Pezzy and Grizzy are walking to their new job, a store that had just opened up near them. Even though they’re both making a decent income on their respective YouTube channels, it’s not enough to live off of. Rent and bills are a bitch, and Pezzy has to constantly buy things for his cat, Sly.
He doesn’t mind it though. Sly is very spoiled, after all.
This isn’t the first job the duo applied for. Many places declined them, even though most were “urgently hiring”. It took them weeks to even find this job. Thankfully, the manager hired both of them on the spot. It was the last place they would’ve chosen, but they needed the money. It was either this or stop buying snacks, and they both didn’t want that. Besides, it’s 15 dollars an hour, and they get discounts on everything in the store (which they both desperately needed).
“Man, this sucks. Can we go home already, Pezzy?” Grizzy grumbles. Even though he streams with his friends all the time and talks to his chat regularly, he’s not a huge fan of social interaction, especially when there’s a lot of people around.
Pezzy smiles sympathetically at him. He knows how his roommate can get with crowds. Luckily he was used to it, so he offered to help Grizzy out as much as he could.
“No Gribby, we can’t. It’s our first shift.”
Grizzy lets out an obnoxious groan, making Pezzy giggle.
“Oh c’mon, it’s not going to bethatbad,” the shorter says.
“Pez, it’s retail. It’s going to be f*cking terrible.”
Pezzy rolls his eyes. “You’re just grumpy because you had to wake up before noon. It’ll be fine, it’s only the first day, how hard can it be?” He gives the taller man a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Besides, the manager needs the extra help.”
Girzzy mocks his last statement. “Themanageris kinda weird,” he adds.
Pezzy chuckles as he playfully shoves Grizzy. “You need to lighten up, man.”
“Dude, I’m serious! I saw his nametag. What kind of person calls themself the ‘King of Skill’ anyway?”
Pezzy gives Grizzy an amused look. “That’s his nickname, Griz. I think his real name is Brent, if I recall. Either way, Idon’t think that matters.” He checks the time on his watch. “We gotta hurry, we need to get there by 10:30 so we can clock in.”
_____________
The duo hastened their pace, engaging in small talk as they walked. Grizzy ended up finding new things to complain about; mostly whining about his legs killing him, and how hot it was outside. Pezzy, being the supportive friend he is, just tunes him out. Soon enough they arrive at their new job, with fifteen minutes to spare.
The store itself wasn't much to look at from the outside. The bricks along the wall are painted a bright yellow, albeit a bit chipped. Various ads about certain products scatter the many vacant windows. The words “Crasher Mart'' are displayed at the center of the store in giant letters. Pezzy and Grizzy exchange quizzical glances, then head inside.
Cool air hits them immediately, which they’re both grateful for. The inside of the store is massive, much to their surprise (they both haven’t paid much attention to it when doing the interview). It’s a typical superstore, with items ranging from groceries to electronics. The walls were painted a yellow hue; the same as the outside, but a smidge darker. Shelves were somewhat stocked, although there were unopened boxes everywhere.
Grizzy and Pezzy moved quickly to the staff room to clock in and breathe for a bit. It’s quiet now, but it won’t be for long. As they finish putting their stuff in lockers, a man starts to walk up to them. A dead stare rests on his face as he approaches, making the duo flinch slightly. His raven hair is slicked back as a shiny crown sits on top of his head. He clears his throat as he carefully adjusts the tie on his light blue shirt.
“You’re here,” he says. “A bit later than I expected, but it’s alright. As said in the interview, my name is Brent. I am the manager of this place.”
Grizzy and Pezzy both nod. “Thank you for having us,” the shorter man says, holding out his hand. He hopes that the man doesn’t notice the hesitance in his voice, and thankfully he doesn’t.
Brent smiles as he firmly shakes Pezzy’s hand. The intimidating look on his face doesn’t change, and it makes Grizzy’s blood run cold.
Brent clears his throat to speak again, his smile quickly disappearing. “We’re not too busy on days like these, so you two can have a nice and easy shift. But remember, I have a reputation to uphold here. This store is the best in town, and I would like to keep it that way. If anyof my loyal customers aren’t satisfied with your service-” He steps closer to the duo as his tone darkens- “IWILLbe hearing about it. Understand?”
Grizzy says nothing still as Pezzy nervously nods. Brent raises an eyebrow towards the latter, expecting an answer. He jumps slightly and Brent barely catches the “yes sir” under his breath.
“Good,” Brent smiles again, and Pezzy swears it’s more unsettling this time. “Follow me, and I’ll show you guys what you’ll be doing.”
_
It’s 10:45 now, and people are slowly filling the store. Pezzy and Grizzy anxiously follow behind Brent as they walk towards one of the aisles.
“You two will be stocking shelves.” He glances at a couple of unopened boxes, then back at the two. “We had a huge shipment come in this morning. There are a few boxes in most aisles, so you’ll be very busy for the time being. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask me, or one of the cashiers up front. What else...right, one more thing,” He gives Grizzy and Pezzy a walkie-talkie. “I will communicate with you two using this. If there’s any other work that needs to be done, I’ll let you know. I will be doing some work in my office. DoNOTdisappoint me” And with that, he walks off.
Pezzy lets out a sigh of relief once Brent is out of sight. “Holy sh*t, that guy is terrifying.” He looks at Grizzy, who’s still unusually silent. “You good, Griz?”
“I told you the manager is f*cking weird,” Grizzy mumbles.
Pezzy hesitates for a moment. “Honestly? Yeah, you’re right.”
Grizzy looks at Pezzy with an eyebrow raised as if to say “I told you so.” Pezzy rolls his eyes.
“God, I can’t stand you.”
“Sit down then.”
Pezzy playfully shoves Grizzy, making them both giggle. “C’mon, let’s just get this over with.”
_____________
Grizzy sighs and looks over toward his friend, who’s focused on organizing video games.This is so time-consuming,Grizzy thinks to himself as he’s putting away a box of video game cartridges. They’ve been stocking shelves for half an hour now. A song with a repetitive tune plays on a loop throughout the store, and it’s slowly getting on Grizzy’s nerves. He sighs again, this time more exaggerated. Pezzy stops what he’s doing and stares at Grizzy with a look of annoyance. “What?”
“I’mBORED, Pez,” Grizzy whines.
Pezzy rolls his eyes. “Me too, but we need to get this done, man. We still have other sh*t to go through.”
“This would be less irritating if this one song wasn’t playing on loop the whole f*cking time.”
Pezzy nods in acknowledgment. “It’s pretty annoying. But it’s also kinda catchy.” He starts unintentionally humming the tune as he puts away the last video game on the shelf.
Grizzy groans. “Please shut the f*ck up.”
“I’m sorry, it’s stuck in my head!” Pezzy exclaims, laughing. Still humming, he glances at an unopened box next to Grizzy. “Kitchen” was labeled on it. Pezzy picked up the object, a look of confusion visible on his face. He glanced around, trying to look for the kitchen aisle.
“You good, Pez?” Grizzy asks.
Pezzy hesitates for a second, then smirks as he half-heartedly makes up lyrics to the tune that’s currently playing.
“Where the kitchen, where the-where the kitchen at?”
Grizzy starts giggling at Pezzy’s attempt at singing. He repeats the lyrics as he glances at the other aisles.
“Where the kitchen, where the-where the kitchen at?”
Soon, they’re both giggling like idiots. The people who walked past them gave the two an odd look, but they didn’t care. After a few minutes of searching, they found what they were looking for.
“Finally! This store is f*cking huge,” Pezzy sighs. He sets the box on the ground, stretching.
Grizzy hums in agreement. He looked around the aisle for any extra boxes to put away, but there weren't any to be found. Suddenly he turns to his friend, who’s struggling to get the box open. “Hey, Pez?”
After a couple of seconds, Pezzy finally rips the box open with a grunt. He looks back at Grizzy, smiling. “What’s up?”
“Where the boxes, where the-where the boxes at?”
Pezzy snorts. “I don’t know where they are, man.” He starts putting what was in the box (which were cooking recipes) on the shelf while Grizzy watches silently. After a few minutes, he looks up at Grizzy, giggling. “Hey, Griz?”
Grizzy knows what he’s about to say and tries to keep a straight face, but ends up giggling as well. “What?”
“Where the boxes, where the-where the boxes at?”
They both lose it. Soon, the aisle is filled with Grizzy’s wheezing and Pezzy’s uncontrollable giggles. They’re laughing so hard they almost don’t hear the static coming from their walkies.
“YOU TWO! QUIT GOOFING OFF AND GET BACK TO WORK!” Brent’s voice boomed from their radios, making the duo jump. After a sudden click, Grizzy and Pezzy look at each other in silence.
“How the f*ck did he hear us?” Grizzy questioned after a while, still clutching his chest from that sudden jumpscare.
Pezzy sighs. “Maybe he saw us laughing from the cameras? Either way, we should split up for a bit.” He goes back to putting items on the shelf. “Go stock in a different aisle.”
“You’re breaking up with me?!” Grizzy jokes, his hand against his heart as he fakes a wounded expression.
Pezzy playfully glares at him. “Just go, you whor*.”
_____________
The duo spent the next three hours quietly stocking shelves. Many customers were in the store now, walking around them as they worked. Slowly but surely, they managed to get a few shelves filled, while learning the store’s layout in the process.
Not without interruptions, however.
One customer asked Pezzy where the cat toys were; their cat loved to scratch up everything in sight, and they were tired of replacing furniture. After he escorted them to where the toys were located, they thanked Pezzy for being helpful and showed him some pictures of their cat, Loaf, which Pezzy happily accepted.
Another customer asked Grizzy about video game suggestions that would cure their “collector’s anxiety.” Grizzy had no idea what they were talking about but showed them to the video game section anyway.
A third walked up to Pezzy and asked him if there were any spare Wii remotes in stock since they broke a few of them while raging. Pezzy told them that they would be out of stock for a while since someone (apparently) came in a week ago and bought the rest of them.
“You’re not gonna believe this, but that was me,” the customer says sheepishly.
Pezzy’s eyes widened. “Wait really?”
“Yeah, I was trying to get a platinum in one of the games I was playing, and…yeah, I ended up breaking all of them.” They let out a nervous chuckle.
“Holy sh*t.”
After searching for a while, Pezzy ends up finding an extra Wii remote in the back of the warehouse to give them.
“Try not to break this one.”
“No promises!”
At one point Grizzy and Pezzy’s friends, Droid and Puffer, walked into the store. They ended up laughing at the two for a few minutes before leaving.
So supportive.
The duo ended up stocking 10 shelves each before Brent told them through the walkies to take a break.
_
After literal hours of stocking shelves and running around to help customers, they’re finally on break. The two are sitting on the staff room floor, eating their lunch while listening to a random R&B playlist Grizzy put on his phone. Comfortable silence fills the air as the two eat, content that they can finally hear themselves think. Brent probably has more things for them to do, but for now, they can enjoy the little time they have to breathe.
“I thought my arms were gonna fall off,” Grizzy says after a while, biting into an apple.
Pezzy nods, sighing. “At least you didn’t have to deal with a roaming baby.”
Grizzy chuckles at the thought. In the middle of their work, a woman ran up to Pezzy and screamed that her baby was lost somewhere in the store, and told Pezzy to find him. She didn’t even try to help look for him either; she just stayed where she was while Pezzy frantically ran around the store to catch him.
Not to mention this happened multiple times.
“You have to admit, that sh*t was pretty funny,” Grizzy says, ignoring Pezzy’s glare as he takes another bite from his apple.
Pezzy shudders. “I can still hear the giggles.”
“That sounds infuriating.”
“It was.”
Silence fills the air for a bit until Pezzy speaks up again. “Grizzy.”
“Yeah?”
“This job f*cking sucks.”
Grizzy starts to laugh. “Eating your own words now, huh?”
Pezzy lets out an exaggerated groan in response, making Grizzy laugh harder.
“Y’know, Iwouldsay ‘I told you so’, but- OH sh*t MY FAVORITE SONG IS PLAYING!” Grizzy unintentionally interrupts himself, excitedly turning up the volume on his phone. Pezzy rolls his eyes playfully as he attempts to sing the lyrics.
Bag lady, you gon' hurt your back,
Dragging all them bags like that
I guess nobody ever told you,
All you must hold on to,
Is you, is you, is you…
“Huh. Hey Griz, who sings that song by the way?” Pezzy asks, taking a bite from his sandwich.
“Erykah Badu,” Grizzy responds, beaming confidently.
“Cool. Let’s keep it that way.”
Grizzy’s smile fades as Pezzy starts to laugh. He quickly finishes his apple, throwing the core at Pezzy’s head. “Dude, what the f*ck!”
“You deserved that sh*t.”
They both laugh, almost not noticing the manager peeking through the door.
“You two. I need you out here right now,” Brent commanded. “Clean up your mess and meet me out in the front of the store as soon as possible.”
“I thought we had twenty minutes left-” Grizzy begins to question.
“Not my problem.” He quickly closes the door.
The duo exchanged confused glances. Eventually, they picked up their trash and headed out to the front, as per Brent’s request.
_____________
Brent clears his throat. “Alright, last task of the day. Follow me.”
Grizzy and Pezzy both follow Brent as he leads them to the middle of the store. He’s talking about something, but the duo doesn’t pay any attention to it. If anything, Grizzy is more concerned for his friend, who has a look of irritation on his face.
Pezzy rarely gets angry. But having to deal with many customers (and an annoying baby) at once,plusthe manager cutting off their break? He’s seething, and Grizzy can feel the anger coming from him as they walk. He’s shooting daggers at Brent, quickly changing his face to smile when Brent glances in their direction.
If looks could kill, the manager would be dead on the ground, and Pezzyalmostwishes that would happen.
Almost.
_
A giant square of tape covers the ground in front of them. On the side of the square is a sign, showing a poorly drawn orange with the words “Buy two, get one free!” in bubble letters.
“So…we have to stack oranges?” Grizzy ponders out loud.
“Precisely.” Brent gives the two another unsettling smile.
“And wherearethe oranges?” Pezzy asks bluntly, not caring how rude his tone sounded. Thankfully, Brent doesn’t mention it.
“Nick should be bringing them out in a moment.”
“Who’s-” Grizzy’s question is answered when a man starts walking up to them, carrying two bags of oranges. His hair is jet black and messy, with a small crown (similar to Brent’s) placed on top of his head. Dark eyeshadow is lazily plastered above his restless eyes. He sighs heavily as he sets the bags on the ground, fixing the orange bow on his shirt. His nails are painted a dark peach color, with many rings on his fingers.
Brent grins. “This is Nick, one of my hard-working employees.” He goes over to Nick and pats him on the shoulder. Nick cringes slightly at the touch.
“Yup, that's me. Such a hard worker,” Nick says with a smirk, sarcasm heavy in his voice. He takes Brent’s hand off his shoulder and looks at Grizzy and Pezzy. “Yo.”
“Yo,” Grizzy says back. Pezzy just nods silently.
“Now that introduction’s out of the way,” Brent claps his hands together, “I want you guys to stack these oranges in a pyramid. Since there’s a lot here, I asked Nick to help you. Finish this, and you can go home. Simple.”
Nick lets out a groan. “Seriously? This will take hours, Brent. Also, I highly doubt anyone will buy these. They’ve been on the ground.” He grimaces at the thought.
“Not my problem.” And with that, Brent walks back to his office.
_
“How long have you worked here, Nick?” Grizzy questions.
The group spends almost two hours stacking fruit. Grizzy and Nick have been chatting amongst themselves while Pezzy listens, too frustrated to talk. He doesn’t know if it’s his hatred for Brent or the fresh smell of tangerines coating his hand, but he’s getting more and more irritated by the second.
Nick ponders the question for a moment. “Two years, give or take.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t quit earlier, this place sucks.” Pezzy mumbles, loud enough for both men to hear. Nick raises an eyebrow and Grizzy smiles, happy he’s finally joining the conversation.
“He speaks!” Nick exclaims, snickering.
Pezzy shoots a glare at him, then sighs. “I’m just glad we’re almost done, so I can go home and sleep.” He grabs another orange from the bag and places it on the tower. “Brent’s been working us to the bone.”
Nick nods. “He’s kind of a bitch,” he states.
“Absolutely. He cut our break by twenty minutes. I needed all the time we could get, considering I’ve been chasing that stupid baby around the store for almost an hour.”
Nick’s eyes widened. “The demon baby? That little sh*t is the worst. Y’all are gonna have to deal with him a lot, the mom comes in almost every day. As for Brent cutting your break short, he does that sh*t a lot, unfortunately; he cuts mine daily.”
Pezzy sighs, his face becoming somber. “Great. Perfect.”
As Nick and Pezzy continue to talk, Grizzy becomes quiet. He hates this job, but he hates seeing his roommate upset even more. He knows, deep down, that Pezzy has been trying really hard to be optimistic. Even when he complained about working in retail, Pezzy tried to explain the positive aspects of it. The thought of seeing his best friend depressed every day makes his heart ache. This job isn’t worth it.
Wait…
This job isn’t worth it.
An angry manager, shortened breaks, demon babies…Is this their future? The duo desperately needs the money, but is it worth the constant mood swings? The tired nights? Possible delayed streams??
f*ck no.
Grizzy doesn’t care if it takes them years to find another job. He’d rather die than work another second, and he’s sure Pezzy thinks the same way. He hesitates for a bit, making sure this is what hereallywants- ah, f*ck it. He can’t take another second of this looping song anyway. It’s time to do something about this.
“Pez.”
Pezzy stops chatting with Nick and looks in Grizzy’s direction. “What’s up?”
Grizzy grins mischievously before saying: “Long live the king.”
Pezzy makes a puzzled expression. “What are you talking about-AH!” He has no time to finish his sentence as he’s pushed into the half-completed tower of oranges. He falls flat on his back with a soft thud, fruits bouncing everywhere on the floor. The noise gathers the attention of a few shoppers.
A jaw-dropped Nick glances at the scattered oranges, Pezzy in the fallen pile, then finally at Grizzy, who’s dying of laughter. He covers his mouth and turns away to keep himself from laughing as well.
Pezzy gradually sits up, face flushed and angrily glaring at a now wheezing Grizzy.
“WHAT THE f*ck WAS THAT FOR?!”
Grizzy gasps between breaths. “You should’ve seen your face! That was so f*cking funny!”
Pezzy grunts. “Just help me up,” he says through gritted teeth.
Still giggling, Grizzy puts his hand out for Pezzy to take. Instead, Pezzy grabs his arm, pulling him into the now-squished pile of oranges. Grizzy falls on his back with a yelp, scattering more oranges around them.
Pezzy smirks at his now-fallen friend. “Payback, bitch.”
Grizzy looks up at him with a goofy face, which makes Pezzy snort. The taller starts to giggle again, and soon the two are laughing hysterically. The whole store is looking in their direction now, some even stopping their shopping to see what was going on.
Brent comes rushing out of his office towards the commotion, confusion turning to anger as he sees what is happening. He quickly walks towards the duo, face red from embarrassment.
“You two are fired.”
Grizzy and Pezzy stop laughing to look at the angry manager in front of them, which makes them laugh even harder. They both quickly got up, grabbed their things from the staff room, and left.
Brent watches as they leave, fists balled up in anger. Nick’s full-on howling now, clutching his stomach as he controls his laughter. Brent quickly turns to Nick and scowls. “You’re cleaning this up by the way,” he scolds, quickly walking back to his office.
Nick’s face drops.
“Wait what the f*ck-”
_____________
“So lemme get this straight,” Puffer says in between giggles, “You got fired on the first day on the job?”
Pezzy takes a sip from his coffee as he gets comfier on the couch. “Yep, because SOMEONE decided to push me into a pile of oranges- which tookhoursto set up, by the way.” He shoots a playful glare at Grizzy, who’s drying his hair off with a towel.
Grizzy laughs. “Damn, I wonder who did that.”
Puffer throws a pillow in his direction and Grizzy narrowly dodges it, hitting Droid in the face instead.
“HEY, WATCH THE MERCHANDISE!” Droid yells. Giggling, he grabs the pillow and goes to sit down next to Pezzy. “Anyway, Grizzy was real for that; I honestly would’ve made a scene too.”
“I can see that happening,” Pezzy chuckled. Droid smirks, lightly punching Pezzy in the arm.
“Hold on,” Puffer starts, getting up to rummage through Pezzy’s fridge. “Why were you guys working anyway? You both have a decent following on YouTube and Twitch. Money shouldn’t be a problem, especially if you guys are streaming every day.” He grabs a soda and closes the fridge, going back to sit on the couch.
Pezzy hesitates. “Uh, about that-”
“Wait.” Puffer gives Pezzy a questioning look. “Don’t tell me you guys have only been streaming once a week.”
Silence fills the room as Grizzy and Pezzy look at each other dumbfounded, then at their friends, who are both staring at them in shock.
“Oh,” Droid says after a while. “Oh, you guys are stupid.”
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