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Tommy sighed in contempt as he restocked the five remaining customization kits into the store cabinet from a labeled box. Hardly anyone had come by that day, but somehow all of the kits had disappeared. No doubt (Player) was crafting things again. I wonder what they're making this time. He thought, carrying the box back to the stockroom. He also wondered why his brother didn't restock them after they were sold out. Surely Timmy knew that they'd be low after making such a sale.
"Oh well, it's done now..." Tommy muttered to himself with a shrug, placing the box into its designated space before walking back. On his way out, Tommy noticed an assortment of packages and loose merchandise beside the stock entrance. "Hm, that's weird... These shouldn't be here. Someone could trip and fall."
Getting to work, Tommy put each loose item away one at a time, then placed the packages where they were meant to go. It took a while, but it wasn't like he had much else to do. Come to think of it, Tommy spent much of his shifts restocking and reorganizing the store. He would even set out boxes of tomorrow's inventory to cut down on floor prep every morning. The rest was helping Timmy with general cleaning, and re-oiling the cash register, which squeaked every now and then when the drawer was opened.
"Oh yeah," Tommy said aloud. "I need to do that." He moved to grab a small oil can that hung on the supplies wall, then walked back to the store floor.
"There you are," said a familiar voice from closeby. Tommy turned to find his twin brother glaring daggers at him. "Where've you been?" Timmy exclaimed, "I've been helping customers all be myself for over an hour now!"
"Sorry, Timmy." Tommy moved to step behind the counter. "I was cleaning the stockroom."
"Did it really have to be cleaned right then? You could've waited until closing time, you know." Timmy stepped aside to observe his brother as he oiled the register's cash drawer. "Besides, the stockroom isn't messy. What were you cleaning up?"
"I was just putting the stuff by the door away." He closed the drawer and placed the oil can on the counter before facing Timmy again. "The pile there was large enough to be in the way, or hurt someone passing through. Besides, leaving that until closing would have made us late for dinner."
"It would've been fine, Tommy." Timmy sighed, rolling his eyes. "Next time, just leave it, or push it aside until our closing cleanup. We both need to be out here making sales."
"Fine," was all Tommy gave in reply, not in the mood to argue, leaving the rest of the day to go on like usual. They helped customers, restocked what was out, and took care of last minute cleaning, finally allowing them to formally close and lock up. However, Tommy still took time to set out the stock for the next day's display.
"Tommy, Uncle Nook says that dinner's ready!" Timmy said, storing the shop keys behind the counter. "He made spaghetti!"
"Coming!" Tommy said, rushing out of the stockroom and past his brother. "I call making the first plate!"
"Not if I get there first!"
The next morning, Tommy found himself thinking of lunchtime while sweeping. Running a store required customers, and with customers came foot traffic, which littered lots of dust, sand, and dirt around the store. Timmy swept yesterday, so today was Tommy's turn. Luckily it never took long, otherwise it would cut into their upcoming lunch break. Maybe I'll have more spaghetti...
"Hey Tommy," Timmy called, startling his twin. "I'm going to get more party poppers from the back. Do you think we need anything else?"
"Hmm,..." Tommy looked around. "I don't think so. I already checked the shelves and seasonal stuff, so those should be good."
"Okay, I'll be right back then."
As soon as Timmy disappeared from view, the store's door chime rang. Eunice (NormV) had come by to shop.
"Welcome!" Tommy said, walking up to greet her. "How can I help you today?"
"Hi there!" Eunice waved. "I was hoping to buy some vegetable starts today. Do you have any tomato or carrot plants in stock?"
"Hm, I know we have carrot starts, but I think we're out of tomato starts." He explained. "Sorry about that."
"Oh no, that's a shame. I know they're out of season, but I was hoping to get them both today..."
"I see. Well, in that case, Leif may be able to help you. He has his own spot in Harvey's Island marketplace. Maybe you can try there?"
"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Eunice smiled, utterly relieved. "Thank you so much."
No problem!" Tommy pulled out his phone. "I'll give you his number, so you both can work it out."
"Yes, please. Let me just-"
Suddenly a loud crash filled the store, followed by multiple popping sounds. Tommy turned his ears toward the racket, deducing that it had come from the stockroom. The young tanuki excused himself from the conversation before rushing in to check on Timmy.
"Timmy!?" He asked aloud once he reached the doorway. An entire box of party poppers and other miscellaneous stock covered the floor, making it hard to spot his twin. "Timmy...?"
"err...ow..."
"Timmy!" Tommy gasped, frowning worriedly when he saw his brother sit up from the messy floor. "What happened?"
"I-I... I don't know, actually." Timmy began, holding his right paw with his left. "I was bringing this stuff back when I tripped over some merchandise." More specifically merchandise that was left near the entrance.
"Uh oh, did you get hurt?" Tommy asked, already making his way over to kneel beside him. "Let me see."
Timmy allowed him to examine his paw, holding it out just far enough to view. Both of his paws were badly scratched, but they could tell that his injuries weren't too serious. Timmy just explained that they were painful. "I think I scraped them against the floor when I fell..."
"Alright, let's hurry and take care of them like Uncle Nook taught us." Tommy said, helping Timmy to his feet. "We can clean this mess up later."
Timmy quietly glanced between the mess he made and the mess that caused it. "O-okay..."
Now patched up and eating their lunch of leftovers, Timmy sighed as he struggled to hold his fork. Gripping the utensil made his paws hurt, which made Tommy feel somewhat guilty.
"Um,... Do your paws still hurt?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah," Timmy huffed, allowing his fork to fall onto his plate and crossing his arms. "It's fine, though. I'm not that hungry, anyway..."
"I'm sorry," Tommy looked down in shame.
"For what? You didn't do anything."
"Exactly, it's what I didn't do. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I had just cleaned the stockroom, like I always do..."
"No, I'm sorry." Timmy said, now looking just as ashamed. "What happened wasn't your fault, Tommy, it was all mine... I should've just put that stuff away instead of leaving it there. You told me it was dangerous, but I didn't listen and got hurt because of it, so please don't blame yourself."
"Okay," Tommy still felt bad, but understood. "But, what do we do about the party poppers. We'll be in big trouble if Uncle Nook finds out we damaged all that merchandise."
"What's this I hear about damaged merchandise...?" Tom Nook appeared at the end of the table, causing the boys to jump in surprise. He had apparently come home for a break as well, which was just in time to catch the tail end of their conversation.
"Haha, Uncle Nook!" Timmy laughed sheepishly. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm out for lunch," Tom Nook merely eyed them skeptically, folding his arms. "Since I'm here, why don't you tell me about what happened to your paws and this damaged merchandise?"
If there's one thing worse than losing bells, it's losing merchandise, which helps Nook earn more bells.
Don't worry, the twins will be alright.