#workers perks | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

suksatoru · 3 months ago

Text

it takes you a handful of minutes before you notice satoru's head resting against your thigh. he's staring off into space. there's a barely noticeable pout on his lips that replaces his trademark grin, and he looks... dejected.

albeit a little clumsily, you slip out of your seat as quietly as you can and lower yourself onto the ground beside him. satoru perks up once he sees you next to him, and everyone else around you two converses noisily, oblivious to you two crouched under the table like little kids.

you give your boyfriend a curious tilt of your head, and he smiles sadly.

"hi there, pretty."

"hi. who are we hiding from?"

there's a flush to your cheeks that is entirely from the drinks you've had tonight. your eyes are a misty haze — and in your intoxicated state, you fail to notice satoru's thumb brush over the small, velvet box in his hand as he tucks it back into his pocket.

tonight had been the night satoru wanted to propose to you. he'd give himself at least a dozen pep talks between waking up and picking you up for your umpteenth date — then, he'd taken you to your favorite restaurant, a modest little place tucked into the outer edges of the city.

he thought it was perfect. despite all the extravagant things that came along with dating the satoru gojo, he wanted your proposal to be personal and special. just the two of you.

what he didn't expect was to run into all of your sorcerer friends and co-workers.

satoru supposes it is kind of his fault for not telling anyone about his plans to propose to you tonight. of course, he planned to tell everyone after you two were formally engaged, but he never considered the possibility that you two could run into others.

before he knew it, tables were being pushed together and chairs were being dragged around to make room for everyone else to join. shoko, suguru, and a few other of your co-workers had all finished up a late night mission and headed to the nearest restaurant — which inconveniently happened to be the one you and satoru were dining at.

"no one in particular," satoru finally says, trying his best to mask his disappointment with a dorky grin as he pokes your cheek.

you catch his hand, eyes squinting as you look closer at him.

"you look sad. is it because i ate your spinach dip?"

your boyfriend gasps, loudly and deeply offended by the accusation as you break out into a silly giggle, telling him to shush before everyone eating notices you two under the table.

"is food the only supposed source of my emotions?" satoru laughs, and you shrug with a slanted grin

"if the shoe fits."

"oh, you are asking for it, little miss—"

his hands find your sides, and you quickly cover your mouth to stifle your laughter as you squirm against him. eventually, shoko's head dips under the table, and her loud burst of laughter manages to distract satoru enough to allow you to pry yourself out of his grip.

"come on, satoru! you didn't even try the chocolate fudge cake yet. nanami accidentally ordered three, let's try and snag one to take home." you suggest with a grin, rising on wobbly legs from under the table and wiggling back into your seat as satoru follows

"ooo — quick! before utahime eats it all!"

his first attempt at proposing was a total fail. but, honestly, satoru can't even be mad. you had a great time tonight with him and all of your friends, so what's there to be disappointed about?

his next try will be better, he's sure of it. and maybeee somewhere on a remote island where the chances of running into anyone else was in the negatives.

in a few years, satoru's hopeful he'll be able to look back at this moment and laugh about it with you. so, he'll forget about the ring in his pocket for now and focus on the present — which was competing in the 'who can eat the most cake without barfing' competition against you.

spoiler alert: he ends up winning :P.... fatass <3

5K notes · View notes

heaththedragon · 1 year ago

Text

it's so jarring getting a regular job that treats you like a human being after only working retail

so on my first day at [new company] i met with the corporate hiring guy to sign insurance paperwork and stuff, and he just handed me a laptop and phone. like yeah the IT department has product numbers on file, but there was no lecture on losing/stealing them, just "you need these to do your job effectively. we trust you as a professional to use them well" on DAY ONE!

at Target they made Absolutely Sure we knew the consequences for even... Looking Askance at one of their clunky little scanner phones (they real-time track all of them down to the aisle you're in just to make sure you're working). at the garden center i was straight up told my boss watched us via the cameras for a good chunk of the day

meanwhile [new company] is like "yeah here's the break room, we keep it stocked with snacks and drinks, take a much as you'd like. also you'll be entering your own hours, we trust you to do that as well"

surprising no one, i feel much more motivated to do good work here

#thank the powers that be for companies that recognize they depend on their workers #i'm getting paid well and there's perks and i don't feel like they're breathing down my neck #dragon shouts at people

1 note · View note

entropys · 1 year ago

Text

the uni drama is getting insane..

#do not even know how to explain whats happening i just want this semester to be over 😭#big fight between prof and all students Except me…….. i am cought in the crossfire #both perks and cons of being a hard worker #caught* idk how to spell

1 note · View note

lily-bisque · 1 month ago

Text

"I KNOW IT'S PATHETIC BUT THAT WAS THE GREATEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE"

✦ ── synopsis: coworker!sukuna manages to embarrass himself not once, but twice around you.

✦ ── contents: 2.8k words, fluff, loser!kuna, very suggestive, mild smut.

✦ ── a/n: no words, truly. i just love making sukuna look pathetic.

art found on pinterest — artist unknown

"I had a lot of fun tonight," you blushed, tugging a strand of hair behind your ear and glancing to your side.

He had his fists shoved into his pockets, eyeing you with a spacey look, like he was contemplating something in his head, something completely unbeknownst to you.

“Sukuna?” You whispered out with a tilt of your head, voice resonating easily in the night air, wondering where he’d gone off to in his mind.

“Mhm?” He hummed dreamily, his vision flickering to your lips for a split second before meeting your eyes.

You giggled, facing the sidewalk and shaking your head. “Nothing.”

He paused a moment, biting his lip and unsure of how to talk to the stunning woman in front of him, who managed to dazzle him all night, without sounding like a fucking loser. “I had fun tonight too,” he shrugged, though you could hear the grin in his tone.

Your head perked up at his response, beaming up at him with glittering eyes, the moonlight illuminating your face and making his heart stutter, enthralled in your effortless beauty. “Really?!”

Sukuna opened his mouth to respond, heart short-circuiting at how excited you’d sounded, before his foot caught on the edge of the sidewalk.

He tripped forward, arms flying out as his other foot slammed down on the concrete, effectively catching his massive form before tumbling.

The action sent a heat washing up the back of his neck, to heat his tan cheeks and even the crowns of his ears.

Your eyes widened, before darting back in front of you, teeth clenching from how hard you were trying to hold back your smile, not daring to address his clumsiness to save him from humiliation.

In all honesty, your cheeks were also aching from how much you’ve been smiling all evening.

You’d known Sukuna for quite some time as he was your colleague at work–a regular and dreary salary job.

But the day it lit up for the both of you, the fire in your eyes snuffed out by the crushing responsibilities on your shoulders thanks to capitalism set ablaze, was the day you stepped into the break room, completely unsuspecting of how you’d be leaving.

It was empty, save for the singular salmon-haired brute hunched over his lunch. He was muttering curses to his phone and you knitted your eyebrows as you meandered towards the coffee machine, your brain muddled from how long you’d been staring at your computer.

It wasn’t your fault your curiosity got the best of you, wondering what had your co-worker so miffed, so you peered over his shoulder sneakily to see him—.

“Oh my god.”

Sukuna could feel his heart stop at the sound of a voice, head flinging behind him as he hadn’t heard you come into the room, too engrossed with whatever was unfolding on his phone.

The guy was watching a porno.

You met his gaze, your cheeks warm at the sight as your pulse quickened. Then peered back at his phone, then back at him, before spinning your head around and staring at the coffee pot. Why was there suddenly barely any coffee? Who decided to drink so much and not brew anymore and force you to endure this?

You could hear his chair screech against the tile floor as he abruptly hopped from his seat, eyes practically bulging from his head in shock.

“H-hold on—“

“I was just leaving,” you starkly interrupted, gripping your hand around your cup and turning quickly.

But Sukuna’s eyes gaped, standing in front of you to halt you, but the scare made you bump into him, effectively pouring hot coffee all over his crisp, white dress shirt.

He winced, a hiss leaving his mouth as he hunched over, hands instinctively flying to his chest before pulling away, nearly singeing his fingers in the act.

You yelped, taking a step back and bumping into the counter, effectively trapping you between him and the makeshift break room kitchen.

He reached for a box of tissues over your head in a frantic manner, you following his movements and eyeing just how his muscles rippled beneath the fabric, before tearing your ogling gaze away.

He patted away at his shirt as you opened your mouth, nearly tripping over your words. “I-if you hadn’t jumped in front of me— I—,” you stopped yourself, realizing how stupid and rude you sounded, watching his face contort into a pained scowl.

Quickly, you bowed your head as deep as you could, clasping your hands around your cup as some sort of grounding exercise to tether you to your embarrassing reality. “I’m really sorry, Sukuna.”

As he wiped at his now-stained shirt, he gave you a once-over, his chest still hot but thankfully not scarred to leave any remnants of a burn except for a temporary red mark.

He felt an odd sense of contrite at your apology, straightening and tossing his tissues into a nearby trash can with one fell swoop in an impressive breeze.

“Nah, uh. Forget it, that was embarrassing as fuck for the both of us, and I’m fine,” he huffed out, rubbing his nape and wanting to punch himself. “But would you let me just… explain what you saw before you run out of here and report me to HR?”

You bit your lip, feeling oddly cornered as his crimson irises bore down on you, searching for resignation, jitters paling you.

If he had an explanation, you had no idea what would cause him to watch pornography in the staff break room.

But he seemed genuine enough, so you wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Okay, I’ll, uh, hear you out.”

He nodded, something akin to satisfaction dancing on his ever present indifferent expression before he grunted, pulling a chair out for you.

You sat down, and he sat beside you, pulling out his phone.

You glanced away, nervous your eyes would register anymore of the vulgar scene of a woman being folded into a pretzel by some brute, but Sukuna sighed. “I won’t flash you again.”

You winced, shutting your eyes for a moment to regain your composure, before glancing back down at the table.

He’d set his phone down, opening up his Twitter to some news article he’d been reading about new app regulations.

He even gave you a synopsis of what he’d been reading before handing you the phone and not even peering down at the screen for a second as he relayed its contents to you.

Afterwards, he opened up the replies and, lo and behold, there were a bunch of troll porn accounts spiteful of their crude content being heavily monitored now and posting their videos to flood the comments.

The top comment was the video you’d just seen moments ago.

You grimaced, and averted your gaze. “So why were you muttering under your breath like a madman?”

He quickly swiped out of the app, a look of disgust painting him. “I tried to leave the replies but this fucking ancient ass phone froze from the amount of content in the comments. I didn’t even realize you walked in until too late,” he explained in irritation, no longer meeting your eyes in shame.

You bit your lip, your head dropping as a chuckle left your lips. Then another. And soon enough you had your head tossed back, a boisterous laugh vibrating from your chest.

Sukuna eyed you warily, shifting uncomfortably in his wet and sticky top, an eyebrow cocked at your enjoyment, before he found it hard to conceal the upward tug of his lips.

You looked really pretty laughing.

From that point on, you poked fun at Sukuna and made him endure your teasing to which he was more than miffed at.

And then you’d join him at lunch, talking about whatever was in the news with him and sliding your yogurt over to which he’d end up finishing the entire thing.

Then one day, at the end of your shift where you two began to head out of the doors together, you waved him off goodbye, and Sukuna finally got the burst of courage he’d been waiting on.

He halted you after chasing you down to your bus, standing before you and panting, his tie crooked and gelled hair now pretty disheveled.

Before you could get a word out, eyes wide and curious, he blurted, “Do you want to get dinner sometime? With me?”

You held back the gasp you almost let out in shock, stomach doing at least twenty somersaults in the span of five seconds.

The first time you’d laid eyes on him on your first day at work, you found it easy to recognize how handsome of a man he was.

But you deduced him to the kind of ‘hallway crush’ teenagers would have.

Then, the two of you got to know each other a hell of a lot more despite the horrifying first impression. You saw him as a genuine friend, but that initial attraction only expanded into a crush that always seemed to linger.

You believed him to be far out of your league despite how close you’ve gotten.

So to see him asking you out, had your heart stuttering.

“You mean… on a date?” You queried, still skeptical.

He let out a huff of something akin to laughter, a grin unlike him on his face. “Yeah. I do.”

Goosebumps littered your body, biting your lip as you glanced behind you to see your bus now arriving. “Uhm. Yeah, I’d love that.”

“Yeah?” He grinned, proud of himself for finally securing this.

“Yeah. Text me later?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

Which is how you ended up here, a night to remember and him opting to walk twenty minutes back to your apartment instead of an uber like you’d rode there to meet up because it’s ‘eco-friendly’ (since when has Sukuna cared for anything of the sort?) but truthfully, he didn’t want the evening to end.

He was perfectly content to walk the twenty minutes back to his car parked at the restaurant.

Ryomen Sukuna, the brute of a man that seemed annoyed everywhere he went, had taken quite the liking to you and you felt as if you were seeing a drastically different side of someone.

He was thoughtful and perceptive, a plethora of opinions on nearly any topic you could conjure up. But he was also far more attentive than he let on—remembered nearly anything you said even if it was brought up in passing, complimented you under his breath when you arrived, attempting to mask his astonishment but you could see it clear as day in his eyes, asking you if you had any dietary allergies to relay it to the waiter, and ensuring to cover the bill without you even sparing a glance at you.

The entire evening, the conversation flowed easily, as if it was just another afternoon in the breakroom.

He made you laugh, barely concealing just how much of a grand time he was having but the red wine was loosening him up quite a bit.

He asked you questions about yourself and seemed to mentally catalogue them in case he needed them in the future.

Never prodded too much when you steered clear of a topic, just nodding and bringing something else up.

You’d seen the way he acted around colleagues and even his supervisor, never speaking more than a couple words and holing himself up in his cubicle, face pinched with irritation.

But with you, the indifferent man seemed to let go completely.

As if spending time with you was as easy as breathing.

“I’m right up the block,” you commented, watching him mentally curse himself for tripping in front of you. His nerves seemed to be catching up with him.

He nodded, running a hand through his hair and focusing on his gait in case of another slip-up.

Within a matter of seconds, you turned the corner and padded up the steps to your apartment, stopping at the top one and turning around.

This nearly seven foot man stopped just a couple steps below, enough to be at eye level with you.

On any other day, you’d taunt him for his height, or he’d taunt you for yours.

But the air between the two of you was so charged as your eyes darted between each other’s.

You broke the silence. “Let’s do this again,” you whispered, your gaze flickering to his lips before returning to his eyes.

Sukuna could feel the raging boner in his pants only become more sensitive by the second.

He’d been a gentleman with you throughout the course of your friendship, lest he make you any more uncomfortable than he did during your first encounter.

He hummed, tongue running over his lower lip.

You leaned in a fraction, just enough to show initiative, to show that you wanted this like he did, before he took a step up the stairs and cupped your cheeks, lips crashing against yours.

You stumbled backwards, craning your head upwards as your fingers curled in his leather jacket. He wasted no time wrapping a hand around your waist and pulling you against him.

He tasted like smoke and the overly expensive wine he’d ordered tonight.

It was breathless, it was heated.

Your lips parted just a bit, and he slid his tongue between, pushing down on your tongue and making you whine.

A guttural hum of satisfaction thrummed in his chest and into your mouth as fireworks sparked in your mind.

He pushed you up against the brick walk of your apartment, cradling your head in his large hand to ensure you didn’t smack it and hurt yourself.

The two of you were too fired up in your first kiss to even care about anyone walking by to see him pinning you right near the entrance.

He knew it wouldn’t go past this, a heated makeout session, that is. He didn’t want it to. He didn’t want to taint what you had right when things were beginning to bubbling with the thought of wetting his dick.

A part of him knew that what went on between the two of you was far deeper than a lustful attraction.

But that desire still existed, still thrummed in the space between logic and need in his mind.

You were on your tiptoes as he hunched forward, feeling as if you couldn’t pull him close enough, a hand of his squeezing your waist against his front. The kiss was desperate, a close to what felt like ages of mutual yearning.

His fingers skimmed through your hair as your noses bumped against each others, swapping saliva like two needy teenagers.

But it was far better than any kind of first kiss you’d experienced. There was no room for awkward tension like most went–the two of you had practically destroyed the blurs of worry with your overwhelming want.

Your body was sparked alight, as if you’d been asleep for ages and it was his one kiss to wake you from a dull dream. Everything melted away, fingers tugging him closer, feeling your skirt hike up as your thighs rubbed together.

And what left your lips sent the man against your lips over the precipice.

“‘Kuna,” you whined out breathily, fanning over his kiss bitten lips.

The man broke the kiss immediately, face scrunching up as he stuttered out your name headily with a hoarse “F-fuck,” his head craning forward as his lashes fluttered shut.

Your eyes widened, slowly settling back against your heels as he slammed a hand against the brick wall.

A wave of surprise had you paled, gaze drifting down to his black dress pants to see a damp spot where his crotch is.

“D-did you just-?“ You stopped yourself, mouth parting at the realization, your pulse pounding in your ears.

Sukuna couldn’t get himself out of this one, he knew it. His gaze darted between your appalled expression and the mess he’d somehow made on himself.

And it was all because of that damn nickname.

He’d never heard you use it before, and you hadn’t dared tested it out, an idea that tickled the edges of your love-sick brain. But in your horny reverie, any sense of rationality had left you succumbed to your lust.

To Sukuna, it was so fucking adorable. And so fucking hot.

But how did he explain that you whimpering his nickname had him orgasming prematurely in his pants.

“I- uh,” he stumbled backwards, nearly tripping as he moved away from you. “I’ll see you around.”

With that, the massive man hastened his pace and shuffled down the steps, practically sprinting down the sidewalk and out of your view.

You stood there, completely dumbfounded, but you couldn’t help but feel a sense of endearment.

You hadn’t known just how bewitched Sukuna was with you until now.

Sukuna didn’t know how long he sprinted down the main street to rid himself of his mortification prickling his skin like needles.

But what was far worse, was he had no idea how he would manage to face you at work tomorrow morning.

1K notes · View notes

lologoinsolo · 5 months ago

Text

A continuation of this post! Tw: the word Daddy is mentioned but not in a sexual way!

Cats and Their Men Masterlist, Part 3

A week passed since that guy came in. You hope that the kitten's okay, the guy seems much better than you thought him to be. You did wonder if that was blood on the bills he gave when your manager had counted the register for the night. It looked a lil too red for your taste. But everyone has their secrets and you’re not about to ask that tank of a man if he killed someone or just happened to prick his finger. Still though you hope Bailey is faring much better with him than in the could and… you hope he comes back.

Sunday’s the worst but you managed to persuade your coworker to take over your register. Truck had just came in with so many things for the store and your managers are scrambling to get it all on the sales floor.

Humming along to the song from your earphones. The perks about stocking is that you hardly get bothered by your coworkers. No one likes to restock the numerous bedding and litter and pet clothing so you jumped at the chance to do it. Gives you some peace and quiet save for when the customers will tap at your shoulder. You’ll plaster a smile and use your “customer voice” to point them to where they need a certain item and then get back to stocking. You really should find a way to just work with animals. Maybe you can talk to your manager to see if you can try grooming instead of—

“Girl!”

You jerk and nearly ruin the stack of dog cans you had just put up when someone grabs your arm. “Jesus, Jess,” glaring at your manager when you give her a scathing glare. Coincidentally this one’s the grooming manager. “What’s the matter?” Normally she wouldn’t be out of the grooming salon but the stores been short staffed and cutting corners. She’s been running around having to manage the store floor and hers.

“What’s the matter,” she scoffs, “the matter is your boyfriend is asking for you.” Boyfriend? “He’s a real asshole, ya know. We paged you twice over the intercom. Did you not— are you wearing headphones?” You wince when her voice gets screechy. You pull on your earphones and sigh, it’s an unspoken rule to not wear earphones but that literally never stops her groomers from wearing them.

“Jess, I don’t have a boyfriend.” Rolling your eyes as you give her a once over. Her hands land on her hips and you inwardly sigh. “What does he even look like? Did he say my name?” A little hopeful and also very worried because why is there a man claiming to be your boyfriend and why did your manager come get you for this? “I’m sure he’s one of the customers that’s been bitching lately. The fish tanks aren’t on sale anymore maybe he—“

“He’s not here for fish.” Cutting you off, “he asked for you. I thought he was your boyfriend cause he knew you were working right now.” The alarms start going off in your head. “Look, just go see what he wants.”

“Jess, I don’t know who this man is. Why didn’t you tell him I was like— I don’t know, not working?!”

“Because he’s refusing to fucking leave and he looks like he’s apart of the goddamn mafia!” She yells and you blink at her. Your anger boils to a simmer when she mentions what he looks like.

“Wait, wait… is he wearing a black mask? The ones people wore during COVID?” She nods and you pinch your nose hard. This motherfucker, “okay… I know him. He found a kitten a week ago. I told him to come find me. I didn’t think he’d remember my name because my name tag is so small.” Sighing loudly and stepping around her. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Good, he’s given us all a fright and I really don’t need this right now. Bella bit the shit out of Felix and now I’m down a groomer.”

“Okay,” nodding as she tells you her woes. It’s been hard all around cause there’s not many workers but you’ll take a mask wearing customer over a shih tzu that’s known to bite. Fixing your shirt and putting on a smile when the figure that’s haunting the grooming salon takes one look at you and starts walking to you— quickly. “Evening, good to see you again. How can I—“

“She’s not eating any of the shit you told me to buy.” He cuts you off and you wonder if you’re actually just made of paper with how everyone cuts you off. There’s a black scarf he’s wearing and you notice a little bit of movement. This guy seems to favor black considering the matching jacket and pants color scheme.

You pull a face and turn to your side when he steps right in front of you. Jesus, he’s tall. Craning your neck to look up at him. “Sir, you have a weeks worth of three different foods?” Is she refusing to eat all of them? “It’s only been a week. Are you sure she’s—“

“Gave her a different one each day and she ain’t eating.” He tilts his head down, “why?” You swallow a bit when he glares at you. You wonder if whoever pisses him off gets to see this last before they get knocked the fuck out.

“You?” Shriveling up slightly, “wait,” once it runs through what he says it starts to click in your head. “You gave her a different one each day. You’re not supposed to do that.” Now it’s your turn to glare at him, “you’re supposed to ease her out into a new one before letting her try it suddenly.” You gave him the kitten version of chicken, beef, and salmon. You had a feeling that she was probably eating literal garbage and wanted her to try the chicken first. It’s your usual go to for new kittens.

“News to me,” he crosses his heavy arms over his chest. “Should’ve told me that.”

“I did tell you…” you start to trail off when you realize that you in fact did NOT tell him that. You just assumed he would know that. Goddamnit. “Okay,” he cocks an expectant brow, “maybe I forgot to mention but you didn’t ask. I thought you knew.” A measly form of an apology and taht doesn’t seem to settle him

“I told you I need things for the little shit. You made me buy those things,” he takes a step forward, “expensive things and now she’s waking me up all hours of the damn night because she’s hungry.” Your throat must be very dry from how hard you swallow. “What you didn’t tell was how to feed her.” His hands ball and flex.

Rubbing the back of your neck, you realize that maybe you are more in the wrong than your pride wishes to admit. “Look I,” taking a breath, “I’m sorry. It’s on me, I should’ve told you. I would’ve given you one of those first time pamphlets but we ran out.” Feeling like how a bug feels under a boot with how you tremble out an apology. “Was there one that she seemed interested in the most? Some cats like the chicken more while others prefer the salmon.” Maybe you can give him some wet cans to entice his little pet. A small thing like her shouldn’t be without food and you start to feel worse.

“She sniffed more at the salmon.”

“Okay, that’s good.” Perking up and you turn on your heel. “Come on, I’ll buy you some wet cans.” Before he can even protest you cut him off finally. “Look, I feel horrible, it’s the least I can do. Plus I get discounts.” Giving him a wink and he doesn’t give you anything other than a curt nod. You grab the salmon wet cans, the kitten ones, and you pray to the gods that Bailey will eat it so her dad won’t kill you. “Try the wet cans, see if that’ll work. If not then you’ll have to try for a different one. There’s a brand here that sells rabbit and turkey, a bit expensive.” You laugh shortly, “but cats have sensitive stomachs. They don’t mean to be picky.”

“Might not be picky but she sure as hell like to run my money.”

You huff a small laugh at his expense, “you should see the bills I’ve seen that get racked up here.” You skip the line to head to your register. Ringing it up and usually you’re not supposed to use your own discount for others but you’re not willing to risk mafia guy’s anger. Bagging it and passing it to him for him but he doesn’t grab it right away “Is there… is there something else you need?” You ask and he takes the bag from you finally.

He mulls over your words for a second and then says. “Need a collar,” he tilts his head to the side and out pokes Bailey’s itty bitty head from his scarf. You nearly scream when you see her but manage to bite your tongue on time. “Here,” he pulls her out and she lets out a disgruntled meow. He plops her down in your waiting arms. “Scratched up my neck.” He grumbles under his breath when he fixes his scarf back up. The kitten simply purrs in your arms when you coo and run from her nose to head. A glutton for love and you readily give it to her. “Find something for her.” He waves offhandedly once his scarf looks decent around his neck once more.

“Do have a specific—“ you trail off again when his eyes squint down at you. Right… he doesn’t really care. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” He grunts an acknowledgment and you walk off with the cutest little baby. She keeps pulling at your chest, seems eager to get to your shoulders and you wonder if she does that to her dad all the time. “Hmmmm,” looking from all the collars that the store sells. “You’re too tiny,” you hold her up like the monkey did the lion cub, a little sad that there’s not much that’ll fit her. “But,” noticing a small blue collar that shines slightly, “this could fit. It’ll give you enough room to grow into as well.” It’s a cat collar designed to unclasp if it gets snagged hard onto something. And knowing this curios kitten, she’ll need it.

Bailey doesn’t seem to mind when you let her sniff at it till the collar comes on and then she’s desperate to figure out what’s around her neck. Her back legs kicking at the edge of the collar and you cup her so she won’t tug it off. “Your daddy wants you wearing that so you gotta get used to it.” He could train her to walk on a harness later but that does take a good amount of training and

“Daddy, huh?”

You jolt from your thoughts and squeeze a little too tight around Bailey. She lets out a little hiss and you blubber an apology. “I didn’t— that’s not what I—“ the ‘daddy’ in question seems far too amused with how you stutter. “I uh… I thought you were at the front?” Coughing to push past your embarrassment. Petting Bailey as an apology on her sides and under her chin. She doesn’t forgive easily as she gives you a well deserved nips. You murmur a sorry to her and she squints up at you.

“Thought you got lost.” He comes around and pulls his kitten from your hands, he took a little longer to get her out but maybe you’re thinking too hard. You were taking a bit down the aisle but you wanted her to have a nice collar that fit her well. The heat from his fingers though makes your own cheeks warm slightly. When did he get that close and also why didn’t you hear him walking up? “Looks good,” he holds Bailey up and moves her around like she’s a little jewel. “Blue suits her.” He pushes her back inside his scarf and you can faintly hear her little purrs. A slight movement of the fabric before she settles right up against his neck.

Clearing your throat slightly, some strands of hair falls a bit forward but you’re still a bit squirmy to fix it. “I knew she would look good in blue. It matches her, I can buy it for you as well. I don’t min—“ your eyes widen when he moves his hand to tuck those loose strands back behind your ear. You stare up wide at him and he stares down at you. Nothing in his eyes give away an ounce of an emotion despite how you look. To his credit, he may have not meant to do that with how quickly he puts his hand down. “Uh… I— sir?” You manage to squeak out and his mask twitches slightly.

He flexes his hand that touched you and leaves you standing there bewildered, confused and your cheeks burning up so much that you might consider it to be a fever. You don’t follow him when he took off without giving an answer but you do touch your ear. The phantom feeling of his fingers makes butterflies flutter in your stomach. “What the fuck?” You murmur under your breath.

…

The next day you manage to get to work with little sleep from how you tossed and turned. You sorta waited more around your register to see if the man would come back but to your disappointment… he doesn’t. You take it in stride and continue about your day. Just as you’re about to clock out a man with a charming smile and model worthy appearance comes in holding a kitten in his hands and says, “I was told by my friend to ask you for help with cats. Can you help me, love?”

2K notes · View notes