Chapter Text
"Move it Noceda! Where is the hitch?!"
Luz bit down on her lip, stopping herself from a snippy retort as she gathered the order for table five, "I am moving.."
"Less talking more working! What do I pay you for?"
'You pay me to be a waitress and a convenient punching bag you can vent your anger on,' thought Luz, saying nothing and plastering a smile on her face.
"Here you are," she said lightly, putting the food down, "can I get you anything else?"
The father of the family glanced at her, shooing her away with a wave of his hand, "I will let you know when I need you again."
It took a lot for Luz's smile to not strain as she nodded and walked away, only barely resisting the urge to bow to him theatrically, since he was SUCH a Lord and she his lowly servant.
The sharp sound of the doorbell split the air, as another customer walked in.
Luz turned, "Welcome to World of...Burgers.." she hitched in the middle of her greeting, seeing the by now familiar nearly neon-green mane.
An elegant young woman entered the shop, their eyes meeting for a single second before she looked away and floated towards her seat.
Luz quickly approached, covering half of her face with the metal tray in her hands as she was fighting a fierce blush.
'Ahhhhhhh! She is so cool!'
"Ehm.." Luz cleared her throat, "Will it be the usual?"
"Yes," said the girl in a velvety tone, almost making Luz swoon with a single word.
'AHHH! So graceful!'
Luz nodded, unable to help herself she smiled wildly, skipping away.
This girl was one of their most loyal customers, coming in every single day for as long as Luz could remember, always ordering the same thing.
Luz did not know what this girl's real name was, so in the confines of her own head she had a nickname for her.
As soon as she was in the back she called out to the chef cheerfully, "One Sweet Home Avocado set with water."
Luz smiled to herself, one of the very first things she liked about this restaurant were the names of all the burgers. To this day she had no idea who came up with them, since it quite obviously wasn't the owner herself.
Fried and Prejudice for burger with fries inside..
Oliver-R Twist for burger with two olives on a toothpick sticking out of it.
New Yolk City for a burger that had eggs.
Ham-Let, License to Kale, War and Peas, Sir Lanshallot..
The names themselves made working here a little more bearable.
And for the nickname she had for her enormous, mountain sized crush..'Avocado' because of her green hair and never changing order.
There was a short yell from the kitchen affirming the order.
But at the same time, Luz calling out that particular order made the owner poked her head out of her office.
Up until very recently there was a floor manager who managed the shop on a daily basis..but the woman abruptly quit. At first Luz was really confused why the woman quit so suddenly, the two of them really got along, making this job Luz's longest lasting job ever..
But after meeting the delightful owner herself..Luz had an inclination as to why the manager quit..or more precisely she was beyond impressed that the manager lasted as long as they did.
"Heh, that girl is here AGAIN is she? Young people these days..she is exactly what is wrong with this generation!" Spat the owner as she shook her head in distaste.
Luz immediately turned around so she faced the floor and not her employer, straightening her back.
Honestly, she had no idea what this woman's problem was..
Avocado was a regular..one of the very few and not only that..she was the only one that came in every single day, thus she must have been a significant boon for the business spending her so often and yet this woman...
"No self-respecting person would ever go out in public with a hair like that and the color, phe! What kind of person does that? I will tell you what kind of person...A junkie! Whatever drugs she doing must have rotted her brain to dye her hair such a-"
'Laaa-Laaa lalalaa lalalalalaaaa....' sing songed Luz loudly in her head, choosing the smurf theme to distract herself.
She could still hear the owner ranting, but experience already taught her that the best course of action was to nod and agree to everything that came out of the owners mouth, never complain or talk back. She has been fired a few times before she learned that lesson..
"Do you think she works?? I honestly doubt it. What kind of job would hire someone like that..OH! I bet she is a whore!"
Luz's internal singing halted..
She chewed her tongue for a moment.
'Don't turn around! This won't end well..'
"HEY GIRL!"
Luz looked up, seeing that the man from before was now gesturing at her, a callous scowl on his face.
She felt a cold chill run down her spine, but she stepped forward regardless.
With this guy in front of her and the owner behind, she felt that she was truly caught between a rock and a hard place, but what could she do..this was her job.
"Yes Sir? How can I help you?" asked Luz, really trying to form a pleasant smile while knowing whatever the guy was about to start would be anything but that.
The guy pointed a finger at his burger, slowly and dramatically removing the top bun, revealing some vegetables, sauce and some other things..
For a second Luz was totally perplexed, completely lost as to what he was showing her. But since he was such a kind gentleman, he explained soon enough.
"There is no meat!!" He hollered.
Luz slowly blinked..
First off..that's what she said...
And second..what? Was he..was he trying to claim they gave him a burger with no meat?
From where she stood Luz could see the grease marks all over that thing..not even considering that the meat was about as heavy as the rest of the burger, there was no way someone could just randomly not put meat in a burger..
It would be like someone ordering KFC and getting an empty bucket, only for the clerk to say..'Oh..I must have forgotten to put the chicken in it.'
She was about to call this guy out for his blatant lie, but he beat her to the punch and started shouting at her.
"What kind of establishment is this??!! It is my son's birthday and because of you it is RUINED!"
Luz glanced at the kid and also the wife..
While the wife was holding a napkin to her face, seemingly in tears, the son had a strangely hollow look in his eyes, he was five at most and he looked..almost tired..resigned.
This was a strategy..one this family used quite often if she was to guess.
Luz glanced around her, seeing that several people turned and were now listening in with interest.
She grit her teeth, Luz could imagine what accusing this man of lying would be like..with how the people were looking at her it would be an uphill battle at the very best..
Unless..
"What is going on here??!"
Sneaking up on their conversation, the owner roughly shoved Luz away, surveying the situation.
For the first time since she met the woman, Luz actually hoped the lady would lose her shit and start screaming at the guy. They could scream at each other and leave her at peace to bring Avocado her order, that would be ideal.
"We are celebrating a birthday and..." the guy launched into a tirade, going on and on about how important this supposed birthday, with no presents, decorations or other people was. And how it was all ruined by them 'messing up' their order.
Luz stood there, watching..worriedly glancing from her employer to the customer.
"I see," started the woman with the fakest smile Luz ever saw, "I..apologize.." she said slowly as if the words caused her physical pain.
Luz's eyes blew open, 'What?? There is no way she is gullible enough to believe what this guy said. It..it was such an obvious lie!'
She was in shock as the guy smiled victoriously, demanding that their meal be on the house, which the owner agreed to when she saw how people were looking at the whole debacle, filming it as well.
Several minutes passed before the family left.
Luz just stood there like a sore thumb, not understanding what just happened..
She knew the owner was racist, bigoted and a bunch of other things..but this stupid? Alto...now that Luz was thinking about it..
*SLAP!*
Luz jolted, her hand slowly raising to her face.
"FIRED! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
Luz flinched..
Yea..naturally..how else could this possibly go..
She nodded, tuning out what the woman was saying to her as she headed to the back to get her things.
While this was a huge problem as she was jobless once again...somehow her biggest regret was that one last order she didn't get to deliver...
*That night*
The restaurant was bathed in darkness, lifeless. Patrons and employers long gone, when suddenly a single flame sparked alight.
It started slow..but soon spread like..well..fire..
In minutes the whole building was aflame, fiery tongues reaching to the heavens.
There..in the alley stood a figure, illuminated by the flames and yet burning still with righteous anger.
*The next morning*
With a groan Luz slowly rolled out of bed, blinking the sleep away as she slowly moved to make herself some coffee.
Cup in hand she sat behind her old computer, turning it on, continuing the job hunt she had started late last night when she came home.
But before she could really sink her teeth into it, the news column distracted her.
*Local business burns down - Experts say spontaneous combustion*
Luz hummed, sometimes..these sorts of things just happened. She brought the coffee to her lips and sipped..nearly spitting it all back out when she read the name of the place that burned down.
*The favorite restaurant World of Burgers has-*
The article continued on, but Luz was too shocked to read through it.
She didn't wish something like this on anyone..
BUT..
IF there was like a rule that one place a year needed to be burned down...she knew what place she would vote for..
'Was someone hurt??'
Quickly Luz scanned the article skimming through it.
*The fire started at early morning hours. So fortunately none was harmed in the accident but the owner of the restaurant..*
Luz stopped reading there, clicking off with a guilty smile on her face..
But the smile then soured..
This meant that Avocado would be left without her burger.
Luz sighed, well nothing she could do about it..
Unless..
Luz gulped..
Noo..she would never have the courage to do something like that..
But this could also be a chance, today the girl would come to the restaurant and find it burnt to the ground, after that, Luz would lose her..in like..she would probably never see her again..
She really didn't want that to happen..
So maybe..
Amity smiled to herself as she walked, for a very mysterious reason she was feeling quite refreshed despite the boring paperwork that was her daily bread.
"Have you heard?..That burger place burned down last night.."
"Really?? That's a shame.."
Her smile did not falter in the least, hearing the 'new' information she just overheard.
But it truly was a shame..
How unfortunate it was that the restaurant burnt to the ground...
She really hoped the owner of that place was okay..such a nice lady..
...
He..
That's what she gets for..ehhh..disturbing her meal? Yeaa..that was the reason why Amity set the place on fire..she nodded to herself..
Her smile faltered slightly..still..not all was well..she really liked the...food..that place provided. And she would have to forgo her daily ritual of going there, until the girl found a..ehm..until she found a different restaurant to eat at..
Amity tsked to herself..
Now she had to scope the other restaurants in the area, looking for a place that was hiring..and then visit those places to figure out which one...ehh..had the best food.
Silently Amity hoped it wouldn't be Thai or something like that, despite her demonic origin she really couldn't do spicy, not that it would stop her or anything, but still.
But well..what was done was done..nothing she could do about it now..it wasn't like she could pray..
Amity looked around, she was now close to where the restaurant used to stand, when she noticed someone standing in front of the still smoldering ruin. Amity blinked, staring at the girl, 'What the hell is she doing here?' she asked herself, 'Maybe she is meeting someone here..'thought Amity, feeling a huge pang of envy run through her..She was about to turn tail and run..
But then the girl noticed her...and started to wave at her.
Amity froze, feeling her blood pressure tripling instantly, was she waiting for her?? What?? WHY? Not that it threw Amity off or anything of course, she was like the coolest demon in hell. (Self proclaimed)
An expert at talking to others..a guru of social interaction if you will.
So the guru took a deep breath, put on a neutral face to hide the total panic beneath and strode forward.
Luz was still uncertain if this was a good idea...
It was an idea...and it was hers..so probably not..she was rather famous for her not so good ideas.
And yet she was here despite that.
Her life was a series of missed chances and while her chances of this working were dismal..as the girl would most likely call her mad for what Luz planned to suggest..she could not help but try..
Luz couldn't think of any other way to get close to 'Avocado'.
She didn't even know the girl's real name, so it wasn't like she could find her on social media and slide into her DMs..
So here she was, waiting in front of the burnt ruin, drawing stares from people walking by..waiting.
And then she saw the girl approach.
'It is now or never!'
She started waving at her.
Luz could see as the young woman stopped, pausing for a moment, before she slowly continued towards her.
'She is coming...Stay calm! STAY CALM!!'
Soon Avocado stood right in front of her, not even glancing at the ruin of a restaurant behind her.
"Ehm..hi.." said Luz uncertainly.
For a moment the other girl just stared at her, long uncomfortable silence stretching between them.
"Hhh..ehm ehm!" The green-head cleared her throat, "Hello."
...
"Weell..I...eeee..as you can see, the restaurant burnt down.." started Luz, immediately feeling like jumping into the closest drain and drowning herself. Why the hell did she say that??? The ruin was right behind her..Avocado could see it.
She just needed to say it, say it and be done with it.
"So-I-Was-thinking-since-I-used-to-work-here-and-you-still-want-your-burger-I-could-make-you-one!" She said in one breath.
The amber eyes stared at her in shock.
"You..you want to..." started the green-head, before changing directions, "What exactly do you have in mind?"
"Ehhhh.."
Luz rubbed the back of her neck with a sheepish smile, she did not think she would ever get this far.
"I was thinking we would go to my place and I make the food there."
"We go to your place," repeated her crush numbly.
Luz turned away..when the girl repeated it, she was kinda realizing how bad it sounded, they were strangers..who in their right mind would follow someone home like this?
She turned back, hellbent on apologizing and promptly running away..
"Okk...okay," said Avocado suddenly, half turning away herself, "You..you lead the way.."
Luz blinked..
Wait...
This actually worked??
They walked almost side by side, Luz one small step ahead, leading the way.
She felt strangely light right now..this was..surreal..
Thankfully she did not live that far, but still, walking beside her crush, leading her to her apartment..was..was she actually awake..Luz wanted to pinch herself, but she couldn't figure out a discreet way of doing so..
Before she could properly gather her bearings she was unlocking the doors to her small flat.
"Eh..come on in.." she said awkwardly, watching as the other girl entered, personification of cool.
Truly...was there anything that could rattle this girl?
'AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!'
'She took me to her house! What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?? HELP ME SOMEBODY!'
Discreetly Amity watched the other girl.
'She is taking her shoes off..'
Amity quickly did the same, half wanting to teleport straight back to hell and hole up in her room for like at least a decade.
"Okay..make yourself comfortable..I will..I will prepare the food.."
Amity glanced at the girl in terror, before quickly looking away hoping she didn't notice..'Make yourself comfortable??' She didn't know what that meant!
Make...should she actually make something?? 'Make yourself..' make herself???
In hell there was extremely strict etiquette for everything..Amity never heard a phrase like this before..was it just something you said..or was there a hidden meaning behind it?
Amity never expected to get into a situation like this, so she didn't study for it. She knew the customs as far as a restaurant was concerned, but nothing beyond that! She never expected to get this far..like she sometimes did think about it..but she thought those dreams would stay dreams..
Deciding to go with her gut, Amity just walked forward, sitting on the first available spot she could see in front of her.
She would just sit there, do nothing...and wait...that would surely be the best course of action.
Luz was freeeaking oouuut.
She was currently in the kitchen, trying to get everything ready as quickly as humanly possible.
This was insane..
She had her crush in her house. The girl she looked at for nearly a year at this point..never gathering enough courage to even ask for her name was now sitting in her living room.
Soon everything was ready..now she just needed to wait a bit and then assemble the whole thing.
Luz gulped, turning around and walking back to her living room..
But as soon as she got there, opening her mouth to speak..Luz froze. Blinking several times.
Her crush was sitting on the coffee table.
...
Their eyes met and the two of them just stared at each-other..
Luz was speechless..
You could fire a gun beside her head and she wouldn't flinch right now.
Quickly the girl jumped up, starting to get red in the face..
"You are nervous," stated Luz slowly, in a completely disbelieving tone..
Her crush flinched..as if that revelation inflicted a mortal wound on her. Luz could see that her hands were shaking..
"Hey, it's okay," she said quickly, taking a small step forward.
"I..I..I am also nervous..really..really nervous..like we always see each-other at the restaurant..or well..we used to..it is gone now..so..I always wanted to get to know you..so I decided to wait for you...I..I mean I do not even know your name..I honestly did not think this would ever work..but.."
"Amity."
Luz stopped, "Amity?"
"Hmmhm," hummed the girl in confirmation.
"Luz."
Amity nodded, hugging herself and hiding her still slightly shaking hands.
...
Slowly Luz started to laugh.
Amity turned to her, looking at her cautiously.
"You know both of us are kinda insane..and nervous wrecks..I mean..I invited you here, not even knowing your name and you went here..not knowing mine."
That managed to conjure a small smile on Amity's face.
A sound of the timer interrupted their conversation, whisking Luz away to make sure their diner wasn't burnt to a crisp.
After that they ate..
Luz held no illusion that her cooking was as good as the cook's back at the restaurant..but Amity wasn't complaining..
"So..ehh..what do you do for a living?" asked Luz, after a moment of silence.
Amity seemed to think about it for a bit.
"Paperwork.."
"Oh..you enjoy that?"
Amity stopped mid bite, looking at her.
Luz smiled, "Okay no..you don't...that was kinda a stupid question.."
"Hmhm...Are there people who do enjoy paperwork?" asked Amity inquisitively.
That made Luz pause, it was actually an extremely good question.
"I think some...but there are not too many of them.."
And in that vain their conversation flowed, polite, not much to write home about..but so much more than the short sentences they used to exchange as waitress and a customer.
"You..eh..what about you?" asked Amity slowly, "Your job..I mean.." she added seeing the confusion on Luz's face.
"OH..well..don't really have one..I mean you got the first row seat to me being fired yesterday.." said Luz, trying to grin genuinely.
Once again Amity stopped mid bite, frowning..
"Yea..I saw that," she said with a very dark look, Luz blinked and that looked vanished like smoke, making her think she actually imagined it.
"What kinda of job are you going to get now?" asked Amity instead.
'Are you going to get?' thought Luz with slight amusement, whatever she managed to get..it wasn't like she had the liberty to chose..
So they ate and talked..
But quickly they finished their food..and as soon as they did Amity got up to leave, making Luz panic.
"So..eh..would..would you like to do this again?" asked Luz.
Amity seemed almost shocked, "You..you would want that?"
"Yeaa.."
Amity seemed to blush again..
"Can..can you give me your number..or..or like Instagram or something.."
Amity blushed ever fiercer, "I..I don't know what either of those are..."
Luz just started in shock..
"I..I could come by again..tomorrow?" She offered, with a hopeful look on her face.
Luz nodded immediately.
With that Amity put on her boots and left, seemingly in a hurry.
Luz thought nothing of it..Amity probably had places to be, it wasn't like she spent that much time at the restaurant either.
She watched Amity leave, and as soon as the doors closed, she leaned against them, sliding to the floor..
And pinched her arm..
...
Her smile nearly split her face in two..she wasn't dreaming..
This wasn't much of a first date..or anything like that..but Luz could hope.
The squeal of happiness that exited her mouth was so high it surely broke a window somewhere.
Maybe her life was finally turning around.