Sven Loves Mondays
Mondays were one of Sven’s favorite days to work; while after school was always swarmed, the mornings were usually dead. It let him recharge his social battery and ready for the upcoming swarm of customers.
Oliver and Mei normally didn’t both work on Mondays, and while Sven questioned his boss’ decision to schedule all three of them, he didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, time went by quicker when he worked with the close-knit group.
Sven looked up from counting inventory when he heard Oli calling his name, half-expecting the man to be saying it just to say something. As soon as his green eyes glanced down at the tablet, they shot back up across the room.
“Lookit!” Oli called out again, angling his hands to better cup the two shot glasses nestled against his chest. His easygoing grin was infectious, managing to make even Sven awkwardly grin back. “Who am I?” He asked, still grasping the two shot glasses against his pecs. He didn’t wait for an answer, cackling out, “I’m Mei!”
“You’re so immature, Oliver,” Mei’s voice called from the back room as it stepped out, carrying out bundles of shirts in it’s arms. Though it pretended to be annoyed by the joke, it seemed to be attempting — and failing — at hiding a smirk as they returned to stocking the racks.
Oliver laughed again, returning the shot glasses to their position. “Well, someone has to! Being the residential funny man is a hard job.”
“It must be hard,” Sven half-joked, looking up from the tablet he was using for inventory count. He quickly glanced back at it when his eyes locked with Oli’s, who shot him a grin that went straight to Sven’s quickly beating heart.
It was kind of shocking how Oli didn’t realize that Sven was helplessly crushing on the dual-haired man. They could barely make eye contact with Oli and stuttered when they were in close proximity… of course, from an outsider’s perspective, that was just Sven’s being Sven.
Oli laughed again, sending another jolt of electricity to Sven’s heart. It was a dangerous laugh, the kind that would make someone fall in love. At least, that’s how Sven felt. “It really is, Sven,” Oli said as he made his way back to the counter beside the nervous man, “I’m glad someone understands.”
Time dragged on, feeling longer than just a few hours. The few customers that came in didn’t warrant a mass restock or even extra cleaning, and the trio were starting to get stir crazy from the lack of available tasks. Even though Sven was keeping busy by doing various small tasks, he couldn’t help the anxiety bubbling that it wasn’t enough.
“Shouldn’t we clean or something?” Sven’s voice cracked slightly, their nerves shining through. They really liked working at Hot Topic and didn’t want to mess this up! The pay was decent, their friends were here, and they enjoyed getting first pick of the newest releases. What if at this exact moment the boss was checking the cameras? It was paranoid thinking, yeah, but this kind of thinking made it easier to keep a job.
“You worry too much, Sven,” Mei broke the uncomfortable silence between changing tracks, looking up at her nervous friend, “you can relax. There’s three of us, Oliver can do something, too.”
“Yeah. Relax, Sven,” Oliver replied, leaning back against the glass display case despite Mei’s grumbles of ‘cleaning smudges’ later. “Boss can’t fire us all at once, or else they’d have no one to work for ‘em.” His lip curled in a grin, the blond ends of his locks bouncing as he tossed his head back to their grumbling coworker. “If anything, it’d be Mei getting the boot.”
“Hey. I actually do work, unlike you,” Mei replied, putting down the cloth down on the practically shining glass counter top, pretending to look annoyed at Oliver’s remark.
“And we love you for it,” Oliver replied, pouting his lips in a mock kiss. Sven felt his stomach flip, watching the way Oli’s lips pursed, his mind running rampant.
“Yeah, well, I hate you,” Mei jokingly replied, turning her head towards her blushing friend. “Sven though? I love Sven.” Thankfully, the mention of Sven’s name broke him out of his crush-filled trance. Mei smirked at him, as if she knew exactly what he’d been thinking.
“Everyone loves Sven,” Oliver replied, vaguely motioning over his friend, “I mean, have you seen him?” He kissed his fingers with a flourish, akin to a chef. “Sven’s almost as handsome as I am.”
“That’s not an accomplishment,” Mei replied, noticing Sven’s holding the plush animal he’d been shelfing in a death grip. They must’ve been in their own head again because of Oliver’s innocent comment. She didn’t know how Oliver didn’t realize that Sven was helplessly smitten with him; then again, the guy probably thought everyone was to some extent.
“Hey, Sven.”
“Yeah?”
“I spy something black,” Mei said, walking over as she started stocking the same shelf.
“Seriously?” Oliver barked out a laugh behind them, motioning around the store. “That could be anything!”
“Shut up! It’s their turn, not yours!”
The question grounded Sven, their green eyes glancing around their surroundings. Oli was right, they were in Hot Topic, it could literally be anything. But Sven knew their friend had their eye on something recently. “Is it the ‘Kuromi Tarot Cards’?” They asked, feeling lighter when Mei beamed a wide grin at them.
“Fuck, you’re good at this,” It rubbed it’s chin, appreciating the connoisseur of ‘Eye Spy’. “I thought for certain you’d get stuck on that.”
Sven smiled, grateful for Mei. She really did look out for him, especially when he was caught up in his own head like a few moments ago. He didn’t know why Oli’s comment struck him so deeply. Maybe it was being called handsome? Maybe his tone?
“Me next!” Oliver practically demanded as he jumped between the two of them, excited to show them how great he was at ‘Eye Spy’, too.
Sven laughed, giving the store a once over before he laid his eyes on the perfect thing. “Okay, Oli, I spy something… red!”
Oliver’s eyebrows crumpled together as he looked around Hot Topic, sometimes shaking his head as he narrowed down the red objects. “Damn, why’d you have to give me a hard one?” He joked, rubbing a hand down the lower half of his face. “Alright, what about… this lipstick?” He motioned to an assorted display of lipsticks.
“Nope!” Sven said as his grew grew. It was so obvious! Well, to him at least.
“No?! Damn, what about…” Oliver pointed to a corset, then back at Sven, who shook his head. “Not that either? What about that backpack?”
“Nope, it’s closer than that!”
“Closer? Uh… this rabbit?” Oliver lifted up the plush rabbit that Sven had been holding earlier, throwing it down when Sven replied ‘nope!’. “I give up!” He groaned out.
“They’re talking about your shirt!” Mei groaned out, shielding herself from the stupidity of her friend.
Oliver’s raised a black eyebrow, glancing down at the shirt he’d put on this morning. “I’m gonna be real with you… I actually forgot I was wearing this,” he replied, looking up.
Mei’s hand slid down her face, catching Sven’s side-eye. The glance spoke a thousand words, both trying hard not to burst into fits of laughter. It was Sven, struggling to keep his giggles inside, that broke first.
Oliver’s initial playful offense gave way to his own humored expression. “Hey, lay off!” He laughed, pushing on Sven’s chest. “You gotta admit, the rabbit was a pretty good guess.”
Sven chuckled, sensing that Oli was still a little hurt that Sven had one-upped him in the terms of ‘Eye Spy’. “Yeah, I’ll give you that.” He replied, smiling.
“I guess it’s your turn, Mei,” Oliver said. But before he could find something to trip it up on, it pointed out the door’s window.
“School must’ve let out,” Mei replied, peering past the display shelf in the front of the store. Indeed, the rest of the mall was lively with teens and children alike, moving through the mall like a pack.
Sven joined it, looking out the open door as well. “Must’ve been early dismissal,” they replied, the thought of the upcoming rush sending a wave of anxiety through him. But one quick glance at his friends calmed the growing paranoia. It wouldn’t be so bad, at least they had each other.
The trio weren’t able to joke around as much once rush hit, but they still found moments to joke about. Whether it was about a particularly Karen mom, or Mei’s reaction to someone buying the last set of Kuromi tarot cards, or Sven stumbling over his words when he had to ring up a bachelorette party’s order, the three had new arsenal to use against each other to strengthen their already inseparable bond.
Sven really loved Mondays.