Chapter Text
Beep
Beep
Beep
The scanner droned on as you scanned the items of the family in front of you. After this? You had to stock up the bread— even though it technically wasn’t your job, but god forbid you say something, the rent wasn’t going to pay itself and your job was on the line. With the best, fake smile you could muster, you finished scanning and announced the price.
“Ah, well, now it’s $86.34. You’ve saved $24.27 on groceries today with coupons and your in store membership. Thank you and have a great day.”
“Thank you as well, have a nice day!” Their smallest child called out, a bright smile on her face as she sped after them, arms spread out like an airplane.
Ah, how Cute.
A final sigh, you turned around and left the register. Sneakers softly thudding against the floor as you carried over a crate of freshly baked bread from the back to the front. You placed each loaf in it’s correct place, taking out old ones and replacing them with new loaves. With one last placement of honey wheat bread, you finished stocking the bread. Irritated yet satisfied, you wiped your hands on your apron and went to leave, until you heard someone mutter a soft curse under their breath.
“Merde… Where’s the cinnamon bagels…?”
You turned around, staring at the source of the mumbled curse. A tall frenchman stood there, staring angrily back and forth between his phone and the shelf. Softly chuckling, you walk over to him and gently tap him on the shoulder.
“Is… everything okay sir?”
“Huh? Oh- No. I’m looking for the cinnamon raisin bagels? Do you have those here?”
His french accent was so thick and he was so charming, it made you blush.
Suppressing a laugh, you stepped next to him and squatted down, grabbed the roll of precut bagels and handed them to him.
“Would you like the precut version? or the ones fresh from the bakery? We just got a fresh batch.” You turned, pointing to the container with big, fresh bagels.
“Ah…” Another glance at his phone, after some thought he took the bagels from your hand with a shrug. “Sova did not specify, so I’m going with precut.”
“Right— Oh, Sova?” Immediately, you were familiar with the regular shopper, he was always the nicest of your customers.
“Oui, do you know him?”
“Yes— We’re somewhat close, I’ll get the freshly baked instead, just a moment.”
The customer nodded and placed the bagels back where you’d grabbed them. Seconds passed and you returned with a batch of freshly baked bagels, the bag still warm from the heat inside. The man nodded and mumbled a soft thank you as he looked at the rest of the list. It seemed the confusion didn’t stop there, his brows only furrowed as he looked around for the next few items. Gently, you placed a hand on his arm and softly laughed.
“Care for some assistance?”
“Yes please… This market is so confusing.”
You introduced yourself, and he did in return, claiming his name to be Vincent, then going on to say that his friends and associates call him Chamber. An odd nickname, but still a bit cool— maybe even hot. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t somewhat curious of its origins.
You smiled and shook his hand, happy to meet a nice and calm customer that didn’t flip on you for prices that you clearly couldn’t control. Chamber passed the list over to you, making the process of hunting down the items that much easier. Bok Choy, Pork shoulder, some steaks… Seeing the familiar list made you smile. They always came for the same things, without fail.
Dropping the final item of some fruit ice pops and chocolate ice cream, you turned to him and nodded.
“Pretty sure we got everything, right?”
“Oui, now I’ve just got to pay.”
“Alright, follow me, I’ll help you right now.”
“Excellent.”
You walked to the register and flicked the light on for your little station. Then started to scan all his items, even bagging them as he entered his card information. Such a small interaction yet your day was brightened severely; the feeling of wanting to slam your head against the wall from irritation gone. Once everything was scanned and bagged, Chamber placed it all in the cart and turned to you.
“Merci, Madame. I hope we meet again.” Then he sealed it with a fancy hand kiss.
You stood there, frozen in place as he turned and walked away with his cart.
Probably just— meant nothing right? He was just being a gentleman. For sure.
There’s no way he thought you were cute— right?
Your cheeks slowly engulfed in red, a small little smile on your face as you helped the next customer. He was pretty cute, hopefully he’d return again, that would be nice. Maybe next time he arrives, you’ll act lost so you can wander the store with him some more.
…◴⃞⃜ …
Several hours later, you’re finally able to go home. Shift done, check grabbed, now? Your bed was calling you. After clocking out, you walked out to the parking lot and straight to your car, stepping inside with a soft sigh as your pet greeted you with a soft whine. Chuckling, you took off your jacket and placed your keys down before giving them some pets.
“Hello little one, You must be starving huh.” You grinned, gently scratching their head before standing and walking over to their food bowl, refilling it with food and the other with cold, fresh water.
Smiling at them, you pet their butt before standing up and stretching. A sour smell drifted towards your nose, you cringed and decided that a shower was in order. ‘Hopefully I didn’t smell like this in front of Vincent— God, I’d have to die if that were the case…’ You thought anxiously, undressing and taking a nice, hot shower and scrubbing away all of the grime and stink.
Taking extra care to use conditioner and shaving up your body; you stood there for a while, letting the warm water soothe your aching muscles.
“I hope he comes back soon, Man, Maybe I could ask him out?”
The thought alone made you giddy.. A little too giddy, seeing as you pricked your leg with the blade. You sighed in irritation as you cleaned up the cut and put a small band-aid on it so it wouldn’t bleed everywhere. Afterwards, you carefully dried yourself and applied some fresh lavender scented lotion and got ready for bed.
…◴⃞⃜ …
Several weeks have passed since Chamber’s had to go to that store. While the store itself was abhorrent and a complete mess, he did enjoy the presence of the cute and charming cashier. Something Sage and Sova have been relentless about with their teasing as of late.
The alarm clock blares from his phone, breaking his train of thought and startling him awake. Once again, he woke up before his alarm. He stopped the alarm then stood up and stretched, bones cracking and popping from the tension finally being released. With a yawn, he figured it was time he got ready for the day— hopefully he’d be able to work on his guns rather than make another trip to the store.
His sneakers softly squeaked against the floor as he walked up to the coffee maker, it was early morning yet nearly everyone was already awake and buzzing with energy. The only exceptions were Killjoy and Raze, both probably asleep in their labs or bedrooms.
“Chamber, how’d you sleep last night?” Chamber looked to his right, just now spotting Sova.
“Hm? Oh, just fine, you?”
“Oh? Good, I slept okay.” Sova turned and opened the breadbox, pulling out an empty bag of cinnamon raisin bagels with an irritated sigh.
“Well, that’s just rude.” Chamber commented, sipping his hot coffee with a shake of his head.
“Ah, it seems we’re out, could you—“ Sova was cut off by Chamber raising his hand and stopping him.
“Sorry my friend but I’m much too busy.” He set the mug down with a sigh and pulled out his card. Sova quirked a brow, noticing the slight difference in color but said nothing.
“You want to cover the cost?”
“It’s the least I could do.” He nodded and handed over his card.
“Thank you, I’ll be quick.” Sova nodded and took the card with a smile.
In a sudden spur of the moment, Sage passed by him in the hall. He quickly stopped her and revealed the card in his hand. It wasn’t Chamber’s credit card, but his teleportation card. With wide eyes, she tried to question the hunter but he only replied with a smug, ‘He just gave it to me and asked to go to the store.’ Like mischievous little kids, they schemed in the hall as they made their way towards the garage.
They didn’t know what would happen, but one thing was for sure— Chamber and the cashier were in for one helluva surprise.
…◴⃞⃜ …
Another day, another painful shift at the grocery store.
This time, you weren’t assigned anywhere else, you were just placed at the cash register and that was it. No stocking the bread aisle or helping some mother find some ingredients for her “delicious tik tok recipes.” A shiver ran down your spine as you remembered the sheer amount of cheese and slime supplies that woman bought— god it was insane. You leaned against the cashier, sighing as you waited for another customer.
“Slow day?”
“The slowest.”
You turned around to see your two favorite people in the world, Sage and Sova. Smiling, you stood up straight and took extra long to start scanning the items. There wasn’t anyone behind them in line so it wasn’t a huge problem. While chatting and softly laughing, Sova took the opportunity to sneak in a slight tease about Vincent.
“Vincent is a pretty attractive man, don’t you think Sage?”
“Mm, and pretty lonely too. I have yet to see him with a lady friend.”
The conniving pair didn’t miss the flush on your cheeks as you slowly bagged their milk. Then the ice cream, bread, some extra coupons, and … an extra bag to make sure that it wouldn’t break. Anxiously you look back up at them both, their faces radiating pure mischief as you clear your throat.
“Come on you two… stop being so weird— your total is $80.49, how’re you gonna pay this time?”
“With Chamber’s card, of course.”
You rolled your eyes as Sova stepped up and with one swipe, the machine bugged out.
“Wait huh—?” You turned to the machine next to you and tapped a couple times on the screen, then nodded to him. “Try again.” And which he did, and nothing happened, except why was there a sudden noise—?
WHOOSH.
“MERDE—!”
“WHAT THE FUC—?!”
CLASH!
THUD!
With a groan you brought a hand up to your head to gently rub it. Slowly, you opened your eyes to see Vincent on top of your body, his head resting right on your chest.
What the fuck.
“Um..”
“Mon dieu… How did this— Tch, (Name), Are you alright?” His head slowly rose up as he looked around. He lifted himself up with his hands.
“Wh- Huh? Yeah, Just bumped my head… I’ll be alright!”
Vincent slowly stood up and extended his hand to you, which you took, grateful for his assistance. Slowly, your head stopped spinning but once you realized that the entire store was staring at you, your cheeks quickly heated up. Shit, what would your boss say? He never did like Radiants-
“My apologies, it seems I mixed up my cards.”
“We didn’t even notice,” Sage spoke up, quietly chuckling as she tried to ease the tense conversation. “We assumed it was one of your credit cards and it just looked similar to your teleportation card.”
“Mm. Sorry, I’ll be much more attentive next time.” Sova handed the card over to Vincent.
Meanwhile, the crowd dissipated but the sound of the angry stomps of your boss were unmistakable. Yeah, you were so fired. Quickly excusing yourself, you ran up to your boss before Vincent or the others could stop you. With no words, you followed him to his office and received the lecture of a lifetime. His words were sharp and hurtful, screaming about your “lack of performance”, “irresponsibility”, and “tolerance for Radiants”. It was stupid. You could feel the blood boil in your veins as you listened to him.
A couple of nosy mothers and children gathered in front of the window, tears of embarrassment pricked your eyes— No. You weren’t going to stand for this.
You ripped off the vest and threw it in his face with a loud, “Fuck you! I quit.”
He stood there, stunned and infuriated as you cleared out your locker and left to the register. Your three friends were waiting there and acting like they weren’t listening to the conversation.
“Alright, I think it’s best we leave, My uh… shift is over anyways.”
Sage and Sova bag up their items and leave the store together, you and Vincent walking right behind them. An awkward silence lingered between you two. What was there to say? You weren’t sure, but the rush of confidence from standing up for yourself and quitting was still flowing through you. Sure, he may reject you but at least you could express your feelings.
“Hey—“
“Pardon—“
“Oh, no, you go ahead—“
“No, no, it’s alright what did you want to say?”
“Well, I uh… Would you like to get a cup of coffee some time?”
He chuckled and pushed up his glasses, “Oui, that would be lovely, Mon Amoure.”
“Then… it’s a date?”
“Oui, it’s a date.”
He kissed your forehead and helped you get into your car, then walked off to go join a very happy looking Sova and Sage. You stared at them in your rear-view mirror for a while until you drove off with a giddy smile.