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It was a dark and stormy night, and Kris hated their job. They were only one of the few cogs in the sleazy greasepit known as Grillby’s, a 24-hour fast-food hellhole right in the middle of downtown Ebott. They were working the evening shift because they always worked the evening shift, a mistake made once two years ago that haunted them for the rest of their working life.
The reasons Kris hated their job were innumerable, and no one would have the time or the bandwidth to read the many dissertations on why this place was a shitshow. Not that Kris wrote any dissertations.
The reason why Kris hated their job tonight was as simple as it was petty. It was raining. Rain meant more mopping, a permanent Wet Floor sign that constantly fell and startled them, and a humid atmosphere that caused the fryers to overheat and emit a rank odor that clung to their clothes. Not that they didn’t already smell like they bathed in fry oil every night. But still.
On rainy days, people never bothered to come in anyway. The drive-thru lines piled up instead, which was fine for the crew working the windows, but boring and terrible for front workers like Kris. Their boss, some suave asshole with a matchstick for a head, liked it when the front workers looked lively and busy and did things like ‘smile.’
Well, smiling was for chumps. And Grillby wasn’t even here. It’s Frown Town for Kris tonight.
Front of house did get the occasional app order, especially when it rained. This honor was reserved for the people who couldn’t - or wouldn’t - show up in person. Kris didn’t care enough to judge. They were no stranger to delivery themself from time to time, but no way in hell would they pay for this slop. The burgers were too salty and had a shelf life of five minutes before it congealed into a giant ball of grease and despair. The drinks were... strange. The soda flavors ranged from normal to nauseating, with little in between. The fries made up for all of it, especially if they were fresh. Kris would occasionally skim some when Grillby wasn’t looking, if he bothered to show up.
It was on this night that Kris got an app order near the top of their shift. Double-burger with bacon, large fries, Gamer Blood energy drink. A person of taste and sophistication. They scooped the fries and waited for Snowy and MK to grill and build the burger. They decided not to bother with the drink until the driver came in; Gamer Blood was always nasty with melted ice. They bagged everything up with careless precision and set the food on the shelf marked ‘Delivery.’
That’s when she walked in.
She was a dragon; that much was obvious from her dusk-purple scales, piercing yellow eyes and teeth to match. She wore a pair of loose-fitting jeans with rips across the knees and thighs, a plain white tank top and a wet jacket. But there were two things that stood out to Kris that night. The first was her hair, drenched from the rain and draped across her brawny shoulders in untamed waves. The second was the spade-shaped pendent she wore around her neck. It was unassuming at first glance, but the stylized face engraved on it was as cute as it was... unsettling.
There were obviously a few other things about her that stood out to Kris, but they tended to save those thoughts for off the clock.
She grabbed the bag with the practiced ease of a runner - that is to say about as careless as the packing job Kris did. She jostled it and checked her phone. With a frown, she walked towards the counter, leaving a trail of mud in her wake.
“Said it came with a drink,” she grumbled. “Gamer Blood or something.”
“Sure did.” They ambled to the fountain and filled the cup with ice. Next the soda; bright red liquid that smelled like medicine and tropical fruit mix. It wasn’t a personal favorite, but it was a far cry better than the bread flavor.
“C’mon dude, hurry up,” she said.
“Patience,” Kris said back with a grimace. “Ever heard of it?”
“Go to hell,” the runner snapped, rolling her eyes.
“No can do.” They clamped a lid on the drink, grabbed a straw, and walked back to the counter, slow enough to count as pettiness. They handed her the drink and twirled the straw in her direction. “All out of vacation days.”
She snorted at that and yanked the straw from them. “Dumb freak,” she said with a mean smile. “Later.”
Kris nodded back and cleared the sale from the queue. It wasn’t the usual interaction they’ve had with runners, but it staved off some boredom.
~*~*~
An hour and a half into their shift and Kris had once again run out of tasks to do. They re-upped the fries, mopped the floor from when their sole visitor came in, and stocked the bathrooms for the third and last time. Their co-workers were too busy for their typical loitering, and aside from dressing the occasional burger, neither MK nor Snowy needed Kris’s help.
Playing on phones was frowned upon. But screw it. Grillby wasn’t here; it was raining sheets, which didn’t mix well with having perpetual combustion for a face. Their only other options were to start restocking the front of house or tear out their own skeleton so they can dance with themself.
They opened up a crappy match-three on their phone to kill time. Or maim it. Anything to make their shift go faster.
Another app order pinged. Plain chicken sandwich, loaded fries, small juice. Solid drink choice, easily the best, but the chicken sandwiches here were godawful even on the best day. And plain? Were they feeding this to their dog or something? Whatever. They loaded the fryer and grabbed the buns. Not even mayonnaise. Not even a damn pickle. Atrocious.
The juice under no circumstance needed to be watered down. It was sacred. It was eternal. Besides, if Kris made the drink now, they would have to do it again later because the temptation was too high.
That just left the fries.
They headed back to the fryer station and noticed the scant number of fries left. It was just full a second ago. Now, there wasn’t even enough for a small order, much less loaded. Kris made eye contact with Snowy, who had an entire potato farm’s worth piled in five separate bags.
“Dude, warn me next time,” they said tersely.
“Aww, don’t get too salty about it,” Snowy said back in that annoying mocking tone of his. “...Because you put salt on fries.”
Kris wrinkled their nose and headed to the freezer.
“It was a joke!”
Kris decided not to say that the only jokes were the people working this shift tonight. They had the patience of a saint, clearly. Saint Krisma, patron of fresh, crispy fries. Had a terrible ring to it. They grabbed two bags from the walk-in and went back to the fry station.
Fries were one of the only rewarding things about the gig. They were the one food item on the menu that stood the test of time. They were always a hit, no matter how Kris made them. Plain was a classic. Loaded was pretty damn tasty. Chili-cheese was ambrosia, at least when ignoring the questionable quality of the chili.
Plus, it gave them something to do on a dead shift like tonight. Kris loaded all four fryers and set the timer. They had about four minutes each.
Kris leaned against the back wall and went back to playing their match-three.
They considered on multiple occasions quitting and trying to get a job on campus instead. But there were too few jobs that had the evening shift, and they were always snapped up like the last slice of cake at a birthday party. Every student at Ebott wanted the evening shift. And it annoyed the hell out of Kris.
They heard the front door swing open, and Kris groaned inwardly. It was likely the runner for the half-done order, and the loaded fries were nowhere near ready. Kris glared at Snowy behind their back and looked at the timers. Only one minute left, thank goodness.
They headed to the counter, ready to apologize for the wait, but their heart and fate had other plans. It was the same dragon chick. She was more soaked than before, hair tied back and dripping all over the floor.
“Dude, order’s not even ready this time,” she complained. “What, the crowd get too busy for ya?”
Kris snapped out of... whatever they were thinking. “Kinda, actually. Ran out of fries from the drive-thru so it’ll be a minute.” Their eyes raked over the dragon and the mess she was leaving. “You want a towel or something?”
She looked around. “Actually...? Yeah, if you’re offering.” She pulled her hair out of the ponytail, turned away, and flicked her hair forward, spraying a trail of water across the floor.
It was a sight as irritating as it was mesmerizing.
“I just cleaned that from the last time you were in,” Kris sulked. They threw her a heavy-duty towel from behind the counter.
“Gives you something to do,” she said back with a wink. “Now where’s my damn food?”
“Where’s your damn umbrella?” Kris countered. Luckily she was cute for someone so annoying. The fry timer went off, and Kris hooked the baskets to drip off the excess oil. While that waited, they grabbed the toppings for the loaded fries: bacon, sour cream, chives, and shredded cheddar. They grabbed the to-go tray, then moved back to the baskets to dump the fries.
“So you do move quick when you want to,” the girl commented.
“Hush,” they replied. On impulse, they grabbed a medium fry container and filled it. They walked it over to her and said, “Have a pacifier if you’re gonna be a baby about it.”
She looked surprised for an instant, then hid it behind her bangs and a cheeky smile. “Not paying for this,” she declared.
“Good. Don’t feel like ringing it up,” Kris replied with a smirk. Ok, really they did it to shut her up, but they unfortunately found her very easy to flirt with. Unfortunate because, among other things, they didn’t know who she was, where she was from, or if they would ever see her again. Twice in one night was already pushing it, but understandable considering not many people would work in this kind of rain.
They thought about their next move as they assembled the fries. Maybe they could at least ask her name, but that felt weirdly formal all of a sudden. They knew they were overthinking it and decided against being weird. They already gave her a towel and some fries.
“These are really good,” she said. “Never ate here before. You like it?”
“Only the fries,” they said automatically. They sealed the fries and filled the drink. “Probably the only thing fresh in this dump.”
“Damn, tell me how you really feel.”
Kris bagged the order, grabbed a straw, napkins and utensils and stuffed that in as well. They handed it off to the dragon and slid the drink across the counter. “Think you can guess how I really feel,” they replied, giving her a lazy grin. “Might need that back.” They pointed to the towel around her shoulders.
She smirked back with a genuine warmth forming just past her eyes. “Thought about keeping it for a second,” she said as she unraveled it from her shoulders.
“I’d hunt you down,” Kris replied. They probably would, but not because of a damn towel. Oh well.
She laughed in their face, this awful, honest cacophony that sounded like a dying mule. “Try me,” she challenged. “See you later, freak.”
She walked out the door, once again leaving a trail of rainwater behind. Kris watched her go, and with it the most entertainment they’ve had all night.
Time to mop. Again.
~*~*~
Against all odds, Kris’s shift finally ended at midnight, and their brain exploded with relief when Temmie showed up. Kris liked Temmie. She worked front of house like she was made for it and was one of the hardest working people they knew. They wished they got to work with her more often, but she normally picked up third shift hours to make it easier for her afternoon classes.
More importantly, Kris was free from the yoke of capitalism for the rest of the night. They boxed up some loaded fries for themself, imposing a very hefty Kris Tax on the cost, and headed out the door.
The sky was pitch black, and the rain had barely let up throughout the night. Fat drops fell from the store awning, smacking Kris in the face. They decided not to bother with their umbrella and run to their car. As they got in, mildly damp, their thoughts trailed back to the girl from earlier, soaked from the rain. After a certain point, wet is wet, right? They hoped she was able to dry off.
They turned the key to the ignition. And turned again. And... again. They knocked their head against the steering wheel, turning the key one more time. No clicks, no rev. Besides that, it was too dark and rainy to deal with this, especially right after a shift. MK and Snowy were gone by now, and it was too far to walk home. The last buses already ran their last route.
For a brief, depressing second, Kris thought about giving up on the spot and just sleeping in the car, or worse yet, checking if they can work a double. But they were exhausted and drained from doing nothing and pretending to be busy. They just wanted to go home and scrub the stank off their body.
Against their will, they pulled up the rideshare app.
Not ten seconds later, Kris got an alert from ‘Susie,’ where the picture wasn’t of the person, but of some clapped-out purple Altima. Great. Their car was dead, they were damp and tired, and now they were going to die. They sighed and ground their head further into the steering wheel.
After a few minutes, their phone buzzed. ‘Susie’ was a minute away. Kris tried to turn their car on again just in case. The car was dead-dead, no lights or anything. Awesome. They pulled out their umbrella and stood outside to wait.
Sure enough, a purple, almost black car pulled into the parking lot with practiced ease. They parked right near Kris, straddling the lines. They couldn’t tell whether this was out of politeness in not running Kris over, or their flagrant disregard for parking etiquette. They were too wet and greasy to care.
The driver opened the passenger door, and Kris’s heart jumped out of their chest. The girl. The hot dragon chick from earlier. What the actual hell.
“Dude, you gonna get in or not?” she shouted.
Kris quickly opened their car and grabbed their food before clamoring into her death machine. They shook off their umbrella and glanced at her with a silent apology. As soon as they closed the door, she gunned the car in reverse.
“Figured I’d see you again,” she said neutrally, eyes on the road as she sped out of the parking lot.
Heat rose through Kris’s neck and creeped up their ears. “That so?” they replied.
“Yeah, dude. Everything comes in threes.” She glanced at them briefly before looking back at the road. “What’s up with your car?”
“Wouldn’t start. Think it’s the battery.” Kris sighed. “It’s whatever.”
She slowed down and looked at them. “Shit, if that’s all, I can just give you a jump,” she offered. “I got cables in the back if you wanna turn around.”
They smiled and leaned against the door. “That’s incredibly sweet of you, but I don’t want to deal with that tonight. Bed’s calling me.” Kris considered her offer and the fact that fate brought this ‘Susie’ person in their life three times in a row, and that she somehow believed it would happen. Almost like she... maybe wanted it to.
Might as well take a chance, right?
“Could raincheck on that jump, maybe.” The words came out in an awkward mumble, not nearly as smooth as it sounded in their head.
“Uh... sure? Guess I’ll know where to pick you up. Heh, and uh, where you work,” she said nervously. “Would uh, feel bad trying to charge you.”
“Then...” Kris hesitated. They were really going to try and shoot their shot tonight, weren’t they? They looked out the window and then the phone hooked on her dashboard. They needed to gauge how close to home they were in case this got so awkward they needed to tuck and roll. “Then, I guess I’ll have to call you. Hang out first. Then you’re just doing a favor.”
She covered her mouth with one hand as her steering faltered with the other. “Oh man,” she said, tone playful. “Depends on what we’d do, y’know? Can’t hang out with no game plan.”
Kris, completely delirious, decided to up the ante. “Alright, then let’s brainstorm. What’s your ideal hangout?”
“Hey, don’t put it all on me!” She bared her teeth, and even in the dark her eyes had a bit of a twinkle to them. “You’re the one who suggested hanging out.”
“Fine, fine,” they said. A rare chuckle erupted from their chest. “Figure I’ll do the classic. Cook you something decent, throw a movie on in the background, then uh. Do a jigsaw puzzle.”
“A jigsaw.” She looked at them incredulously.
“Yeah.” Kris gave her a lazy smile. “Build something together.”
Susie forced her eyes back to the road, and it was clear she was fighting back a laugh. She cleared her throat. “You uh, flirt like this with every driver?”
“Of course not.” Hell, normally they wouldn’t do rides at all, and even when they did, they would sit in the back in silence glued to their phone. No, for whatever reason, Kris was fueled by the power of cute mean girls in shitty cars, and the rain that inexplicably brought them together. “Just the ones that show up three times in one night.”
She grinned as she pulled into Kris’s complex. Kris’s heart raced as they prepared themself for the inevitable rejection. She stopped in front of their building and turned off the ignition, finally giving them a once-over.
“Alright, dumbass. If we’re doing this, gimme your number.” She pulled out a separate phone from her pocket.
They gave it, not bothering to hide the joy in their tone. “I’m off today and tomorrow if you’re free,” Kris blurted out. “Just text me whenever.”
“Later tonight work?” she asked.
Kris’s phone buzzed. A text from Susie. Cool. Perfect night, no notes. “It definitely works.”
“Cool.” Susie smiled, and for a moment Kris felt painfully shy, as it seemed to brighten the whole car. “Now get out of here and dry off.”
“Right back at you,” Kris said. They grabbed their food and stepped out into the rain.
Once they were out of the car, she drove off, blinking her headlights at them as she left the parking lot. They watched her until her car was out of sight, then walked towards their building.
It was still dark. Still stormy. But somehow just a little brighter.