Kevin

I have about half an hour before I have to make it into Toni's, so that means I can keep building my sweet tree house town for about 20 minutes. Minecraft is one of my favorite games, I spend way too much time building my own worlds with some friends of mine. It's really just the easiest way for me to express creativity without actually needing to be good at anything creative. I finish building one last hut before saying my goodbyes into the mic and turning off my xbox. A little less than 10 minutes to get to the shop, but ah, no big deal. I toss on my lucky red cap and jog out to my truck.

I arrive at Antonio's right on the dot, maybe a minute late, who's really counting anyway? "Heya, everybody, enjoying the pizza today? It'll be even better now that I'm here!" I call out with a wink to the patrons and a large grin. Most give me odd looks and half smiles, but a couple regulars clap and whistle at my arrival. Steph winks at me with her hand on her hip, Corey smiles at me, Matt nods coolly toward me, and George holds up his hand in greeting. Then there's the dork, learning how to prepare the pizza crusts and too focused on his work to even notice me walk in.

I stamp my time card and walk over to the crust station, trying to sneak well enough to keep him from noticing me. He's humming again, it must help him concentrate… how cute. Ah, whatever, I snatch the oiled crust he's working on and look over it closely. I can see the dork's eyes widening as he starts to panic and become frustrated over a matter of moments. I grunt, "Ah, fine oiling job, my man, it seems you're pretty good with your hands." I smirk as his face becomes pained and a blush crawls across his face. I set the crust down to be topped with sauce and then placed in the oven for a pre cook and then topped with the desired ingredients.

"Kevin! What in Einstein's name do you believe you are doing? Do not tarnish my handiwork for your lousy pranks!" Edd yells in frustration, still not all that loud, but what can you expect from someone who reads more often than they speak? He's red in the face and his eyes are glaring daggers into my own.

I laugh heartily and place my hand on his shoulder, "It's all in good fun, dude, simmer down. We could cook a pizza on that face of yours." He shakes his head and turns away from me abruptly to continue his work. I probably shouldn't have teased him quite so much, I always get carried away. I'm like a child who hasn't learned to express his feelings in any way other than bullying. Ah, shit, I shouldn't talk like that. That's not how I feel, is it? I rub the back of my neck and force myself to focus on my work.

Since I'm one of the longest working members of the staff here, I'm almost always the one making the ingredients for the pizzas by hand. Today is no different, I'm hands deep in flour, oil, and yeast water, kneading and punching the ingredients into dough. This is most definitely my favorite part of the job, you mean I get paid to punch something weird and soft? Yes please! I know it's just to get the air bubbles out, but it's hard to not get enjoyment out of something so entertaining.

It's nearing the end of the night now and we're beginning to close up shop, it's only Edd, Luke, and myself remaining with me in charge. Luke is a newer employee as well, I know he goes to school with us, but he must have moved here recently as I know very little of him. He's a bigger guy, short and pudgy with dirty blonde hair, light skinned, he generally keeps to himself and doesn't appear terribly interested in friendship, but not a bad guy I think. So, seeing as I know very little about either of these guys, I have decided to have some fun getting to know them.

"Hey guys, what do you say to playing a little game while we clean up? I'm thinking we could take turns asking some questions. Here, I'll start, do you guys play any video games? If so, what do you play them on?" I ask cheerfully. Edd shoots me a look like I have just grown a third eyeball and Luke moves to the dining area to clean. I wince and rub my neck, speaking quieter than usual, "Well, ah, I play xbox, and my favorite game of the moment is Minecraft. It's kinda lame, but I just can't get enough of it."

Edd cocks an eyebrow and murmurs, "I'm perplexed, I believe that would be the last game I expected you to entertain yourself with." He scrubs the counters thoroughly with sweat glistening across his furrowed brow and I find my eyes wandering along his body as I sweep the floors. He's slim, but not scrawny, he actually seems to have some toned muscles along the outline of the fabric clinging to his skin. Edd looks up from his work toward me and clears his throat.

"Ah, shit, sorry I zoned out.. But yeah, Minecraft is seriously like so much fun, there's so many possibilities, I'm working on this awesome treetop village in a world I share with a few buddies," I say quickly, hoping to distract from my straying eyes.

"Language Kevin. That's intriguing really, I don't have an xbox, but I have enjoyed playing Minecraft on my laptop as well as a few other games. Puzzle and role playing games would be my favorites," Edd responded, deciding to humor me and answer my question.

I grin and say, "Awesome, I've got a laptop too, but I guess I just never even thought to use it for playing games, consoles were just so easy. Now it's your turn to ask a question." I finish cleaning the floors and start helping Edd scrub down the counters.

Edd looks thoughtful while he tries to think of an appropriate question to ask. Finally he smiles lightly and asks, "Alright, what's your favorite song and how did you discover it? Mine is 'Stressed Out' by Twenty One Pilots, one of my good friends brought me to a music lounge in Berry Hills and he requested that song especially for me to hear." His face falls into a troubled expression for a moment, but he replaces it soon after with his resting light smile.

I spend some time thinking through some of the songs I listen to frequently, and I finally decide on one that I would say is my favorite for the moment. "'Things We Lost in the Fire' by Bastille, a friend of mine actually showed me the song too, he was raving about having just seen them live in concert and played their albums on repeat for an entire day," I chuckle, remembering hearing their music through the headset for hours. "Hey, that music lounge, it wouldn't happen to be Vibe Zone would it? My friend Nat frequents that place to find new favorites," I ask, realizing how strangely similar our friends appear to be.

Edd's jaw drops and his eyes widen, he stutters, "N-Nat? As in Goldberg? He's a good friend of mine, I accompany him to concerts frequently, including Bastille a few months ago, he's a friend of yours as well?" He holds a surprised look on his face and looks at me expectantly.

"Yeah, Nat and I play Minecraft together, if he wants me to listen to something he plays it over his headset. I can't believe you know him too, that is seriously too crazy, dude. How did you two meet? I just met him playing Call of Duty online and we hit it off," I start rambling, thinking about my plans later that night and scowl slightly.

Edd tosses his rag in the bucket before responding, "We met at the Vibe Zone, Eddy brought me there once and ditched me for some girl. Nathan swooped in to save the day with a disturbing comment about my posterior and somehow convinced me we should be friends," he pauses looking around the store, "It appears Luke has left us to our own accord and I believe we have finished here. If it's alright with you I'd like to begin my departure." Edd looks troubled but I have no idea what it could be for, so I nod to him and send him on his way while I finish locking up the store and putting away the time cards.

I told a certain teal haired ass man that I would pay him a visit after work, I guess we'll have something to talk about tonight. Ah, what the fuck am I doing, is it really a good idea to talk to him about Edd? He's bound to find out about Nat and I through Nat if they really are good friends. What does it matter anyway? I don't like the dork, right? Right? Fuck.