A Bin for the Dragon 🗑️🐉

First Day on the Job.

Vincent was stood in front of store glass door as he eagerly stared at the time of his wrist watch. It was currently 8 o'clock in the morning and it seemed like he was the first to arrive for work. This was the case until Maven was walking towards the store, holding a bunch of keys in his hand. His face then changed in surprise as he noticed his new coworker as he was already stood there bright and early. He then got up to the door and searched through the set while yawning into his broad forearm. Vincent clutched onto his satchel's strap while he watched and waited for the door to open up.

"Damn, never expected you to show your face this early."

"Well I'm excited, of course. But also....really anxious.."

"Guessing your confidence left you today?"

"...maybe.."

Maven had finally found the right key and inserted it into the doorknob. As he was about to turn it and unlock the door, he glanced at his right side only to witness that Vincent was stood beside him, trembling from all his nervousness. He stared through the window's glass as he seemed to have been trapped in his own thoughts, overthinking the worst possible outcomes once he was able to step inside. He still couldn't even quite understand how he was able to get the in available spot for the job so soon. As his inner voices continued to cloud his mind, he felt something firm press at the top of his head. He then looked up, only to see Maven resting his large warm palm over his head.

"Try not to worry that little head of yours so much. You'll do just fine."

"B-but what if I..."

"You'll do fine. It's just retail and restock. Nothing too hard. Besides, ya got me if ya need help, alright?"

Vincent gave a hesitant nod before taking a long deep breath. He then felt his hair getting ruffled as Maven looked at him with soft eyes and gave him a warm, sincere smile. In that same moment, Maven leaned down with his fingers trailing down the boy's long hair bangs and pushed some it behind the back of his ear. Vincent's entire face immediately turned red, with his heart pounding through his chest.

"You probably shouldn't have those long bangs in your face like that. Those cute eyes need to see properly when you work, right?"

"R-right."

Maven quickly reached into his jeans' front pocket and pulled out a long, crisscrossed silver hair pin. He then got closer and gently parted Vincent's messy bangs and pinned them up at a good spot so both his eyes could be revealed and be able to see. Before pulling away, Maven was caught staring into his coworker's eyes as he was able to get a good look at them. Both their faces soon got hot before Vincent broke the deafening silence between them.

"...s-shouldn't we be...heading inside now?"

"Yeah, r-right. My bad."

***

Vincent was now the back of the store grabbing a full box of new clothing so he could restock the shelves and tables. He carried the box out and opened it up, being quite fascinated by the designs of the clothing. There were a lot of big black t-shirts with all of them matching a colorful bleeding skull motif.

"I wonder if I would look good with stuff like this on."

He thought to himself as he took one of the t-shirts out of the box and walked in front of the nearby vanity mirror. He then pressed the large shirt against his chest and shoulders, and looked at his own reflection. He posed slightly to look at himself from different angles while imagining himself wearing the black shirt. For a brief moment, Vincent seemed to be quite content with how he viewed himself in the shirt. He never really thought that such a style would combat his taste, especially since the motif was something that could make his nerves go haywire.
Before he could remove the shirt from his chest and fold it for one of the display tables, he hadn't noticed that Maven was stood watching him from a short distance. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed while holding a small smirk in his face.