Disclaimer: I own a lot of things, but Chuck isn't one of them. Thankfully. I'd butcher the poor show.
Ellie always nagged Chuck about starting his morning off right. Well, to be fair, she nagged Chuck about a lot of things (as big sisters tend to do), but a healthy breakfast was one of those things that she really harped on.
But Chuck wasn't an eggs and meat and fruits kinda guy before noon. He wasn't much of an "I enjoy life" guy before noon at all. By now, though, he knew that going into Buy More on an empty stomach made for a cranky Nerd Herder.
So here he was, staring into a bowl of Captain Crunch. It was getting soggy, and nobody really liked soggy Captain Crunch, but Chuck was lost in thought. His life felt like a whole tub full of soggy Captain Crunch right now- full of promise, but crumbling into something impossible to salvage. It may not be the perfect simile, but the point is, it was all going to waste. Tomorrow was his birthday, and in a few years he'd be thirty, and everything was just a wreck. An awful job, a nonexistent love life, a crashed external hard drive, and to top it all off, the red rings of death were back on Morgan's Xbox 360, so he was suddenly around the house all the time.
There was only so much Morgan an individual could withstand before their brain imploded.
Chuck was snapped out of his internal pity party by the sound of Devon walking into the kitchen, scrubbed up and looking fresh as ever. How did some people look so good in the morning? It was one of the great mysteries of life to Chuck, right between "why Firefly was ever canceled" and "women, just, in general".
"Morning Chuck," the captain said, smelling like Irish Spring soap, aftershave, and awesome.
Chuck winced as Devon clapped him on the shoulder and gave an up-nod with a meek "Hey."
Devon grabbed himself a few granola bars and sat down next to Chuck, checking out the box on the counter. "Captain Crunch? Awesome." One.
"Yeah, just, don't tell Ellie," Chuck said sheepishly, with a keen awareness that this wasn't exactly her idea of a balanced breakfast. She was working either a really late shift or a really early one, depending on how you looked at it, but wasn't home either way.
"My lips are sealed. I have the utmost respect for my fellow captain," Devon replied, mock saluting the box. "You seem down, Chuck, what's the problem?"
"Oh, it's nothing."
Devon gave his answer a dismissive wave. "Nah, come on, bro, I've got time before work. Talk to Doctor Devon."
Chuck sighed, stirring his Captain Crunch idly with his spoon. "I dunno. It's stupid. I just, I feel like a mess. I hate my job, I haven't had a girlfriend since Jill, and my hard drive crashed and it just feels like so much at once, you know?"
Devon nodded sagely. "It's alright to feel like that, Chuck. I mean, sometimes, a lot of stuff goes wrong at once, you know? And, really, everybody hates their job at least a little bit."
"You don't," countered Chuck, before trying to choke down a spoonful of soggy cereal.
Devon nodded in agreement, his mouth full of granola bar, saying, "Well, yeah, my job is pretty awesome. But, like other people. And dude, you can't sweat the girl thing." Two.
"I know," Chuck said with a sigh, back to stirring his inedible mess of a breakfast. "It's just, I haven't even met any girls that have really, I dunno, made me want to try."
Devon nodded again. "You'll meet a girl. You'll be fine." He placed his hand firmly on Chuck's shoulder before locking eyes with him. "Do you wanna know something? The day I met Ellie wasn't that special to start out with. I didn't think it was gonna be an awesome day, but then that angel walked into my life and it became the most awesome day I've ever had." Three and four.
"And hey, some girl might be just around the corner for you. Maybe you'll find someone you like at your birthday party tomorrow, or maybe some hot customer will pop into the Buy More the day after that, you just don't know! That's why life is awesome!" Five.
Chuck, well, chuckled at that. Devon may have been comically optimistic and generally larger than life most of the time, but sometimes, having him around was pretty… terrific.
"Think about what I said, alright Chuck? Some awesome girl is out there for you. You just haven't met her yet. Anyway, I've gotta go remove an appendix. Or a gallbladder. I should probably find that out before I start," he trailed off, before laughing. "Anyway, I'll see you later." Six.
"See ya, captain," Chuck said, resolving to dump his cereal and grab a granola bar himself. Just as Devon was walking out the door and Chuck was standing over the sink, he said, "Hey, captain- thanks."
Devon flashed him a huge smile and said, "Anytime, bro." And he was off to save someone's life. Or something like that.
Six "awesomes" for breakfast. Just your average morning with the captain.
Not much Charah here, which, if anything, is what the story revolves around, most of the time. Buuut I'll be making up for that soon enough; Sarah vs. HnyBdgr461 is on the way.
As always, review, if it pleases ya.