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Jude worked in a Fish and Chip shop. That’s all you needed to know. He didn’t want people to think he lived some sort of secret life behind the grill; that he was special in any way; or important to some royal family or corporation.
No, Jude was Jude. Nothing more, nothing less. What did he care about it?
Working from twelve to eight took out enough of his day that he didn’t care what happened to the rest of it. All he cared about was something to do. Something to keep him occupied. Something to keep the bad thoughts away.
Jude knew everything about his job off by heart. All the regular customers, the menu items, the shifts of all his co-workers… He liked to keep track of all the little details. Order for Daniel: two pieces of fish and a large chips. The Seafood Basket: fish, calamari and scallops with chips. Marcus, his best friend: working from two to eight.
He found satisfaction in the littlest of things. He didn’t care if he seemed like a weirdo, knowing everything about everything. It always suited him. Jude the Weirdo. That’s all he knew himself by.
Jude the Weirdo. The Kid with the Dead Mom. The Boy with no Story. The Stalker.
“Judo, ‘ey! Get a serve o’ chips in the fryer, wills ya?” Jude smiled at his dork of a friend, but it wasn’t him who was smiling. Marcus came from out of town, somewhere out on the farms. His accent never really kept up with the modern day America, but his personality was much loved by the customers.
Yeah, he was loved... Jude wasn’t loved... Jude just sat by the fryer or the grill, waiting for an order.
In went another serve of chips. A fish, a scallop, a Snickers bar. Whatever he needed to do.
Jude didn’t ask questions. Jude was a Weirdo.
“Order for Troy?” shouted Marcus from across the counter, once Jude had readied the chips. The one called Troy came up to the counter, a big burly man with a bushy beard. His mouth twitched into what could only be a smile, as he mumbled out a “Thank you” and left the shop, his chips in hand.
“Quiet day today,” yawned Marcus, leaning against the back countertop separating the kitchen and main room. Jude mumbled in agreement as he returned to the fryer, wiping sweat off of his brow. Perhaps the sweltering hot day was to blame for the lack of customers. The hot steamy grill and fryers didn’t help, either. Like, who would want to eat hot fish and chips under the blazing sun? The only logical thing, to Jude at least, was to gather under an air conditioner and lick an assortment of ice-creams.
Jude leaned back on the same countertop, the other side of Marcus. At least the counter was cool.
“I guess that’s why there’s only twos of us workin’, eh?” said Marcus.
“Mmm,” mumbled Jude, closing his eyes.
“I mean, ‘oo would wanna eats ‘ot food on a days like today?” (Literally what Jude was thinking five seconds ago, Marcus.) “Psst, Judo,” his voice was suddenly hushed. “If I ninja’d a coke from the fridge, you’d pretends like you never saws it, right?”
“Like I never saw what?”
Jude could almost hear the smile in Marcus’s face as he left the counter, before he heard the audible click of the fridge door and the cooling fan within. With another final click of the door and the familiar pop of a can, Marcus returned to the counter and took a long drink.
“Y’know, I saws this video the other day where some guy boiled a regular can o’ coke, an’ a diet one.” started Marcus after gasping from his drink. “The diet one boiled down til’ theres was nothin’ left, whilst the regular one boiled down intos all its raw sugar. Bloody disgustin’.” he finished, taking another sip.
“So which one did you ‘ninja’?”
Marcus laughed. “Lemme tells you somethin’ very important, Judo.” he took another sip, gasping, before continuing, “Ignorance is bliss.” This time Jude couldn’t contain a raw laugh. If he had to give his life one thing, he was thankful he had Marcus. He knew how to break Jude down in a way that made him feel not so dismal, and on a day like today, he was rather grateful for it.
Jude was a weirdo, sure, but he was a Good Weirdo.
The familiar flap of the plastic sheeting on the shop door caught Jude’s attention, but he felt like resting against the cool countertop a little longer.
“Hows’ya man, what’ll it be?” asked Marcus after another sip.
“Hey, uh, I’ll have two fried dim sims please,” said an exasperated voice. Jude could audibly hear some heavy wheezing.
“Sure thingo, you wants a drink wit’ that?”
“Yeah, I’ll just get a water,” said the breathless voice. Curious, Jude turned around to have a look while Marcus was tallying up the cost, and at that moment he was thankful that the both of them were not looking in his direction.
A shirtless Adonis of a young man was reached into the same fridge Marcus got his coke from, his back muscles flexing as his arm collected his desired bottle of water. Jude was almost afraid of the man turning around; afraid of what to expect. He had no idea where the guy’s shirt was, but he had a good indication that the short black shorts he was wearing were not hiding them. At least, they weren’t hiding the shirt, but they were certainly hiding something...
Before Jude had a chance to react, the Adonis closed the fridge and turned around with his water, with his complete front on full display. If it wasn’t already hot enough, Jude could’ve sworn it just got a little hotter. The man’s chest, face, and... actually, everything, was dripping with sweat. His sun-darkened blonde hair was messily swiped to one side, whilst the sweat patches around his eyes made those dark orbs of beauty stand out like craters. His lips were also swollen, and if it wasn’t for the heat to blame you’d think he’d been bitten by something. And don’t even get Jude started on that torso... in fact, he had to work extremely hard to keep his eyes on the guy’s face.
It was obvious what all the commotion was - Jude didn’t have to think twice. This guy was clearly a fitness junkie. He’d visibly just been jogging, and had chosen this particular fish and chip shop to take refuge from the outside heat (mind you, this one store did have other competition). And, to be quite honest, Jude couldn’t thank the gods any more.
Jude couldn’t keep his eyes off the young man’s chest any longer. He risked a short peek just under the collarbone, but when he glimpsed the sweat-drenched gap in-between the pecs, he couldn’t help but let out a strange, almost desperate noise.
At this, the man looked up and locked eyes with Jude, who froze on the spot. He gave Jude a white-toothed smirk that is perhaps the hottest thing Jude’s ever seen in all his life. Jude attempted some sort of smile back at him, but he’s pretty sure he looked like a choking chicken.
Marcus didn’t seem to notice the encounter between the two; rather he was much more interested in fighting the cash register, which didn’t seem to be working properly.
“Fuckn’ bastard thing! Dammit, Judo, tell Charles we needs a new register when ya see ‘im! Sorry..” he added to the young man, who just smiled and laughed.
“Don’t worry about it, man,” The guy’s breath was starting to regulate now (more so after he noticed Jude, he thought), and he spoke in a crisp, mature manner that almost didn’t match the Adonis figure that he openly bared throughout the shop.
“Fucket, I’ll just writes ‘er down and Charles can deals with it. What’s yer name?”
“Connor,” laughed the young fitness junkie. “Connor Stevens.”
Now it was Marcus’s turn to laugh. “I only needs yer first name, but ‘ey it’ll do. Judo! Get our man Stevens two frieds dim sims, will ya?”
Jude almost wanted to say it would be his pleasure, but he resisted. He needed to get his eyes off this Greek God of a man before his death certificate read ‘Deceased by fainting into deep fryer’, so he happily turned around and got frying two dim sims. On his way back to the fryer, Jude could’ve sworn he saw Connor’s cheeks blush, likely from embarrassment at Marcus’s remark. God, could this guy get any hotter?
“Judo, keep an eyes on ‘im, will ya? I’m just goin’ out the back.” Jude caught his meaning and hummed a response, before suddenly realizing he’d be left alone with... with this stud...
Jude really didn’t have much of a choice. He hoped to god that the dim sims would fry in an instant so he wouldn’t have to wait around in awkward silence. That’s when he heard it... the moaning gasp of relief, satisfaction and pleasure coming from behind him. If Jude didn’t know any better he’d say that Connor was doing the deed right then and there, but after hearing the crackle of the water bottle it was obvious he’d just taken a long drink. Suffice to say Jude was mildly disappointed. Dammit, snap out of it, Jude. He needed to make up for that choking chicken excuse of a return smile. He had to say something...
To hell with it. Taking a deep breath, he turned around again.
“Hot day today-“
“Hey, have you got-“
Oh no. This is where it all goes wrong. They both spoke at the exact same time, and Jude could only dread to imagine what Connor was about to ask him.
“Uh, you go first,” stammered Jude, trying to smile.
Connor laughed, a warm, crisp laugh. “Do you have a cool towel or something I could borrow? I’m, er..” he looked down at his chest, still covered in sweat. (Was he challenging Jude?) He looked back up, this time straight in the eyes. “..still pretty hot.” he finished, smiling adorably.
In that moment, Jude made a silent prayer: a solemn request for him not to die from falling in the deep fryer. It took Jude a minute to process Connor’s request, after which he just gulped, awkwardly nodded his head and disappeared into the back room before Connor even had a chance to blink.
“Keep it together, you idiot,” he whispered to himself, slapping himself across the face. He was losing his mind over this guy... Sure, he was interested in men, and had a mixed taste when it came to them... but this, Connor, was like something from a dream. He almost half hoped that slapping himself would wake him up. Alas, when he opened his eyes he found himself still in the back room.
Remembering the dim sims, he grabbed a roll of paper towel and made his way back into the kitchen. “We don’t have any clean towels at the moment.. sorry.” he said firmly as he passed the paper towel across the front counter.
“Oh, uh, no that’s okay, thanks.” Connor replied, managing a weak smile. Jude noticed the slight change of attitude, and wondered if he was too firm. Did he control himself too much, in order to seem like a careless nobody?
The dim sims were ready (finally). Good, a worthy distraction. He pulled a small box down from one of the shelves and ripped off a sheet of butcher’s paper, getting ready to wrap the dim sims.
“What were you gonna say before?” spoke Connor’s crisp voice from behind Jude.
Loosen up a bit, you stubborn idiot. Jude spoke with his back still to Connor, afraid to see his next reaction (and also because he had a job to do). He didn’t dare yet look around whilst the guy was mopping up all his bodily fluids, as well. That would have just made things even more complicated.
“Oh, I was just saying it’s been a hot day today.”
Connor managed a laugh, but it was slightly different. It was as if he was laughing.. at Jude. “Yeah, it sure has.”
Jude risked a brief glance over his shoulder, which turned out to be a terrible decision as he almost fainted again. Connor’s head was lowered on a slight angle, looking up at Jude with an almost devilish smirk on his face, fiddling with the cap of his water bottle. Jude made another desperate noise but managed to cover it up by clearing his throat, before turning back around to focus on the task at hand.
“How.. how can you run in that heat? I can barely keep a clear head in here.”
“Well, that’s sort of the secret... I don’t run with my head, I run with my legs.” He did not. Did this guy really just sass Jude? Jude turned around again with a slightly shocked expression, but as soon as he saw Connor’s face it turned into a notable chuckle. Fine, then, two can play at this game.
“Really? Hm, I’ll have to keep that in mind next time I go jogging.”
“You jog?”
There it is. See, because Jude was this skinny little slender figure, seemingly innocent with no particular speciality about him, most people didn’t often see him as the sporty type. Whilst they were technically right, they weren’t completely accurate. Yes, Jude did jog. He found it useful as another coping mechanism, another distraction, when he wasn’t working in the fish and chip shop. It was just his way of dealing with things.
Of course, Connor didn’t need to know that. Connor was innocent. Jude wasn’t.
“Only when I feel like it.” Jude replied, turning back around. He heard Connor give a hum of respect, as if he didn’t think much of Jude beforehand. Jude just ignored him. He knew Connor didn’t mean it, he didn’t understand; but it still triggered him deep inside, when people judged him by his appearance.
For that matter, he was just about ready to give up on Connor; to just treat him as another customer. That was until he finished packaging the dim sims and started walking over to the counter to deliver them. As he got closer to Connor, he took a proper look into his eyes. At that moment they seemed mournful, almost sacred, as if there was something out of balance. Connor seemed to be... two different people... but Jude couldn’t put his finger on it. Instead, Jude’s legs carried him around the counter, going directly to Connor to personally deliver the dim sims. Connor looked slightly startled by the change of direction, but regained control as he watched the smaller boy walk in front of him, his one arm outstretched.
Jude was in a world of mixed emotions right now. Horniness, depression and sorrow all jumbled in one. Not his greatest combination, he must admit.
“Order for Co-Connor,” he stuttered, half-emotional and half-anxious, handing out the package. Connor smiled down at him in a reassuring way, brushing Jude’s hand as he took the package. Jude felt warmer at Connor’s touch, and thus breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t realized he had begun to feel cold.
He looked up at Connor, who began to smirk at one corner of his mouth. Jude couldn’t help but do the same in return, using all his force to keep his hands to himself, and his eyes on Connor’s eyes. Whoever.. whatever this guy was, he was... he was something.
Connor immediately opened the package and took out a fried dim sim, making sure Jude was watching. Still smirking, he almost seductively bit a large chunk out of it right in front of him, chewing it down slowly and making sure to revel in the mouthful. After he swallowed, he smirked even wider, and patted his hand on Jude’s shoulder as a gesture of thanks. That, it seems, was Connor’s way of redeeming himself. By making himself totally... full of allure.
“I’ll see you around, Judo.”
With that, Connor left the shop, almost too fast for Jude’s liking. Although, at the same time, he was kind of relieved that, whatever it was, was over.
Jude turned around to make his way back to the fryer to wait for another order, before he noticed Marcus leaning against the wall next to the kitchen, shaking his head at Jude in a jokingly disappointed manner.
“Ignorance is bliss.”