Haze Pizzeria/See, She Could Be With a Gallon of Ice Cream

## But Instead, She's Overworking Herself at a Pizzeria

Brooklyn C.

Brooke, who had recently (and by recently, literally the moment she had returned from her mission) applied at Haze Pizzeria (even though she already had another job somewhere else, not including the government assassin thing), was now doing double time, and by double time, she hadn't taken a break in the past five hours and didn't intend to. Anyone who wasn't used to Brooke's coping system of overworking herself would be overly concerned. And anyone who *was* would still be overly concerned. Even then, once Brooke was in work mode, she was always in work mode. And let me tell you, she was good at doing her job, whatever it might be.

Will Deneris

He didn't even realise Brooke worked there now when he sauntered in, an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth. He was tapping away at his HC as he walked over to the counter. He was aware Alex had found out and...she'd reacted exactly the way he guessed she would. He didn't bother stopping her from packing up her stuff and leaving. She was surprisingly fast but Will figured she wanted it done and be long gone by the time Brooke returned. He generally stayed clear of anyone then, knowing it was probably a hot topic of gossip with most people in their friend group. "You look cute in your uniform," he said when he saw Brooke, leaning against the counter.

Brooklyn C.

"Thanks," she said plainly as she sprinkled cheese on an uncooked pizza. She didn't have the energy to spare a jaunty reply, and even then, she wasn't in the mood to either. Truly, she kind of dreaded running into Will, who was just going to irritate her on top of her already irritated self, but there are some types you can't ignore forever.

Will Deneris

"Don't suppose I could have your number?" He asked with a grin. "You know, you do need to actually take my order if you want to keep your job. I could probably file a complaint."

Brooklyn C.

"You already have it, smart-ass." She passed the cheese and pepperoni pizza onto to the next employee who put it in the oven, then started at the beginning. "Welcome to Haze Pizzeria, may I take your order, sir?" she said, exaggerating her voice as much as possible, just for Will.

Will Deneris

"Keep on calling me sir and I might get the wrong idea," he said with a grin, "and sure. My order is that you can tell me when your shift finishes."

Brooklyn C.

"And that means?" she said impatiently, drumming her fingers on the tile. "There's a line behind you, you know."

Will Deneris

"Like either of us give a shit," he responded with a snicker. "They can wait," he said with a shrug, "and I mean, when do you get let off. Freed from the shift. Or are you planning to hide in here until you die?"

Brooklyn C.

"Would it matter?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "What do you expect after I finish my shift? I leave, go do something else productive. You're nothing but a five minute long hindrance to this angry afternoon line."

Will Deneris

"It's not productive, it's projecting," he responded with a roll of his eyes, "we both know the only thing you're doing is distracting yourself from the reality. Staying here for the rest of the night? Saves you from going home to an empty bed and a painful reminder. No this isn't being productive."

Brooklyn C.

She sighed, and gestured for the next person in line to step in, knowing full well Will wasn't going to order anything. "And you say that like you care," was all she said to him in response before turning to serve the customer she had called up.

Will Deneris

He didn't move, kept on standing in their way. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't," he said, "but it's become rather boring back at the penthouse with no one in there except reclusive Zero. I'm almost tempted to go track down Alex."

Brooklyn C.

She nearly said, *She's in Reign's warehouse,* and then remembered she wasn't exactly supposed to know Alex's location as it is. It'd just make her look more suspicious. And sad. "Well I'm not going to come back to be your entertainment. And have you ever tried actually talking to Zero? Maybe you wouldn't be so bored," she said, as she was making the next customer's pizza.

Will Deneris

"Last time I talked to Zero, like one on one, he ended up in hospital and the time before that, we ended up sleeping together. So...you know. Might not be a good idea."

Brooklyn C.

"What kind of conversations do you two have for that type of shit to happen?" she asked incredulously, ringing up the pizza price at the cash register after handing the pizza off to the employee at the oven. "Maybe you're just a bad luck charm."

Will Deneris

"The sex isn't exactly bad luck," he pointed out, "and I like to think there's a family trait in the Kye family that goes, something along of the lines, 'not telling people what's wrong until it's too late', so it's not my fault."

Brooklyn C.

"That doesn't invalidate that you're a bad luck charm. Like for instance, this line is getting a heck lot angrier because of you, and *I'm* going to have to deal with it," she said, walking back to the end of the build-your-own pizza station.

Will Deneris

He moved around the outside of the counter, following her. "Could always just walk out, it'd save you a lot of effort."

Brooklyn C.

"I have a job to do, unlike you," she snapped. "Now fuck off if you're not going to buy anything."

Will Deneris

"No, thanks, as I said I'm bored and you are the first source of entertainment that came around," he said with a grin, "now come on, just tell me when your shift ends."

Brooklyn C.

"Like hell I'll tell you. The longer you stay here, the longer my shift is," she retaliated.

Will Deneris

"Unless you walk out and quit," he responded, "then it could be done now."

Brooklyn C.

"Can you please get the memo? I don't want to be anywhere around or near you. Go bug Alex. You don't have an issue doing it usually, so why now?"

Will Deneris

"I might have tried yesterday and she might have thrown a glass at me so I don't think I should try her again in all honesty," he said making a face. "I didn't think she was violent but you really pushed her over the line." He raised an eyebrow, though, when a manager walked out.

"Hey, Carrington, you can clock off now. Your replacement came early," he grunted as he walked past them, barely looking at them.

Brooklyn C.

"She's not violent, you're just an—" she paused when the manager spoke and sighed, muttering something under her breath. "You better still not be here when I clock out."

Will Deneris

"Of course I won't," he said with a grin, kicking off from the counter to move back.

Brooklyn C.

She glared at him and went to the back room to change back into her clothes and clock out. Five minutes later, she came out through a different entrance and stretched her arms.

Will Deneris

Naturally, he'd looked up the foorplans for the building and had guessed which exit she was most likely to take. "Want a drive home?" He asked as she appeared with a small, relaxed smile.

Brooklyn C.

Her eye twitched and she pushed past him. "I got here by myself. I have my own car. And like I said, I'm going somewhere else after this."

Will Deneris

"Then I'll come with you, not like you're going on a date or anything," he responded, "we can take my car. Mine's better."

Brooklyn C.

"No, no it's not," she snapped. "I've checked your fucking model and it's not any better than mine. Don't think I don't research my cars." She flipped her hair off her shoulder and headed for the door.

Will Deneris

"You think I kept it as the model I bought? Please, we all know I upgraded the fuck out of it. See, there's a benefit of being on okay terms with both Luci and Alex, plus a couple of other people. Now will you suck it up?" He asked as he followed her.

Brooklyn C.

"You act like I don't know Luci either. I know everyone you know and more My car is fine. I don't want to talk to you, so fuck off."

Will Deneris

"You're doing an Alex, you're isolating yourself, how cute," he said, "except, I don't really give a shit. So...." he trailed off before bringing out Brooke's car keys out of his pocket. Three years on the street helped amazingly with pickpocketing skills. "You really have no choice."

Brooklyn C.

She rolled her eyes and snatched her keys back, elbowing him in the gut. "I'm not in the fucking mood Will. Quit it," she barked.

Will Deneris

"No, you're doing an Alex with the added side of cursing," he corrected himself, barely feeling her elbow "come on, one hour. What do you think I'm going to do? Kill you?"

Brooklyn C.

"No, you're going to make me kill *myself*." She slapped him in the face with her hair and unlocked her car, waiting for the driver's side door to go up before she got inside and closed it. The car recognized her human signature and started up as soon as she sat down, automatically buckling and pulling out the steering wheel.

Will Deneris

He easily slipped into the passenger seat. "Now you're shooting out suicidal thoughts. Definitely more reasons to stick around you, you'll worry me," he responded.

Brooklyn C.

"Don't try me, I will eject you from this car, asshole," she snapped again. "Tryna pretend you actually give a shit, get the fuck out of my car."

Will Deneris

"Violent," he noted, "see, this was why you lasted so long with Alex. She managed to tone down your violent tendencies. Maybe I should try find some sort of carbon copy of her. Put you on tindr. 'Looking for a 5'1 girlfriend with an addiction to coffee and as idiotic as they come.'"

Brooklyn C.

She rolled her eyes, giving up, knowing that she was only feeding Will more material to work if she continued yelling at him. So she booted up the car and pulled out on the street, beginning to drive.

Will Deneris

It didn't take him long to start fiddling with the radio, trying to find an upbeat song. "They should play ABBA," he declared, "quality music."

Brooklyn C.

She slapped Will's hand away from the radio and turned it off. She could stand Will's nonsensical shit, but Will and his taste in music? No.

Will Deneris

"You're no fun," he said, "maybe I should just lock you in a room with her. At least with her you didn't have a piss ass attitude."

Brooklyn C.

"Has it occurred to you yet that I'm not in the mood for 'fun'?" she finally said, not an ounce of emotion in her voice. She'd given up trying to get her annoyance through to him. If he wanted to be an ass, so be it.

Will Deneris

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p', "but then again, what people want and what they need doesn't exactly match up. Zero doesn't want to eat but does he need to? Yes."

Brooklyn C.

"Fun isn't a *need*, Will. Humans can survive without fun. And even then, it's not your job to entertain me."

Will Deneris

"Yeah but then you develop depression," he said, "fun, or in other words happiness and laughter, has been proven very beneficial to your mental health. And maybe not but apparently, no one else is doing it."

Brooklyn C.

"May I remind you, my mental health is not your concern. Now, if you're going to ride in my car, shut it."

Will Deneris

"No," he said, "and whoever said it wasn't. You know, I don't think you feed into that line either. You're worse than me when it comes to other people's mental health."

Brooklyn C.

Brooke's free hand hovered near the eject button, ready to get rid of him. "Can you not, right now? I can usually handle your annoying jokes and shit but this isn't the time, Deneris."