Work Text:
Elliot couldn’t help but sigh as he unlocked the back door of the pizzeria. His manager had given him the opening shift as if he hadn’t closed the night before. Of course, he wouldn’t say no; losing a few hours of sleep would be way better than his manager being upset. Elliot pushed through the small delivery room and entered the pizza boxing room. He immediately paused. Something was wrong. Very faintly, Elliot heard some shuffling and muffled speaking. Somebody else was in here with him. Reaching for a pizza cutter, he kept walking. Light spilled from the crack underneath the door leading to the kitchen. Ignoring his lingering fear, Elliot pushed open the door harshly, pointing the pizza cutter at the intruder.
Immediately, he was greeted with a high-pitched shout. Elliot stared at the scene in front of him. The kitchen was a mess, dough and toppings lay strewn about. Some soda cans were stacked together in a pyramid shape. Elliot looked at the culprits. C00lkidd scrambled behind his father’s legs, who took a protective stance before him. 007n7 looked at him, wide-eyed. Elliot’s grip on the pizza cutter tightened. Why were they here?
“What are you doing here?” 007n7 hesitantly asked him.
Elliot sputtered, practically dropping the pizza cutter, “What am I doing? What are you doing? I work here!”
The man looked at him awkwardly, before C00lkidd chimed in, “We’re making pizza!” he exclaimed happily.
007n7 sighed, “We were trying to make pizza.”
Elliot simply raised a brow, “In the pizza place you are banned from?”
“Well, yes, but I didn’t expect anybody to be here this early.”
“I work here. We have to get this place ready somehow.”
“I’m sorry,” 007n7 started, “We’ll clean up and leave.”
Elliot stepped forward, placing the pizza cutter down before crossing his arms. “You’ve already gotten this far,” he said, looking around. Actually, not very far, let me reiterate. You’ve already made this much of a mess. Just cook the pizza.”
“That’s the thing, it’s been a little difficult with C00lkidd…”
The pizza worker looked at 007n7, who stared back at him with tired eyes. Even if he didn’t want to, Elliot couldn’t help but feel bad. It couldn’t be easy doing it all alone, especially with such a hyper kid. He knew he should probably just make them clean and turn them away. He probably should. “I’ll help you, just stay to clean afterward.”
007n7 stared at him for a moment, his eyes widening in surprise. “Thank you so much, Elliot. This means a lot.”
Elliot looked away, attempting to calm the warm feeling in his chest. “Don’t mention it. Let’s just get started before I regret saying yes.”
The dad nodded at him with a warm smile. He turned around to pick up C00lkidd and sat him on the table. Elliot began to clear the table and threw away any extra dough while 007n7 lectured his son. Elliot grabbed a lump of dough and started to shape it into a crust. The talking died down, and Elliot noticed C00lkidd watching him wide-eyed. He had been behaving well, 007n7 must’ve lectured him well. The kid wasn’t too bad. It reminded him of himself when he was younger, struggling to fit in with anybody. Elliot had always been too loud or blunt for anybody to want to talk to him for long. Instructing 007n7 to begin spreading sauce on the crust, he grabbed a smaller piece of dough and walked over to the kid.
Elliot placed the dough before C00lkidd, “Try to knead it like I was.”
C00lkidd perked up, before excitedly slapping his hands against the dough. It did nothing to even out the shape. The kid looked at it awkwardly before looking up at Elliot with a slight pout. “Mister Elliot!” He whined, “It’s not working!”
“You can’t just hit the dough, C00lkidd, you have to knead it.” Elliot chuckled. He motioned for him to come closer. Elliot held C00lkidd’s hands and helped him knead the dough properly. “See, isn’t that better?”
C00lkidd’s tail wagged happily, and Elliot couldn’t help but smile at him. He turned back around to 007n7 to help him with the next couple of steps. The father quickly looked away from the pair, ignoring the warmth in his chest that bloomed from seeing Elliot interact with his son.
“I’ll spread the sauce on these, I’d rather not have any extra mess to clean.” Elliot explained.
007n7 nodded, stepping back to give Elliot some room. Elliot was more fit than he realized; his rolled-up sleeves revealed muscular arms. Though it made sense, 007n7 remembered seeing him work every job. That was before he was banned. Was Elliot still working so hard?
“-007n7?” His voice cut through his thoughts.
Oh! He was staring. “Ah, sorry! Just got a little spaced out. What were you saying?”
“Add whatever you want to the pizza, I’m going to help C00lkidd.” Elliot rolled his eyes, but smiled playfully at 007n7.
Elliot walked to the kid, choosing to ignore 007n7’s red face. He was probably embarrassed that Elliot caught him staring. He also ignored how cute the man looked. He had bigger things to focus on, like helping C00lkidd add toppings to his pizza. He brought some toppings closer and instructed the kid to add whatever he wanted. Elliot sat up on the table, watching the two work on their pizzas. C00lkidd talked excitedly, telling them about random things.
After a couple minutes, the pizzas had all their toppings. Elliot opened two ovens and slid them in. “While they’re cooking, help me clean up. I don’t want the manager to know you guys were here.”
“C00lkidd, pick up the extra toppings?” 007n7 instructed. C00lkidd pouted, but a stern look from his father got him cleaning. Elliot grabbed a broom and started to sweep up the floors while 007n7 wiped the table. Elliot was glad for the help, the company was nice. When he wasn’t terrorizing him, C00lkidd was sweet. Plus, 007n7 was fun to talk to. Even if it was embarrassing to admit, Elliot was starting to enjoy their presence.
Ding! The pizzas were done cooking. It was already close to opening, so Elliot decided to just box them up. He hit the button to start up the conveyor and placed the pizzas on it. Elliot picked up the pizza cutter from earlier and motioned for the others to follow as he walked to the pizza boxing station.
Quick footsteps echoed as C00lkidd ran ahead to try to get there before the pizzas. Elliot smiled at the sound of 007n7’s soft laugh. The sound was pretty. Once they got there, Elliot grabbed two boxes and cut up the pizzas.”
“C’mon, we can go out the back.” 007n7 nodded, and continued to follow.
They stood in the chilly parking lot. 007n7 carried C00lkidd with one hand, and held the pizzas with the others. “Thank you, Elliot.” He said with a warm smile.
Elliot rubbed his neck, trying not to smile too much, “Don’t mention it, I hope you enjoy.”
“We will, what time does your shift end? I’ll bring cash for these.”
He shook his head, “It’s okay, your payment was helping me clean.”
007n7 gave him a look, “What time does your shift end though?”
“Ten, I’m closing today.”
“And opening? That’s too much work!”
Elliot laughed, “I’m used to it, we’re understaffed.”
“We should go home now, thank you again Elliot.”
“Feel free to come back if you want, just make sure I’m opening. The company was nice…”
007n7 blushed, “I’ll give you a heads up next time.”
He turned around and started the walk off. C00lkidd shouted thanks and waved as they left. Elliot turned around, ready to start his shift.
—
Elliot locked the door behind him as he left the pizzeria. He grumbled sourly, a customer had caused some issues and purposely spilt soda. Walking to his car, he noticed something on the hood. A bento box. There was some rice, meat, and a couple other snacks. A small note read; I know you won’t let me properly pay you, so consider a payment. Thank you for earlier, and make sure you eat! - 007n7
Next to it was a small crayon drawing Elliot was sure C00lkidd made. A drawing of what seemed to be him and Elliot standing together, eating pizza. Grabbing the bento box, he got into his car feeling a lot better and looking forward to their next visit.