I enter the shop and see one of the workers finishing a conversation with an old customer, who walked past me and out of the shop, looking exhausted.
"Hey Joe." I say.
"Hey Kota." he says, with a bit a of a sigh in his tone.
I hesitated, not wanting to have a conversation so early on in the morning.
"Whats up?" I asked, then instantly regretted it once the words came out of my mouth. I wasn't a morning person. As much as I hate to say it, in this moment, I honestly didn't care what was bothering my co-worker.
"Ah nothing, just that old bloke, just telling me the struggles he's going through. Poor guy, he retired twenty years ago and he still has to deal with stress."
My moan in response as I prepare one of the work tables, taking tools from the box and laying them on the work tables.
There was silence for a few seconds.
"Aren't you going to ask what he was stressed about?" Joe asked and I shrugged.
"What's he stressed about?" I ask casually.
"Well, the poor guy got divorced. Can you imagine, getting divorced at, how old is he? Like seventy?" Joe says, his voice laced with genuine pity for the man.
"Hm, that's unfortunate." I state bluntly.
Joe's mouth gets set in a straight line. "I see your social skills haven't improved." he states. I turn around and look at my co-worker for the first time since entering the shop. I lean on the worktable and tilt my head in a shrug.
Joe's perfect, sharp eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Holy-" Joe starts.
"Language." I cut off before he even said anything.
"Kota, you look like a freaky vampire!" he explains. "Joe, you can't make a sentence without cursing can you?" I say bluntly.
"I didn't even."
"You basically did. Just because you're an old man doesn't mean you should have no filter. I'm still a minor remember." I say. I didn't like swearing. It reminded me of my parents.
"I'm twenty five." Joe said, his voice told me he was offended at being called an old man.
"So you're an old man."
"You're only like eight years younger than- wait no, I'm not going to argue about this with you. What on earth happened to you're face Kota, you look like you haven't slept in a century."
"I'd be dead." I said dryly, turning around to face the work table again.
"Kota, you really need to take better care of yourself!"
I sighed. "I do take care of myself." Don't I?
"Kota, you clearly are lacking sleep. You're too young to be overworking yourself, enjoy your teen years before they're over. You're not going to grow if you don't sleep you know? You're gonna stay short forever."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm one sixty five centimetres (5'5). And I stopped growing when I turned sixteen." I said.
"..oh"
We fell into silence for a few seconds before I heard Joe walk closer to me and place a hand on my shoulder.
"If you ever need anything, you know you can ask me right?" he said, his voice filled with concern.
I turned my head to look at him. "We only met two weeks ago, you don't need to be so concerned." I said and Joe shrugged, the corners of his mouth twitching with a smile. "I've got a brother about your age, just as irresponsible and stubborn. It's a habit to worry."
"Well don't." I said flatly.
"Come on Kota, you heard me, you're too young to be neglecting your health!" he exclaimed.
"You said it yourself, I'm only eight years younger than you." I stated.
Joe sighed in defeat and I stuck out my lip, wondering if I was being too blunt.
"Listen Joe, I appreciate the concern, really. But I don't need it. The best thing you can do for me is ask Chip to hire me." I said and Joe nodded. "I'll try and convince him. But take it easy until then."
Hah. If only.
-Interdimensional Pirates
-April Bluebird/@BlueWhiskers1
-17/Feb/2022
-Chapter 1, PART 4; Freaky Vampire
- 👁🗨 420, 🌟, 0 🔥, 0 💭.