Work Text:
the day had been particularly boring for the shopkeeper. a few customers came by, bought things, then left. it’s around noon when he goes on his break. he goes out to the back of the shop and takes out a cigarette box, taking one out and putting it in his mouth. he puts the box back in his pocket to start looking for his lighter before realizing it’s not in his pockets.
zuka kept patting around areas of his body, trying to figure out where exactly he put the damn thing until he heard a familiar voice.
“you know you should really look into alternatives to smoking! wouldn’t want to lose my business partner to some cheap smoke, yeah?” a voice cooed from above, the figure playing with the lighter in their hand. the older demon groaned and took the cigarette out of his mouth, looking up to look at the broker face to face.
“can you give me that lighter back at least? i use it for more than just lighting cigs.” he said as he opened his hand to take the lighter back. the broker sighed and pouted. “what will you give me if i do, zukes?”
the shopkeeper paused for a second. was broker really about to make him give something up just for the lighter? zuka scratched the back of his neck for a second as he contemplated. as he did, broker rolled their eyes and jumped down from the roof they were sitting on. he happily walked his way to zuka and put his face near the other demons, giving a cheshire like smile.
“you really want this lighter that badly?” he said, holding said lighter up with their hand. zuka groaned.
“yes, now give it back.” he replied, swiping his hand to grab at the lighter. broker pulled his hand away and turned away from the older demon. he took a few steps away before turning back to look at zuka with the same shit eating grin he had before.
“you still haven’t given me an offer, zukes! you want this back? give me something in return, then!” the broker chirped as if he wasn’t holding zuka up from his break. in response, zuka only groaned and slid down the wall. he tried thinking of something he could offer to his co-worker, but he couldn’t really think without having his smoke. he brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
the broker only laughed in response, bending down to look at zuka better. “there’s an easy solution to this, you know! you’re just making this harder on yourself!” they said, giggling between the words. the shopkeeper shot a glare at the demon in front of him.
“what are you gaining from taking that lighter from me, anyways?” he asked, slight venom in his words. broker stood up straight again and put a finger to their chin as if they were thinking. after about 5 seconds of doing this gesture, they simply shrugged. “entertainment, i suppose! this lighter doesn’t serve much of a purpose to me, aside from it being yours that is..”
zuka rolled his eyes in response. they looked at their watch.. 5 minutes until their break was over. defeatedly, he tossed his head back as it hit the wall and sighed. brokers tail (which was wagging the entire time, by the way) suddenly ceased in its movements, as he squinted at zuka.
was he really giving up that easily? .. nah. he was probably just messing with them again. the broker tossed the lighter up and down as they continued to look at zuka.
“tick tock zuka! we don’t have all day!” they chirped. broker continued to shake the lighter back and forth, until zuka offered them a cigarette. they froze in place, almost offended. “you’re really offering me that? you clearly don’t know me then, zuka.” they scoffed, crossing their arms.
“take it.” the shopkeeper responded. “you said you wanted something in return, and i’m giving you something in return. you either take it, or the deals off.” he beckoned the broker to take the cigarette, adamant on them taking it. the broker huffed. it was something he was offering them.. not exactly what they were hoping, but it’d do.
reluctantly, they handed the lighter back to zuka as they took the cigarette he offered them.
‘finally,’ the shopkeeper thought to himself. he took out a cig from the box and placed it in his mouth, holding the lighter up to the end of it and finally lighting the cigarette up.
what he wasn’t expecting, though, was broker sitting down in front of him, bending over with the cigarette in their mouth and pressing said cig against zuka’s. the shopkeeper froze, completely forgetting he had to exhale the smoke so he didn’t choke, which was exactly what happened next. zuka spat the cigarette out of his mouth and began to choke.
the broker simply sat next to him as that happened, only lightly patting his back as they took their own cigarette out of their mouth. they giggled at the sight before them.
“for someone who was so persistent on getting his lighter back so he could finally smoke, you sure do seem like you didn’t want to in the first place!” they laughed. zuka, after hitting his chest a few times to stop his coughing, finally looked back at broker with a glare. the younger demon gave a sly smile as they tossed their cigarette bud.
“i’d enjoy it a lot more if you just stopped being yourself for a little.”
“ouch, i’m hurt zukes..”
the shopkeeper gave a weak laugh in response to the broker, who dramatically fell to the cold concrete floor. he tried to have a smoke one more time, as he did only have 1 minute left of his break. he lit up the end of the cigarette, and finally took a puff of it. he did this until the cig finally wore out, at which point he discarded the bud.
and so, his break was up. he stood up and brushed his clothes off, adjusting his hat and getting ready to walk back inside before he was stopped by a hand put on his shoulder. he looked back at broker who was still wearing the cheshire grin he always had.
“what is it now?” he asked. “you have to make this quick.”
as he spoke, the broker took out a lollipop and handed it to zuka. confused, the shopkeeper took the candy and looked at it for a second. “thanks, i guess.. but why did you-” he turned to look back at the younger demon, only to realize he wasn’t there.
zuka looked around for a second, only to give up when he realized broker basically disappeared into thin air. he sighed, stuffing the lollipop into his pocket and going back inside the shop to resume his shift.
at some point during his shift, he gets the craving for another cigarette. this is when he remembers the lollipop that the broker had given him. he takes the candy out of the wrapper, inspecting it to make sure it isn’t laced in any way and pops it into his mouth. he hums contently at the flavor and continues his shift as normal without the need for a break to smoke a cig.
maybe he should buy lollipops more often for himself.