Chapter Text
Sonia was a very smart friend; one of the smartest people Leon ever knew to be quite honest. Despite all of that, he had not listened to her advice.
Don’t do retail Leon! I know you want the extra cash, but trust me! It’s not worth it.
Gods above, how he wished he listened to her. For as much as he wanted some side cash, he wasn’t entirely sure of whether or not it was worth it.
Giggling and rowdy groups of teenagers coming in, pulling folded clothes up off displays and misplacing them halfway across the store. Old women flirting with him over the counter and pinching his cheeks before he could move out of their reach. Those same old women turning batty as all heck as he tells them he can’t take their coupons. Having to chase couples out of the changing rooms not only for holding the line up, but for just straight up doing their dirty business out in a public space.
Doing all of that for minimum wage? Not exactly Leon’s ideal life that’s for sure. He does wish he listened to Sonia, but getting his paychecks does make it all seem like it's worth it sometimes.
Right up until he clocks in for another shift.
He finds some solace in the fact that he is not the only college student struggling through a minimum wage job, but not much.
Not much at all , he thinks wryly as he watches a group of teens accidentally knock over some clothes on their way out, waving it off and continuing on their way without a care in the world.
Leon goes to pick up the clothes and bring them behind the counter for refolding when he notices a lone customer in the store. A glance at the clock shows it's an hour until closing and this seems to be the only customer left in the store. Might as well help them so they could leave and he could start cleaning up.
Approaching them, Leon isn’t really sure how he missed them before. They were a tall, skulking figure; their face shadowed by a hood. Leon stopped by the side of them. “Can I help you find something?”
The movement was so small Leon almost missed it, but he most definitely was able to see the slight jump of the shoulders of the customer. They turned ever so slightly and Leon could only just make out bright eyes peering down at him from under the shadow of the hoodie.
A beat passed.
A blouse is hesitantly held up in Leon’s direction. “Would you happen to have this a size or two bigger?”
Leon blinked. That was...certainly a much deeper voice than he had expected for someone browsing women’s blouses.
He looked back towards the outside of the store. A quick assessment saw no groups of obnoxious teens with their phones out recording what he quickly assumed was some sort of dare. Or maybe he just couldn’t see them.
He could be nice though, help make this guy feel a little bit better about the whole thing. “I can check in the back! Shopping for the girlfriend?”
The stranger reaches a hand up to rub the back of his neck, but doesn’t answer Leon’s question.
He walks around to a different part of the display, eyes searching for something. Leon hovers close by, attending to other shelves nearby since the customer hadn’t dismissed him yet. Leon wasn’t entirely of whether they still wanted his help, but it was always better to hang around for a bit just in case.
Sure enough, after a bit of perusing the customer approaches Leon and nearly gives him a heart attack. Despite his tall form, the customer seems surprisingly light on his feet.
He holds up some more blouses from the same collection in his arms. “I-um.”
Leon looks wearily at the tops in the customer’s arms. In probably less than one minute, this customer would decide this dare wasn’t worth it, promptly toss the clothes on the rack nearby and dash out of the store. Leaving Leon with even more work to do before closing. Which was just perfect since he was the only one scheduled for toni—
“I saw the matching bottoms for these seem to be out of stock. Do you have more in the back or recommend anything else that might match?”
Leon stares at him and barely holds back from flushing in shame because he knows his mum raised him better than to just go around assuming things. God.
He gives his best charming smile. “It’s a very popular collection, so more than likely yes. I can also show you some other options.” Because Leon didn’t know his way around fashion much — not at all Sonia would say — but he does see many of the same combinations of clothes checked out at the register.
Leon also directs him towards the back. “There’s some dressing rooms back there if you’d like to start trying stuff on. I’ll bring over the other clothes for you in a minute.”
The customer’s shoulders sag ever so slightly before he nods and thanks Leon under his breath before going to do just that.
After Leon procures what he can from the stock, he finds the dressing room the customer is in easily. As there is only one custom in the store, there is only one door closed. He knocks hard enough for the sound to be heard over the rustling of clothes. “I found more stuff in the back.” He clears his throat. “I forgot to ask if you wanted the tights, short skirts or long ones so I just kind of...brought them all?”
A second or two of silence passes before the door creaks open and a brown hand reaches out. Leon obligingly hands over the clothes. “I’ll be up front if you need anything else.”
He receives another low thanks before the door closes back shut.
Leon takes a glance at the clock. Forty until closing.
He makes himself busy by getting all the clothes lying in disarray around the store and bringing them up front to refold. He just manages to finish folding up the last one and clearing the counter right before another bundle of clothes is dropped in front of him some fifteen minutes later.
Trying not to appear too startled by the sudden presence Leon offers a smile once again. “Did everything fit alright?”
The customer’s mouth opens before he snaps it shut and gives a terse nod instead.
Fully facing Leon now, the shadow of his hood doesn’t have as much effect as before. It’s a hard task for Leon not to stare too much at the stranger. For one, from what Leon can see, he is very handsome. For another, he also seems vaguely familiar. He’s not exactly sure of why, but Leon can feel something pricking at the back of his mind.
Leon doesn’t want to come off as a creep though, so he turns and rings everything up on the register instead. “Alright, your total for today will b-” He’s cut off a sharp noise.
The hooded customer nearly jumps out of his skin and hurriedly takes his phone out of his pocket as another alert from the device comes through. Shadowed eyes rove over the screen before they widen a fraction as he bites his lip.
Was that a fanged tooth?
Leon clears his throat. “Um, sir-?”
Blue eyes snap towards Leon, almost like he had forgotten the man was there somehow. The customer quickly pockets his phone before making a wary glance between Leon and the doors leading out the store. “S-sorry, I.” That’s all the customer got out before he was dashing out the store faster than Leon could follow. If he squinted he could swear he would see a cloud of dust left in his wake.
Startled by the suddenness of it all, Leon found himself walking to the doors of the store, looking around outside for a bit. But there was nothing but the night time crowd of the mall anywhere he looked.
Scratching his head, he walked back over the counter, frowning at the pile of clothes left in his wake. He should be annoyed right now. A whole bundle of clothes that he had to go to the back to get, only for them to be left in disarray. Yet…
Leon only let out of a huff as he gathered the clothes to put behind the counter as a hold item.
Call it intuition, but he had a feeling that he would be seeing that customer again soon.