Mark Me Yours [Omegaverse]

Everything's Funny

Ryan took another swig of the lukewarm coffee he'd stashed in the kitchen. You could hear the rain coming down over the sound of the sound of the music leaking in From the dining room. It was peak dinner rush, and he was up to his elbows in dishes. The can of food trash nearby competed with the smell of the bleach water in the sink. The dishwashing station was tucked into an out of the way section of the busy kitchen, it's own odd sort of haven. There was no time to rest, however. Two waitresses called for tables to be cleared.

Ryan hoisted his empty black basin and snaked his way through the kitchen. The ambiance in the dining room was completely different. There  were soft wood tones everywhere, and the booths and chairs were lushly padded, encouraging patrons to sit and enjoy, and maybe order more food while they were at it. Oh, how he'd love to lay on one of those booths in the unopened section and rest his eyes for a bit... Just for a bit... If he did that he'd be out cold. Besides, he'd already had both his meal break and his fifteen. Nothing he could do now but keep his head down and keep working. The end of his shift would come soon enough.

He cleared the first table and made his way to the second one. Patrons tended to ignore him, which was all to the better as far as he was concerned. He figured it was the collar. They weren't working tonight, but the other busboy often had to fetch forgotten sauces or run for drink refills. Ryan figured in the end, it just made it easier to do his job.

He began clearing the second table. They must have had a child with them, there was an order of kids chicken with only half of one piece missing, and everything else covered in ketchup. When he first started working, the amount of food waste he'd encountered shocked him. Now, he just kind of accepted it. He got a free meal every shift anyway. Some things took too much energy to worry about. He stifled a yawn.

"Excuse me, sir? Could I have a refill?"

Ryan nearly dropped his basin when he heard that voice. He turned around slowly. Sure enough, sitting there tucked into a booth, wearing his typical scrubs and lab coat, was his boyfriend. His boyfriend he'd fought with two days prior. That boyfriend was currently at his workplace, and halfway through a meal. Between surprise, and a little fear, he couldn't stop the words from coming out, "Why are you here?"

"Because I was hungry. And because you left your food in my car. And because I upset you, and I want to talk about it. And because it's pouring outside and I thought I'd offer you a lift once your shift's over."

Ryan blinked. Scott wasn't being smug, he didn't seem irritated, and far as he could tell, was being completely genuine. Wasn't Scott angry at him for working? His over–tired brain wasn't firing on all cylinders at the moment, resulting in a kind of blank, gape–mouthed stare.

He managed to sweep all his wits into a little pile to respond with, "I've already... I took my breaks already. I don't... I mean, I can't stop to talk right now. And... my shift's not over 'till we die off."

"That's okay. I can wait. I brought work I can do."

"You sure...?"

Scott smiled and lifted a small laptop from a messanger bag on the seat next to him to prove that he did, indeed, have something to occupy him while he waited. Ryan kinda nodded dumbly, finished clearing the table, then mumbled something about waitresses and refills before heading back to the kitchen.

Only when Ryan was out of sight did Scott let any worry show on his face. It was easy to tell Ryan was way past tired. But, Scott was NOT going to bring up work schedules until they'd had a proper conversation. Stressed or not, he'd managed to step on a landmine. And if he could help it, he'd rather not do it again. Besides, Ryan's comment had hurt. Of course he knew Ryan could take care of himself, it's just, there's no reason they couldn't share their burdens, right?