Work Text:
"Welcome to Build-A-Bear Workshop, where we will do our beary best to help you make find your new furry friend," Samakro said unenthusiastically. "How can I assist you today?"
He looked to his supervisor for approval. Ziinda sighed, shaking her head. "Samakro, you need to at least try to look like you enjoy your job."
"That's the cheeriest I've sounded all week!" he exclaimed, rubbing his forehead. "I'm not built for customer service, and definitely not for serving children. I don't know who had the idea to pull me out of the backroom, but it certainly wasn't their brightest one."
"Well, we'll keep working on it. Only two more days, then Apros will be back. For now, just... try to smile without intimidating the kids, okay? You'll be working the stuffing machine tomorrow. You remember how the Heart Ceremony goes, right?"
Samakro waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. How hard could it be?"
——
Turns out, it was a lot harder than he was expecting. The store had only been open for an hour, and they'd gotten two customers so far. Yet he was already running out of ideas. Why did he have to switch it up to be special for each individual customer? That felt excessive. None of these kids would even notice if he said the same thing to the kid in front of them.
Plastering a smile he didn't feel onto his face, Samakro turned his attention back to the young human girl standing in front of him. "Alright, are you ready?"
"Yes!" She exclaimed eagerly as he handed over the red satin heart.
"Rub the heart between your hands for warmth. To make sure you and your friend are always warm," Samakro began, thinking over the various prompt ideas Ziinda had given him. "Touch the heart to your nose so that your friend can always have a good sense of smell...? Uh, then rub it on your forehead, so you and your friend will always be smart. Give it a kiss and make a wish. Then just... shove it in there. I'll sew it up."
The girl's father gave him an odd look, but didn't say anything. Samakro ignored it. Carefully, and with an immense amount of focus, he pulled the stitches on the bear's back closed, tied the ends together tightly, and trimmed the ends off. He handed the bear back to the girl and directed the duo to the back of the store to look at outfits and 'groom' the newly stuffed growzer.
Ziinda approached as they walked away, her eyes lingering on them briefly before flicking back to Samakro. "Well, the good news is you've managed to improve your customer service smile. Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"Not as intimidating. Now you just look like you're in pain."
"Gee, thanks."
She shrugged. "I said it was an improvement, not perfect."
Before Samakro could reply, a movement visible from the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned toward the store entrance, the standard greeting coming to his lips.
Then it died just as quickly.
"Samakro?" Thalias asked, meeting his gaze. "I didn't know you worked here."
Of course. That was just his luck. It just had to be this week, when he's working on the floor and not in the back, that someone he knew would come in. And of course it was going to be her of all people. Samakro, catching a break? Unheard of. The galaxy simply had it out for him.
"Hi Thalias," he ground out, doing his best to keep a neutral face and ignore the pounding in his chest. "I, uh. Yeah, I guess I do. I'm just not usually where people can see me." Because I prefer it that way. "What are you doing here? Did you... want to stuff something?"
Internally, he winced. That probably sounded too accusatory, and it definitely sounded awkward..
"Oh!" Thalias turned, seemingly unbothered by his tone. She looked around for a moment before pointing. "That's Che'ri. Today is her birthday."
Samakro looked in the direction she gestured, spotting a Chiss girl quietly perusing the selection of creatures the store had to offer. Ah. Yeah, that would make sense. For one terrible moment, he'd been worried Thalias had simply seen him through the store window and decided to stop in to bother him. Not that that would be the worst, but why would he want that? All it would do is distract him from his work.
"I see," he said stupidly. "Well. I'll be over there."
With that, he turned on his heel and walked away. Ziinda caught his eye from as she helped the duo from earlier finish checking out. She raised an eyebrow at him as they walked away. Going off the look on her face, he knew that that social interaction definitely could've gone better. He shrugged back helplessly. She'd been warned that customer service wasn't his strong suit. It had improved over the last few days, but it would take a lot more for him to become any sort of model customer service employee. Hopefully, he'd be back to working in the back before it ever came around to that.
Samakro watched idly as Thalias and Che'ri poked around at a few different options, quietly talking to one another. He wasn't sure what their exact relationship was, but it was clear they cared deeply for one another.
Eventually, the girl settled on something and the pair headed towards him. He straightened up a bit and gave them a smile that he hoped was more of an improvement from the last customer.
"Are you ready to meet your new pawsome friend?" He inquired flatly, trying to avoid wincing again at his own tone.
Che'ri nodded and handed him the floppy white body. Samakro took it from her and used his foot to slide the pedal to the machine closer to her. He glanced at what she selected, unsurprised to see it was a Wampa. Those had been popular with a lot of kids since its release. Mostly girls, from what Ziinda had told him.
As he started to slip the body onto the stuffing arm, Che'ri spoke up. "Wait!"
Confused, he glanced up at the girl. Thalias seemed equally confused, turning her own gaze towards her. Che'ri looked a little nervous, but her mind seemed to be made up about something.
"You can't forget the fairy dust," she continued, her tone serious. "Ab'begh told me all of the plushies are filled with fairy dust before they get stuffed."
"Uh..." Samakro trailed off, not entirely sure how to react to that. Thalias caught his gaze, giving him a slightly apologetic look. It looked like she was going to tell him not to worry about it, but he pursed his lips, and stood up anyway. "Right. I think we have some in the back. I'll go get it."
Ziinda shot him a curious glance as he walked toward the backroom, making her own way toward the customers. Likely to make sure he hadn't said something wrong and upset them. He pushed through the 'Employees Only' door and took a look around.
Right. What could he find that would resemble fairy dust? He could use the little flimsi circles left behind by their hole puncher, but that could get messy if they ever decide to wash the bear. Maybe there's a pouch sitting around that he could pretend to pull the dust from and claim that it's invisible to the naked eye. Then his eye caught a glimpse of something pink.
Samakro moved toward it, shifting aside a few things. There sat a pathetic looking pink teddy bear, several tears throughout its unstuffed body. It was one of the rare defective items that made it to the store instead of being sorted out beforehand. He remembered setting it aside a few weeks ago. That would work perfectly.
He grabbed a pair of scissors and pressed them up against the bear's fur. A few snips later, he had a small handful of fuzzy pink shavings. He set the scissors down and closed his fist around the pink fluff before heading back out to the sales floor.
"Alright," Samakro plopped back down onto his chair to be on the same level as Che'ri. "I found some. Would you like to add it, or do you want me to?"
Her eyes widened. "Can I?"
In response, he held out his hand. She cupped her hands and he carefully placed the fuzz in them. "It's very important that you protect this fairy dust, they worked hard to make it for you. When you're ready, go ahead and tuck it right in there. Then we'll get to stuffing your Wampa."
For a moment, Che'ri just stood there staring at the pink fluff in her hands. Samakro held up the limp plush body, holding the back open for her. Another beat passed before she nodded and reverently placed the 'dust' inside the Wampa. Once she was satisfied, he slid the body onto the arm of the stuffing machine.
"Do you want your Wampa to be soft, medium, or firm?" He asked, keeping a secure hold on it.
"Um, medium. Please."
"Go ahead and press your foot on that pedal right there. I'll make sure the Wampa doesn't go anywhere and gets fully stuffed. Ready?"
Che'ri nodded and placed her foot on the pedal, pressing it down. Samakro did his best to ensure the stuffing gets into each of the areas evenly, letting her test out the firmness a few times before she settled on something.
"Next we have what we call the Heart Ceremony. I'm going to hand you a little red heart, then we'll work together to fill your Wampa with life," he told her, grabbing a heart from the bin attached to the machine. She took it from him and stared expectantly at him.
Samakro took a deep breath, then started to list off the first ideas that came to mind. "Rub the heart against your ear so your Wampa will be the very... uh, beary, best listener. Now take it and jump three times to make sure your new friend will always have energy. Spin in a circle twice to fill the heart with whimsy and excitement. Hold it over your heart so you and your friend will be filled with bravery, then give it a hug to make sure you always get the best hugs. When you're ready, whisper a wish to it, give it a kiss, and place it inside. I'll get it stitched up after that. Then your friend will be ready to go with you on any adventure that comes your way."
Che'ri followed his instructions diligently. In the moment she took to think of a wish, Samakro and Thalias made eye contact. She gave him a soft, but warm, smile. He tried to ignore the minor fluttering in his chest and looked back to Che'ri as she placed the heart into the Wampa. With the same care he'd used earlier, he stitched the seam together and tied off the ends. Once the ends were clipped off, he passed the Wampa back over to the young girl.
"There you go. If you head over that direction, you can groom your new friend. After that, you can pick out an outfit and make the birth certificate. Ziinda will be able to assist you at the register after that," Samakro directed. "Uh, and happy birthday."
Che'ri bounded off, headed directly for the grooming station. Thalias lingered for a moment. "Thank you, Samakro."
He looked up at her. "For what?"
"Your patience. I didn't think you'd actually go find 'fairy dust,' but you pulled through. And for not talking down to her, like all of this was silly. She was apprehensive about coming, thinking it was just for little kids," Thalias explained. "Which, she still is one. But she's convinced she's too old for some things now that she's ten. I'm surprised you got her to do the ceremony thing without any pressure."
"Oh," he rubbed the back of his neck. "You're welcome. I'm glad she seems to have enjoyed it."
"Thalias! I can't choose an outfit! Should she be a fairy or a warrior?" Che'ri called from over near the back wall. "Or maybe an evil wizard?"
"I'll be right there," Thalias called back. Giving Samakro one more smile, she headed off. He watched her go, not wanting to admit that there was a smile on his own face.
Hearing Ziinda greet a new customer, he turned around to begin offering assistance. A human man walked in with a young Chiss girl sitting on his shoulders, who immediately pointed at something excitedly. Samakro began to step forward, then stopped just as quickly after seeing the next person to step in, staring after at the human and child with a soft smile.
Thrawn.
Gods. The galaxy really did have it out for him today.
Begrudgingly, he took a deep breath and then continued on to greet them.
This was going to be a long day.
——
"You did great today, Samakro. I could see you improve the more you helped customers," Ziinda complimented as she locked the door. She tugged on it to ensure it locked, then turned back to him. "That move with the 'fairy dust' was smart. I didn't know you had it in you."
Samakro shrugged. "Just because I'm not good with kids doesn't mean I want to actively disappoint them. She looked like she had to work up the courage to ask in the first place. Wasn't that big of a deal."
"Still, it was innovative," she complimented. "Don't worry. Next week, Apros will be back. You'll be able to get back off the sales floor."
"Eh," he grunted. "I guess it wasn't that bad."
Ziinda laughed. "Have a good day off tomorrow. You've earned it."
He grunted again in response as she walked away, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Now he just needed to figure out what to do for dinner, and whether or not he wanted to meld with his couch to become one being while watching a shitty holodrama. A secret guilty pleasure of his.
"Samakro?" A soft voice called from behind him.
He turned, surprised to see Thalias standing there for the second time that day. "Uh, hi? What are you doing back here?"
Thalias walked up, shifting nervously as she came to a stop. "I... wanted to see if you'd want to get a drink? Or coffee? Or something? I don't know, it just looked like you were going to be in for a long day. Figured I could at least try to lighten it up at the end of it all."
Damn. There goes that fluttery feeling in his chest again.
"Yeah, sure," he found himself saying before he could think about it too hard. "Do you not have to watch Che'ri anymore?"
"I left her with my neighbors for a bit. She absolutely adores Ar'alani and Wutroow. She thinks letting them put her to bed on her birthday is an awesome idea," she got a mischievous glint in her eye. "Or should I say... pawsome?"
Samakro groaned, shooting her a look, but there was no venom behind it. "Don't make me regret saying yes to drinks."
Thalias laughed, throwing her head back as she did. He felt himself smile, the tension in his shoulders melting away. Sure, it had been a long day and he had been looking forward to collapsing onto his couch. But what harm could a few drinks do? Especially when in good company. Not that he'd admit that.
With their shoulders bumping against each other and quiet smiles shared, Thalias and Samakro headed off down the street.