Prompt: I work the night shift at a local McDonalds and you came here at 3 AM ordering a HappyMeal and I'm so sorry we don't have the toy you wanted please stop crying
"Oi, Gajeel!" Natsu hissed. "Stop being a prat, someone has just come in!"
"You're the one being a prat!" Gajeel muttered back. The two young men hastily shoved their hats on and Gajeel glanced at the clock. "It's 3 AM, seriously, who is up at this time?"
"Hello, how can I help you?" Natsu asked. Their customer was a short blonde woman. She was shivering in her jacket and pulling change from her pocket. She smiled awkwardly and looked up at the menu.
"Um, can I have a HappyMeal please?"
The blonde counted out the coins as Natsu put her order through the system.
"Nuggets, hamburger or a cheeseburger?"
"Oh." She looked shocked at the question. "Hamburger please."
"And what drink would you like?" Natsu smiled.
"Do you still do strawberry milkshakes?"
"Yeah."
"Can I have one of those?"
"Of course!"
The blonde offered a timid smile as she handed over the pile of coins. Natsu noticed they were all low denominations.
"Getting rid of loose change?" Natsu asked.
"It's the only cash I have on me," the blonde admitted. "Sorry," she added as he started to sift through the coins to dispense them into the till.
"It's fine," Natsu said. "We run out of pennies all the time so it helps to restock." He grinned.
"Oi! Flamebrain, stop flirting and make the girl a milkshake," Gajeel growled from the back.
"Right, oh, sorry!" Natsu turned to the milkshake machine and glared at Gajeel. "I wasn't flirting! I was being nice! It's the middle of the night and she's alone! Jeesh."
Gajeel only laughed as Natsu finished the milkshake.
"Here you go," Natsu said as he handed over the milkshake. "The rest of your meal will be here shortly."
He pulled one of the HappyMeal boxes from the stack and constructed it, then he served the chips while waiting for Gajeel to finish the burger.
"Do I still get a toy?" the blonde asked.
"Um, yeah?" Natsu was slightly taken aback. "What do you want?" He gestured to the pictures of all the toys.
The blonde surveyed her options.
"Could I have the Hello Kitty one?"
Natsu ducked down to find the toys and groaned when he noticed the tray where the Hello Kitty toys were supposed to be. They had run out.
"I'm sorry," he said as he stood back up. "We haven't got any of those left…"
He trailed off as he noticed tears forming in the eyes.
"Here's your burger," Gajeel said as he came around from the back. "Natsu! I leave you alone for two minutes and she's crying! What did you do?!"
"We ran out of the toy she wants!" Natsu protested. "I didn't do anything!"
"Grown adults don't cry because we ran out of a stupid toy," Gajeel growled. "What did you do?!"
But they were both silenced by the sound of the blonde laughing through her tears. Both men turned and stared, slightly worried.
"I'm sorry," she said with a hiccough. "I've had a bad evening." The two men shared a look. "This guy stood me up and I just kept waiting and finally I gave up and then I walked the wrong way home and then I saw this and I haven't had any crappy food for so long and it all just got too much so I started crying but you two are so ridiculous…"
The blonde was clutching her HappyMeal with tears streaming down her face, but she was smiling.
"You're a weirdo."
"Natsu, you can't call customers weird, you dolt."
"It's okay," the blonde said, still smiling. "Do you mind if I sit in to eat?"
"Not at all," Natsu said.
"So who stood you up?" Gajeel asked. The blonde took a seat and the two men leant against the counter to chat.
"Some guy called Dan, my friend set us up," the blonde admitted as she started on her fries.
"And he never showed?" Natsu asked.
"Nope, we agreed to meet just outside some restaurant," she told them. "But I waited for almost two hours and he never showed."
"Two hours?"
"Yeah…" She groaned. "It was stupid looking back on it but…"
"It's nice of you to give him a chance," Natsu said quickly.
"Yeah, but no guy is worth that," Gajeel added in. "Not unless he let you know."
"You made Levy wait for ages that one time!"
"Yeah, but I told her I was gonna be late," Gajeel countered.
"Yeah, but you still don't deserve someone as nice as Levy," Natsu said.
"No, I don't," Gajeel agreed. "But at least I can get a girlfriend!" He sniggered at his co-worker.
"How have you not set this place on fire yet?" the blonde asked. "You two argue like an old married couple."
"Why do you think Natsu isn't allowed in the back?"
"No food safety certificate?" the blonde guessed.
"Nope, he has one, but he also had two pan fires in the space of ten minutes so he's stuck on till duty." Gajeel sniggered again. Natsu pouted beside him.
"It was an accident."
"Yeah, sure it was, pyro."
The blonde giggles as she finished her fries. Natsu noticed she'd stopped crying and smiled.
"It's alright," she said. "I can't get a boyfriend either, and I'm an underwear model."
Both boys looked slightly shocked by that.
"Really?"
"Yeah," she admitted. "Nothing too exciting, but it helps pay the bills."
"It's gotta be better than working here in the middle of the night…" Natsu pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess so," she agreed. The blonde sighed. "I should head home."
"At this time, you sure you'll be alright?" Natsu asked.
"We can call you a taxi or something," Gajeel suggested.
The blonde smiled.
"You two are too kind," she said. "I live just around the corner, I'll be fine."
Natsu frowned, then grabbed a napkin and scribbled something down.
"This is my number, please let me know you get back safe."
The blonde took the napkin and pocketed it.
"Will do." She smiled again and left. Natsu returned behind the counter and sighed.
"Maybe I should go after her, walk her home."
"You aren't allowed to leave here, idiot."
Natsu did not reply but pulled his mobile out of his pocket to check it, nothing yet. Not that he expected anything. He pulled up the puzzle game and began tapping away.
Ten minutes later, his phone vibrated.
I'm home! Thank you for being so kind and if you get any of my preferred toy in stock I expect you to deliver in person! Lucy.
"Hey, Gajeel? When are we next due a delivery of the HappyMeal toys?"
"Why?"
"I think I have a date when they do…"
Author's note: Just another oneshot, please review :)