Archive of Our Own

The lunch rush at Burger King was awful. The fryers were frying to the best of their ability, Gale almost dropped an entire basket of nuggets like five minutes ago, and someone’s kid was currently smearing ketchup directly onto the table instead of the tray or a napkin like some kind of demon spawn. And Rosco was so fucking tired of today already.

“Rosco,” Luci says from the drink station, holding 5 cups all at once like he wasn't reprimanded by the manager for dropping drinks on the daily like JUST yesterday. “Your man’s here.”

Rosco doesn’t even look up from the register, he was currently praying to whatever god was up there to end the day early, hell, maybe even make a car crash into the fast food joint. “I don’t have a man, goofy.”

Luci rolled his eyes in return, he wanted the day to be over too but damn, talk about not even caring enough to pay attention. “Dude, the guy that comes here like daily, the one with the big ass order? Ring a bell??”

“…oh.” Realization dawned on his pale face, right, that guy, what was his name again, Malin or something? Don’t judge the guy for not remembering, he couldn't even recall if he ate breakfast today, anyway, he finally looked up and yep, there he is, Malen. 

He walked through the double doors with his headphones around his neck and his sleeves pushed up slightly like he isn’t about to ruin their entire shift by ordering the whole damn store again, Rosco really wondered how such a tiny guy could fit all of that fast food inside him anyway, he wasn’t made up of a black hole, right? 

Gale, who was flipping burgers in the back, finally stepped out front to check out the commotion. “OH, it’s mister black hole himself.”

Rosco looked back at him, was Gale reading his mind? How the hell did they both call Mal- the customer a black hole? What a crazy coincidence, anyway, rosco had a job to do so he flicked his hand at his coworker and friend, signaling him to go back to whatever he was doing. 

His friend pouted in return, dejected, but he did eventually turn back and return to the frying station, his beloved patties waiting to be flipped. Rosco sighed and turned back around as well, not expecting Malim to already stand there, he came face to face with him. They stared at each other for a while before Luci could be heard cursing in the background, the idiot probably dropped a cup again. 

Snapping out of his trance, Rosco finally greeted the customer with his usual monotone corporate greeting that was engraved into his mind. “Welcome to burger king, will you be ordering the same as usual today?” 

Malim looked taken aback, the smile he was carrying before dropping ever so slightly as something seemed to dawn on his face. Rosco wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but he felt the corners of his lips shaking slightly, trying his best not to laugh at that dumb look on Malim’s face. 

Dazed, Malim nodded his head slightly, confirming his order. He seriously looked horrified as he watched Rosco pressing lots of buttons like it was routine. 

“I’ll call for you when your order is ready, you can pay then, Malin, right?” Rosco prayed he got his name right, well, if it was wrong, then the customer would probably correct him anyway.

Malim just nodded absentminately, before walking off to take a seat at one of the tables, Rosco watched him pull out his phone and furiously typing away on it. Weird, he thought, however, his attention snapped to the loud crash that came from behind him, Cass smiled at him sheepishly, rushing off to the back to get some towels to clean the mess he had made. 

Meanwhile, Malim was venting his troubles to his friends in their groupchat.

[Ravanis gays]

 

Mlem

guys 

its so over

Nixiepoo

?
what now

Altussy

who died this time

Ryry

dont jinx it

remember when he told us about that car crash?

Nayu

what happened mlem

Mlem
do yall remember that cashier i told yall about

the cute one?

Nixiepoo
dude which one??

the mcdonalds one?? 

the burger king one??

Altussy
im pretty sure his crush on the mcd’s guy passed when he gave him the ick

lmao

Ryry
oh yeah, i remember that convo

Nixiepoo

mb, so the burger king one?

Nayu

has to be
what did you do

Mlem
i can literally never come back here again

so i walked in

felt cute, even smiled brightly

yk how it is

Ryry

and then what

 

Mlem

so i walked up to the counter

idk what he was doin but he wasnt looking at me

he turned around

stared at me for a bit

THEN

hes like “so the usual?”

GUYS??

 

 

Altussy

??? yeah?

Nixiepoo
bro you go there every other day 😭

why WOULDNT he say that

Mlem
NO BUT LIKE
HE KNEW IT
INSTANTLY
I DIDNT EVEN GET TO SPEAK

Ryry
LMFAOOOOOOOO

Nayu
called you a big back indirectly

bruh thats crazy

Mlem
BRO MY REPUTATION

HOLY FUCK ITS OVER

Meanwhile, from behind the register, Rosco was just watching Malim typing, occasionally slamming his head into the table, what's wrong with him?? Rosco stared at him for a second longer before glancing back down at the register. “…what’s wrong with him.”

Luci immediately leaned over the counter trying to see. “Who are we talking about, let me in on the tea.”

“The customer.”

“The one you’re staring at dead in the back of the head?”

“I’m literally not.”

“You literally are.” Luci squinted toward the tables before snorting. “…oh my god, he IS tweaking.” 

Sure enough, Malim was currently slumped face first onto the table while still typing on his phone at concerning speeds, shoulders tense like whatever he was doing was actively holding him at gunpoint.

From the back, Gale poked his head out again with a tray with a crazy amount of fries balanced dangerously in his hands. “Why’s black hole-kun mourning over there, you can literally see the color leaving that whole area, it's giving gloomy.”

“No clue,” Rosco muttered. “Maybe he realized how much money he spends here.”

Cass walked by holding a mop, still trying to clean up the mess, which, rosco learned, was a whole new batch of fresh patties and ice creams. “Valid crashout.”

"Lowkey," Luci agreed immediately. “Also why are we acting like his order isn’t singlehandedly funding all our paychecks?” He put his hands up into some weird praying motion, probably thanking the guy in his mind, rather than saying it out loud. 

Malim, who was unaware of the attention he was gathering, kept looking at his phone, which was buzzing violently in his hands.

[Ravanis gays]

Mlem
guys im actually cooked

Nixiepoo
over burger king is CRAZY 😭

Altussy
bro got recognized like a local cryptid

Ryry
“the usual?” LMFAOOOOOO

Nayu
nah cuz i know your soul left your body when he said that

Mlem
IT DID
HE DIDNT EVEN HESITATE

Nixiepoo
well yeah
youre there every damn day 😭

Mlem

I THOUGHT I WAS BEING MYSTERIOUS ABOUT IT

Altussy

MYSTERIOUS????
bro orders enough food for a family of six every visit

Ryry
he probably saw you walk in and knew instantly 

Mlem
STOP TALKING

YOURE SUPPOSED TO REASSURE ME??

Nayu
wait did he at least remember your name

 

Mlem
NO
HE CALLED ME MALIN

I DIDNT CORRECT HIM CUZ

IM SO ?? EMBARRASSED??

 

Nixiepoo
MALIN 😭😭😭

Altussy
close enough lowkey

Mlem
NO IT ISNT????

Ryry
i agree with altus, close enough 

lmao

Mlem
HE BASICALLY FAT SHAMED ME IN CUSTOMER SERVICE LANGUAGE

Nayu

bruh he didnt even say all that

overreacting

Nixiepoo
“welcome back biggie” ahh crush

Mlem
IM GONNA BLOCK ALL OF YOU

ISTG??

Eventually, the order was finally done. Which honestly deserved applause at this point because Gale almost burnt the fries twice, Luci somehow spilled another drink despite holding literally nothing this time, and Cass looked one inconvenience away from clocking out permanently and becoming a forest animal.

Rosco grabbed the massive tray-bag-combo of food with both hands, staring at it for a second. “…this should not legally be one person’s order.”

“It’s probably not,” Gale said immediately from behind him. “There’s definitely a secret family hiding somewhere.”

“Or a tapeworm,” Luci added.

“Or both,” Cass muttered.

Rosco ignored all three of them and finally glanced toward the tables again. Malim was still sitting there looking like his life had ended approximately fifteen minutes ago, staring into the void while his phone buzzed every two seconds in his hands.

Rosco hit the counter bell once, deciding to end whatever suffering Malim was currently going through. “Order for…” he squinted at the receipt. “…Malin.”

From the table, Malim’s head lifted slowly, the expression on his face genuinely looked like he had just heard the call of a fallen soldier returning to war. He stood up anyway, gathering himself with the energy of a man approaching his execution. He walked over slowly, stopping at the counter while avoiding eye contact.

Rosco slid the giant order toward him. “…you good?”

“Yeah,” Malim answered way too fast. What a fucking liar. There was a short awkward silence before Malim quietly held his phone out toward Rosco.

Rosco blinked once. “…what.” 

Malim lightly shook the phone in his direction, and because Rosco’s brain unfortunately worked faster than his filter sometimes, the words left his mouth automatically. “…what, you want my number or something?”

What followed after was pure, painful silence, then the fucker dropped his phone, straight onto the ketchup and mayonaise filled floor. A loud clack accompanied the weird sound that Malim let out.

Malim crouched down so fast to grab his phone Rosco thought he might actually tunnel through the tiles. “NO,” he blurted out, face violently red now. “I MEANT I wanted to pay with my phone.”

It was silent for a moment, then Rosco laughed, not even just a little either, an actual laugh, tired and caught off guard, and Malim immediately looked even more embarrassed somehow.

“Right, yeah,” Rosco said, still grinning while pressing the payment option on the register. “My bad. Kinda assumed there.”

“You assumed WRONG,” Malim muttered into the counter, face so red he might as well win in a contest against an actual red tomato and probably win, somehow.

Rosco shook his head, still smiling a little, looking a little more alive, as the machine beeped. “Alright, you can tap now.”

Malim did it with the energy of someone trying to escape public execution. The payment went through instantly. Rosco handed over the receipt.

“Aight,” Malim said weakly, before grabbing all seventeen bags of food or whatever the hell was in that order and turned toward the exit at mach speed, probably hoping death would take him before the automatic doors opened.

“Hope to see you again soon, Malin.”

Malim stopped dead in his tracks, Rosco leaned against the counter slightly, looking entirely too entertained with himself now. 

Slowly, Malim turned back around. “…my name is Malim,” he said with a sigh. Then after a tiny pause, eyes flicking over Rosco once, “pretty boy.” And then he walked out.

The doors slid shut behind him.

Rosco just stood there for a second, blinking dumbly. “…pretty boy?” he repeated, his voice cracking a little bit at the end. 

And outside Burger King, Malim was standing in the parking lot debating if it was too late to move countries or if he should just buy that noose and chair already.