Chapter Text
Ten shot up from sleep.
His breathing was uneven and choppy, his face dripping with sweat.
His eyes darted to his arms, looking them over. He wasn’t sure if it was his eyes tricking him in the dark, (it was still nighttime, after all) but he could’ve sworn he saw dotted red lines along his skin.
He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. Ten looked around his apartment. It was still dark outside, so it was probably around 5:00 A.M, maybe a bit later than that.
Just as Ten was about to drift back off, his eyes landed on the telephone.
He had forgotten to call Seventeen last night!
“Shit.” He grumbled. He reached for the phone part, quickly dialing Seventeen’s number.
She didn’t pick up, as expected.
Ten sighed, placing the phone back down. "She's probably just asleep..” He thought to himself. “Yeah,” he whispered. “Just.. Just asleep.”
Suddenly, it began to rain outside, as if to add to Ten’s already grumpy mood. He grumbled yet a few more curses under his breath before deciding to get up, getting ready to go to work. Lousy way to start the day.
…
Ten ran into the restaurant, praying to Infinity that he wasn’t late.
But of course, nothing seemed to be going his way so far today, and it was barely six in the morning!
“You’re late.” Spat Fourteen. “And wet.” He raised an eyebrow.
Ten forced a smile, speaking with as little malice as he could. “Well, it’s pouring outside, after all.” He shook himself off, almost dog-like. Fourteen rolled his eyes, disappearing into the kitchen for a moment. When he came back, he had a towel in hand.
“What’s that for..?” Ten questioned. The other man simply rolled his eyes once again, before beginning to pat down Ten’s hair. “You’re tracking in water.” He stated, as if it were obvious.
Ten thanked his lucky stars that they were the only two people in the dining room, because he would’ve died on the spot from embarrassment if someone saw Fourteen nearly petting Ten dry.
After about a minute, (Which felt MUCH longer to Ten) Fourteen rolled up the towel, clearing his throat before speaking, “Well, I’d usually continue to help newer employees with their duties, especially on the first few days. But you did exceptionally well yesterday, so I think I’ll leave you by yourself until you decide that you need my help. I’ll be in the kitchen.” He turned around, giving a final glance to Ten as he did so.
“Wait!”
Fourteen turned around, a small frown tugging at his lips. “What is it..?”
“I-I.. Uh..” Ten was suddenly nervous. Why was this such a hard question to ask?
“So.. Okay, listen. I’m not exactly in a great.. situation as of right now, I mean, that's why I got a job, huh? Heh, anyways, I was wondering.. Goshthisisgoingtosoundpathetic.. Is there like.. Any food I could take home with me at the end of the day..? Maybe..?” Ten immediately wanted to take his words back, or possibly crawl into a hole and die. He didn’t mind either scenario.
“Sure.”
“Yeah, I knew you were gonna- Excuse me?” He was baffled, Fourteen said yes? “I-I.. Oh, thank you, Chef Fourteen! Really, I appreciate-..”
“But you will take what I give you, understand? I don’t want to hear a single complaint from you for what you are given.” Fourteen’s voice was laced with a small, unnoticeable amount of.. Anger? Ten couldn’t exactly tell.
But nonetheless, he nodded quickly, ending the conversation. And with that, Fourteen was gone. Ten let out a deep sigh, but felt a tiny smile creep its way to his face.