Chapter Text
Chip was angry. He was fuming at himself.
He couldn’t stop checking the clock
Jay had been kind enough to not verbalise any of her thoughts, but Chip swore he could hear her smirking.
“Captains,” a robotic voice with a Southern drawl spoke. He held a piece of paper, probably just a delivery notice. “What do I do with this?”
“I’ll help you, Alphonze,” Jay said, throwing a sneaky glance Chip’s way. “If Gillion comes in–”
“I am not asking for his number.”
She shrugged, headed towards the automaton. “Worth a shot.”
At moments like this, Chip was grateful for the new hire. It was so difficult to not make a “robots are stealing our jobs” joke, they weren’t sure if Alphonze would understand that it was a joke.
Drey made them both promise to be on their best behaviour. The automaton had only recently left Edison Kingdom, apparently he was still impressionable. That didn’t stop them from teaching Alphonze that older employees were supposed to be referred to as “Captains”.
Chip was sure Drey would understand. It’s not like it was hurting anyone. Plus, it was funny. Also, the accent thing was barely his fault. Alphonze shouldn’t have even mentioned he could change it at will. Literally can not blame him, Chip is but a man after all.
Speaking of men, here comes Gillion.
“Good afternoon, Chip!”
“Hey Gil,” he said, silently cringing at the nickname that slipped from his mouth. Thank the Gods Jay was busy.
“Where is Jay?” Gillion asked, as if reading the man’s mind.
“She’s out the back with Alphonze,” Chip said, continuing before Gillion could ask. “He’s our new hire.”
“Ah.” The Triton turned away, causing Chip to panic for some reason.
“H-How have you been?”
“I have been… Adjusting.”
Chip almost regretted asking. “To what?”
“The Oversea. It’s very different, not at all what I was expecting.” Gillion clutched Pretzel tighter.
“What were you expecting?”
“I heard a lot of stories about your people and their cruelty,” he met Chip’s gaze. “I know now they are not true.”
Chip tried to ignore the colour change in his face. “Right. Well, that’s good.”
Gillion practically zoomed across the store, and Chip had no choice but to follow.
“What is that?” Gil asked once he’d stopped. He was pointing at one of the new toys they’d received this morning.
“It’s one of our new stocked items. Drey said we needed more birds…” Chip trailed off, enchanted by Gillion’s fascination, his focus.
“Wow,” was all he said.
“Do you, uh, wanna buy it? I was told I’m supposed to try selling you things.”
Gillion sighed, turning away from the toy. “I wish.”
Chip thought back to the previous time Drey tried to “work his magic” on the Triton. “Do you not like it–?”
“No, I… I do, but,” he scratched the back of his neck, cheeks coloured slightly purple. “I don’t have any Oversea currency.”
“Oh. Well, I mean, we’re probably hiring–”
“It is okay, Chip. Thank you.”
“Y-You’re welcome.” Chip thought about saying something, referencing his own upbringing, but chickened out. “Do you have a phone?”
He couldn’t believe himself. Where is this coming from? This time he wasn’t imagining smug sounds from Jay, he could hear her chuckling.
“Don’t be silly, I am too wet to use a phone,” Gillion laughed, booping Chip on the nose with his wet finger.
“Yeah, of course, duh,” Chip muttered, remembering Caspian wore a gloves to use electronics. “Silly me.”
“I will see you tomorrow.” Gillion smiled as he walked out, leaving behind an uncharacteristically speechless Chip.
“Wow,” an annoying, snarky, stupid voice said. “I could cut that tension with a knife.”
“Best behaviour, Jay,” Chip said, still eyeing the bird toy.
“Nice try getting his number, I didn’t think you’d actually try.”
Chip paused. “I think I like him.”
“Yeah, duh,” Jay said, booping him in the same spot. “Silly.”
“Best behaviour.”
When Jay turned around, he wiped his nose. As if on auto pilot, he took the bird toy to the check out, pulling out his eftpos card.