Jared wouldn't say he was excited about this job, but it beat sitting at a desk socializing with idiots. What 19-year-old didn't want to spend all day surrounded by comic books? Working at comic book asylum was perfect. He had skills for doing the bare minimum and dealing with nerds.
Even for a boring New York comic book store, it was slow. There were only a couple people shopping, looking like they wouldn't care about their own death. The place was crowded, overflowing with an assortment of items, themed and overpriced. Dalek sweatshirts, Superman capes, even a pair of socks with hulk fists, the kind of stuff he'd shrug off if anyone he knew was here.
He waves at the Dude behind the counter. The guy is wearing a faded white shirt and jeans, and Jared can't figure out his skin tone. A light brown that's nearly white. He looks about the same age as Jared.
"Hey, can I help you with anything?"
"Not unless you can get me a pay raise."
The guy blinks with hazel eyes that are trying too hard to look cool. They reminded Jared of a villain he couldn't place. "Oh, so you're who they hired; I'm Aaron."
"Cool, I'm Jared."
"What pronouns should I use?"
He stares blankly. "I'm a guy?"
Aaron rolls his eyes, pushing a basket of pronoun pins toward him. "We're required to wear these to make customers feel more welcome. We don't have man/mans pronoun pins, but we have a custom option for neo-pronouns."
"Whatever." He grabs a he/him pronoun pin, sticking it into his Lord of the Rings shirt.
Aaron's considering whether someone can physically die from boredom when a trio of 12-year-olds burst through the door, punching each other and breaking into obnoxious laughter. He exchanges an 'oh shit' look with Jared.
As expected, the group is nothing less than chaos. Trying on capes while yelling at each other, getting glares from other customers, taking things off the shelves and not putting them back, and planning to buy them.
Jared glares as he watches them openly vape in the middle of the store.
"I'm gonna go talk to them."
He laughs, "Good luck with that."
Aaron puts on his best customer service voice, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"You can't do that-" one of them argues. "We're customers. You're not allowed to kick us out."
"I could call the cops on you for loitering, but who knows how long that would take. You guys are tourists, right? You should go find your parents. Our manager couldn't come in today, so loitering charges will be the least of your worries unless you're betting on my co-worker defending you."
The kid glances at Jared, back at Aaron, and then at his friends. "Whatever. You don't have to be so dramatic. We were going to leave anyway. His friends kind of nod, shuffling outside.
Jared stares, "Did you just threaten to kick the shit out of pre-teens."
"I wouldn't have done it- I've only ever punched people out of self-defense." Aaron lowers his head.
Jared bursts out laughing, "Dude. Shut the hell up. It was nice to see you're not a complete loser after all. You've got an origin story of threatening to hurt 12-year-olds."
Aaron nods, "Should add that to my comic. Beating up pre-teens takes real talent."
"Your what?"
He picks up a cape the kids dropped on their way out. "Nothing."
"You should know my parents sort of neglected me as a child."
"Damn, I wonder why."
Jared narrows his eyes, "The point is I'm annoying and persistent, so I'm not giving up until I find out more."
"It's stupid. I'll make you a deal if you sell more copies of Fantastic 4 than I do of Eternals; I'll let you read my comic. If you don't, you have to let it go." Aaron holds out his hand.
Jared shakes it, "Fine. I swear to god, you have the worst taste in superheroes."
Aaron's too busy helping a woman who just walked in to justify that with a response. Jared glares at Aaron when he can see the back of the woman's flowery dress and red hair.
He walks back to the counter, "Her daughter is getting a lovely issue of Eternals. Would be a shame if she were a fast reader."
"I hope you know I hate you."
"Good, you seem like the type of person to talk shit on Scorpius Hawthorne, and I'm willing to bet you were a middle school bully," Aaron mutters. He smiles, swiping the card of the Eternals copies.
"I was giving you a head start." Jared insists, walking over to a group of people.
When the store starts to die down, Jared turns to him, "Top 3 superheroes."
"Black widow, Rogue-" He gives this uncomfortable look as if he's doing everything he can to look casual. Jared would have overlooked it if he hadn't seen Evan do it countless times. "Spiderman, I guess."
"You sure?"
He raises an eyebrow, "Yeah."
"You seem nervous."
"My brother used to joke about me liking female superheroes." Aaron shrugs.
"Your brother sounds like a dick."
"Not really. I guess just because it was so stereotypical."
Jared stares blankly. "For men to like women?"
"I'm gay."
Jared bursts out laughing. "I think that's the opposite of being gay? You're not supposed to like women."
He can't stop hiding a small smile. "That's the stupidest thing I've heard you say so far."
"Dude, I don't care. You're really awkward, by the way." He punches Aaron's arm gently.
He can practically see the disapproving look his mom had given him and his brother when they used to fight. Before he and Eric stopped ignoring each other. "I'm going to help some more people."
Jared does the same, convincing customers to buy Fantastic 4 until the end of their shift. "I sold 9 issues. What do you have?"
"7. I'll bring the comic by tomorrow. You can't tell anyone about it, though."
"No problem, I'm looking forward to bullying you."
Aaron grabs his bag, turning back to Jared. "I'm gonna bounce, don't be late tomorrow, dumbass."
Hi! Thank you so much for reading!
I'm hoping you liked it. If you to read more please let me know. I'm open to feedback on ships, side characters, friendships, and anything else you have thoughts on. I am comfortable writing anything other than crossover ships. I'm hoping to bring in Thomas and Genevieve, as well as the rest of the Dear Evan Hansen squad.
ESTÁS LEYENDO
Less happy than before
De TodoJared lands a job at a comic book store, hoping things will be easy. When he ruins his chance at a good first impression on his co-worker, Aaron Soto it becomes clear they're going to have to deal with each other if they want to keep their jobs. I a...
