[Open] He didn't ask for this

[silentnarration]

WHO: Squall + you?
WHAT: There's a little bird named Boko. Also setting up for Premium Foods drama.
WHERE: Dorms + Premium Foods
WHEN: August 2 onward
WARNINGS: Shady and terrible retail working conditions?

A) Chasing after a bird (Dorms - August 2 and the week following that)
After the confusion that is waking up to a tiny chocobo delivery at his door and discovering Nida's aversion to chocobos in general, Squall is now having a wonderful time trying to figure out what to do with a chicobo.

Spoilers: He has no freaking clue.

Fun fact 1: Boko does not like being indoors.
Fun fact 2: He is very good at escaping.

So there is a barely knee-high yellow bird stalking you today, pecking at your shins, jumping onto the communal kitchen counter, blocking your view of the TV, being cute and making noises along the lines of 'wark' and 'kweh'. Quickly followed by a tall exasperated teenager rushing in to snatch up the bird, muttering something along the lines of "No!" or "Sorry." and awkwardly holding the struggling bird.

Sometimes Boko just breaks free or dodges and there's a chase scene. Squall is not having a good start to the month.


B) Premium Foods is evil (Aug 2) - Setting up! Feel free to skip to the tag options.
Thanks to Boko's surprise appearance, Squall is late for work for the first time that month. An action that will prove to be a bigger problem than expected as his supervisor walks up to him while he's working on cashier lane 5. The conversation is quiet but there's a sense of growing annoyance from the way Squall frowns at him.

Squall shoves the cashier box shut with a satisfying whoosh of rattling coins and metal.

"I quit." His contract is up tomorrow anyway.

"If that's how you feel, we'll be in touch with our lawyers." The supervisor continues to look smug. The explanation that follows along the lines of Squall violating the contract by being late, Premium Foods requiring compensation for the alleged loss of revenue in that time, and the stupid amount they could sue Squall for over it.

Squall goes deathly quiet and turns off the light to his counter to close the lane. "I'm going to count the stock," he announces and walks off, ignoring the passive aggressive complaints from the customers who are waiting.

B1) Angry stocking
Squall can be found in one of the aisles moving items around, squeezing them too tightly, and slamming them down with way more force than necessary. He's lost in his thoughts until a particularly hard slam of a bottle sends ketchup flying everywhere.

Hopefully no one's nearby to catch that.

B2) Angry trashing
Clean up, throwing out expired stock... They're an occasional part of his duties. It's while he's hauling the last giant bag of trash into the dumpster on the far side of the store that the bag rips.

Squall just stares at the mess by his feet and very pointedly kicks the dumpster hard enough to leave a slight dent. He seriously just wants to go home, and he's not talking about the dorms.

((OOC: I forgot to add but Premium Foods is basically a high-end grocery chain that's about as snobbish as it gets.))

Comments

[helpdesk_hero]

"Need some help?" David asks, carefully starting to wipe down the shelves with the the napkins.

Seems like he intended to anyway.

[silentnarration]

"If you want. I'll get a bucket," he says simply. He's going to walk off without another word, returning a few minutes later with a cleaning cart and setting down the stereotypical 'wet floor' sign, appropriate stylized for cyberpunk garishness.

[helpdesk_hero]

David doesn't bother to protest. By the time Squall returns he's gotten more of the shelves cleaned off as well, polishing the edges to make sure the ketchup isn't there.

"Have you considered quitting, if you hate your job so much? I mean, this looks like a store where customers have to be really difficult to deal with."

[silentnarration]

That's probably the nicest thing anyone's done for him so far in this stupid store.

"They are." If Squall doesn't know any better, he'd wonder if they are actually human. "And I can't." Not until he finds a way to get out of this pickle. He's going to start moping up the floor since David's gotten to the shelves.

[helpdesk_hero]

Well, David's a nice person. But he frowns at the information that Squall can't. Not that he's going to pry. He just nods silently. Not his place to pry. Instead he moves to start wiping down containers that got ketchup onto them.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

[silentnarration]

Squall sighs, trying not to direct his annoyance at David.

"You're already helping." He's cleaning. That counts, right? But after another moment of annoyed mopping, he pauses. "Do you know anything about getting sued for breaking contract?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"Sorry, no law school rattling around in my head," David admits. Which is a strange statement to make, except for him. For him it makes sense. "But I'm trying to figure it out. I want out of my job here too. Well, not at this specific place. Tech support line."

[silentnarration]

Why would he have a law school rattling in his head? Squall looks at him strangely for a moment but doesn't question it. Maybe David is just weird.

"Oh." He's about to drop it when he dimly remembers chatting to someone about tech support. What are the chances though? Or the miracle that Squall remembered a mundane conversation like that. "Are you nottechsupport on the network?"

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh? Maybe they've spoken in the past. He does finish cleaning the area he set himself to and looks to Squall.

"That would be me. Luckily there is no need for me to repair computers right now. What's the chance you're the one that wanted to slap the customer?"

[silentnarration]

Ah well. That was probably obvious.

"She slapped me." He is not confirming or denying that he wanted to slap her back. "So you spend hours telling people how to use phones?"

[helpdesk_hero]

“Phones, computers, register systems. If it is a computer, I service it. I hate it.”

And he smiles cheerfully as he admits it.

Because what is the point in being depressed? He is going to find a new job. One that is more satisfying.

[silentnarration]

Why is he smiling?? This guy is weird.

"They have you in a contract too?"

Don't mind Squall being a bit violent when he slams the mop into the bucket for some weirdly convenient soaking and wringing.

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh yes, Squall, very weird. And charming. Come on, be charmed? No? Oh well.

"They do. But I want to get out of it. If I figure it out, I can let you know."

[silentnarration]

Sorry, David. He's not in the mood to be charmed. He sighs.

"Sure." More angry mopping. "Mine's supposed to end next week. My supervisor claims I broke the contract so I'm stuck until they say otherwise."

[helpdesk_hero]

Damn that sucks. David frowns for him.

"That hardly sounds legal. You might want to look for a lawyer."

[silentnarration]

Squall stops himself before he sighs again. Hyne, he's going to turn old and gray working here.

"Maybe..." He thinks they'll just screw him over too though.

[helpdesk_hero]

"Don't be afraid to try," David suggests. "Or check the network. There may be solutions there."

Just a friendly bit of advice. But he does finish cleaning up the area he's been working on, and sets his dirtied paper towels into his basket.

"I won't tell them what caused the spill I used these on. Try and be quick. I don't think you deserve the trouble."

[silentnarration]

David's right but the thought of trusting more strangers to help him is just adding to his annoyance right now, so he doesn't respond to that.

He focuses on getting at the rest of the mess and tosses the mop back into the cart. It didn't take long thankfully.

"I don't care." He doesn't think they can do worse to him. He looks at David's opened packet and moves to grab it. "Get a fresh pack. I'll take this to the break room." His level of giving a fuck is rapidly dwindling to zero. He has no need for loyalty here.

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh. That... alright. David nods and doesn't bother arguing. The guy looks like that would be a bad idea.

"Good luck with the work."

[silentnarration]

Good man. Squall nods. Before he turns away though, he still remembers to offer up a quiet, "thanks."

He's grateful for the kindness if nothing else.