e621.net · 5922087

[b][u]MY PLACE s02:e50 - Family Business[/u][/b]

Tom led me to the front of Nookling's Junction, or rather, where it used to be.
That entire section of land had been turned into a little construction site, completely hiding the shop from view. I wonder who works on those things, I never seem to catch them. Hired hands, most likely. The Ables had the same tarpaulin covering their shop whilst renovations were going on for Shampoodle. Mabel used to complain about all the banging and clattering upstairs and I don’t blame her, you could hear the work that was going on now as far back as the town plaza.

Timmy and Tommy were there too, asking each other what they thought their new store would look like. It was very, very cute - I love those two.

“Boys, do you have those blueprints for Mr Mayor to have a look at, hm?” asked Tom as we joined them.

A large diagram of what was dubbed the “T&T Mart” was passed from Tommy, to Timmy, to Tom then to me. I’m not very artistically minded, so I wasn’t sure if the new building would be much bigger than the original store from just the drawings alone, but I could at least tell that it was a much needed improvement. It looked like a service station from back home. I suppose that beats a wooden shed any day.

“I promised these two” Tom explained, ruffling Timmy’s head “that if they managed to earn enough bells at Nookling's Junction, I’d help them expand the business. Step by step, little by little, if they prove to me that they can run a store, I’d cover everything when it comes to remodelling and such, yes.”

“I’ve always been meaning to ask…” I said, cautiously, “...aren’t they a little young to be running a store?”

Tom rolled his eyes, probably tired of being asked this question for the hundredth time. “I’m overseeing things,” he said, bluntly “but I like to make the boys think that they’re doing it by themselves. I started young too, you know? They’re lucky to have someone like me so that they don’t have to start from scratch as I did. Once they’re old enough, then they’ll be calling the shots, yes, yes.”

I wanted to pry about his relationship to them but thought it best to avoid that topic.

“So,” I asked instead “after this T&T Mart, what comes next?”

“Wait and see!” Tom chuckled with a wink. “I’ve got the whole expansion plan figured out. Though I must admit, I was beginning to lose hope in actually starting it. If you want our store to improve further, Mayor, then I advise that you spend, spend, spend!”

Of course you do, I thought.

“The more you buy, the more we grow! ...grow!” the tanuki twins exclaimed in unison, with Tommy lagging behind as usual. Truth be told, I can’t tell them apart at all, I’m just guessing. “The bigger the store, the more variety of items on sale! ...sale!” It was a little creepy, at first, to see them always talking at the same time, but as I got to know them better, I learned that they were just trying to be good salesmen. As cute and polite as they may seem, Tom has told me horror stories about them. Apparently, they steal his sandwiches.

“Let’s just hope that those two newbies don’t leave me doing all the heavy lifting” I sighed, referring to the incoming residents Tom had mentioned back in Nookling's Junction. If I’ve learned anything from PWPs, it’s that a certain somebody tends to donate the most bells for the good of the town. I’ve give you a clue: it’s the jerk with all the beetle money.

Tom laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Mayor. Besides...” He then leaned in and whispered: “Let’s just say that your home loan covers more than your own roof, hm?”

~Author’s Notes~
Like I said last time, not really much point in separating these two episodes, but hey, what can you do? I really regret not focusing on Timmy and Tommy, well, at all throughout these first two seasons. I know everybody reading this will no doubt have acute knowledge of the source material, but we didn’t even get to see Nookling's Junction in My Place, making the series a little harder to stand on its own merit, so I believe I did fuck up in that regard.

In an attempt to redeem himself, the mayor of Place goes the extra mile in improving the village he's been tasked to take care of. However, when a seemingly innocent new neighbour arrives in town, weird things start happening right under the mayor's nose and it's up to Alice to get to the bottom of it before Place falls into the wrong hands...

Created by CookieBoy011.

[u]Previous Season:[/u] "Season One":https://e621.net/pools/48551 [u]Later Seasons:[/u] "Season Three":https://e621.net/pools/52413