another place I've never been (onautopilot) wrote in the_dome, @ 2013-11-30 00:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | 04-15-2017, devin, devin and justin, justin |
Rare Cooperation
Who: Justin and Devin
When: Late morning
Where: Eatzy’s
Despite the power still being out, Justin was at work. There were simply too many perishable items in the diner that would eventually spoil if they didn’t make sure the temperatures of the freezer was still safe. Justin knew if the freezer held up, they had at least one more day before they would have to throw things out. He met Devin that morning outside of the diner, his keys in hand. He hated being closed, because it meant money wasn’t being made and there was nothing he could do about it.
“Gorgeous day,” Justin said dryly as he approached the back door and Devin. The rain continued to fall, but nowhere near as bad as the day before.
Devin had been huddled at the back door for about ten minutes, having a smoke before Justin arrived to unlock the door. Beneath his jacket he wore a hoodie, said hood pulled up over his head, but he was still damp and crabby from the walk over. He exhaled smoke, lifting an eyebrow at Justin as he gave his morning greeting. “Gorgeous,” he replied, his tone as dry as his employer’s. “If you’re from fuckin’ Seattle or anywhere else it rains a lot.” He hadn’t slept well the night before, and he was pissy. The fact that the diner was closed made him even more so. He’d lost several hours from his work shift. He ashed his cigarette and glared out at the lot behind him as if it might have been responsible for his troubles.
Snorting softly, Justin unlocked the back door and pushed it open. “Didn’t have to worry too much about it livin’ in the south most of my life.” He stepped back and waited for Devin to step inside before closing the door behind him. “I’m pretty sure all this rain is an ominous sign. Just waiting to see what comes next.” Because it didn’t rain like this. And it shouldn’t be this damn cold. The dome was supposed to be regulated, temperature wise. “I’ll still pay you for coming in today. I know it’s tough to lose hours.”
Devin had smoked his cigarette to within centimeters of its life, as usual, and he pitched it to the concrete and exhaled one last blast of smoke before following Justin into the diner. “You think it’s the apocalypse?” he cracked. “Oh, wait, we already had that.” Shrugging out of the much-loved denim jacket he wore just about everywhere when it was less than eighty degrees outside, he looked around for a place to hang it and finally hung it over the back doorknob. They were closed, so it wasn’t likely anyone else would be coming in. He pushed down his hood and raked his fingers through his hair to neaten it. It didn’t really work, but what the hell. “Thanks,” he said to Justin’s offer to pay him anyway. “So where do we start?”
Amused, Justin glanced at the kid. “Who said the apocalypse could only happen once?” Justin slipped his keys into his jacket and walked into his open office, nearly forgetting the power was out when he went to flip the light switch. Everything was quiet, but for the clock on the wall that ran on batteries. The constant ticking was like a siren in his ears. “Check the freezer temperature,” he instructed, “and make sure it’s still below forty one degrees. It’s been cold enough outside that the building’s not getting any warmer, so that might’ve helped. I’m thinking I may have to find a back up generator somehow, if this keeps happening.” Of course, unless he could get one in the dome, Justin knew he was fucked. It wasn’t like any traders could get in and out right now to help him with that particular request.
“Well, we’re under a freakin’ dome,” Devin shot back. “Seems like we’d have a better chance than average this time.” His tone was that of someone who was completely unaffected by the thought of another event like the one they’d already been through. Lose out on the best years of your life fighting zombies and struggling for survival? Whatever. He’d always been a scrappy kid, but the past several years had toughened him up even more. When Justin told him to check the freezer, he ambled over that way, taking his penlight out of his pocket. Checking the thermometer, he called back, “Thirty seven. Could be worse, I guess.”
He picked up the keys to the pantry and grinned a little to himself at Devin’s response about the dome. He wondered if the kid knew exactly what was going on around them. “I’d say it’s better than average when the dome doors aren’t locked shut. Right now we’re all trapped. People seem to be okay with that.” Justin came out of his office when Devin spoke, feeling some small sense of relief. “Thirty seven… should last us one more day. If the power is out tomorrow, we’re going to have to toss the meat and hope Pollard is willing to get us a discount on our next order.” He ran a hand through his hair, staring at the thermostat. Then he sighed and glanced at Devin. “Probably too early for a drink, yeah?”
Yeah, they were trapped. Devin knew that, but where the hell else did he have to be? His uncle was here, he had a job here, and he’d gotten to know people. He wouldn’t have wanted to go back from whence he’d come even if he’d been able to. He nodded when Justin told him they should be good for one more day. Hopefully things would get back into gear. He hated when food was wasted, especially in their current circumstances. “Dude, it’s never too early for a drink,” he said, unsure as to whether Justin was kidding or not. If he wasn’t, Devin planned to be first in line to be his drinking buddy.
"I like that answer. Hold on," Justin said simply before turning and leaving Devin by the freezer. Inside his office, he grabbed the small bottle from his desk drawer before coming back out to meet Devin and motioning for him to follow him to the front. There was no power, but they would have more natural lighting from the front windows. He set the bottle on the countertop before reaching below to pull out two glasses. "Got this from Zania," he explained, nodding to the moonshine in the bottle. "It's strong stuff." Which was why he was only giving Devin one glass, rather than the two or three he might drink for himself. Justin uncapped the bottle before pausing and lifting a brow at Devin. "I'm guessin' you want some."
"Yeah I want some," Devin said. "If you're going to drink in front of me without sharing, I'm leaving." His tone was civil enough. Justin wasn't someone who brought out Devin's more acerbic side, and some of that might've had to do with the fact that the man was his boss. He liked cooking at the diner, and he understood that everyone here was supposed to have a job. He'd hate to end up stuck doing something he didn't like. "The stronger the better," he added. He didn't get many opportunities to indulge in alcohol, and he planned to enjoy it.
On any other day, Justin would have saluted Devin and wished him well, but seeing as how he had come in to help Justin clean up and inventory the diner, he felt obligated enough to share. "Then I guess you'll enjoy this." Because Zania tended to make the moonshine pretty strong, which Justin appreciated. He tried not to think about the last time he'd had a few glasses to drink and had barely felt a buzz. It was likely because he was afraid that had more to do with what he was now, than anything else and it was a depressing thought to think he might not be able to get knock down drunk again. Justin poured a bit of moonshine into both glasses before nudging Devin's glass toward him. "Bit stronger than what they serve at the bar, so pace yourself."
Devin picked up the glass and took a few moments to savor the aroma of the moonshine, which did indeed smell fiercely strong. Then he sipped from it. Right after, he was glad he’d only sipped, because it lit him on fire. Lowering the glass to the counter again, he remarked, “Yeah, you weren’t kidding.” His voice sounded a touch gravelly. He’d be damned if he wasn’t going to drink every drop of it though. “When did Zania learn to make moonshine?” He was honestly curious, because he wasn’t sure he’d ever met anyone else who could do that.
“Hell if I know,” Justin said after knocking back half of his glass. He was used to the taste of it, and his body had obviously worked up some kind of tolerance to alcohol, so he wasn’t worried about getting blasted so early in the morning. “How does Zania learn much of anything? She decides she wants to do something, and she does it. Been that way her whole life, actually.” It was both an admirable, and exasperating trait. Justin’s lips twitched briefly before he looked up from his glass to Devin. “How’s your uncle doin’ with all this crazy shit going on around here?”
Devin gave Justin the side-eye after seeing how fast he drank. The guy didn’t even cough, what was that about? Then he shook his head and turned back to his own glass, taking a few more sips. It burned all the way down. Seriously good stuff, he thought. He made a faint snorting sound when Justin asked how Charlie was handling the crazy. There was a lot of crazy to choose from. Being locked in. Bats. Wolves. Frequent power outages. “Fine,” he said. “He doesn’t talk a lot about work stuff to me.” Devin had figured that was because there were things that were confidential or on that proverbial need to know basis.
"Makes sense." Justin shrugged. He saw Charlie in and out of the diner, and made enough small talk with the guy, as he did with most people. Maybe Charlie knew the truth behind the bats, and the wolf attacks. Maybe not. But Justin was betting he probably did. He knocked back the rest of his moonshine and dumped the glass into the dish bin below. "Why don't you get started on taking stock of the pantry after you finish. If the market is open, I'll send you by to get what we're runnin' low on. Then you can go home." Might as well earn his paycheck while he was there, Justin figured. He started for his office, then paused and smirked slightly. "Unless you got a date, or some important plans, just assume when the power comes back on, we're opening back up. I don't want to stay shut down any longer than I need to."
“Yeah, absolutely,” Devin said with a nod when Justin outlined what he wanted him to do. Justin was one of the very few people who saw his rare cooperative side. Of course, he wanted to keep his job, but he also liked the guy. There could be much worse people to work for, he felt sure. He’d worked his way up to small gulps rather than sips, and he swallowed before rolling his eyes at his boss’s comment. “What kind of important plans could I possibly have?” And a date? Who’d want to date him? He could be an ass, and he didn’t often find a girl who was willing to tolerate his snarkiness. “I can be around whenever.”
“Hell, I don’t know,” Justin said with a short laugh. “Guess I assumed you had more goin' on than just coming here to cook. But if I'm wrong, then I'll see you back here when the power's on." Devin wasn't as young as some of the teenagers who came through the diner, but he was still a kid, in Justin's eyes. Justin was pretty content with his life as it was - for the most part - but he figured someone Devin's age would be out, at least attempting to be social. But hell, what did Justin know anyway? According to his sister, he was wasting his life in some shape or form.
Devin's social attempts didn't always work out that well, and he was the sort who didn't care so much, most of the time. People's opinions of him didn't matter to him. If he had someone to hang with, fine, and if he didn't, that was fine too. "It's not like shit's normal anymore," he said with a shrug. The sad thing was that he'd been so young when everything had changed that he hadn't really had the chance to enjoy teenage life. That was one of those it is what it is situations, and moping about it wouldn't change anything. He took another pull from his glass.
Justin nodded. "Yeah, I hear you on that." He reached over to take the bottle, then paused and slid it in Devin's direction. "Keep it. I can get more. Just don't keep it here." Because while Justin had been known to take a nip or two back in the office, he didn't want his employees drinking on the clock. Sure, it was a Do as I say, not as I do type rule, but Justin rarely cared. And look at him now, being all generous and shit. That was also an extreme rarity, unless it was family.
"This has gotta be my lucky day!" Devin exclaimed. The gesture had jarred him out of his usual blaseness. "Thanks, boss." He was definitely taking this home and hiding it in his room. His opinion was that the former legal drinking age didn't matter anymore, but he wasn't sure Charlie was on the same page with him, so maybe he'd just keep the fact that he had a partial bottle of moonshine to himself.
Unable to help himself, Justin let out a short laugh. "Take some luck wherever you can get it." Because luck seemed be in short supply these days. "But if Charlie finds it and flips, you didn't get it from me. I'm going to finish the schedule for the next week. Let me know when you're leaving for the market and I'll grab some cash for you." He knew he ought to be home on days like this. No power, cold weather. He should have a girlfriend, or something going on. Maybe Zania was right in that aspect. Instead, he was at work with a guy who seemed to be as antisocial as Justin was. But he supposed it could be worse. He could be at home right now, dealing with his psycho ghost guest.
Devin grinned, the look full of mischief and a snarky sort of evilness. “Charlie ain’t gonna find it. I have hiding places even a policeman couldn’t imagine.” Or maybe he was just devious. That was the most likely. “Will do,” he said to Justin’s request, lifting his glass as if in a toast. Then he drank some more down.
That wasn’t surprising, and Justin merely smirked before saluting Devin and head back to his office. It wasn’t as if Devin drinking was illegal, but he knew how protective family members could get. Especially law enforcement family members. But Devin seemed to be the type of guy who did his own thing, regardless of who his family was, so Justin wasn’t worried about it. Everyone was free to make their own choices. The only thing he was worried about now was getting the diner back up and running.