Work Text:
It was darkening outside when you had walked out of the building. With winter days shortening, the sky darkened much more quicker than before which left you to work with crumbs of sunlight everyday. This side effect led you to change every bit of your schedule top to bottom to make it work out for you since life as an adult was taxing. But you weren’t here to complain about time. Josiah, your coworker… invited you out for a nice time at a diner place. You’ve already arrived at the location but he wasn’t here yet. You assumed since he invited you out and went ahead first he’d be here already, but when you walked towards the door and entered the diner you couldn’t find his signature hat anywhere. You saw a couple of people, some who looked like they were beginning to leave and some who looked like they just started their night. Instead of leaving and calling him to see what was up, you sat down at a table for two and shot him a text letting him know you were already at the diner.
It had only been a few minutes since that text and just as you were getting bored a ding was heard from the door. You turned your head around and saw Josiah, letting out a sigh of relief that he made it to the diner. He quickly saw you and made his way towards your table, setting down his phone and wallet when he reached it. “Hey, sorry for making you wait. I forgot something at the building and made a quick run back. Shoulda told you first.” He said while rubbing his neck. You looked at him up and down observantly. He looked rugged, a bit sweaty and out of breath, evidenced that he did run for awhile. “Don’t worry about it, I just arrived here recently too.” You said to him. “Though… I should have ran into you when you came back to the building. I don’t think I was that far from it when you remembered, the diner is only a couple blocks away. Did you take another path?“ you added.
He chuckled and quickly replied “Nah, you probably didn’t see me.” Josiah relaxed and slouched his face against his palm. “Didn’t you say you had bad eyesight? Coulda mistaken me as some other dude.” He said to you while snickering. A smirk appeared on your face “Oh yeah? That makes you just as bad as me then.” He raised an eyebrow. “You could of came up to me and let me know you were gonna go back.” You continued. “Maaaybe I was just too busy to get my stuff back, duh.” He teased. You rolled your eyes until it reached the back your head.“Whatever man! We’re here now, let’s order.” You exasperated. You grabbed the menu that was set on your table earlier and began looking through the lists. Josiah followed after you. Burgers, eggs, deserts, to your surprise they even served late breakfast here. “Hey, look!” Josiah poked. You looked up and saw he was pointing to a listed number that read ‘Pet food servings’. You snorted and quickly covered your mouth to stop yourself from laughing. Hiccups and giggles escaped from you anyways.
Your memories began replaying what happened earlier today. Your other co worker Derek, had eaten dog food. You knew because you saw it firsthand yourself. Oh so gullible Derek… you felt real bad when you pointed it out to him. You explicitly remembered when his eyes bulged out from his face, you didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe in that moment. You told this story to Josiah and he couldn’t stop making fun of him while making you laugh at his stupid jokes. You really didn’t want to laugh at Derek because he was genuinely clumsy like that, but man. A part of you wonders why he wasn’t able to detect the distinctiveness of the canned food. Josiah amped his jokes up even more when you started to join him. Before you could continue reveling, a light shake on the table brought you back to the present.
“Should I order some to give to Derek later? Naaah, that’d be too mean right?” He said while laughing, showing a bit of fang. “Welll… he wouldn’t be able to figure it out anyways if I just put it in a takeout box.” He added. “Stop- stop man…” You stopped to hold yourself. “H-ha ha! Cruel! You- you’re an asshole!” You managed to get out while laughing. He laughed with you with shiny eyes. You didn’t notice that he was about to grab your hand but it was abruptly interrupted when the waitress came over to your table. “What can I get for you two?“ she asked in a exhausted manner. Oops, you didn’t have enough time to look through the menu. You remember skimming through the burger section and settled for that. Not wanting to waste time for the waitress, you replied “A burger with fries. Extra ketchup please.” She noted it down and looked expectantly to Josiah. “I’ll get a burger too” he said blankly. “With fries?“ she said while sighing and he shook his head. After writing down his order, she walked back into the kitchen.
You opened your mouth to say something but then a group of people stumbled into the diner with loud booming voices, drunkenly yelling and singing. From the way they looked, they probably came back from a party. They sat near a bigger table, which was unfortunately next to yours. The quiet night that was supposed to belong to you and Josiah was lost. You sighed and did you best to avoid looking them while Josiah simply raised his posture. “So what happened with your manager this morning? Didn’t look so good.” You asked him to get some conversation going. “Ah, yeah.” He sighed. “I clocked in early this morning to get shit done but uh, night shift security fucked up the closet last night. Manager walked in saw me, thought I was the culprit.” He said while giving a sour look. “Course he yelled at me for the shit I didn’t do at all. But you know I don’t care about that stuff. Nothing bad happened, so don’t worry about it” He finished. You were confused. “Night shift security? You mean that buff obnoxious guy? Don’t tell me you’ve been fighting with him.” You asked sternly. “Hah, nah. I act the same as usual. You know me. Don’t need to talk to anyone except you.” He stated. Your eyes widened at that, though as quick as it came you immediately recovered your gaze.
“Oh…” was all you mustered out. What Josiah said just now, you couldn’t deny. He never talked to anyone else. His entire schedule revolved around you. In the mornings he’d greet you especially and went back to whatever he was doing. During lunch, he went to your floor and hung out with you for an ungodly amount of time. He’d talk to you about anything and everything as long as you were talking too. When it was time to clock out, he’d clock out with you, not caring about what his manager had to say. He’d walk you home or would ride the bus with you. To watch out for you as he said. He gets away with it, as he does with many other things. Perhaps they don’t care anymore. But you never minded his behaviors. He was your friend after all.
You remembered when you started working at Ossoteq, Josiah was one of the people you expected to never get along with. His distant behavior was enough to call it quits on him. Somehow though, you don’t remember exactly, he made his way into your circle. As he says, it’s not important about how you met him personally, how you ran into him despite being in different occupations, how you both started talking, it wasn’t important because of how close you two were right now. You couldn’t rely on your memories because they were hazed, but you trusted him, because he was always there for you. You believed him with no faults. And you think, it’s because he relies on you the way you rely on him. At least that’s what you think.
You snap back into reality after realizing you’ve pondered for too long and looked at Josiah. He stares at you with an unknown emotion, taking in all of your features in silence. Flustered, you averted your eyes and apologized for spacing out. Just as you were getting more and more embarrassed, the waitress came back with your food. She sets them down respectively and leaves. You gawk at food and take delight in its smell. It looked delicious and juicy from the way the tomato and lettuce were arranged. “Your eyes are bulging right now, cmon, take a bite. You won’t regret it.” He chuckles. You look at him and back at your plate, carefully grabbing the burger and raising it to your mouth. Your first bite in brings a twinge of spice on your tongue, you go in for the second, third, and fourth. You don’t notice the way he smiles at your beaming face.
Your fingers began to grab at your fries only to find Josiah already putting some on his plate. “Hey! If you wanted some why didn’t you order it?” You huffed with a stuffed mouth. “Yours just look so good. Couldn’t help myself.” He said, not stopping his actions. Though he started to take the smaller chips instead. You roll your eyes and quickly grab as much fries as you can and shove them into your mouth before he takes them all. He laughs at your display playfully and silently takes a photo of you to show you after. It’d make good blackmail for you to stay up with him at late night arcades, he thinks. He looks at the table and realizes that there are no drinks and waves down the waitress for two colas.
While Josiah finishes ordering, you devour your meal peacefully. A small piece of paper lightly hits your head. You look to your right and find the group from earlier making a mess. Straws were strewn about, napkins on the floor and puke under the table. A girl from their table spills her drink and only glances at it before talking to her group again. You gagged and looked away in disgust. You grimaced and began to feel uncomfortable from your surroundings. Your senses felt overloaded and you didn’t feel like eating anymore. A sigh that was a bit louder than it should’ve been escaped your lips and it became a mistake.
“Heeeey, are we annoying you or something?“ a boy said to you sarcastically. You ignored him and continued with your golden fries. Man they were good. “Hey. Fuckin respond.” He demanded. You wondered when your drink was coming in. “Hey-“ and his voice was abruptly stopped. You thought, finally. Curiously, your eyes looked to them without moving your head. A much more sober looking girl was whispering to the boy. He looks at your table then widens his eyes. His attention shifts back to his group, then he looks at his hands. He gets up with frustration and goes up to the diner counters. You decided that was enough and looked at Josiah, who already had his eyes on you again. “You alright? We can go, if you want.” He asks softly enough for you to hear. You shake your head “Let’s wait for the drinks first.”
You pondered again. The silence was awkward now, since the place was still being occupied by drunk people. You started again. “The uh, company party is pretty close now. You gonna go?” You hesitantly asked. He’s taken aback by the question and sighs. He rests his body against the chair. “… Maybe if you go. Don’t have much to do there. I’ll snag a couple drinks.” He replies blankly. He was right, there wasn’t much to do there. Most came to the party for face. But for someone normal like you, it was like any another other event. “Mm, maybe not actually. I’ll find something to do on that day.” You say instead. He looks like he wants to say something but doesn’t. Instead, he gets up from the table and heads for the counters. You sit and close your eyes. Taking a few breaths, you feel a cold air brush against you. Noting the signature smell, you could already tell it was Josiah.
You open your eyes and look up. Josiah half smiles at you with the drinks in his hands and raises his right eyebrow, making a gesture at the door. You get up from the table and take your drink from his cold hands. It was still icy and wet. As you make your way towards the door Josiah makes an Oh sound. “I gotta uh, use the bathroom real quick. Can you hold this for a sec?” He asks awkwardly. You grab his drink while nodding and head outside to wait for him.
The cold air hits you instantly. The sky was already pitch black and the street lamps were lit, lighting up the sidewalk. As you wait, a few cars pass. Your hands begin to freeze and as your back shudders a familiar ding sounds. You look towards the entrance doors and see Josiah making his way towards you. As he’s walking to you, you can’t help but notice his jacket looks a bit soaked at the ends. He does a light smile and takes his drink out from your hands. “You look like you’re gonna die in this weather.” He says softly. His eyes are glued onto you, glazed and half lidded. “Mhm… might as well.” You reply while putting your empty hand into your pocket. “…Gonna walk me home, Jo?” You ask teasingly. He quickly rushes ahead of you, making sure his face is turned away. “Fuck, don’t say that.” He replies, already a few feet away from you, though you could tell he was smiling. “Heeey, don’t leave me!” You yell after him. “Then hurry up. Don’t have all night!” He yells back.
You catch up to him and give a small huff.
“…Unless uh, you got time. I could spend a couple more hours with you.” Josiah says.
• • •
While you walk through the dimly lit streets with Josiah, you hear faint and quiet sirens behind you. Before you can look back, Josiah grabs your arm and pushes you against him.
“Woah, watch out. There’s a big branch there, dummy.” He tells you. You look at his face, he distantly smiles sweetly at you.