unlikely coworkers to friends
for @corrodedcoffinfest day 6 prompt 'family video'
rated t | 923 words | no cw | tags: platonic stobin, jeff is the third wheel to their platonic marriage
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Jeff hates this job so much. He really hates that heās the youngest person working here and Keith seems to think that means he can do all the heavy lifting.
He owed Jeffās dad a favor after he approved a business loan at the bank for him when he probably shouldnāt have. So, Jeff has a minimum wage job while all his friends are enjoying summer vacation. Heās thrilled.
Though heās pretty glad the job at Scoops Ahoy didnāt work out. He wouldnāt have wanted to be at the mall when that fire happened.
āNeed you to train the newbies tomorrow,ā Keith says as he locks up for the night. āThe girl will be fine, the guy is like her lost puppy. Donāt know why she bothers with him. Heās an idiot.ā
Right, the new people start tomorrow.
āAnyone I might know?ā Jeff asks as he looks around for his momās car. Sheās late again, but he doesnāt mind too much. He could use some fresh air while he waits for her to get here.
āSteve Harrington and Robin something or other. Sheās your age, so I guess youāre probably in classes together,ā Keith hands him the key. āYouāre opening and I forgot the spare. Feel free to fire Harrington if heās too stupid to figure out how to press rewind.ā
Jeffās pretty sure even Steve can figure that out, but he doesnāt care to argue with Keith. Not when he can see the headlights of his momās car turning into the parking lot.
āAnd thatās really it. Any questions?ā
Robin shakes her head. Steve shakes his head. Jeff thinks itās a bit weird that Steve even needs a job, but maybe he just needs to kill some time now that heās graduated.
Thereās been rumors that his parents cut him off when he finished school and didnāt have plans to go to college, but Jeff doesnāt think itās true. Or at least not completely.
A part of him wonders if Gareth started it just to see if it would get anywhere. He likes to do stupid shit out of boredom.
āIām going on my lunch. Let me know if you need me.ā
He hides in the office and hopes they donāt need him. Tuesdays are pretty slow, so heād be surprised if they had more than one or two customers.
He calls Eddie to make sure theyāre still on for band practice tomorrow in his garage. He calls his mom to remind her heās off at six tonight and needs a ride. And then he manages to eat the sandwich he brought from home before thereās a knock on the door.
Robin steps in with an awkward wave and smile.
āEverything okay?ā Jeff asks around a mouthful of food.
āI may have accidentally checked out some movies.ā
āOh. No big deal. Iāll show you how to fix it in a few minutes,ā Jeff smiles at her reassuringly. āItās easy.ā
āUh. Well.ā Robin bounces on her feet. āI may have accidentallyā¦checked outĀ allĀ of the movies.ā
āLike all of the ones that were on the cart? Thatās okay. Accidents happen.ā
āShe checked out all of the movies in the store,ā Steve says as he steps in, hands settling on his hips. āI donāt know how.ā
āIā¦didnāt know that was possible,ā Jeff admits as he sets the last few bites of his sandwich back in the baggie and stands up. āAre you sure thatās what happened?ā
āYep. I tried to start checking them back in, but thereās an error,ā Steve explains. He nudges Robinās arm, letting it rest there for a moment. Jeff notices but doesnāt say anything. āIāll fix it if you can show me how.ā
Jeff shakes his head. āI donāt think this has ever happened. We might have to callāā
āNo!ā They both yell. Jeff raises a brow. āPlease. Iām sure we can figure it out together,ā Robin continues. Steve nods along next to her.
He sighs and gestures for them to go back to the counter.
The fix is actually pretty simple once he gets eyes on it. Heās kind of a computer nerd. Keith probably keeps him around for that more than the favor he owed his dad at this point. But itĀ willĀ take a few hours because they have to go by genre and count inventory on the shelves to make sure they donāt accidentally check something in thatās still with a customer. He leaves them to it while he handles actual customers coming in.
By the end of his shift, theyāre done and everything is back to normal. Keith arrives to close and they silently agree not to speak of it at all.
The truth is, even with the problem, and expecting the worst, he had the most fun heās ever had while working alongside Steve and Robin. Theyāre funny, even when they donāt mean to be. Theyāre nice, even though Jeff always thought Steve had a massive attitude in high school. That seems to have cleared itself up. Theyāre also very entertaining as a pair. He accidentally called them a couple earlier and got the dirtiest look from Robin and a very stern āno way, dudeā from Steve.
So he hopes they stick around at Family Video for a while. He probably wonāt get to work with them every day since they really only need two people on at a time, but he hopes he will sometimes. They definitely made today go by faster, and thatās all he can hope for all summer.