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Get a job, they said. You’re gonna make good money, they said. Wrong! Not only is his employer not covering gas—so he has to buy it with the money he makes—he’s also miserable from all the time it takes out of him. He could be hanging out with his friends but instead, he spends all afternoon and evening delivering pizza to people who don’t even appreciate his work.
And he’s supposed to get by with this miserable pay. Laughable.
With a dejected sigh, Phainon loads the last single box of pizza on the passenger seat. Of course, the manager had to give the order to him instead of just passing it to someone who still had several orders to go.
Oh, well.
He hops in the car and updates the order in the app, letting the customer know he’s on his way. Then he punches in the address, and he's ready to go.
He navigates through the city, stopping at every red light. Clearly, the universe doesn’t think he’s had enough on his plate today.
At the next light, he checks the time. It’s nearing 11 p.m. He would care less if he didn’t have plans with his friends.
As if on cue, his phone rings. Phainon accepts the call and puts it on speaker before stepping on the gas.
“Hey,” he greets Castorice.
“Hi, Phainon. The game is starting soon, are you coming?” she asks, though she can already tell from Phainon’s voice he probably has bad news.
“Ah. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it in the end. I’m still working. Sorry for the trouble, I know you guys made time for this specifically for me,” Phainon sighs.
He really feels bad. Castorice isn’t really a fan of sports. Neither are Aglaea, Anaxa, Hyacine or Cyrene. Cipher is the only one in their group who’s even remotely interested in sports. And yet, they all got together to watch the baseball finals with Phainon, and now he’s going to miss it.
“Oh no, that’s unfortunate. You’ve been looking forward to this so much,” she sighs. There isn’t much either of them can do, though.
“It’s alright, Cas, I can watch a replay of the match later. Please, tell everyone I’m sorry for wasting their time.”
“You’re not wasting anyone’s time. It’s just unfortunate you can’t be here. I think Hyacine wanted to play some board games too, so don’t feel bad,” Castorice tries to make Phainon feel better, but both of them know it’s not working. “At least, not about us.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try, haha. Take care, alright?” He tries to sound a bit more positive before hanging up and focusing on the road again.
The navigation brings him to the suburbs. Phainon tries to look for a familiar landmark in the area, but he doesn’t think he’s ever been to this part of the city. Which, for someone as sociable as him, is quite rare.
Everyone in his friend group comes from a different background and, by extension, a different part of Amphoreus. He’s been friends with Castorice and Hyacine since middle school; he knows them like the back of his hand. He met Aglaea and Anaxa in freshman year of high school, and through them, he got introduced to the Janus triplets. Cipher, he met by chance. She's a year older than them—that’s what she claims, at least.
And Cyrene… Cyrene has been his closest friend for as long as he can remember.
He stops the car by a small house. He double-checks the address, then turns the engine off. The pizza is still hot—that’s the only redeeming thing about this delivery, since he’s already running late.
The doorbell makes a questionable sound, but it seems to be enough to alert the resident. The door swings open, and a guy in a white tank top stands before Phainon.
“I’ve got a delivery for Mr. Mydeimos Nikador,” Phainon says, pizza in hand, though his eyes are immediately drawn and glued to the TV screen in the living room behind his customer—the game he wanted to watch has started a few minutes ago, and this guy is clearly a fan. “Apologies for the delay, I had probably the worst luck ever on the way here.”
The guy answers something and hands Phainon the cash, taking the pizza from him in return, but Phainon doesn’t even register that.
Noticing the strange behavior, Mydeimos Nikador glances over his shoulder to see what the delivery guy is looking at, and it clicks. He tries to say something again, but he’s left without a reaction.
“Hey, dude,” he says louder, and it’s the snap of his fingers that finally pulls Phainon back to reality.
“Ah. Sorry, sorry—I didn’t mean to be rude. I hope you enjoy the food,” Phainon says with a sheepish smile as he checks the money.
“I asked you if you wanted to watch the game with me. I assume you'd miss it if you went home now.”
Phainon blinks, a bit taken aback by the proposal. Then it clicks, and he smiles as brightly as ever.
“Oh my God, you’d do that for me? I'd be so grateful!” He grabs his customer’s hand and he presses the money back into his palm. “The pizza is on me!”
Mydeimos laughs. This guy, weird as he is, seems nice. He steps aside, inviting the delivery guy in.
Phainon almost skips inside.
“Name’s Mydei, make yourself comfortable. Anything you wanna drink?” Mydei asks, following his visitor to make space for him on the couch.
“I'm Phainon—so happy to be your guest. Any soda is cool, thanks!” Phainon sits down, making sure to leave enough space for Mydei when he comes back to join him.
The host returns with two cans of different sodas and offers both to his guest so he can choose which one he wants. Once Phainon takes one, Mydei opens the other for himself.
“Thanks! Seriously, I was looking forward to the finals so much, and then my boss told me I had to do one more delivery…”Phainon goes on to explain what happened. “Thinking back, perhaps it all worked out the way it should have. You look young, do you also go to the Grove by any chance?”
As they wait for the pitcher to throw the next ball, Phainon glances at Mydei.
“I don't,” Mydei shakes his head. “I go to Kremnoan University.”
“Oh! No wonder I've never seen you around. Isn’t Kremnoan kinda far from here?” Phainon asks, though his attention is halfway back to the TV.
“It is, but it was my family’s wish that I go there. Either way, it turns out living here and commuting is way cheaper than living there, so here I am.” Mydei shrugs and reaches for the pizza box on the coffee table. “Want a piece? I don’t mind sharing, especially since you said you’d cover it.”
“No worries, I’m good. I can’t stand anchovies, haha!” Phainon laughs, and the laugh turns into a cheer as his favorite team manages to score two points on the same play.
“I suppose that’s fair,” Mydei nods. He finally looks at the screen, realizing he's been staring at Phainon almost the entire time.
Perhaps this is the beginning of a new friendship. Mydei certainly wouldn't be opposed to it.