free refills
Regulus sighs and questions his life choices as he sees the lunch rush pick up, more customers starting to enter.
How the hell did he end up working at Mcdonald’s again?
Well, he knows how. And surprisingly, he doesn’t regret it. After twenty-one years, Regulus finally escaped his awful wrath of the Black family. The last-straw was an argument with his parents over his sexuality being “a disgrace to their family name.” When his mom tried to use the violent and cruel punishments she used on him as a child, Regulus had enough. He finally did what he never could before. He packed his bags that night. Regulus texted his friends, bought plane tickets, blocked his parents numbers, and snuck out. Barty being the rebellious little shit he is, was delighted to ditch the East Coast, and agreed almost immediately to leaving with Reg. If not just to piss off his dad, it was to support Regulus. Barty is one of those friends that couldn’t comfort you if his life depended on it, but if you called him up one Thursday evening and asked him to fly across the country for you, his bags were already packed. Regulus can recognize that even if his childhood was very unpleasant, he’s very fortunate to have the circle of friends he has. And cutting his family off to move across the country to LA and his friends with Barty was easier than he ever imagined.
However, Los Angeles California was definitely not at the top of Regulus’s list of places to live, and between the insane rent prices and constantly loud streets, it’s near the bottom. Regulus has yet to find one thing he enjoys about this appalling city. But for some odd reason, Pandora absolutely adores it. Psycho. Ever since his best friend Pandora first visited, she was in love with it. Pandora and her brother Evan have always wanted to move out to a big city, ever since the pair, him, and Barty were all in secondary school together. Regulus couldn't help but feel left behind when they left though. He’s glad to be close to them again. For the past month, Regulus has been sharing Pandora’s apartment, and Barty moved in with his now boyfriend, Evan. Regulus would prefer to live on his own, but he is absolutely broke even with taking community classes and working part-time at Mcdonald’s.
It’s still so much better than it was at that house.
The House of Black. Not his home. It was never Regulus’s home, and he lost the chance of it ever feeling like that again when Sirius was gone. But Regulus can’t afford to think like that, Sirius left him. They haven’t spoken in four years. Sirius hasn’t even tried to contact him. He’s probably mad at Regulus for not running away with him, but he couldn’t leave with Sirius, his parents would’ve never let him. Regulus would’ve just wound up right under their clutches again, at the mercy of their mother.
He quickly shuts his train of thought down, taking the customer’s orders. Regulus can’t just dissociate randomly in the middle of his job. Last week a few workers quit and now they're pretty low on staff, without another cashier to take the customer’s orders during the rush. To say the least, Regulus is going to be busy.
—
Somehow, Regulus makes it through lunch-hour, and only has two more hours left for his shift. He is completely and utterly exhausted now. The ‘lunch hour rush’ isn't even an hour, it's more like two or three. Regulus starts his shift at eleven, after a morning class. It’s a six hour shift, so he doesn’t get a break until five, besides his 30 minute lunch break. Not to mention, the busiest time of day is during his shift. It seems like absolute hell. After almost three weeks, Regulus can confirm it is. At least his coworker, Dorcas, seems to share his pain. She would definitely get along well with his friends with all of her sarcasm and attitude.
The bell to the door rings, alerting Regulus of a customer, and he manages to muster up enough strength to push himself off the wall he was leaning up against tiredly. There hadn’t been anyone in here for eight minutes, that’s a new record. Regulus sighs, and doesn’t look up until the guy is standing at the counter. When he does, his mind goes a bit blank and he can’t say anything. This guy is fine. His messy dark hair compliments his tan skin, and his big brown eyes are framed by gold-rimmed circle glasses. He’s pretty tall and toned as well, and is complete with a charming and bright smile. The man pauses as their eyes meet, looking a bit taken aback at Regulus, though he isn’t exactly sure why. Regulus recovers from his stunned silence after that, ignoring this man’s attractiveness for the moment, and going back to his usual bored and indifferent expression.
“What do you want?”
The man just smiles widely and kindly at him, maintaining eye contact.
“A Mcdouble with fries and a small drink, please.”
“Anything else?” Regulus replies flatly.
“Your number would be nice.”
For the second time, this man has rendered him speechless. Regulus blinks at him for a second. This out of the blue question has taken him by surprise and Regulus fails to maintain his indifference. He feels his face heat up and he knows his cheeks are turning red at the realization he’s being flirted with by this extremely attractive man.
“I-I— what?” Regulus asks, a bit dazed.
Did he really just fucking stutter? Regulus has never, not once in his life, stuttered before.
The man grins at him. “I said I’d like your number, if you’d be willing.”
Regulus doesn’t answer again, his mind going completely blank, and the mystery man just smirks at him.
“It’s okay, I’ll ask again before I leave.” The man winks at him and walks off to a table.
Regulus snaps out of his surprise and puts in the order, but is still a little stunned at what happened. A couple minutes later when his order is complete, James comes to retrieve his order with a warm smile. Regulus avoids eye contact and hands him his order, feeling incredibly relieved when he just takes it kindly and heads back to his seat. Regulus spies on him out of the corner of his eye, taking in his features again. He has nothing to do since no one else is here besides James and the workers cooking in the back.
As Regulus watches the man from across the room, his surprise turns into bewilderment when he pulls three jugs out of his bag. The man then proceeds to walk over to the soda fountain and fill the first one up with Sprite. What the fuck? Once he reaches the third galleon, Regulus has had enough.
“Oi, What the hell are you even doing over there?”
The man turns around back to look at him and smiles.
“I’m getting free refills.”
Ok now, what the actual fuck?
“That’s not how that works.”
“Isn’t it though?” The man asks teasingly.
Regulus rolls his eyes. His manager has been over this many times with the employees. Never let them fill up the fountain drinks in anything but their purchased cup. Regulus really can’t deal with this right now.
“No, it’s not, stop.”
The man does not in fact stop.
Regulus just huffs out irritatedly, “This won’t end well if you continue.”
The smile doesn’t leave the man's face as he walks up to Regulus.
The man laughs lightheartedly, “Fine, fine, I’ll stop. Make up your mind on my offer then?” The voice asks teasingly.
“No. I have made up my mind that you can’t fill up gallon jugs with soda for free.”
“So it’s not a no for the number? What’s your name then? I’m James by the way.”
Regulus sputters. “What?! That’s not the point right now.”
James quirks a smirk at him. “You never said your name. What is it? Wait, let me guess. Is it Samuel? No, nevermind, it’s Oliver. Or is it Ale-”
Regulus can’t take the constant flow of noise from him any longer. “Fine, just stop talking. Those names are absolutely atrocious. My name is Regulus if you must know.” Regulus pauses, then adds, “And I won’t allow you to keep filling those jugs up.”
“Aww seriously, why not Reg?” James draws out his disappointment dramatically.
Regulus rolls his eyes and scoffs. “If you are in that dire need of a refill, use your cup.”
James just pouts more. “Pretty please Reg? I reaalllly need it for my friend's birthday. We ran out of sodas.”
“There is a grocery store not even a block down the street.” Regulus points out.
James then gives his signature grin again, “Why would I pay and pass up a perfect opportunity to save money and cheat the system? Y’know, inflation is really bad these day-”
Regulus sighs, too exhausted to continue arguing with James. He really doesn’t get paid enough to deal with this. Regulus doesn’t even see a huge reason why he can’t let him, as long as no one doesn’t find out. Dorcas would agree.
“Fine. But only this once.” Regulus sighs out.
James beams and lightly touches his shoulder in appreciation. “Yay! You’re the best Reg.”
Before Regulus can react James lets go and goes over to the fountain again, not even realizing he touched Regulus. Regulus definitely noticed. And it definitely does something to him. After James finishes ‘cheating the system,’ He sits back down to continue his meal. Regulus watches him as he smiles down at his phone, seemingly texting a person or maybe even multiple people. A pang of jealousy hits his chest, and Regulus thinks it’s one of the most foolish emotions he’s ever felt. He quite literally just met this man, and has no claim whatsoever over what he does or who he talks to.
James looks up from his phone, and Regulus quickly darts his gaze away pretending to dust off the counter. James stands up and, like a decent human being, picks up his mess, not abandoning it there for Regulus to pick up, and throws it into the trash can, not the recycling. He packs them into his back and it seems like he’s leaving. As James is walking out, he comes up to Regulus again.
“So…about your number….?” James asks hopefully.
Regulus wouldn’t mind getting to know this man more, but then he remembers himself. James is like a ray of fucking sunshine, and Regulus is…..Regulus.
“Don’t push it James.”
James’ face falters a bit but he quickly recovers with a smile. “I suspected, but I had to shoot my shot anyway. Bye Reg, thanks for everything!”
James winks at him as he walks for the door, leaving the Mcdonald’s empty again.
Everything seems so quiet now. Regulus didn’t realize how much space James filled until he was gone. His shift drags on, customers occasionally entering. But the whole time Regulus can’t keep his mind off of James. His smile, his charm, the nickname he uses for him. God, he met this man only once, and probably never will again. Why is he so caught up on him? How does this man suddenly have power over him?
“–are you even listening to me mister?”
Regulus looks up from the register where he was staring, meeting the angry women’s eyes.
“I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
“If you were actually paying attention you would know.”
Regulus winces a bit inside, but it’s not like he was just plain ignoring her, he just spaced out. He’s only human. But he pushes down his anger and deals with it.
“I apologize ma’am, how can I help you?”
“Pay attention during your job.”
Regulus’s annoyance flares up again, but this is a customer.
“Yes, I understand, I’m sorry.”
Regulus sucks up to her begrudgingly, letting her treat him like she’s his boss. It’s that last thing he really wants to do, but he also doesn’t want to get a bad review on Yelp within his first month of working here.
“Thank you ma’am, your order will be ready shortly.” He recites through gritted teeth as she just huffs at him and walks away.
Okay, now that was rude. Regulus might’ve been a little distracted, but he did not deserve that.
Out of spite, Regulus doesn’t remind her to take a straw for her milkshake when she forgets one.
He hopes it melts.
Finally, after six hours, Regulus is free. He walks out onto the busy and bustling streets, instantly reminded of his hatred for this place. Luckily, his apartment is barely three blocks away, and he makes it up quick enough. When he opens the door, he sighs loudly. Kicking off his shoes and walking further into the living space, he sees Pandora sitting on the couch, scrolling aimlessly through shows on Netflix.
“Hey Reg, how was work?”
“Draining.”
“M’sorry Reg.” Pandora lights up as she gets an idea. “Would watching 10 Things I Hate About You with me possibly be of any help?”
Regulus is pretty tired, but he can’t pass up that offer. His lips turn up slightly at how well his best friend knows him. “Sure, Pands. I’ll go make the popcorn.”
The movie is peaceful, Regulus occasionally quoting certain lines or Pandora fangirling over Kat. But Regulus can’t help but notice how Pandora keeps looking down at her phone and texting someone with a big dopey smile on her face.
“Someone I should be aware of?”
She looks up, blushing slightly and feigning innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Regulus just narrows his eyes at her, smirking, “I’ve known you for eight years Pands.” Regulus smirk widens. “I’m pretty sure I can tell when you have a crush.”
Pandora just pretends to be clueless as she shrugs. “I still don’t know what you're going on about Reg.”
Regulus scoffs disbelievingly. “Yeah, it’s not like you’ve been smiling at and constantly checking your phone for the past thirty minutes.”
Pandora just kicks him under the blanket they’re sharing and ignores his comment, pretending to be too interested in the movie.
Regulus rolls his eyes and continues watching the movie as well.
After the movie, Regulus still has a bit of homework he should do. It’s just a few draft sketches for their semester project, but he has a good idea and needs to get it down. Regulus is majoring in Art, and having finished all of his core classes in his first three years, he’s just finishing up with a final few advanced courses. He’s up until a little past midnight, and after his day he’s exhausted. Regulus is so tired he practically stumbles into bed and falls asleep as soon as he hits the mattress.
Regulus dreams of James. He remembers his warm smile and flirting, and hopes he’ll get the chance to see him again.