but friendly. "Penelope… Stop." Luna commanded in a gravely serious tone. Her voice sounded like thunder, before now Penelope was unaware her usually quiet and reserved friend could even speak in such a tone. Penelope withdrew to the corner of the room and apologized under her breath. Next, Luna's gaze laser-focused on the lamb standing by the door of the shop. "Dolly… what do you want?"
"Why, I'm here to see you, dear. My analysts tell me you've only got… what was it, only a week to pay off Dominion Bank before your business goes kaput? I wanted to see you off, love." Dolly chuckled under her breath once more, Penelope was already uncomfortable from their one-on-one earlier, but it was really unnerving seeing how much that stupid lamb was enjoying tearing Claire de Luna to pieces. Whatever issues these two had with each other before meeting again today, it must have been incredibly awful.
It was then that Penelope's attention was drawn back to Luna… growling? She had never seen anything like it before, but it was true. Luna's pupils in her emerald eyes were fully dilated, she was baring her fangs, panting heavily. Truly, the sight of Dolly in her store enraged her like nothing else. "LEAVE!" She boomed at the top of her lungs in a voice that sounded almost in pain from the encounter. Although nothing before now really scared Dolly, Penelope could tell that she was starting to worry as the smug look vanished completely from her face. Now trying to save face, Dolly let out one last chuckle as she scooted frantically for the door. "Ah. Loonie, dear. You've never been any fun. Well, enjoy your week while you can, then. Ciao!" Dolly cackled and snorted as she flung the front door of Claire de Luna open, causing the tiny bells attached to it to clatter around violently.
For minutes after the door slammed shut, there was silence. Only broken by the tiny bells slowly returning to rest. Luna's death glare never broke once as she huffed and panted in seething rage at Dolly's afterimage. Penelope remained in the corner of the room, half-hiding behind a bookshelf and pressed up against the wall. She was unsure whether to say anything or to just let Luna work the anger out of her system. She had never in all her time being with her friend see her this enraged, or in pain for that matter.
As Penelope's mind raced trying to develop a million possibilities on what in the world just happened, Luna fell to her knees in the entryway and began to sob quietly. Tears welled in her eyes as she began to wail over the accumulated pain of having to deal with so much garbage over the past month. Penelope, not caring anymore about the anger Luna held earlier, quickly ran to her, and squeezed her tightly. Luna buried her face deeply into Penelope's shoulder and squeezed her back, thankful for the comfort her friend could finally bring her now that she was there. Penelope was frozen once again, unsure of how she should continue comforting Luna. She knew some small facts about what was going on, but she needed the blonde wolf to calm down first before she could understand everything and really help her. Slowly, Penelope helped Luna to her feet again as the wolf kept sobbing, and she brought her into the back of the shop once more. "Come on, let's go put on some chamomile tea and we can catch up, ok?"
