Despite how long it's been, I promise I have no intention of abandoning this permanently! I read every single comment I get and hold them close to my heart, and I can't express how grateful I am that y'all have stuck around for the ride ;w; It's been a hectic uh, almost two years for me (and the rest of the world!), but I'm still kicking ✌

plz enjoy what I'd like to call "can you tell I work in retail?" the chapter :D


Every time Hakuryuu tries to adjust to his new "normal," something else happens. He's hesitant to make another attempt when it's almost certainly bound to fail, especially armed with the knowledge that Judal chafes at anything that could be considered a regular routine. But it's still retail, and despite the wild ordeals of late and Hakuryuu's own concerns, that means falling back into a certain monotonous pattern of customers and normalcy that they're both content to enjoy for now.

For Judal, that unfortunately involves being a difficult little shit.

"Hey, Hakuryuu," he begins, eying the carefully organized piles of old receipts laid out on the counter. His eyes betray what his words do not: impending chaos.

"Don't," Hakuryuu says firmly, shoving him away.

Judal sighs dramatically, pouting like a petulant child. "I didn't even do anything."

"You were going to."

He sticks his tongue and blows a raspberry. "You can't prove that!"

"So you weren't going to make a mess of your receipts, a project that you gave me and that I have meticulously committed myself to?" Hakuryuu asks, barely hiding his smile. He's glad to see Judal feeling better, even if it means the consequences of his boredom have returned in full force.

"Maybe I will now," he says, reaching out. A vine twists around his wrist to hold it in place and Judal's whole face lights up. "Ahhh!"

"I've been practicing," he explains, tightening his hold just to watch Judal's glee. "Maybe you'll actually listen this way."

"Only if you tie me up even more—"

"Judal!"

He cackles loudly, the sound ringing through the empty store and filling it with a warmth Hakuryuu has come to appreciate deeply. "Okay, okay, I got it- leave you alone with your boring work," he whines, gently tugging at the vine.

Hakuryuu wills it to uncurl and return to him, freeing Judal. "Thank you."

He shrugs, leaning against the counter and kicking both his legs into the air carelessly. "I'm just bored."

"I know."

"It sucks!"

Hakuryuu picks up the next receipt in the box. This isn't even from this year…he thought he'd managed to at least get the years together, but he keeps finding stragglers. He sets the receipt into its own pile and moves on, eyes sharp. "Just yesterday you spent the better part of the afternoon detailing all the ways you wanted annoying customers to suffer," he tries to remind Judal, frowning at yet another out of place receipt.

"So?"

"So…shouldn't you be glad they're not in here pestering you? 'Wasting precious oxygen,' as you put it."

Judal groans loudly, slumping down the counter in despair. "Yeah, well…fuck off," he whines, nothing but annoyed boredom behind his words. "Guess I'll stalk eBay for haunted antiques…"

Hakuryuu raises an eyebrow. "Is that really a wise investment?" If they're fake, they're probably overpriced, and if they're real, Judal is purposefully courting disaster…which does sound like something he'd do, so there's that.

"I just like reading the shitty stories people make up," he says, pulling his phone out.

Any time he thinks he's close to understanding Judal, he says something like this, and Hakuryuu has to reevaluate his interpretation. He can see it now that Judal has said it, but he wouldn't have come up with it on his own- because why would he? Judal does the bulk of the purchasing at estate sales or online, so of course he spends time on eBay. That makes sense. Reading overwrought descriptions purely for entertainment? It's just…very much something only Judal would think to do. "Of course you do," he finally manages. "Have fun."

"I will," he says emphatically, vanishing into the office without so much as glancing away from his phone screen.

Silence falls around him again and Hakuryuu returns to his task, intent on getting through at least a few more months of files. If it's going to be this slow all day, he may as well make the most of it. Hours blend together like the numbers on receipts stored improperly, the sunset spills red and orange swaths of light across the store, and in the end, Judal gets bored of stupid people online just in time to find a stupid person in his store.

"I'm just looking," he says, holding up a hand before Judal can say anything.

Judal frowns briefly before his mouth snaps into a grin, quick as a predator sizing up prey. "Of course- please, feel free to ask me any questions you may have," he says serenely, leaning against the front of the counter to watch. Hakuryuu hopes today isn't the day Judal finally snaps and murders a customer in the store, but it's out of his hands.

The customer waves him off, opting to browse as slowly as possible without assistance. Judal's face is calm - to a stranger, at least. Hakuryuu can feel the thrum of his magic, wound tight in annoyance, as Judal fights his impulses and stays patient, instead. Patient for what? He isn't sure. His best guess is something mildly malicious and semi-permanent, getting worse every minute that ticks by.

Time passes like molasses tinged with fire, dripping through everything the customer picks up, scowl etched into his features so deeply, Hakuryuu is beginning to guess it never leaves his face. His stance only changes when he comes across a display full of multiples of the same item. Judal got a bulk lot of vintage perfume bottles and they arrived in a wide variety of conditions. He put together a display to show off as many of the styles as he could fit and shoved the rest in behind them, intending on rotating them as they sold. Instead, most of them are still sitting where Judal arranged them, easily ignored and forgotten.

Not by this guy. He peers into the assortment, eying up every package with more scrutiny than Hakuryuu thinks is necessary. It may not be his place to judge, but his behavior makes it hard not to. Barely anyone gives these a second glance, despite their best attempts at getting them out of the store, and now that someone finally wants to look at them, it's this sort of customer.

Judal glides over, risking the customer's continued dourness, because he's too damn stubborn. "Found something that caught your eye?"

He scoffs. "Perhaps. These look like cheap trinkets- is that why you have so many?"

Judal shrugs. "Stock makes its way here in many conditions," he answers vaguely, waving a hand. "It gives people options!"

"I see," he replies, with a look that very much says he thinks Judal is a moron.

"See, we've got opened or unopened- you choose!" he continues enthusiastically, undeterred by the customer's dismissive attitude, and he bullies his way into the customer's personal space. "But you can't have both. You can't buy unopened, take it home, and open it! That's not how it works."

If he didn't know better, he'd think Judal was being difficult for no discernible reason, or perhaps that he's completely crazy. He's both of those things, but right now, Hakuryuu can feel the subtle flow of magic through Judal's words. He's doing something, and it's too slight for Hakuryuu to pick out exactly what it is.

The customer certainly thinks there's something wrong with Judal, even more than he did before. "Sure," he says slowly, looking down his nose. "I'll keep that in mind while shopping."

"Good plan," Judal says smoothly, maintaining eye contact for a bit too long before moving back. "I'll see you up at the front- unless, of course, you need any help."

Hakuryuu tilts his head at Judal questioningly, but he merely shrugs. There's not much to do besides get back to straightening under the counter, his least favorite daily task. If he could get Judal to stop shoving random things there whenever he was done with them, it would be easier. Someday, maybe, he's going to get it through his head- whether he likes it or not.

The customer slowly saunters up to the counter, giving Judal a wide berth. "I'll take this," he says, setting down a wrapped perfume bottle and looking at Hakuryuu expectantly.

Judal doesn't step in, his grin far more sinister than anyone should feel comfortable with. Hakuryuu gives a curt nod. "Of course, sir. That will be $12," he says, picking it up to carefully wrap it in a bag. The last thing he needs is for this guy to come back and complain; Judal really will do something terrible to him- worse than whatever he's already got planned.

He sighs heavily, making a show of pulling out his wallet to pay. "Small businesses like this should be grateful for the customers they get," he says, pulling out each individual bill slowly. "This is why you're going to get bankrupted by big chains- your prices are terrible and you employ off-putting staff with no sense of purpose."

"I'll keep that in mind," he says flatly, holding out a hand for the man's money. The entire process takes longer than it should and Judal lurks just out of his vision, watching them carefully. "Please familiarize yourself with the store policies: no returns or exchanges for any reason."

"Of course, you must saddle people with garbage and steal their money."

Hakuryuu bites his tongue. He doesn't have to shop here, but here he is, whining away about everything in the store. He knows that Judal is usually the one jumping at customers and their bad behavior, but he's still quiet, watching, out of the way, and Hakuryuu is stuck with the brunt of his sour attitude. "Have a nice day, sir."

"Don't forget what I told you," Judal says, fixing the customer with a pointed stare. "You wouldn't want to run into any trouble with your purchase- especially since you're stuck with it, you know?"

He rolls his eyes. "Your store policies are ridiculous."

"I did warn you," Judal says, waving him off.

Hakuryuu watches the customer meander out of the store, one hand tightly gripping the counter, and finally breathes easily when the charm above the door jingles on his exit. The tightness in the air unravels, swirling back into the familiar energy of the store, and Judal chuckles to himself. "What did you do to him?" Hakuryuu asks, eying him suspiciously.

"Ah, you could tell I did something! Good, good, you're really gettin' good at this, Hakuryuu," he praises, leaning in. His grin is still ominous, but a bit more friendly now- he thinks. "But could you tell what it was?"

"No. That's why I'm asking you."

He taps his chin. "C'mon, I believe in you."

Hakuryuu sighs, trying to pull out the pieces of the spell to reconstruct them into something he can understand. It was subtle, woven into the air, meant to take hold once the choice of purchase was made. It's almost certainly based on what he was saying about opened versus unopened packages, but he still can't quite figure out what will happen to him if he does open it. "If he makes the mistake of opening the packaging, he'll activate a curse. It doesn't feel like something major, but it's permanent."

"Yep!" Judal leans further forward, propelling himself forward and upward to kiss Hakuryuu on the cheek chastely. "Aaaaand, what'll it do?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah, you do."

Judal's faith in him is encouraging, if a bit misplaced. Hakuryuu closes his eyes and tries again, reading the lingering magical signature in the air. Its subtlety protects it from prying eyes; without watching Judal work, he's not sure he'd ever guess something was amiss with what he purchased. As it is, he does know, and Judal seems to think he's learned enough to work it out. It's frustrating. No matter how much he tries to push out any distractions from the store, he still hears the sound of crinkling plastic in his ears, interrupting his concentration time and time again.

Hakuryuu opens his eyes and presses a hand to his forehead, groaning softly. "Can you please stop playing with whatever plastic you've picked up? I'm trying to figure this out, since you're insistent on it."

Judal cackles loudly, holding his hands up to reveal nothing in them. "You're so close, Hakuryuuuu- can't you tell?"

"It's the plastic," he says without fully thinking it over, and Judal nods. "Just…hearing plastic crinkling whenever he tries to concentrate?"

"Oh, no, I'm not that nice," he says with a shrug. "If he opens that - which I'm pretty much 100% sure he will - he'll hear it constantly, haunting his ears, without any chance to escape it. Kinda like tinnitus, I guess? But totally avoidable."

"Unless you're a rude and entitled customer."

"And then you've got it coming!" Judal hops up onto the counter, narrowly avoiding the day's paperwork. "I've taught you well."

Hakuryuu reaches down and squeezes his hand before he can stop himself, and Judal practically glows from the attention. "I'm impressed you kept your cool for so long."

"Oh, you know, I do it all the time with jackasses like that. I don't always curse them, but thinking about it really gets me through their bullshit. Seriously, talking about kids these days or whatever- I could have killed their ancestors if I'd wanted to! Disrespectful brats…" he rambles, gesturing with his wand while Hakuryuu counts the register. It's just another day for them, as weird as that sounds, and he's not sure how he let himself grow so accustomed to Judal's talkative attitude, but it feels right.

Judal trails off eventually, cocking his head to watch Hakuryuu work. Even being watched by him doesn't feel like judgment, and that's…nice. It's uncomplicated, for all its tumultuous beginnings, and Hakuryuu stares down at the bills to avoid meeting Judal's gaze. He's not sure what he'll find in it; he's not usually quiet for this long, not without reason.

"You know, I don't give a shit what your jerk mom says." Hakuryuu's hands falter, clutching a roll of pennies tightly. "You signed a contract with me, so you're my problem now. Or like, not a problem. A thing I want! You're here for good now, okay? I'll fight her wrinkly ass if she tries to take you back."

Hakuryuu manages to nod, carefully setting the roll of coins down and closing the register drawer. Judal shows his love in strange ways, he's realized, and he can tell he's being defensive because he cares. He doubts it would ever come to blows between them - his mother doesn't want him that badly - but it's nice to know where he stands with Judal. He finally looks up and sees a seriousness in Judal's blood red eyes usually reserved for difficult magic, turned on him for once. "Thank you," Hakuryuu says, holding out a hand.

Judal takes it tenderly for a moment, holding his gaze, and then launches himself at Hakuryuu, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"What the—"

"Your face is the best," Judal cackles gleefully, poking one of his cheeks. "Seriously, I meant what I said, but then seeing just how, you know, serious you looked? It's great!"

He sighs, prying his hand back from Judal's. "I thought you were trying to say something important."

"I was!"

"Then why did you follow it up with acting like an overzealous child?"

Judal floats next to him, grinning widely. "Because I have a youthful spirit. Unlike you, who is somehow a million years older than I am, but only on the inside."

"I've made a mistake."

"Nope! No take-backsies!"

Hakuryuu bites the inside of his cheek to hold back a smile, because despite himself, he enjoys a lot of Judal's antics. He still doesn't know why, and he still doesn't know how it's going to keep working between them, but he can work on figuring it out now that they've had some time to breathe between crises. Judal slings an arm around his shoulders while he tries to lock up, yammering on about stealing Hakuryuu's warmth against a cool evening breeze, and maybe he can learn how to live in the moment.

Maybe.