Disclaimer: I don't own Kid Cosmic

Title: Felt Unsure of Every Single Step

Summary: Kid at his first day working at Mo's Oasis.

...

Flo had a metric butt-ton of aprons on hand, but the rest of Kid's outfit had to be bought. Local hand-me-downs and a few trips to the thrift shop had gifted him with plain jeans and a few solid black shirts. The non-skid shoes had taken a visit to the nearest town- a solid forty-five-minute drive one way- but they completed the outfit and gave him a bit of glee as he scooted across the floor with them, feeling the natural resistance on the gritty linoleum floors.

Kid stands in front of the mirror, smoothing back his blonde hair. His lips quirked into a half-smile. "I'm doin' it, Papa G. I'm being a grown-up."

Silence was his answer. It always was. But he wasn't letting it get to him today.

Kid exited his trailer and closed it with a chipper tune, kicking up dust as he crossed the lot. When Papa G passed he left Jo his truck, and his child. The woman leaned her head out the window and laid on the horn. "C'mon, squirt! If we're late to your first shift my mom'll kill me!"

"You can't tell me what to do!" he joked, throwing himself into the passenger's seat and buckling in. "I'm a grown-up."

"Fourteen is not grown-up. Call me when you pay rent."

Kid stuck his tongue out. "You're not my real mom."

"And thank grop for that," she shot back, pulling out of the yard. The wheel had a bit more give to it than she liked. "Wanna snag Rosa on the way?"

"Is the sky blue?"

Rosa at eight was basically just a more articulate Rosa at four, Kid reflected. She'd doubled in height but still managed to only go up to Jo's waist, maintaining the burly and powerful frame that had made her such a terror as a child. She pulled open the door and climbed inside. "School sucks."

"School does, indeed, suck," Jo said soulfully as she went back onto the highway. "Multiplication still giving you trouble?"

She crossed her arms and sniffed. "Division. Why do the numbers gotta go down, anyway?"

"You're gonna hate negative numbers," Kid decided, leaning in slightly to whisper. "They go backwards."

Rosa's yell had Jo twisting a finger in her ear.

Mo's Oasis was probably the busiest diner in the entire state. Maybe the whole country. And it required a lot of flexibility, general alien knowledge, and a quick eye for detail. Kid was once again reminded of how hard Jo had to work as he shadowed her for the day, ducking tentacles and speaking some very basic alien tongues. Kid's head spun as he carried a heavy bin of dirty dishes into the back, thoroughly trounced.

Chuck, unstuck but very much still there, patted him on the back with a wet hand. "S'okay. Gets easier."

"It does?" he asked, baffled. He'd witnessed Jo carrying seven drinks by hand. By hand!

"Flo says so."

Kid watched Flo heft four trays on two arms and groaned. "Flo's barely human."

"They've been doing it a long time. You're new!" he nodded soulfully. "Jo can't build a turbine the way you can."

Kid thought about that. Once upon a time, building things had been hard. He'd almost stopped on a very special bike. But he'd learned, and grown, and now he was pretty good at it. Who knows? Maybe he'd be good at waitering too.

"Heroes help," he reminded himself, draining the bucket of excess liquids. "This is just another way to help. I can do that."

"Just think of it like numbers," Fry offers while cracking eggs. "They're literally all numbered. We keep the oldest numbers on top, so you need to get to them fi-"

"They're numbered?" Kid exploded, gobsmacked.

Hamburg nodded, plating up some scrambles. "Da. Chairs are tens, booths are twenties."

"Why did no one tell me?"

"...It's on the chart, big man."

Kid facepalmed.

By the end of the day, Kid was exhausted. A solid thirty aliens piled out at last call, vanishing into the night sky with glimmers of silver. He watched them go from the porch, face sore from smiling. Legs sore from walking. Back hurt from hefting.

Jo plopped down beside him. "You did good, kid."

"Still mad at you."

"I thought you knew! You've heard Hamburg and Fry yell them out for years."

"I assumed it was part of the code! Like the hamburger being a heart attack on a plate!"

She snorted, shook her head, and leaned back. All the aliens hadn't stopped the sky from being full of stars at night, keeping the countryside lit when all the lamps went out. "He'd be proud of you, you know."

"I know," he said. "Jo, did you ever... resent having to raise me?"

"What? No!" Jo blew a raspberry and ruffled his hair. "I'm the leader. My job is to take care of my peeps."

Kid smiled a little. Jo had never accepted the leader title, regardless of how much effort she'd put into it. Having her openly admit it like this was a huge show of how much she was hoping to lift his spirits.

He didn't remember a lot of the funeral. He didn't think it was worth remembering. He'd just stared, wishing he could understand the peaceful look on Papa G's face as they closed his casket. Jo had stood by him, holding his hand, and then they'd gone home. Neither of them touched the actual building, even now- Jo had used an emergency fund to buy a trailer all her own, living basically next door.

"You're still not my mom," he told her, mostly joking.

"Never tried to be," she replied, which was true. "You had one of those already. A good one."

Papa G told him once that he'd been to too many funerals. Maybe he was right. Kid pulled his knees to his chest and wondered when the empty feeling in his gut would leave him.

"Well," he hummed, feeling content with his lot in life. "I think you did a good job."

"Thanks, Kid. That means a lot."

Her voice was getting wobbly. Kid looked over to see her turned away, shoulder quaking. He gave her a few supportive pats and watched the stars. "You crying over there?"

"No!" she said, and sniffled. "Okay, maybe a little."

"Well, stop. Today was a good day, right?"

"The best day." Jo sat up, wiping her face. She hadn't been full on crying so her face wasn't puffy, just a little red. "Just be careful, alright? Between you fixing it up and now you working there, I'm pretty sure mom wants to will it to you."

Kid didn't want to consider that future. A Mo's Oasis without Flo just wouldn't be right. And, well. He's been to too many funerals. "Wow. Just skipping right over you, huh?"

"Queen Xhan wants to give me her kingdom. I guess mom thinks I'll be too busy with that. I keep telling her that I'm not gonna take it, but-"

"Being the adopted kid of a royal has some perks, huh?" he teased.

"I didn't ask for it! Half the galaxy calls me Flo's and the other half thinks I'm some weird bastard child of Xhan."

Kid did his best shocked face. "You gonna grow tentacles on me, Jo?"

"You little snot!" she yelled, slapping his arm playfully. Jo pulled him close and tickled his ribcage, sending him to kick her legs and push her hands away. "I see how it is. Get me with a sweet moment then mock me. I'm onto you, Kid."

"I'm just bein' me." Kid shrugged, letting himself go limp in her arms. If nothing else, he knew it would be many years before he had to go to Jo's funeral. "Papa G always said I was the best at that."

Author's Note: For a buddy! I hope you liked it. I tried to mix in the general small town ambiance with the aliens and how wild waitressing truly is lol.

-Mandaree1