The Journey Into Us

Pairing: Hiccup X Toothless
Rating: M for Mature

Disclaimer:I do not own anything HTTYD-related.

Chapter 28

=Normal POV=
(Monday, 1/13/2020; 10:30 pm)
(Barbarchi City, Archipelago)
(Trayden's Job)

Aside from the light music going in the background, the bar was about silent. At first, it seemed like maybe Trayden was disrespectful to these customers and claimed he was a manager. However, when Trayden mentioned that he wouldn't apologize so Andrew better fire him, it was looking more like there was something that happened. So despite shock at the last thing just said, it was now quiet and Andrew was standing there stunned at Trayden's words. Finally, the man seemed to snap out of it.

"Did you just tell me to fire you?" Andrew asked, as if he hadn't heard it clearly.

"No. It's what you said you would do if I refused to apologize and that's what I did, so I am merely awaiting for you to tell me that I'm terminated," Trayden informed calmly.

"You're not going to fight for your job?" Andrew stared, perhaps in surprise that Trayden was going to allow it. Others were confused too, but obviously, Trayden was holding onto something that made him not worry about being fired.

"Fight for it?" Trayden almost laughed. "That was a joke, right?" He questioned. "Andrew, I don't know if you remember or not…But three days ago on Friday, I was ready to walk out because I physically got so tired, weak, and sick from working here. So no, I'm not going to fight for something that isn't worth it,"

Andrew sighed some. "I reassured you that wouldn't happen again, Trayden. Where is all this coming from? It's like you want me to fire you,"

"You're the one who wants to fire me for whatever it is you think I did wrong and refuse to apologize for. Why are you complicating this? It's two words, Andrew. You're fired," Trayden stated.

"Why do you want me to say it? Why can't you just apologize to the customers?" Andrew inquired.

"I want you to do what you said you were going to do. I won't give an apology to those I have not wronged. I'm not going to apologize to them, Andrew. You can keep asking me the same question by changing how you word it, but my answer will not alter and I will not cave," Trayden replied. "Here's a question for you," He paused a moment. "Why are you hesitating? You said you would fire me if I refused to apologize, and I have refused. I'm not going to give into your ultimatum to say sorry or be terminated. I'm not going to say I'm sorry, beg, plead, or whatever else you want to consider I'd do to keep this job," Trayden explained. "I don't think you understand, Andrew, that I don't care anymore,"

"You don't care about having a job?" Andrew questioned.

"I care about having a job, I do have rent and bills to pay for. I just don't care about this job anymore. I told you on Friday that I had other options available and could use them right away. I told you three days ago that I was ready to walk out that door and never look back. Those statements remain true, Andrew. I only agreed to stay because you are the one who begged me not to leave, but that agreement was made with conditions," Trayden reminded.

"Yes, I remember all that. But what does it have to do with right now?" Andrew asked.

"Everything. You're threatening to fire me if I don't apologize to those three guys, and I've refused to do what you have asked. Now, I'm just standing here waiting for you to do what you said you would, and you're the one trying to get me to do what you want so you don't have to fire me. The reality here is that I don't care if you fire me or not because this place is not worth me getting upset if I no longer work here. I'm already at the point of walking out, so the result is really the same." Trayden shrugged calmly. "One way or another, I will not be working here after today. The situation falls with am I going to quit, or are you going to fire me. One is my choice, the other is yours, and the kicker is that only of us is going to regret their decision," He added as Andrew's eyes widened, and others were surprised. "I reassure you now that it will not be me,"

"Wait a second," Andrew stared at Trayden. "If I don't fire you, you will quit?" Trayden nodded. "And whether I fire you or you quit, I'm the one who will regret my choice?" He nodded again. "How is it my regret if I choose to fire an employee who isn't working the job I hired them for, and also if you decided to quit?"

"Because the fault is yours for either decision made," Trayden responded. "It's your fault if you fire me, and also your fault that I'll have decided to walk out,"

"I'm not seeing how," Andrew remarked.

"It's your decision to fire me for whatever reason you believe you have, but it will also be considered your fault if the employee quits because of bad management," Trayden stated. "That's why employees walk out, Andrew. It's most often because they refuse to continue working for an employer who is being unfair. I already told you three days ago why I was ready to quit and you begged I stay with the promise things would change and you'd stop working me into an early grave," He informed.

"Me firing you for refusing to apologize to customers after you were rude, threatened them, and taking control of my staff under a title I did not give you is your fault, not mine," Andrew sighed.

"You will not see your fault and come to regret it until after you've made your choice. I will not tell you beforehand," Trayden looked at him seriously. "So as we're back to were this began…Are you firing me, or am I walking out?" He asked.

Andrew sighed again, and closed his eyes, then opened them once more and looking at Trayden. "It didn't have to be this way. All you had to do was apologize…You're fired,"

Trayden just smiled and gave a bow before moving out from behind the bar, then going into the back to collect his jacket and a few other things he kept there. Usually a spare set of clothes because there were times he ended up soaked and needed to change, and always, there was a charger for his phone present. Trayden gathered everything up and made sure to clock out in the back room. Trayden made his way out into the main area, heading for the door. "You can have my tips from tonight ready on Wednesday when I come back with the uniform shirt, apron, and name tag,"

"Very well. You said you'd tell me why either case is my fault and I'd regret my decision," Andrew informed.

Trayden stopped. "Ah, yes. I did say that didn't I?" He faced his now, former boss with a stern look in his eyes. "But first, let me ask you something," Trayden paused as Andrew nodded for him to continue. "In any business around the world that involves customer and employee interaction such as restaurant, fast-food, even here in a bar…If the employees are there to serve the customers, which job does it belong to for taking care of employees?"

"That job belongs to the manager," Andrew replied.

"And here, that is…Your job, correct?" Trayden asked.

"Yes…" Andrew nodded.

"Right. Just making sure. Now, I'll tell you why all of this is your fault and you will regret your decision," Trayden said as he took a breath. "If you were doing you job properly in assuring your workers are okay during shifts, then you would have around to notice two of your employees were sexually harassed and assaulted by those three," He revealed.

Andrew's eyes widened a little. "Wh-What?"

"I did not stammer. Two of your employees were sexually harassed and assaulted by those three customers right there," Trayden repeated for him. "You'd have known if you ever bothered to be out here watching things. You'd have known because your employees would have been able to find you easily to pull you aside and tell you that customers are making them uncomfortable in the form of being hit on, pressured, and touched inappropriately," Trayden continued. "You'd have known one of the two employees has been subjected to it for quite some time now, and because you're never around, felt that it should be kept to themselves to avoid causing problems," Andrew still stood there, shocked and unable to say anything while he tried to process what he was told. "Is that enough for you? Would you like to go watch the camera footage from the last few hours? Or should I just tell you about the situation you decided to show up in the middle of and assume things?" Trayden asked.

"I'd tell him," Male server Tristan suggested. "The camera's don't have voice unless you're really good at reading lips," He added. "I saw what happened, and after all this…I'm on your side,"

"So am I," Remarked the second male server. Natalie stood with them, and then the other staff joined as well.

"Andrew," Trayden got his attention. "What happened tonight was that around 10:00, perhaps a few minutes after, Natalie approached the bar to place a drink order for one of her tables. I knew by the way she was quiet and looking down that something was wrong, so I asked her to tell me and she said she needed a couple drinks for the table occupied by those customers, and then asked if I would take the drinks over. I asked why and she told me they were making her uncomfortable with the suggestions to sit with them and have a drink, touching her when she had her back to them to serve other tables," He explained. "She went on to tell me that these three come in a few times a week and purposely sit where her section is. I asked if she'd told you, and her response was that she can never find you,"

Andrew flinched, but stayed in place. "I made the drinks she needed, and told her to watch the bar for me while I delivered the beverages to the table. And in the same fashion, those three didn't care who was serving them in their clearly drunken state because once I set the drinks down and told them to enjoy, my wrist was grabbed and told I was cute and to have a shot with them. I declined, following the rules that we aren't allowed to drink on the clock. I asked that they release me and they did not," Trayden paused. "I was told to stay and we could have some fun. I refused again, and pulled my wrist free informing that they were not my type. One asked what my type was and they could become that, so I said my type are those who don't cross boundaries and keep their hands to themselves,"

"Trayden went to walk away and two of them touched his ass. One smacked him, and the other grabbed, commenting that Trayden had a nice ass," Tristan said, folding his arms over one another. "Trayden had every right to whip around and sock 'em for it, but he didn't. He just said that he appreciated the compliment but it didn't change that he shot them down twice because he wasn't interested, then added for future reference, advisement not to touch him again or he would retaliate,"

"That was the threat they're claiming he gave them," One of the other female servers mentioned.

"When I got back to the bar, I gave Nat her serving tray and told her to continue seeing to other guests, but avoid the table with those three and to stay out of reaching distance. I told her that if they flagged down to order more drinks, send them up to me. When that finally happened, one of the first comments made was if I changed my mind about wanting to have fun. The next was saying Natalie ignored them and they wanted to talk to a manager, since you were nowhere to be found, I stepped up," Trayden took over the explanation. "I told them the truth, that I gave Natalie permission to ignore them. You decided to show up right after they threatened to report the business to the department of business labor, and without even know everything prior you were just informed of, you believed their lies and fell back on that stupid ass saying of the customer is always right,"

"Trayden…" Andrew started.

"I don't want to hear it," Trayden cut him off in a sharp tone. "Had you let me explain why I said I was the manager, why I issued the threat, and everything else…Then you would have understood the full situation. And if you had let me fucking handle it like I asked you to do, you would have gotten to hear me tell them they could report the business if they wanted, but when the investigation started it would come to light that these three went after Natalie and me tonight. The investigation would have shown my actions were to protect Natalie since you can't be bothered to ensure your employees are okay," He narrowed his eyes. "The reason I brought them up here was to inform them that I cut them off from ordering more drinks because they were already wasted. I knew that if I allowed them to continue drinking, the risk of someone getting hurt would rise. It's my call as the bartender when to cut someone off, so that's what I did and had Natalie safely pass the message that they needed to come see me and I was going to tell them that their tabs were closed, paid for by the cards they used to open it with, and then send them out the door with the warning the owner would be informed and could decide to allow them back or not,"

Andrew absolutely looked guilty now. "And if they would have tried anything after being told to leave, I'd call the cops and have them arrested on two counts of sexual harassment and assault," Trayden added after a moment. "All I did, Andrew, was my job as I was taught to years ago when I started working for you. And you chose to fire me for not apologizing to the three customers you defended under that stupid saying who not only touched me, but Natalie too. You were right, it didn't have to be this way if you had just let me explain the situation. But you didn't, so when you kept having me be quiet and then told me to apologize, I made my decision that if you didn't go through with firing me, I was going to quit. I refuse to work for a boss who doesn't listen and thinks that customers in their building are the only victims," Trayden stared at him. "The customer is not always right, sometimes they're just overly intoxicated perverts."

Taking a breath, Trayden relaxed some. "I asked you at the start of this whose job was it to look after the employees and you told me it was the manager's. Yours. Tell me how can a supervisor watch over their employees when they aren't even around?" He asked. "You told me on Friday you wanted to make me a manager, so why did you terminate me for doing the duties of the position you were going to give me anyway? On Friday when you begged me not to walk out that night over the being worked into an early grave from the last six months of madness with our hours, I agreed to stay on one condition. Do you remember what it was, Andrew?" Obviously wracked with guilt from what he did, he nodded but didn't speak. "I told you not to screw me again. That was a universal statement to don't overwork me, and everything else. It just meant don't screw me or I would walk out. Tonight, you screwed me by not listening…And that's all I needed to make my choice to quit if you didn't fire me. I told you firing me wouldn't matter because I would quit if you didn't. And I told you that it didn't matter what happened because only one of us would regret our decision. I know I don't regret mine…"

Trayden purposely waited a moment. "How about you, Andrew? Do you regret yours knowing everything you do now?" Trayden asked. Andrew lowered his head, he didn't appear to even dare ask Trayden to reconsider. "I'll take that as a yes. Now, I hope you'll learn some lesson from all this and make changes for the future of your business. The rest of you," He looked to his former coworkers. "I don't know what your plans are, but I hope that whatever you choose, you will stay safe and be happy. For everyone else, have a good night," Trayden looked at Andrew once more, then he sighed in what sounded like disappointment before exited the building.

Trayden waited until he was past the guard, who wished Trayden well, and would miss him, to heavily sigh and lower his head. The situation isn't what bothered Trayden, what hurt was Andrew not listening to anything. Not even questioning why Trayden kept saying he didn't need to apologize. Trayden knew Andrew would regret firing him when then truth came out, and Trayden tried to give him chances to ask what happened instead of staying on the idea of apologize or lose your job. All the begging three days ago for Trayden to stay, promising he'd listen and pay closer attention to his employees states, and Trayden just couldn't wrap his around things of how tonight when. It didn't matter, it was over with now. Trayden reached his car and got inside, he took a moment to breathe before starting the vehicle, buckling, and shifting the gear to drive to get home.

. . .

(11:30 pm)
(Trayden's Apartment)

Trayden got home, parked, and then headed up to his apartment. Once inside, Trayden followed routine of kicking off his shoes, tossing the keys and wallet to the counter, then setting his phone in the place he'd grab it while making something to eat. Trayden went right to the bathroom to relieve himself and then take a hot shower. This didn't take too long, it was more of a quick wash as he planned to take a more thorough one tomorrow morning after cleaning everything. Trayden finished his shower, got dressed in his pajamas, and added the soiled clothing to the laundry hamper for tomorrow's load of clothes. Trayden exited the bathroom and got to work on making something for himself to eat. Trayden didn't bother checking his phone, he saw messages from the others and it was asking the expected if he was okay and why didn't he say anything to them when Hunter originally asked after the incident if everything was okay.

After eating a simple turkey, cheese, mayo, and lettuce sandwich with some ice water, Trayden made sure everything was locked up then went to his bedroom and plugged in his phone to charge. Trayden just wanted to sleep, he'd wake up tomorrow to do his originally planned things of cleaning, laundry, and shopping. Trayden also wasn't going to cancel the plans with Hunter either, but Trayden did need to consider his next move after Tuesday. Obviously, it was going to be finding a job because while Trayden had money put away, it wouldn't last forever. Sighing as all this was just giving him a headache, Trayden relaxed and closed his eyes, finally letting sleep take him.