PSL starter for one_behind

[the_death_card]

Zane had been working for Joe's going on three years, now. He had started out cleaning up, and then working the register, and then working the kitchen - and then, when they had been short a driver, Joe had asked Zane to take a pizza, and he had managed a difficult route at rush hour in record time. He'd only been in New York six months by that point, but he had a knack for finding his way around that took most years to develop.

He also picked up the accent a lot faster than the rest of his family, but he blames that on having guys yelling at him in Italian all day. The "authentic" on the sign out front isn't the bluster it is from most of New York's lesser pizzerias.

They're not swamped tonight, and his delivery is to a dorm address, so he's on one of the bikes instead of in Joe's car, steering easily between people and scenery as he coasts down the sidewalk. He's been to these buildings more times than he can remember, and he skids to a halt perfectly next to the bike rack with a cheerful but not at all sincere "sorry!" to someone who thought they could slip in front of him as he reaches up to turn his red Joe's Authentic Italian baseball cap around backwards, tucking his hair back up under it when a curl wants to slip loose. He really needs a haircut, and he makes a mental note as he spits his gum into a bush. Address still in his mind from when he took the order, he mashes the call button with the pad of his thumb, turning away to lock the bike in place, whistling idly as he waits for a response - and offering a quick "Gotta pizza" over his shoulder to the voice that comes through when it does.

Comments

[onebehind]

"Be right down," said voice answers.

A minute or two later and the building's main door opens, a kid probably younger than Jack wedging himself between it to hold it open. He shifts, fingers dipping into his back pocket to fish a wallet out of his jeans, and then -- hesitates, actually, as something seems to occur to him. "For Adam, right?"

He's obviously not the only person here who could've conceivably ordered a pizza, after all.

[the_death_card]

Zane knows it is, but he still takes a moments to check the slip on the box once he takes it out of the keeper on the back of the bike. "Uh, yeah. Maddox, pepperoni and mushroom?"

Since conceivably, someone else named Adam could have ordered a pizza. It's happened before.

[onebehind]

Adam didn't think of that and probably still isn't. He knows not the woes of working as a pizza delivery boy -- he knows not the woes of work, period, probably. Benefit or downfall of being one of those smart rich kids who has literally never worked a day in his life. Either or.

"Yeah, that's mine," he agrees, regardless, and with a nod. And now he will, in fact, open up his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

[the_death_card]

Zane's parents have the whole Value of Hard Work thing going, despite the fact that they're firmly upper-middle-class. When they first got to New York, it was also either he find a job or get stuck watching his brothers while his parents worked. "$18.75," he returns after another glance at the ticket to confirm, shifting a little while he waits for Adam to get to his money.

[onebehind]

Adam hesitates for a moment, that said, and when he hands off the money, it probably becomes clear why. He was doing the math in his head for a rather generous tip. Just because he's a rich boy, just because he doesn't understand how hard the working class actually works doesn't mean he's a dick about it. His parents at least taught him the value of treating the people who serve you well. They're Old Money -- maybe that explains it.

"Here." A beat. "And, uh, don't worry about the change."

[the_death_card]

Zane blinks at the money he's handed, offering Adam a crooked, real grin in response instead of his standard Customer Service smile. It's not that he doesn't usually make good money in tips, especially given how quickly he can usually get wherever the food's going, but most college students don't have the money to be that generous. "Thanks, man. Enjoy the food."

[onebehind]

"No problem," Adam answers, offering him a smile in return.

That said, he reaches to take the pizza from him, and without further comment, turns to head back inside -- or, well, that's the plan, anyway. Something stops him, though, and instead, he finds himself squinting at Zane thoughtfully. "Hey, real quick -- do I know you?"

[the_death_card]

Zane's already turning away, too, to unlock the bike, though he glances back over his shoulder when Adam speaks again and then straightens, turning back around. "Uh... y'know, I was gonna ask you the same thing. But I go here, too?" He gestures toward the dorm building. "I just still live with my parents. So that could be it?"

[onebehind]

Unthinking, Adam traces his tongue over his teeth, trying to place him. He wants to say he's seen him in class before, but which one, he's not entirely sure, and so, he asks, "What's your major?"

That might narrow it down a little.

[the_death_card]

That gesture is somehow even more familiar, and Zane tilts his head as he answers. "Psych right now, but I'm still kinda trying to figure out what I wanna do with it," he admits. "You?"

[onebehind]

"Art," Adam answers with a small, almost sheepish shrug. He loves it, really he does, but he gets that most people tend to look down their nose at it. Including his parents, despite the fact that they let him come out here in the first place. He gets the feeling he's never going to hear the end of it.

"But uh -- " That really does narrow it down. " -- you in Professor Richards' philosophy class?'"

[the_death_card]

Zane just shrugs, grinning again. "That's cool." He means it, too. He doesn't have a lot of room to talk, anyway, when he's still more or less undeclared for all that he's really dedicated to his major.

At the question, the grin widens. "Yeah, I am. That's gotta be it."

[onebehind]

Adam seems a little relieved when it turns out he's not going to be judged and smiles, that in mind. It only grows when Zane confirms his suspicions. "Probably, yeah." A beat. "She's kind of a hard ass, but ... "

But he likes her class well enough, even if it doesn't directly contribute to his major. Ah, having to take electives even in college.

[the_death_card]

He's definitely not judging. To each their own, really, and he likes art, even if he's never really been good enough at it to consider it as a major. "Yeah, she is. I feel like I actually get something out of the class, though, which is kinda saying something considering some of my other classes."

[onebehind]

"Oh, you mean like English Comp?"

It's not that he has any problems bullshitting an essay, it's just -- well, the class is an exercise in bullshitting an essay and not much else. If he really needed help on that front, there are easier ways of getting it that don't involve several thousand words on Asshole or Book of the Week. Unfortunately, it's a staple for his major, for all majors.

[the_death_card]

Zane immediately makes a face. "Like English Comp," he agrees - and then grins. "I just keep myself entertained seeing how far I can go before I actually get called out for the amount of bullshitting I do in there."

[onebehind]

Adam laughs, a grin of his own following in the wake of the sound. "Yeah, sounds familiar." A pause, mostly for effect, and then, "So far, so good."

He's gotten away with a surprising amount of crap.

[the_death_card]

Zane laughs, too. "Yeah, me, too. I mean, there's the occasional little red question mark on stuff, but I still manage to get a good grade on stuff, so I'm not too worried about it." He is an artist at the fine skill of BSing, yes.

[onebehind]

"Yeah, I know that feeling." If it wasn't obvious, considering all he's said so far. "But, uh -- I should probably let you go, huh? So you're not late to where ever you're supposed to be next."

Isn't there a rule somewhere that says if a pizza is late, it's free or something?

[the_death_card]

Zane makes a face, glancing back over his shoulder. "Yeah, probably." He doesn't have another delivery with him right now, but he should probably get back before they start thinking he did get lost and call to check on him. He moves back toward his bike. "I'll, uh... see you in class, though, I guess?"

[onebehind]

"Yeah, definitely," Adam agrees with a nod. And if he starts sitting a little closer to Jack, now, just because he can, well -- it's totally because he knows him and not for any other reason.

[the_death_card]

That works for Zane, and he'll likely be doing the same thing. "Enjoy your pizza," he says again, with another grin as he pulls the bike free of the rack and mounts up.

[onebehind]

"See you later," Adam repeats with half-wave. A moment more of hesitation follows, for reasons he doesn't quite understand, and then he shrugs to no one in particular and forces himself to turn, to head back inside.