#and i sadly like .. BEGGED the office staff like ''can anyone just .. drop me off after the surgery i live a spit away from you''

[yoshistory]

honestly the only thing that worries me about getting sex reassignment surgeries is the fact that i dont know anyone who could be here to bathe and help me eat and watch over me and take care of the cats, etc while i recover from them

[jaceyneedsabetterusername]

Insecurities

Pairing: Sokka x Gender Neutral! Reader 

Warnings: None

Summary: Being a non-bender in the gaang isn’t always easy but your best friend Sokka always has ways of cheering you up. 

Word Count: 2017

A/N: This is my first A:TLA fic! I hope Sokka isn’t OOC but please let me know if he is so I can write him better in the future! 

__________________________________

No matter much you insisted to yourself and everyone around you that being a non-bender didn't bother you, it was a bold faced lie. You hated it. 

Back home, it hadn't been an issue. In the little earth kingdom village you hailed from, bending was forbidden because the fire nation had soldiers there that would imprison any earth benders. Even those who had the gift didn't tell anyone so you never felt different or less than. 

But now that you were with Team Avatar, as Sokka liked to call it, there were constant reminders about your lack of powers.

You sat on a rock on the bank of the river you'd all camped next to, staring at the point where the string of your fishing pole entered the water. It was your job to provide food tonight and after much begging from Sokka for “real food”, as he called it, you found yourself trying to fish instead of forage. The sun was beginning to set, still in the pale blue stage of descent. In a little creek that split off, Katara moved smoothly, guiding water into the air with ease as she practiced a new move she'd been working on. 

Toph was just lying against a rock pillow that she'd willed up into just the right, perfectly comfortable (for a rock) form, shade being cast down on her from another sheet of rock she'd bent into a half tent form. Having secretly been a standing champion in an earth bending fighting ring, beating full grown men five times her size at the age of twelve, she seldom felt the need to practice. 

Zuko was being Zuko. He stood off away from everyone in a clearing of dirt at the edge of the woods, practicing perfectly posed movements as he tried to force more and more power into the fire leaving his palms. 

It wasn't until Aang swooshed past you on a ball of air, sending your hair and the fabric of your clothing blowing in the wake of his pure youthful laughter, that the weight of your insecurities really hit you. 

You sighed, setting your makeshift fishing rod down and wedging it between two rocks. You scrunched your knees up and rested your chin on them, imagining what your life would be like if you had been born with such power. "Hey, you okay?" Sokka appeared from seemingly nowhere, coming up from behind to sit beside you. 

You perked up and tried to shake off the painful thoughts and shrugged, "Yeah, I'm good." You lied with a smile. 

"Please tell me you caught something. I am dying for some meat. We've been eating nothing but berries for days and I think I might die." Sokka begged, plucking at the string coming from the rod. 

You smacked his hand away and reprimanded him, "You're gonna scare the fish, idiot!" 

Yours and Sokka's relationship had always been full of sarcasm and insults but always from a place of love.  As the only non-benders, you often found yourselves paired up for everything which gave you a lot of time to develop a pretty solid friendship. But your idiot, meat obsessed best friend should have known better than to disrupt your fishing. 

Sokka put his hands up in defense, "I'm sorry! I'm just hungry, okay?!" He whined, plopping his face into his hands in 

As he sulked about the hunger you all shared, you looked over, your attention drawn by Zuko's groan of frustration. A tree he was facing was slightly charred but it was clear that he had intended to cause much more damage. He was distracted and frustrated but those seemed to be fairly frequent emotions for him.

Sokka noticed the unusual silence between the two of you and glanced over, chin still on his palm, and noticed you looking sadly at Zuko. He knew very well though that the look wasn't longing for Zuko himself but rather his powers. It was a feeling Sokka was well familiar with himself, "I know how you feel." He began simply, knowing you were reading each other's minds. 

You knew exactly what he meant. It was an unspoken bond of frustration that was only ever brought up verbally when someone underestimated your competence as fighters but it was there. "Do you ever wish you could bend?" You asked, looking over at him.

Sokka leaned back, his usual air of casual cockiness fading into a more sincere version of himself that didn’t shine through as often, "Not so much anymore. I mean, when we were younger, Katara was the only bender in our village so I guess I was jealous that she had this amazing power and I didn't. But I think now I've come to accept my place in the group. Katara and you are the brains. Zuko, Toph, and Aang are the brawn. And I'm the beauty." He put his hand under his chin like a child trying to pose cutely and he pulled his "cutest" face (although you weren't sure if that's what you'd call it - more like cheesy).

You chuckled a little bit, your tone becoming a slightly lighter, "Well, if you could bend, what kind of bender would want to be?" 

Sokka chewed his lip and thought for a moment, "I think I'd stick with my roots and be a water bender. What about you?" 

Your brows furrowed, "I don't know… I mean I know I'm from the earth kingdom so I should say earth bender but I just… I don't know! My whole life would just be rocks. I mean, don't get me wrong, the powers are amazing and definitely one of the most powerful as far as I'm concerned but it's just rocks. Everything is rock." 

"I know exactly how that feels! My whole life has been ice! Everything is freaking ice! I lived in an igloo made of ice!" Sokka spoke animatedly, flailing his arms around to further his point. 

Normally, you might have giggled or rolled your eyes at his dramaticness but instead you became more enthusiastic about your words as well. "Exactly! I mean I lived in a wooden hut but we used to take trips to Omashu and everything is just rock! At least the air kingdom and fire kingdom don't just have air and fire for everything." 

"You know what?" Sokka asked, putting his hand on your shoulder, "They may have superpowers but you know what they don't have?" 

You raised your eyebrows, waiting for him to continue his sentiment. "A kick ass boomerang or a freaking awesome bow staff!" He finished, whipping out his boomerang and using it to point to your bow staff that was leaned against the rocks beside you, your main weapon of choice. 

"Aang kind of has a staff." You interjected, rolling your eyes to look over at your friend. 

"No, Aang has a magical flying stick." Sokka was clearly unamused by your attempt to fault his logic, “Just accept the fact that you’re cool too!” 

His compliments made your cheeks turn red and you laughed, “Yeah, I s’pose you’re right. I am pretty awesome.” 

Sokka’s arms went out in triumph when you finally admitted your true value, “Exactly! Besides, we’re better at hand to hand combat than them too.” 

Your head wavered side to side as an expression of unsureness swept over your face, “Eh, I don’t know about that. Have you seen Zuko with his swords?” 

“Shut up!” He whined, exasperated, “If you’re going to keep being like this, I’m going to stop trying to make you feel important.”

Your mouth fell open a little bit at his last comment, “Are you saying I’m not important?!” Obviously, you knew that wasn’t what he meant. He’d been your best friend since you joined the group so you knew that Sokka valued you just as much as you did him. But still, as such an easy target, he was so much fun to pick on sometimes. 

Your best friend quickly backtracked, “Not that you’re not important! Just- agh! You know what I mean!” His face fell dramatically and his arms dropped to his side, finally stilling from their usual expressive flailing. 

You reached over and grabbed his arm in reassurance, laughing at his flusteredness, “I know what you mean, Sokka! I’m just kidding Gosh, you’re so easy to pick on.” Sokka groaned as you pulled him in close, giving him a side hug. “Thank you for trying to help me feel better. I know that we’re a vital part of the team and that we have specialties that others don’t. I just can’t help but feel insecure sometimes when everyone else can bend the elements to their will and we can’t.” 

Sokka leaned into your touch, awkwardly side hugging you back while you held onto his arm, “Yeah, I know. Me too sometimes. But then I just remember how awesome I am and then I feel better. You should try it sometime” He let you go and pulled his boomerang out from behind him, inspecting the sharp blade with a cocky smirk you knew was just there to mask his insecurities. 

“Maybe I should.” You pondered his words as you leaned back against the rock you’d used as a back rest while you fished and looked out at the setting sun’s reflection on the water. Mentally, you took notes of all the things you were good at. Sure, Katara could move water, Toph could fling rocks, Zuko could conjure fire, and Aang… well Aang was the avatar. But you were a master fighter, capable of taking down ten men with your bowstaff alone. Not only that but you were highly skilled in hand to hand combat. Since your father had been a high commanding officer in the vigilante brigade in your village against the fire nation before he was arrested, he’d instilled a lot of knowledge crucial to survival, on and off the battlefield. Things like scavenging and foraging, making shelter and weapons from next to nothing, battle strategy, natural healing remedies, and keeping a good head in combat were all things that came naturally to you. The bender’s didn’t have that. 

Yes, they were amazingly gifted and talented people but they relied on their abilities for all things. You were able to do almost just as much, if not more, without the powers. Sokka was right: you two were total badasses. 

When you looked back at him, he was sharpening his blade on the rocks and then held it up to the light to inspect it, repeating the process a few times. An idea popped into your head and you looked over at him coyly, “Y’know, Sokka, we are total non-bending badasses. But we don’t know who’s the best non-bending badass.” 

Sokka side eyed you suspiciously, “Is that a challenge?” 

You sighed and leaned back, stretching your body out to show how little you were afraid of him, “Yeah, I think it is. Unless, you’re scared you’ll lose.” You taunted, knowing the rise you were getting out of your best friend. 

Sokka was well aware of what you were doing but he couldn’t resist the temptation of a little friendly battle. “I’m not scared!” His voice cracked, making his comment harder to take seriously, “Just be warned. There’s only gonna be two hits. Me hitting you and you hitting the ground.” He stood up, cracking his knuckles and back as he spoke. 

“Oh, is that so? Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is Water Boy?” You stood up too, grabbing your bowstaff and stamping it firmly onto the earth beside you. 

He grabbed his boomerang and gripped it tightly. He stepped closer, his nose almost touching yours as he locked you into a glare-off, a twinkle of friendly competition in his vibrant blue eyes. You knew that friendly competition was sure to come with a “friendly” amount of scuffs and bruises to both the loser and the victor, though you were positive you’d be the latter of those two. 

Sokka nearly growled as he spoke, raising his eyebrow in challenge, “It’s on.” 

[fuck-customers]

Big Bird Deli, Part 3

Continued from https://fuck-customers.tumblr.com/post/185625162330/continuation-of-the-big-bird-deli-story-found

Now, I know you all want me to say I got a new job and rubbed it in my store manager’s face. Sadly, reality is often disappointing. My top choices so far sent back general rejection emails and I’m looking into different industries to branch into. Now, it's not all bad news, but in order to get into the good news, I need to tell you all a story about one co-worker; our constant call off, whom I’ll refer to as CCO. Buckle up for a long story.

CCO was transferred to our store from the one about five minutes down the road a little under three years ago now. I was still in my first year when she transferred in. As I worked with her, she seemed like a good co-worker. Knowledgeable, dependable, she even taught a bunch of tricks to make the job easier. Then, some things started to bubble to the surface.

At first, the only bad thing about her is that she took a long time in the bathroom, 10-15 minutes, pretty much a break without clocking out for one. CCO’s explanation for this was biological, but she couldn’t identify her condition. Skeptical, but ok. Then, she’d also take a long time to get a drink (Non-alcoholic). Managers caught sipping a drink in the break room, and even the training room (Small room with computers for basic training/OSHA/Food Safety) and told her multiple times, she could only do that on breaks. She’d also do stuff that led to numerous signs in our back hall. She’d try store dry food there, take drinks back there, and she’d be on her cell phone on her shift way too much (Mostly showing her cats, making notes, not talking or playing games).

Then, she began to talk constantly. She’d talk with customers even after their orders were done. I constantly saw customers get that “I need to get going but I don’t see my chance to leave yet” expression, and she’d keep blabbering on for a few more minutes as the customer slowly tried to inch away. But it wasn’t just customers, CCO would do the same to co-workers. She’d blabber on while doing nothing or only very small tasks. Sometimes her conversations sucked you in, even though the topics were things from youth, church, or constant updates about her cats (she and husband got up to FIVE cats, and yes, introductions to them included pictures.) I had the highest tolerance for these stories, not sure why.

Now, I can handle those things above. But it got worse. So. Much. Worse. After our store got remodeled just before CCO came in, tasks were updated to include not only sweeping the department floor every night but also washing and squeegeeing the floor. CCO made excuses so she wouldn’t be the one doing it. She’d do anything she could to pass it off on that night’s co-worker. She made excuses that it hurt her back, but refused time and time again to get a doctor’s note to excuse her from the task. She also made excuses that it was tiring, but she stopped those excuses after only a couple weeks. This, coupled with many closers forgetting some tasks, provoked our Deli Manager to make daily task sheets starting this past summer, mostly focused on the closing staff. I, personally, am ok with the sheets, as I view it as a tool to acclimate new employees to the department tasks.

But here’s the big one. She ‘began’ to get migraines within six months of her transfer. She’d slow and become less useful during work, taking long treks to get water and basic medicine that seemed to do the trick at first. The kicker is that she began to call off once every two weeks. Now, you may think that’s not so bad and it’ll count against her. Wrong. She applied for FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) for her migraines. She could spend a TON of hours towards it, and she could reapply when she ran out. I started out sympathetic, as I have family members with migraines, but they have methods to curb it so they can work. CCO started calling off once a week. Twice a week. This year, it went up to three times a week. And it was almost always on the same co-worker, Nice Coworker (NC). NC became stressed, she didn’t even want to be scheduled with CCO because of it, but sometimes had no choice. I saw NC break down in tears multiple times. She threatened management to not call her if CCO called off on Sundays, cuz she wouldn’t come in at all. Our deli manager retaliated by trying to schedule CCO less. CCO retaliated by complaining about her hours and claiming hours of other co-workers due to seniority!!! She’d just take their shifts and call-off anyway! So not only was she causing hours to drop, she was basically stealing money from people who actually show up for work.

This all caused morale and productivity to plummet. We were stressed, aggravated even. All the while management still wanted everything perfect while not addressing the problem. And since we’re union, management has to give CCO chance after chance before she’s finally fired or CCO will just run and cry to the union about ‘unfair termination’. We also got wind from people in the store down the street (Sometimes people over here have to cover over there and vice versa) that this behavior happened down there, but not to the extent it got down here, and was the reason CCO transferred. We also learned that she’s had this behavior at all the past jobs she told anyone about. This woman is ten years older than me and hasn’t learned any lessons about her behavior.

Oh, but the cherry on top of this comes in the form of gaslighting and manipulation. CCO dared to call NC her friend while she was claiming NC’s hours and calling off on her! CCO would apologize and say that she “was a shitty person,” and that we “must hate her”. Insincere apologies, self-bashing designed to make you say “No, you’re not a piece of garbage!”(even though she was). CCO also spread rumors about a friend who’s like a brother to me (from another department) when he briefly got in deep trouble. She did this because she thought she could get his full-time position once he was fired (A position that took him being there 12 years and his manager begging multiple times on his behalf to get). Needless to say, I heard through the grapevine and began to truly hate her.

Oh, and remember those call-offs? CCO’d often do those on the weekend, y’know, the busy times. Especially Sundays. Since she was a “Good Christian™”, she’d want to go to church on Sundays. Ok. Reasonable. Then, she called off on Sunday evenings, a shift that’s hell to close alone. Again, on NC mostly. She’d do this repeatedly until our Deli Manager decided to not schedule her on Sunday, two weeks in a row. CCO smirked and told NC that “Her plan had worked!” and that she won’t work Sundays (She didn’t put them off on her availability because it was discouraged, and sometimes even rejected, to not work weekends). To say that, and say that to the person she called off on constantly, is just despicable. Many of us told our deli manager as soon as possible. If she didn’t schedule CCO on Sundays, she’d work on Sundays in any department she had experience in (she’s cross-trained in the Hot foods and meat departments).

At the start of this year. Everyone in the department hated her. Some would be catty or strictly business with her. I opted to pretend to not want to rip her face off, otherwise, I risked forwarding that bile to customers, and I have cried on CCO’s shoulder in the past due to previous work-related bullshit (not the story above). But, we finally had some news from the grapevine; CCO’s doctor AND corporate had picked up on her FMLA abuse. It was flagged as abuse because during times her FMLA expired and needed to be redone her migraines had ‘mysteriously’ disappeared. No call-offs until after FMLA was reinstated. Her doctor told her that he wouldn’t approve more and even if he did, it wouldn’t be approved by the company. By our calculations, she’d run out at the end of May. She ran out mid-May. All we had to do was wait.

And this past week, the good news! Turns out CCO didn’t help NC much the Saturday of my paid vacation. NC went to Store Manager on Wednesday, on her day off, to report CCO. Store Manager told NC that CCO, and potentially all of the deli, was going to get pulled into the office soon one by one. Details couldn’t be said due to confidentiality but NC said that shit was about to go down, we all just didn’t know what. On Friday, now mid-June, our Union Steward (A worker to represents the union while not working for the union directly) came and got CCO and pulled her into the office with Store Manager. Ten minutes later, CCO was escorted out of the store by Loss Prevention. The scales finally tipped when the customer complaints stacked up, and that she got into a verbal argument with a co-worker (Not me or NC) with a manager as a witness. Said co-worker was at the store on her day off, shopping and chatting with us briefly. While CCO passed by, CCO called her a bitch, in earshot of Loss Prevention. But that was the last we’ve seen of CCO.

Slight dancing was had, and upper management reminded us that this is an opportunity to turn the deli around. We got a new person who started during my vacation. She’s absolutely amazing and gets along with everyone. It’s only been a few days, but already other departments are commenting that the deli seems happier and that a great weight has been lifted. I always joked about giving CCO this big speech in a dark, even tone and saying she needs to go on disability or welfare if her work ethic or migraines are that bad. But, I decided against doing a big Facebook drama thing. Instead, I blocked her on social media and her phone number. I’m glad to finally cut her out of my life permanently.

As for me? I’m still at Big Bird. Now that the main problem is gone, I can take my time finding a good job and not go for the first one that gives me an interview. I still want to leave because of upper management, and I haven’t received confirmation that my write up was overturned. Things are looking up, and I’m glad we now have a solid, competent team as we get ready for the 4th of July sales.

Last word: I was going to post this as is, but today, I heard something amazing. A co-worker had to work a split shift, beginning down the road then coming up to our store. Turns out, CCO didn’t tell her husband that she got fired! She told him she was on vacation! And he works down the street! I busted up laughing, imagining scenarios when he finds out she lied. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall for that confrontation. :3

TL;DR

Not much has happened other than a co-worker getting fired and absolutely deserving it after putting the deli under so much stress.

[stories-everywhere]

Five Nights

@vortexart

(Thomas’s P.O.V)

I let out a sigh as I reach my new part time job, a night guard at a rather old looking pizzeria that looks as if it hasn’t been cared for in many years. I push open the creaky old door to find that it’s empty and that on the stage are the same three animatronics that has always been up there.

“Time hasn’t been kind to any of you four now has it?” I say sadly as I past them on my way to the main office to find that it is also empty, I take a seat at the desk and play the message I have.

“Hello, welcome to your first night on the job here at Vine. Your job as a night guard is to keep an eye on all of the animatronics as they do tend to wonder around at night for a bit as it has something to do with their servos locking up if they don’t move... I don’t know much.” I raise an eyebrow at that comment that he had made not really understanding what he means by it all.

“Ok... that makes a bit of sense as they are getting old now after all these years of performing for this old place.” I mutter in thought as I continue to listen to the phone guy’s intro for me about what I should do and don’t do here so that I can in fact keep the job here… I don’t know yet.

“You also will need to conserve your power as you only have a limited amount, so close your doors only when you have to alright? We need to save power for the morning.” The message says and I can’t help to roll my eyes at what the phone guy said about saving power for the next morning.

“Why don’t you renovate this place and upgrade the animatronics’?” I mutter sarcastically.

“I will see you tomorrow night… hopefully that is.” The pre-recorded message finishes weirdly and I am left to think over everything that he had said to me in that message… oh well, I check my watch to see that it has just turned midnight and time to start my six hour long shift here.

“This is going to be the easiest bet I have ever done! Joan will eat their words once these five nights are over and done with!” I say to myself with a large grin on my face as I relax I bit as it is still rather early in my six hour shift of the first night at this place as nothing will happen... right?

(Logic’s P.O.V – Half an hour later)

The clock on the wall behind us on the main wall hits half twelve as I make my way around the quiet and abandoned pizzeria that the gang and I, all have called our home for many years.

“Logic?” I hear a soft voice mutter after me from the old stage but I ignore the soft and worried voice as I walk around my slightly rusted and stiff joins begin to scrap against each other.

“How did all of this happen?” I mutter as the scraping makes a loud clanging sound that sounds so much louder then it normal. I make it to the main party room and I let memories of when this place was full with laughter and was a safe place for all that came here to wash over me again.

(Flashback)

The party room is filled with children all running around and having fun as Anxiety, Morality and I are all on stage, Anxiety is singing, while Morality and I are his backups I also play the guitar.

-This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! In this town we call home. Everyone hail to the pumpkin song. La, la, la, la, la, la- Anxiety finishes the song as it is Halloween and it matches with his personality much better than any other time of the year.

“More! More! More! Please one more song Anxbear!!” The kids all call out in pure joy at the stage as we are now allowed to roam the room to play with and to entertain all of the young kids.

“Now kids… would you prefer to see him and the gang on stage or walk around and play with you all?” One of the staff says with a light smile on their face and the kids run up to us giggling, some head over to Pirates cove to see Princey while others stay with us three with large smiles.

“Gather round mates as I tell you the tale of how I almost lost my whole arm getting some rare treasure!” Prince says with a pirate accent before he dives into the story that he had ready for the kids since last night, I wander around keeping an eye on it all, I am happy with it all so far.

“Can you show me a trick please?” A young six year old boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes asks me with a large begging look in his eyes, I give him a smile as I rough up his hair a little bit.

“Now what time of party would this be if the main guest didn’t get what he wants?” I ask him as Morality makes his way over to us with a large smile on his face and hands behind his back.

“Did I just hear that the guest of honour wants a trick?” Morality says once he is standing next to me and a few other kids have gathered before us curious to know what is going on right now.

“That you did Morality.” I say to him with a soft smile on my lips as he interacts with the children gathered around us, I see that Anxiety has come off the stage and is coming over with Prince.

(Flashback End)

I am pulled out of my thoughts about the past when I suddenly can hear some soft singing, coming from within the curtain of Pirate Cove… normally Princey isn’t active this early in the night.

“I best head back to see if Morality has moved.” I mutter as I head back to the stage area.

(Morality’s P.O.V – half an hour after Logic left the stage)

I take my turn to leave my spot on the stage at Anxiety’s left to roam around after being stuck on the stage all day, I worry about Logic as he was unusually quiet when he left his spot earlier.

“Ahh, so you are also up and about then.” I turn to face the source of the voice only to find that it’s Logic making his way over to me with a soft smile on his face that I return full force.

“Yeah, this is the only time we get to walk around the old place again… I miss being able to interact with the kids Lo.” I say as I place the silver tray with the single cupcake on a nearby table.

“You are not the only one to feel like that Mo alright? It has been close to thirty odd years since we have been allowed to move around freely.” Logic says to me with a soft tone and gaze in his brown with a red tint eyes, if I was able to then I would be blushing at how he is looking at me.

“Logic is right about that… at least you still get to see the kids.” Logic and I turn to face Prince as he makes his way over to us… he never leaves his little cove not even to talk with Anxiety.

“Hey, Prince what are you doing out of pirate’s cove? It’s unusual for you to leave now a days.” I ask him with a soft voice as he makes his way over to us and he looks worse than normal.

“I heard that there is a new night guard and I kind of missed hanging out with you all… he’s still on the stage?” Prince says to us with a fox like grin on his face as he says this with a shrug before he trails off with worry in his brown with a gold tint eyes as Logic and I both nod sadly to him.

“He only moves when it’s completely dark now… has for a little while but maybe seeing you can change that?!” I say as if there is anyone that can get through to Anxiety then it is Prince, he nods his head before he goes over to the stage with his tail swaying a little bit behind him.

(Thomas’s P.O.V – around three in the morning)

I am half way through my shift and both Logic and Molality have at times come towards the back office and I have managed to keep them out so far, I have about half of my power left.

“So Princey hasn’t come up here yet and Anxiety has yet to move from the stage at all.” I mutter as I look around the pizzeria with the cameras. Logic is in the main party room and Morality is the kitchen by the sound of it as the camera in there is broken and I can only hear the audio.

“… Like to move much but please Anx...” I catch a snippet of a conversation as I switch through the cameras… confused I go back to the stage to see Prince is on the stage with Anxiety.

“I thought they just move around at night…” I mutter feeling a bit confused on what I had heard, Prince’s fox ears are dropping and his tail is hanging limply as if he is upset or worried.

“Please Anxiety, we are all worried about you… please you need to move or your servos will lock up.” Prince says to the non-moving animatronic before him with a worried tone in his voice, now I am a bit worried the phone guy said nothing about them being able to talk… like at all.

“Alright this changes nothing for me and if anything it’s a comfort as it means that they are still themselves after all these years.” I try to calm myself down with this knowledge as I continue with my shift… maybe this will be a little harder than I first thought if they keep all of this up.

“Let us in we only want to play.” I hear them all say to me as the night goes on, I keep a closer eye on my doors as three out of four all head up here more often causing me to us more power. The alarm on the IPad goes off letting me know that it is six and that my shift is finally over.

“Finally my shift is over.” I breathe as I get up and make my way out of the place, I find that all of the animatronics are back in their proper places once again as if they have never moved. As I pass the stage on my way to the main doors I swear I can feel their eyes following after me.

“Welcome to five nights, see you again tomorrow.” I hear a low voice say to me before it goes quiet again.

[jellyryans]

Secrets, secrets

Pairing: Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi

Prompt: Secrets/Truth (day five of @daisugaweek2017)

Word Count: 2080

It was a grisly scene, but it was Suga’s job to assess the damage, determine the crime, and track down the sick bastard that did it.

Suga knelt until he was eye-level with the tray of wilting succulents and examined each of the small pots. Some had rotted entirely, dark, viscous liquid under their skins. Others clung to life only barely, screaming for the final release of death. Carefully, he dipped a finger in the soil of the pot closest to him and took it out, rubbing his pointer finger and thumb together, confirming his suspicion.

Murder by watering can.

Read full text below the cut or on ao3. 

It was a grisly scene, but it was Suga’s job to assess the damage, determine the crime, and track down the sick bastard that did it.

Suga knelt until he was eye-level with the tray of wilting succulents and examined each of the small pots. Some had rotted entirely, dark, viscous liquid under their skins. Others clung to life only barely, screaming for the final release of death. Carefully, he dipped a finger in the soil of the pot closest to him and took it out, rubbing his pointer finger and thumb together, confirming his suspicion.

Murder by watering can.

Suga clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, ready to run through his list of suspects.

Suspect #1: Tanaka Ryuunosuke. Deli counter, unofficial floral assistant.

Tanaka was an unofficial assistant in the sense that he was hired to work behind the deli counter, but Suga had beat him into accepting the role after Yachi had left to work in the main office. It took weeks of rubbing do’s and don’ts into Tanaka’s thick, fuzzy skull, but it had been worth it.

Until that morning, at least.

Suga shook his head sadly. Things happened. People forgot. You trusted people and then they went and killed your plants. Maybe he hadn’t rubbed Tanaka’s head hard enough when he left the day before. Hypotheticals were a slippery slope, though, and Suga took out his phone under the counter to text Tanaka about his shift the night before.

He didn’t reply immediately, so Suga pocketed his phone and let his eyes wander to the clock above the sample station, directly across from the floral counter, then down to the person behind counter.

Suspect #2: Nishinoya Yuu, floating part-timer, usually doling out samples at the sample station.

Suga stared at Nishinoya’s back as he worked, slapping a giant knife against a cutting board at breakneck speeds and casually chatting over his shoulder to a customer like he hadn’t had his fair share of incidents.

Nishinoya favored knives, but who was to say that he wouldn’t choose a more innocuous murder weapon when committing a crime, say… A watering can?

Suga waited for the customer to leave, then snuck over to the table and tapped the counter in greeting.

Nishinoya perked up and whipped around, knife in hand. Suga stepped back instinctively, out of the range of the blade. He was supposed to be investigating a violent crime, not becoming a victim himself.

“Hey Suga-san!,” Nishinoya chirped. “Want some melon?” He brought the bowl over and plopped it in front of Suga, who eyed it warily.

“You haven’t bled all over it this time, have you?”

“Nope.”

Nishinoya held up his hands for inspection, one of them still sloppily bandaged from the week before. Suga looked closely at his fingers, then at the customers milling around them. They seemed happy enough; no one looked like they were about to throw up and there were zero bodies on the floor. All signs pointed to blood-free melon, but it was just too easy to tease Nishinoya. “Only because no one seems to have fainted today,” Suga joked as he reached for the bowl.

“Hey! That was one time!”

Suga snorted as he picked a couple of the larger pieces off the top and popped them into his mouth. “True,” he said with his mouth full. “But it was pretty traumatic.”

“I guess.” Nishinoya shrugged, brushing the memory aside like crumbs off a table. “So what brings you out of the jungle?”

Suga rolled his eyes at the nickname for the floral department, which had started as a joke but spread across the store like wildfire. He pretended to hate it, but he enjoyed thinking about the implications, like maybe instead of being the woefully underpaid floral manager at a giant grocery chain he was Indiana Jones, in the depths of the Amazon searching for treasure, or Tarzan, leaping from tree to tree, the wind in his hair, without a care in the world. Or maybe the hunky lead cashier would be Tarzan and Suga would be the scientist, all primly dressed. Oh. That was good.

Nishinoya snapped a couple fingers in front of Suga’s face. “Suga-san? You in there?”

Right.

It was was not the time to get lost in a steamy roleplay scenario. He was investigating a violent crime, which required his utmost focus. He could hash out the roleplay details later, in the comfort of his bed. Suga cleared his throat. “Yeah, sorry. Hey, were you working last night?”

Nishinoya popped a piece of the melon into his own mouth. “No,” he said, mouth still full of fruit. “I washn’t.”

“Don’t chew with your mouth full.”

In response, Nishinoya grinned widely, fruit coming out the sides of his mouth, and Suga cringed.  

“You’re an animal.”

Nishinoya winked and moved the bowl to place toothpicks in between the fruit and a small pile of napkins. “Can’t deny it!”

It was a clever diversion tactic, Suga admitted, but not good enough to derail the interrogation. “Do you know who was working last night?”

“Asahi, definitely, because the big lump was too tired to watch a movie with me last night.” Nishinoya pouted. “And I think Daichi was on, too, because Ennoshita wanted the night off.”

Sawamura Daichi. Lead cashier. The store’s most eligible bachelor and, most recently, the handsome loincloth-clad star of Suga’s Tarzan roleplay fantasy.

But was he a suspect? He was there the night in question, sure, but the cashiers were all the way at the other end of the store, and there was no reason for Daichi to part the treacherous sea of customers, shopping carts, and displays. With a wistful sigh, he crossed Daichi’s name off the list. On one hand, he was glad that Daichi wouldn’t be involved in this sordid business, but he was sad to miss out on the opportunity to seek him out.

Nishinoya did provide him another name, though.

Suspect #3: Azumane Asahi, bakery assistant.

The bakery was adjacent to the floral department, so Asahi would’ve had easy, unfettered access, and, quite frankly, Suga could never pass up the opportunity to give Asahi a hard time. Suga swiped another melon cube. “Is Asahi in today?”

“Yup, this afternoon.”

Suga rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Perfect.”

Two hours later, Asahi came out from the staff locker room and Suga cornered him as soon as he stepped into the bakery. “Hey, Asahi,” he said sweetly. “You look nice today.”

Asahi paled in response. “Oh, uh, hey Suga,” he said, fumbling with the strings of his apron. “Thank you?”

“Of course!” Suga said, trailing his finger along the edge of the display case. “You look much nicer than my succulents did this morning.”

“Oh?”

Suga looked him right in the eye. “It’s hard to look nice when you’re dead, Asahi.”

“Sorry, Suga that’s…”

“Sorry indeed,” Suga cut him off. Asahi smoothed out the wrinkles in his apron and fidgeted with his nametag. He was nervous. An innocent party wouldn’t have anything to be nervous about, would they? “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about their sorry state, would you?”

“N-no.”

Suga stepped closer, backing Asahi up against the wall. “Really? Because when I left yesterday afternoon, they were fine, and now they are begging for death, drowning in their own containers. Taken too soon from this world.”

“I don’t, I didn’t touch anything.” Asahi held his hands up in front of him in an effort to block Suga’s advances, but, much to Suga’s surprise, he held eye contact. His hands might’ve been shaking, but the trembling giant was telling the truth. Suga furrowed his brow and tweaked his manner of questioning.

“Let’s say I believe you,” Suga continued. Asahi’s shoulders dropped in relief and he let out a quiet breath. “Did you see anyone come into floral last night?”

Asahi tensed up again and averted his gaze.

Bingo.

“So you did see someone over here?” Suga said sharply.

“Well, there were lots of people… around, and I wasn’t really paying attent- Eep!”

Suga got right into Asahi’s personal space and grabbed the front of his apron, not caring that he had to stand on the tips of his toes to do it. “Secrets secrets are no fun,” Suga sang. “Secrets secrets make me want to hurt someone. And that someone is you, Asahi. Now tell me everything you know.”

Asahi looked at him with wide eyes and shook his head. “I promised, he told me not to, but-”

“Who told you not to what?” Suga hissed.

“I told him not to say anything, but he was about to screw it up anyway.”

Suga knew that voice. He let go of Asahi’s apron and turned around slowly, letting Asahi crumple to the ground. Daichi stood on the customer side of the bakery counter, hands in his pockets and a sheepish look on his face.

“They looked really dry.” Daichi gestured in the direction of the succulents. “And I know you don’t really have anyone helping you out here, and I asked Tanaka but he was caught up with a customer, so I watered them.”

“You…” Suga started, then stopped. He had just admitted to the crime and Suga’s curiosity was piqued, in part by the confession and in part by how damn good Daichi looked in their stupid store aprons. “What were you doing all the way over here?”

Daichi hadn’t looked nervous before, but as soon as Suga asked the question, he swore he saw the faintest bit of blush dust the bridge of Daichi’s nose.

“It was pretty quiet,” Daichi said slowly, like he was trying to find the exact right words. “And Kinoshita was handling it, so I was just… wandering.”

Suga blinked. Something didn’t add up. They weren’t close, but people talked, so Suga knew that Daichi took pride in his position, regardless of the crappy and perpetually boring nature of their jobs, just like Suga did. It was an attractive quality, one of Daichi’s many, and one of the reasons Suga hadn’t put him on the suspect list in the first place. “Does the lead cashier usually ‘wander’ during his shifts?”

“No, not usually,” Daichi admitted. “But I wanted to see if you were around.”

“Me?” Suga asked in disbelief, a small smile starting to form at the corners of his mouth. “So you walked all the way across the store, sorry, you ‘wandered’ all the way across the store, saw that I wasn’t in the jungle, then decided to kill my plants as some sort of… What? Retribution?”

“Wait.” Daichi paled. “I killed them?”

“Killed them dead,” Suga confirmed.

Daichi rubbed his face. “Crap, I’m so sorry, Suga, I was just trying to help. I didn’t mean to kill them.”

The investigation was over, the crime had been solved, the victim pleaded guilty, and it was time for Suga to dole out an appropriate punishment, to move on, but one important question remained unanswered, and Suga couldn’t let it go. “Okay… But you still never told me what exactly you were doing here.”

Before Daichi could answer, Nishinoya’s voice boomed from the sample station. “Just ask him out already!”

“About time,” Asahi muttered, still behind Suga.

Suga’s eyebrows hit the ceiling. “You came over here to ask me out?”

Daichi shot Nishinoya a glare to rival Suga’s own, something which shouldn’t have pleased Suga as much as it did, then he let out a small huff and nodded, raising his hands like a white flag. “You caught me.”

“Well, technically you handed yourself in,” Suga reminded him. He tapped his chin with his index finger, wondering how he would get his next thought out with a straight face, without betraying the fluttering of his heart. “And I suppose we could continue the interrogation over coffee.”

Daichi lit up, and Suga was embarrassed by how hard it hit him. “Really?”

“Yup. And that’ll give me some time to come up with an appropriate punishment.”

“Wait, what?”

Suga laughed at the look on Daichi’s face, how desperately he tried to hide the horror in his eyes, how utterly he failed, and how he still maintained a big, dopey grin that was quickly turning Suga’s legs to jelly. “Daichi, you can’t commit a crime, plead guilty, and expect to get away with it by asking the detective out on a date.”

Daichi bit his lip, but it did nothing to diminish the smile still dimpling his cheeks.