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A nice, lovely Saturday afternoon.
It was time for Bennett’s shift at the convenience store he worked in. Not many people come in during his shift, which makes most of his co-workers believe that he’s sending customers away, when really, the time he has his shift is when people are busy. He blames it on his luck.
Despite having nobody coming in, he stays still in his place and doesn’t leave, with the hope of at least someone even bothering to come in. He resists the temptation to use his phone — it would explode or something if he held it anyway — and instead opts to doodle on a notepad he found under the counter.
When he heard the ring of the door, which usually signifies someone coming in, He immediately straightened up and greeted the person.
“Good afternoon to you!” He waved at the person who walked in. He doesn’t see many people during his shift, so he always makes sure to leave a good impression on whoever bothers to come in.
The person ended up being Razor, his classmate from his school. This meeting was… rather unexpected, since Razor didn’t really like public spaces. What is he doing here?
“Razor, hey!” Bennett smiled, “What brings you here?”
Razor froze, slowly turning his head to Bennett. He stared at him, and Bennett stared back. They had a silent staring contest for a few minutes, and if Bennett was being honest, Razor was slightly scaring him. Why was Razor staring at him? Did he say something wrong? Did he offend him? Did—
Oh , Bennett thought, He’s probably thinking of what to say .
They blinked at each other for a while, and Razor opened his mouth to speak. Bennett was anticipating the reply, but then Razor stiffly brisked away from where he was standing, got a basket, and went into the isles.
“Wait!” Bennett called out, but then sighed. “...Never mind.”
He watched from the CCTV screen and from his eyes as Razor went all over the place. From the snacks isle, the medical isle, the drinks – basically the entire store. It looked like he didn’t know what he was doing, or he was new to whatever he was doing. What was he looking for? Bennett will know later.
Bennett watched as Razor suddenly stayed still, with a full basket. He then decided to call out to Razor and ask if he needed help or another basket.
“Razor!” Bennett yelled, “You need any help? Or- or a new basket?”
Razor turned his head to the counter, but didn’t say anything. He slowly turned around to walk to the counter, holding his basket full of snacks. He placed the basket on the counter, waiting anxiously for Bennett to start the packing.
“That’ll be 800 mora,” Bennett said, after he scanned everything. He started packing them into paper bags. Razor opened his bag and reached for his wallet.
Bennett glanced behind Razor and outside the glass windows, seeing— Klee and Albedo?!
Bennett suddenly dropped everything he was holding on the counter. It startled Razor, making him nearly drop his wallet.
In sheer panic, Bennett said—
“Ah, crap–” he dove down behind the counter to grab the bags, “hold me for a second—“
Razor accidentally dropped a coin, surprised.
Bennett himself was also confused, but right now, he was more embarrassed than confused. He picked up the bags and put them on the counter, unaware of the blush that crept onto his face in embarrassment.
Bennett sheepishly chuckled, “Sorry about that, just said what was on my mind– I mean, I didn’t mean to say what I said, but I wouldn’t mind it, you know? But, I mean that’ll never happen, and plus I didn’t actually mean to say that—”
Razor gave him a questioning stare.
“...Never mind,” Bennett sighed.
They averted their eyes away from each other in silence. Razor gave him the 800 mora and Bennett stapled the bags so they wouldn’t open as easily. Bennett put the mora into the register in silence.
Razor took the bags —which were two big ones in total — into his arms. He looked at Bennett, who was standing and averting Razor’s gaze.
“...Thank you.” Razor mumbled.
Bennett looked at him immediately and smiled, “You’re—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence when Razor bolted out the door.
“— welcome…” Bennett finished, even though Razor didn’t hear him.
After a while of standing, Bennett remembered what he blurted without thinking earlier.
“Hold me for a second—”
Bennett wanted to slap himself. A whole lot .
That was embarrassing — to think that you just said something to your classmate that could’ve been taken wrongly, without any context. Bennett might not even be able to get to class normally on Monday!
Why did Razor need all that stuff anyway? Was he throwing a party or something? But he surely couldn’t, with his state — not that Bennett was judginh him or anything like that, it would just be unexpected of him to do so. Razor was a solitary person, only valuing his family and others he considers family… So what did he need everything for?
Bennett shook off all his thoughts, realising that he was overthinking about someone else’s business.
He should be more busy with his job at the moment…
.
Razor actually bought that much food because he and his family were having a movie night at home. Lisa and Jean couldn’t go buy the food because they were busy, so they sent Albedo, Razor, and Klee to buy them. Albedo and Klee decided that they should send Razor into the convenience store alone; coincidentally, it was Bennett’s shift too, and Bennett is a familiar-enough face for Razor. And people say Bennett’s a bad omen.
Albedo and Klee both stood outside, watching Razor, smiling and giving encouraging gestures whenever Razor would look over at them. When Razor was at the counter, Albedo was getting a bit worried, since both of the boys were standing stiff. Klee could sense it too, Albedo could tell.
When Razor glanced over at them, his siblings gave him a thumbs-up and a smile.
They watched the exchange, seeing how Bennett dropped the bags, how Razor dropped a coin, how they both froze up… It was nerve-wracking.
Finally, Razor came out, and he looked like he was in a hurry.
“Food, I have.” Razor lowered his head to hide his face, speaking above a whisper, “Let’s go.”
“Yay!!” Klee cheered, holding Albedo’s hand. Albedo hummed and nodded, unfazed when Klee started dragging him when Razor started brisking.
.
Bennett got bored and counted the mora in the register to see if anything went missing. He doesn’t want to be blamed for stealing again.
“797… 798… 799…” Bennett mumbled, counting the mora that Razor paid earlier (which was the only mora in the register from his shift). Bennett couldn’t find the last coin that would make it 800 — did Razor make a mistake?
Bennett’s brows furrowed in confusion. He leaned over the counter, and he saw something shining.
A mora coin? Bennett thought.
He went out the counter and picked up the mora coin, heading back behind the counter after.
Yes, this is the same mora coin that Razor dropped earlier. Bennett figured as much, and placed it into the register.
He sat back down on his seat, and as soon as he did, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Bennett fished it out, carefully , and checked it.
“ SHIFT’S OVER ”
Bennett raised a brow and checked the clock, seeing that his shift was indeed finished. However, the person to take the next shift was nowhere to be found at the moment.
With a heavy sigh, Bennett decided to wait for the next person.