Work Text:
Virgil had been driving a long time before his car needed to refuel. He was on his way to his sister’s house, which was a few hundred miles away from his apartment. With the virus going around, there was no chance in hell that he would take a plane anywhere. So driving it was.
He had just crossed some mountains, and he decided to stop at the first gas station he could find. It wasn’t that hard; there was a small city nearby, apparently. He went on the off-ramp into the town and followed the signage to the town. Eventually, he found a lone gas station on the outskirts of the town. It was tiny with only two pumps, but it seemed to fit the vibe of the town as a whole.
Virgil got out of the car once he’d parked it in front of one of the pumps. He stretched his legs, happy to be stopping for a minute. However, just as he was about to insert his card, he noticed a sign taped to the pump.
“ Please pay inside. ”
He sighed. Human interaction was the bane of Virgil’s existence, especially now. But he needed to get gas, so he reached into his car and grabbed his mask.
The inside of the gas station was bright, off-setting the dark sky. Virgil had to blink when he stepped through the doors because of the lights. The inside was barely the size of a bedroom, so there were only a few racks of food and about four refrigerated sections on the side. Behind the counter stood a young-looking man wearing sunglasses despite the fact that it was nearly nine at night. He waved to Virgil, and Virgil waved back.
Virgil perused the snacks available, figuring that he might want a cold brew and some sustenance for the rest of his trip. He grabbed a few items and went up to pay for them and the gas. While the cashier was ringing him up, he looked out the window to his car at the single pump. It was odd. He had never seen a gas station with a single pump.
He glanced back up at the man, who was looking at him expectantly through sunglasses that were missing the right lens.
“How much?” the man asked. His jaw didn’t look like it had moved.
“Oh,” Virgil said sheepishly. “Um, twenty-five dollars worth.”
“Your total will be twenty, then.”
Virgil handed over his card, and the man swiped it on his cash register. His hands were gloved, and Virgil couldn’t help but watch as they tapped away on the register.
“Here you go.” The man held out the card and a receipt, and Virgil took it.
He nodded at the man, still confused as to why he was wearing a) sunglasses with only the right lens and b) sunglasses at night. The man’s left eye seemed to glisten a bright gold under the fluorescent lights.
Virgil went back out to his car and used the pump he’d parked at. It was the middle pump, which he was rather unfond of, but the one at the end had caution tape on it. He made an educated guess that one was not in use.
Once he was finished, he navigated his way out from the center of town to the highway. He’d be at his sister’s in a few hours.