Continuity: Polite Acrimony
Length: Ficlet
Pairings: 4xD
Prompt: Consistency?"We've always done it that way."
Teaser: "You shouldn't play God." "Political correctness please. We're handling
a corporation. I'm playing the generic figure representing the ultimate good
doubted by agnostics and ignored by atheists."
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5424671/2/Polite_Acrimony
Disclaimer: GW = not mine
Author's Note: Time for my second ficlet.
By the way, to those in the USA, I strongly encourage everyone to watch Better Off Ted when it airs back to back episodes on ABC on the 1st of January. Seriously, Portia de Rossi as Veronica is like watching live action Dorothy. I would hate to see that show cancelled. 
Also, this was inspired by the mock-up ads for the fictional company in the show: Veridian Dynamics. 
Polite Acrimony
by mistress amethyst une
Consistency?"We've always done it that way."
"Winner-Catalonia Enterprises.
Consistency.
Every time you experience any of our products, rest assured that you will be exposed to the finest.
From our hothouse produce to the pesticides we use on them, we make sure that only the best reaches our consumers.
Our genetically engineered livestock is expertly and humanely slaughtered by our latest laser technology.
When it comes to feeding your family, we pull out all the stops.
Winner-Catalonia Enterprises. We've always been the best. Really."
Quatre watched Dorothy's idea for an ad campaign play out on his laptop screen with a mixture of nausea and horror. If he hadn't been so shocked, he might have turned away at the point when the cow was hit with a laser beam. Soothing as his wife's narration on the merits of pesticides and laser slaughter was, that didn't make either any more appealing. The visual display of fruit being sprayed with liquid from a can featuring a skull and crossbones, and the sight of a cow as it mooed its last while experiencing a swift zap of death, only made things worse.
"You honestly think this is a good idea?" he sighed, running his hands through his hair in frustration as he despairingly sank further into his chair.
"Well, yes," she stated nonchalantly, walking back and forth before his desk at an easy pace. "This way, we not only promote our new chain of grocery stores; we also get to show off the new tech from our research and development branch. Isn't that laser just stunning?"
"Not in a good way. And genetic engineering? You know how I feel about playing with lives. I was grown in a test tube."
"The livestock is grown in petri dishes."
"You shouldn't play God."
"Political correctness please. We're handling a corporation. I'm playing the generic figure representing the ultimate good doubted by agnostics and ignored by atheists."
"Dorothy!"
"What? I don't see anything wrong with it. Just because you're touchy about eating something that was grown in a lab doesn't mean everyone is. The ad's great. It says we're consistently good! And we are!"
"What about the pesticide? You have to admit there's something wrong with that."
"Don't you want pest-free produce? Last thing I want is to bite into a wormy apple. We're just being honest. Also, we sell pesticide. Wouldn't do if we didn't use our own product."
"I don't know, Dorothy. There's something about seeing a cow getting hit by a laser that puts people off."
"Ah yes...the vegetarian demographic," she sighed.
"Could you maybe tone the ad down a bit? We can't risk offending any of our markets."
Sighing again, she walked up to him and caressed his cheek.
"Your lack of ruthlessness is almost charming," she chortled. "Marrying you was definitely a good investment. You're a people person. You understand the people who need to be throwing their money at our company. We need more people like you. People persons. People people. Well, I don't know the proper plural but in using both, I'm still right."
Quickly, she bent over to kiss him on the forehead before making her exit. As he watched her walk out his office, he breathed a sigh of his own and reminded himself that she was as much of an asset to him as he was to her. Besides occupying his heart, she did a damned good job of keeping him on his toes and filling his head with thoughts, both pleasant and unpleasant. He realized a long time ago that this was why he loved her. No matter how she screwed with his mind, in the end, he always seemed to enjoy it.