Ice Bear was asleep, his head propped back on a pillow, covered by a pillow which had ice packs on top of it. His TV was on playing quiet instrumental music in his ears. He opened his eyes, glancing at the figure skater for half second, before reaching up and turning the thermostat of the refrigerator down, making it's fan blow chilling air on his face and neck. Ice Bear sighed contentedly, then fell asleep again. He lurched awake to the sound of arguing, coming from outside his freezer. Ice Bear Growled and turned on his side, wrapping a pillow around his head to try and muffle the sounds. It didn't work. So instead, he shook the ice off of himself and, with a disapproving grunt, he open the refrigerator door. Not only met by a blast of blinding bright light (making Ice Bear growl), but Panda and Grizz were evidently arguing about something. And it sounded heated. Like out of the frying pan and into the fire heated. Ice grunted and got out of the fridge, shutting the door behind him. He got up and went to the bathroom holding a tray of ice cubes, hoping to make a ice bath. He walked in the bathroom, and, mere seconds after the knowledge of his arrival, Grizz spat out his toothpaste, and walked up to him, ignoring Panda for a few seconds.
"Bro, you're just what we neeeded!" He exclaimed. "You can stop this fight!"
"Ice Bear does not wish to be involved"
"Oh, Dude, come on!" He moaned, " You just have to pick who's right, alright?" Ice Bear thought for a second.
"Ice Bear will resolve this fight." Grizz gave a look of relief. "If Grizz promises to never wake up Ice Bear before he wants to again." Grizz nodded.
"Fine. Deal" Grizz took him by the arm, and led him away to the kitchen. Ice Bear made a look back at the Ice tray, which he had managed to put in the bath before Grizz came to get him. Ice Bear sighed. Looks like he won't be getting a bath for a while. Grizz led Ice Bear into the kitchen, where a very grumpy Panda was sitting at the table leaning on his arm, surfing his phone. Grizz spoke up.
"Pan-Pan, Bro here is going to solve this for us." Panda grunted. Ice Bear turned to Grizz.
"Ice bear want's to know what's happened."
"Well..." Said Grizz, " We just got the electric bill back, and that was up by about 50% more than usual -"
"Ice Bear is confused. We don't pay our bills."
"We have to. I recently got a letter from the electric company saying they were going to cut of our power if we don't pay the bill off soon"
"Continue"
"So I think that Panda has been using up electricity on charging his phone up too much."
"Ice Bear wants to see proof of this accusation." Grizz picked up the piece of paper, and handed it over to Ice Bear.
"This is the bill." He explained. It was certainly official. The city crest was hologram, so it wasn't fake. On the bill was a long string of numbers. Ice Bear scanned it until he saw the room labelled "Second Bedroom", which was the room belonging to Panda. Ice Bear did a quick scan of the numbers, then set the piece of paper down.
"Grizz is correct." Panda was about to protest, but was silence by a look from Ice Bear, "But perhaps for the wrong reason." He referred to the piece of paper again as Grizz and Panda gave a confused look to each other.
"Although it is true Panda has cost the most money, it does not say why." Grizz scoffed jokingly.
"Well, what do you say we do, Bro?"
"Ice Bear thinks Panda should either, sell the phone -" Panda looked up at Ice Bear with the most threatening look he could muster, "Or one of us should get a job to pay for this." Panda looked at Grizz as Grizz looked at Panda.
"HE IS!" They shouted in unison. Ice Bear shrugged.
"Ice bear doesn't care who get's a job. Ice Bear needs to do the chores." Grizz nodded.
"So Littlest Bro will do the chores and Cooking, that's fine."
"Ice Bear does not approve of that name."
"So it's up to me or you Panda." Panda shook his head.
"Uh-Uh, I'm too soft and cushy to be in a line of work."
"But I didn't cause the bill, did I?" Panda sulked. "So why should I get a job for your mistake?"
"It's still not fair..." All the bears thought for a second.
"Ice Bear thinks it should be left to chance." Grizz lit up.
"Great Idea, Bro, I'll go get our decision machine!"
"Ice Bear think's he should choose fairly." Grizz sat back down. Ice Bear procured a penny. " Ice Bear thinks we should choose using a coin toss. If you lose, you have to get a job." Grizz nodded.
"Sound Fair, Pan-Pan?" Panda was still sulking on his phone.
"As fair as it's going to get..." He said miserably. Ice Bear threw the coin in the air, lodging it in the caves ceiling, and held his paw out. The coin dropped from the ceiling and landed neatly on Ice Bears paw. He covered it before anyone could see.
"Ice requests your calls." Grizz was quick off the mark.
"TAILS!" He shouted. Panda gave him a look of disbelief.
"Guess I'm heads then..." He said. Ice Bear looked at the coin.
"Well?" Both Bears looked to him in anticipation.
"Ice Bear would like to request that you both get a job." The Bears both looked confused. Ice Bear removed his paw. The coin was standing on it's side.
Panda and Grizz were walking through the streets, looking for a hiring business.
"I still think he made that happen." Panda complained.
"How could he?" reasoned Grizz. "We watched him move his paw, there's no way he could have faked that!" Panda looked back at the ground. He walked to a park bench, looking at the newspaper discarded there.
"Hey Grizz"
"Yeah?"
Maybe we could look in the paper for open jobs." Said Panda, pointing.
"Great Idea Pan-Pan!" They walked over to the paper, picking it up. "Hey, Comics!"
"Grizz!"
"Sorry, sorry..." They both flipped page after page through the comic, looking for some jobs.
"Hey, what about this place!" exclaimed Panda eventually. He pointed to an advertisement, then read aloud. "Looking for new employee's at Stack your Snack, No experience needed, taught on Job!" Panda ripped the advertisement out planning to take a look. Grizz pointed to another Ad.
"This one pays really well! It says no experience needed, pays about $50 an hour" Panda looked at the ad.
"It's construction. Of course that'd be expensive, Grizz." Grizz ripped the ad out of the paper.
"Well, I'm still going to go take a look." He concluded. They both looked at each other.
"Good luck with your job" Said Panda.
"Right back at ya Pan-Pan" The Bears turned and walked in opposite directions to each other.
Panda walked up to a store with two great big windows. It's color scheme seemed to be made up of mainly orange and white, judging by the sign and what he could see of the inside.
"Well, it doesn't look so bad, I guess.." Panda said to on two legs, he walked in. Instantly, the aroma of fresh bakery assaulted his nostrils, and Panda almost fell to he floor in an epiphany of pleasure. The pancakes that were evidently baking behind the counter smelt delectable, yet there only 3 or 4 people in the store, excluding the staff. Panda managed to stay on his feet and walked up to the counter. A boy with Purple dyed hair stood behind the counter, looking bored on his face, but sounding upbeat.
"Hi, Welcome to Stack your snack, the best pancakes in San Francisco! What can I get ya?" He exclaimed.
"oh, um, I'm not here to eat, I'm here for the newspaper Ad?" Panda Replied, setting the Ad on the counter. The Boy nodded.
"Sure, let me get the on-site manager" The Boy pushed on a door, and disappeared through it, leaving Panda to look at the samples in the glass container under the counter.
Panda softly uttered his amazement to himself. These all looked like something Ice Bear would be able to cook up. There about 4 different samples in the container, and, had Panda been told to pick one over the others, he wouldn't have been able to. Thick Golden Pancakes topped with round blueberries leaking purple juice stood in a tall stack next to a plate of three thin pancakes, rolled up together with chocolate oozing out of each end. Panda could feel his mouth water at the delicious sight. A voice suddenly rang out from above him.
"Enjoying the view?" Panda jolted upwards, banging his head on the counters overhang as he did so. The voice was female, and gasped at him. "Oh My Goodness, I'm so sorry! Are you O.K?" She said worryingly. "Let me get you some ice!"
"No. It hurts but, it's okay."
"Oh, Are you sure?" She said, evidently still worried. Panda shook her off.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm here for the job application anyway." He said, rubbing the back of his head, and pointing to the newspaper clipping on the table.
"OH! O.K, yeah, you're hired. It's not that well of paying though... It's only about $20.50 an hour..." She said doubtfully. "I'm sorry, but that's all I can offer. That and a discount on every other day." Panda's eye's grew wide.
"DEAL" He said quickly. "They look delicious!" The girl was blonde, and looked about 20, 25 years old, by Panda's guess. She was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt, covered by a Orange Apron that looked a lot like Ice Bears, only a different color. She wore bleached denim jeans which brought out her light hair, and the syrup stains on her jeans. She lifted up a section of the counter and let him through, and started to explain what went on in the backgrounds of the bakery.
"So, the uniform is fairly relaxed, you just have to wear the Orange apron that says 'Stack Your Snack' and you can wear pretty much anything else with it. Try to bring old clothes though, you're going to get pretty sticky. You have to wash your hands before setting your paws -" She looked at Panda, "literally, your paws, anywhere near the food. And no eating during the day, not until lunch, and when you leave. We'll let you buy from the menu during the break, or you can head home if you want, just as long as you're back before break's over." She stopped and turned to Panda.
"Any questions?" she said finally. Panda shook his head."Great, welcome to Stack your Snack. Let me introduce you to the team that's here right now. My names Rochelle, by the way." Rochelle led Panda to the kitchen, where the was a Brown haired man flipping multiple pancakes, with spatulas in both hands. He was tall, about 6 feet, and 5 inches, and tanned slightly. He didn't look up as they entered the kitchen.
"New Order?" He said. His voice was rough, and he spoke with a slight hardness.
"Nope, new worker." Said Rochelle, "Meet Panda. Panda this is Ross. He cooks in the mornings, until 2 o'clock. He's the best out of all of them, and can run about 4 orders at once. Still, other cooks come in, and help for the Rush Hours." Panda looked at her.
"Rush Hours?" Rochelle smacked her own forehead.
"Right, I forgot to mention. There are two rush Hours each day, at about 12 pm until 1 pm, and 3 pm until 4 pm, where people from work come here to eat something sweet, and kids are on their way home for a treat. It's pretty dead right now, but trust me, It gets pretty crazy around here." Panda nodded. Rochelle led him from the kitchen. "Follow me, I think you've already met Jesse, right?" Panda trailed after her.
"I don't really know..." Panda walked back out to the counter, to find the Purple haired boy standing there.
"Hi, I'm Jesse!" He said, offering his hand. "I take it you've got the job?" Panda took his hand.
"Yeah..." Jesse smiled.
"That's great!" He said, "Can you cook?"
"Not really, my Brother cooks for me, he enjoys doing it..." Jesse smiled even wider.
"That means you'll be working the counter with me!" Jesse explained, "I look forward to it." Rochelle took over for him.
"Jesse is the friendliest guy I've met, but I've seen him get nasty towards a few disruptive customers, trust me." She explained. "Best Cashier Jockey we've had for a while..." Rochelle led him outside of the diner and back to the real world.
"You can't start right now, I have to get an apron for you, and some gloves, cause let's face it, You'll get hair on the pancakes" She said, smirking slightly. Panda looked to his feet. "I'm Joking. You'l still get glove just in case."
"So when do I start?" Asked Panda. Rochelle thought for a second. Come in at 11 am tomorrow. I'll have everything you'll need by then." Panda nodded.
"I'll see you then!" He said, starting down the road. Rochelle waved goodbye.
"See Ya! I'll see ya tomorrow!" Panda waved back, already rushing back to the cave to tell Ice Bear about the good news.
"Panda is home early..." Remarked Ice Bear as he let panda through the door, wearing his almost symbolic green Apron. "Did Panda give up?" Panda smirked at him.
"No, I got a job!" He exclaimed. "I start at 11 am, tomorrow, they have to get some supplies for me to work." Ice Bear nodded.
"Ice Bear is proud of his Brother." He said turning away to carry on dusting the Television. Panda walked over to the Sofa and flopped down on it.
"I kinda can't wait..." He said, almost to himself.
"Ice Bear wants to know about Pandas new job." Said Ice Bear, still dusting the Television.
"Oh, Um, OK..." Stuttered Panda. "It's at the this place, a while north from here, Stack you Snack." Ice Bear nodded.
"Ice Bear has heard of it."
"They make pancakes there." explained Panda, "And I'm going to be what they call a 'Cashier Jockey'"
"Panda is going to be worker at a cashier?" He asked. "For how much?"
"Um... About 20 Dollars an hour." replied Panda. "I think so anyway." Ice Bear turned to face his Brother.
"Ice Bear Approves of Panda's new job."
