Work Text:
“Diet Pepsi, bean burrito with no beans…that’s going to be 4 dollars ma’am.” Noel droned blankly, staring dead eyed at the pop machine across the mall. It was the easiest spot to keep his eyes on between brief glimpses with the customers, so he didn’t get another write up for staring into space while taking such dull orders.
This is really, truly, hell.
Not the sexy post-war hell where he catches venereal diseases from a man who claimed to love him.
Standing here for seven hours a day at best, watching the masses chug along through the crummy little mall, occasionally getting barked at by the confused old woman who doesn’t understand that a fast-food restaurant isn’t a real restaurant.
In the moment it’s so slow- but he feels like his whole life just passed in the blink of an eye every time he comes to work.
It makes him think of their trip to the Fall Fare just a few months back, that awful crash-
That really creepy dream…
“Hello how may I help you?” He put on his best plastered smile for the next customer in line, but his eyes quickly wandered to the pop machine again.
They’d been lucky they all didn’t die.
Ocean had been raving in the hospital about being a better person, they all shared that awful nightmare.
Spinning through space, in a warehouse- with some creepy doll girl and the most annoying animatronic known to man.
Noel figured it was just a dream, he convinced himself of that anyways.
Why was he back here, in this dead-end job? Sure, he had more motivation to save up and move to France after Senior year, but- God- if there was a god, anywhere’s better than Taco Bell.
“Welcome to Taco Bell, what may I get you?” He droned again, not taking his eyes off the machine. Especially not while a pretty strapping guy was shoving his dollar in there, the big dumb brute. It was so simple; you just glide it in-
“Well, that’s no way to greet their student body president and fellow classmate,” That snippy, nasally voice snapped Noel back to focus, losing his tunnel vision as five teens in garish outfits came into view.
“Oh my god,” He groaned, tilting his head back, “What the hell are you guys doing here?”
Ocean crossed her arms, wrapped in a perfectly fit red sweater over her school uniform. Did she have to wear that everywhere? She still had a small scar on the back of her hand from the crash, but she seemed to have gotten over the Cyclone incident the most…physically. She was always trying to convince the others that it wasn’t a dream, they really had all been dead- that they’re generosity was what won them a spot back in life.
She’d even gotten foolish Penny to believe that crazy idea. Noel assumed it was only a coincidence that they all had the same dream, but even if the others believed otherwise, Ocean was the only one shoving it down his throat at every possible moment. And Penny was there backing her up- always right besides Ocean, just emerging over her shoulder and watching everyone with those big, green eyes. They hadn’t known her at all before the Cyclone, and then all of a sudden- Ocean and Constance were hell bent on bringing her into this strange little clique.
“Other than supporting your efforts for cross country travel?” The ginger nodded her head forward while she smiled, “Jane here’s never- “
“Penny.” The girl piped up loudly, a bit too loud for a small mall cafeteria.
Ocean gently gestured backwards towards their classmate, “-Penny’s, never had Taco Bell before,” She turned back to face Noel, flashing another one of her thin lipped, wormy smiles.
“And we’re like, extremely hungry yo,” Mischa informed, coming up from behind with a rubber grip in each hand, pushing Ricky along.
A traumatic accident was not easy on anyone with a neurodegenerative disorder, he’d been going to physical therapy to try and recover what little mobility Ricky had left, but ever since, he’d been stuck in the chair. It was slightly easier for Ricky to communicate in sign language, not having to prop himself against one of his crutches at risk of collapsing every time he wanted to call out Ocean for one of her bitch moves.
Extremely hungry. Ricky signed with a smug look on his face, that was all the body language Noel needed to know that this was planned.
“Ugh, and where’s Constance? You’re not making her wait out in the car to keep the heat on again, are you?” He grumbled, leaning over the counter to try and spot their friend in the crowd.
“Of course not!” Ocean gasped, pressing a hand to her heart while Penny frantically shook her head, her face blank.
“She’s holding the table over there,” The ginger motioned backwards with her thumb, once again copied by Penny. Noel furrowed his brow, he hadn’t gotten used to this new girl’s mannerisms, Ocean said Penny had autism- but there weren’t many people like her in Uranium. Or, Noel wasn’t familiar with anyone else in Uranium like her. Ocean was always telling him to be more considerate, they had accepted Ricky easily into their group after all, why should it be so hard with Penny?
“She threatened to punch Ocean’s breast if she had to wait in the car again,” The auburn-haired girl nodded quickly.
“Ah, that sounds about right,” Noel smiled tightly, turning an evil eye onto Ocean who feigned ignorance.
“Can we order now? I am quite starving,” Mischa pressed his hand tight against his stomach, “McDonalds was closed this morning for health reasons, I missed my Saturday Nugget ritual with Ricky.”
“Yeah yeah yeah, what do you want,” Noel leaned his elbow against the counter, tapping at the register’s screen to start a new order.
“Cheesy gordita crunch please, thank you,” Mischa started, pushing himself and Ricky to the front of the counter, “Diablo sauce- extra queso. Oh- and three steak burrito Supremes- steak AND the grounded beef. Not separate.”
Cheesy fiesta potatoes for me, Ricky signed with a smile, and some cinnamon twists.
“Bean burrito with black beans for me, thank you,” Ocean piped up, quickly shaking her hand, “But no cheese. And no cheese sauce- extra rice for me.”
Noel wrinkled his nose, what was the point of getting a burrito without cheese? It was already disgusting enough slopping those beans onto a tortilla, but he didn’t expect Ocean to have better taste anyways.
“Your turn, Jane- “The auburn-haired girl snapped her head towards Ocean, but her tone, other than loud, wasn’t angry. Wasn’t much of anything.
“Penny.”
“Penny! Penny, right, sorry,” Ocean quickly patted the taller girl’s shoulder, she always struggled with her name. It wasn’t different guesses every time like you’d see on the TV, Ocean only ever called her Jane on accident- it was strange. Noel didn’t remember much details of the nightmare they shared, sure he knew there was a creepy girl with the same name, but it was just his brain’s artistic lobes creating a macabre vision. That’s what Noel thought, anyways.
“I would like…” Penny started but trailed off, her big dark eyes staring up at the menu- it seemed like her pupils never dilated, always big as possible. She had her head chin turned up, taking her time reading each line- Noel had customers like her before. Normally they were fifty years old and much more callous however, and what little he knew of Penny, she was never actively uncaring.
But that few moments of staring turned to minutes, Noel started drumming his fingers along the counter, Ocean anxiously looking at her feet and tapping her feet, a strained smile on her face. For the pinnacle of acceptance and charity she was trying to become, she wasn’t entirely used to Penny’s behaviors yet either, despite what she liked to tell everyone.
“Um, Penny?” Ocean piped up, tapping her shoulder.
She instantly swung her head to fully face Ocean, “I don’t know what to get.”
“Well, just get something you’d like!” She encouraged.
“But I’ve never had food here before.”
“Then get something you think you’d like!”
“You could get something one of us got,” Mischa suggested.
“But you all got different things.”
“Yeah- “
“What if I get the same thing Ricky gets and don’t like it? Or Ocean? I’d hurt your feelings.”
It’s okay to like something different than us Penny
“…Ok.”
That just made Jane return her gaze to the menu again, and Noel audibly groaned, bending his head down before snapping up.
“Why don’t you get something you can share, so you don’t feel left out?” He suggested, aggravation clear in his voice, he could feel bags under his eyes growing just from this shift alone. “Like- a crunch wrap. Just get a crunch wrap- it can have beans or steak or potatoes- whatever you like.”
Penny looked back down at Noel.
“I’ll have that then.”
“Which kind?”
“All.”
“You want a crunch wrap with beans, steak and potatoes?”
Penny shook her head, raising her finger.
“One each.”
Noel sighed, clacking the options into the machine, “Your funeral,” He murmured quietly under his breath, just one burrito was enough to give him a stomachache, he didn’t envy Penny if she planned finishing all three meals.
“I did not have a funeral; my parents never came.” Penny said plainly, a glimmer of sadness in her eyes behind that stately response. Noel’s harsh look faded, that was…it was as cryptic as she normally spoke but there was something behind it, he could tell. She really firmly believed Ocean’s theory that they had died.
“Um…right, so,” Noel shook his head, pressing enter. “That will be 24.68 if you guys are all together.”
“Don’t worry,” Ocean flapped her hands, practically knocking the wallet from Mischa’s hand onto Ricky’s lap, “I got this one.” She smiled, all proud of herself as she handed two twenties to Noel.
“And keep the change!”
“I don’t get tips here.”
That made Ocean’s grin fall, “Oh,” She glanced to the change and receipt handed back to her, and tentatively took it back. “I’ll just give this to you after your shift then.”
Fifteen dollars and thirty-two cents? Yippee.
“Alright, that’ll be out shortly in about- “He cocked his head back to spot the clock on the wall. Almost five, the end of his shift. Just his luck he would have to hand the greasy, fat bag to Ocean before having permission to clock out and change out of such a kitschy uniform, but at least he wasn’t going to get any grease on his designer sweater. He was sensible enough to not wear the same thing day in and day out on his days off, unlike the overachieving weasel.
It was easy enough to find the group again once he squeezed out of the closet his manager called a dressing room, sat a table in the center of the lunchroom- they were also the only table with a kid in a wheelchair. Constance was all cozy in her violet and pink woolen sweater, a handmade gift from her mom, sitting between Ocean and Penny with a gyro from one of the Greek stands that circled the seating area. She’d made the smart choice; she was going to avoid possible food poisoning and diarrhea.
Mischa was still plowing through his first burrito, Ricky was content with his potatoes, everyone was chewing on something except Penny and Noel. The young man slid into the last seat available beside Ocean.
“So, your stomachs turning inside out yet?” Noel asked, a big smirk seeing how Ocean instantly stopped mid bite.
“Oh, don’t worry Ocean,” Constance patted her shoulder, “No one’s ever gotten diarrhea from a plain bean burrito before.”
“That’s easy for you to say, you’re not even eating a burrito!”
“Oh yeah,” She blinked, glancing at her half-eaten Gyro, “I don’t like bad fast food, sorry.”
Panicked, she turned to smile at Noel, “No offense!”
“None taken, I don’t touch the stuff, I just serve it,” He shrugged, bending his palm down. He cast his eyes across the table, landing on Penny again. She just sat there, staring at the three wraps, all free from their packaging but untouched.
“You don’t want your food, Penny?” Mischa asked with a mouthful of beef, his fingers sliding across the table to try and take a piece- but was quickly slapped away by Ocean’s pale hand.
“Don’t take her food! She’s just deciding what to have first!”
“I can’t decide.” Penny piped up.
Ocean groaned, “Well, even still, you can’t take Penny’s food.”
“But it’s going to get cold!”
“It’s been ten minutes.”
“Fast food doesn’t just refer to the speed it’s served!” Mischa cried, infuriated.
“You can have some Mischa,” Penny murmured, starting to separate the crunch wraps into sick pieces with her hands.
“Oh no J- “Ocean frowned, “Penny you don’t have to do that.”
“But I want to.” She was already passing around the slices of crunch wrap, albeit pretty awkwardly as she clutched each piece like a letter. Every piece pinched and broken at the corner from her death grip, Ocean fluttered her eyes down to the triangle slices she placed upon napkins. Even Constance took one, though it was probably more to be polite and not upset Penny, who had enough trouble showing kind gestures as it was.
But when she turned to pass the fast food to Noel, he held up his hands in defense.
“No thanks, I work with the crap all day, I have no urge to eat it,” He laughed halfheartedly, but Penny didn’t appreciate the humor in his tone.
She blinked, doe eyes briefly confused, still holding out three near destroyed hunks of Americanized Mexican food.
He felt a jab down in his kidney and hissed, turning to Ocean between them glaring at him with fury in her eyes.
“Take the food, Noel,” She threatened in a low voice.
Slowly, he took the cooking offered to him by Penny’s pale outstretched hands, blue eyes watching every finger twitch to make sure the crunch wrap made it to Noel’s napkin.
“Thanks, uh, Pen.”
Satisfied, Penny turned her head back to the pieces in front of her. Mischa hadn’t even bothered to wait, stuffing them in his mouth one by one, not caring what was inside as long as it was in his mouth. The man ate like a wolf, his parents fed him of course, but really only the bare minimum without being reported to the Canadian Child Protective Services.
“It’s very good, Penny, you’ll like,” he said through a mouthful, flecks flying out onto the table and hitting Ocean on the cheek, freezing her to stone.
Constance started giggling, growing into a hearty chuckle that Ricky joined in, a silent but warm gesture on his end. Noel pressed his hands to his mouth to hide the shit eating grin, forcing himself not to burst out into laughter at Ocean’s distressed breaths and light flicking of her fingers.
Penny stiffly picked up a napkin, pressing it lightly against the ginger’s panicked face, her light tapping eventually getting the specks of meat to fall from her face.
“Mischa…would you please…” Ocean slowly worded out, still horrified at what occurred.
“Swallow…before you speak?”
The Ukrainian tilted his head down, his fist to his lips as he forced himself to swallow the massive bite he had just taken- at least, what was left of it that wasn’t sprayed on Ocean.
“Sorry, Ocean.” He croaked.
You going to eat your crunch wrap Penny? It’s pretty good, Ricky encouraged.
“But Mischa spit his out,” She stated, certain it meant it was bad. Noel’s attitude about the franchise didn’t help much either.
“No no- “The tall boy shook his head, “You see, I enjoyed food so much- I wanted to share! I couldn’t contain it all in my mouth because it was so delicious spectacular!” He claimed with such vigor in his voice and the way he moved his hands, it was enough to get Penny to return her focus to the triangle pieces in front of her.
With her usual stilted movement, she picked up a piece and took a bite, no change in her expression as she chewed or put down one piece to pick up another. She did it with each three slices, everyone taking that as approval to start eating what she shared with them, staring, and waiting for her opinion.
“Well?” Ocean smiled brightly, seeing she had finally swallowed. “What do you think?”
“It’s mushy…and very wet…” She listed slowly, turning her head to make eye contact with Ocean. A light frown took up her face, guilty she couldn’t enjoy it.
“It was not delicious spectacular.”
Noel’s scoff caught Penny’s attention, shaking his head with a smirk, “I agree with you on that, Pen.”
“Yeah, I mean- there’s better mush out there,” Constance agreed, patting her poofy shoulders lightly.
“…would you like my pieces, Mischa?” The tallest girl asked, cupping her hands out with the food she rejected, her bites were so small- you’d think a rat had snuck into the kitchen and taste tested them.
“My pleasure, Pencil,” Mischa took the handful without a second thought, and so Penny and Noel sat still, the only ones eating nothing.
The group’s company was enough for them.