Everything's A Game

William Leland x 22 x Clarie's Manager x Harper's Twin

[bodhi-foster]

Bodhi looked at his arms and snorted out a laugh, before coughing to try to cover it up. “Have you ever lifted weights?” he asked, already knowing the answer, but he’d already been rude with the laugh, and he was trying to tone it down somewhat.

[williamxleland]

“Is this apart of the script?” William asked in a hushed tone, not sure if the man was really insulting him or if he was really trying to play it off of as he trying to sell the items. He then cleared his throat again. “But no.. no I have not. I work at Claire’s man, I don’t have to be buff.” William said with a laugh.

[ofchrysoprase]

“Well, I suppose as long as you like it,” Dante replied with a playful tilt of his head, as well as a raised eyebrow. Maybe not the best first impression to insult somebody’s hairstyle, not even as a hairdresser, but his mouth just happened to work faster than his brain sometimes. On most occasions, this meant that he was able to say something funny, but sometimes it just made him a dick. Maybe some day there would be technology to purchase social skills. He hoped he would be rich when that day came.

“Sorry, being awkward and horrible is kind of my defense mechanism. My parents didn’t love me.” He shrugged with a half-smile, his matter-of-fact tone making it unclear whether it was a joke or not. “Taco Bell could honestly do better, but they have a couple of tacos that are edible. Just avoid the beans, the beans always get me, dude.”

[williamxleland]

William made a small face at the man, trying not to let what he was saying bother him. He wasn’t great with insults or even critiques but he was definitely trying to get better with them. Will cleared his throat and gave the man a small smile. “No worries, man. I understand things slip out sometimes.” Even though William always tried to be super nice, there was definitely a time or two where he had said something not too nice and had felt completely horrible about it. “Your parents didn’t love you? I’m so sorry.. That sounds awful, I couldn’t imagine..” Luckily William had a great relationship with his parents so he didn’t fully understand, but he did know that some sort of defense mechanism was needed in those situations. 

“Taco bell.. hm..” William thought about it for a moment. “You know what, that actually sounds great. I actually tend to stay away from the burritos though, so I don’t have to worry about the beans.” He said with a laugh.

[noahcohen]

Noah smiled when William reassured him that he meant to buy him lunch, then he canted his head towards the Panda Express counter and began to lead the way there. “Then make that two orders,” he said, raking his fingers through his curls and pushing them out of his eyes.

“Thanks, it’s nice to meet you, William. Do you do like, the full name thing all the time, or do you have a nickname you like people to call you? Like… Bill, or Will, or Billy?” he asked smiling as they walked. “I work at Snapshot. If you ever need camera equipment or to use a photo booth, we’re on level one, but you probably knew that already. I haven’t stopped in at Claire’s in a while. I should get some new studs sometime,” he said, reaching for his pierced ear. “You been at Claire’s long?”

[williamxleland]

“Great.” William smiled and began following Noah towards Panda Express. Luckily there was no line at all and William easily walked up and placed his order. The food was boxed up and ready to go in only a matter of minutes. He paid then grabbed the food, handing on of the to go boxes to Noah. “There you are, sir.” He said with a small smile.

“Willie, Liam..” William said with a small chuckle, adding to the long list of nicknames he had heard. “Honestly, you can call me whatever you want. I’ve heard it all.” William said with a laugh. “I personally call myself William but anything works. Only thing I don’t like is Bill. Sounds a little old for me.” He jokingly cringed at the name. “You know, I honestly don’t think I have ever been to Snapshot before.. Maybe I need to check it out. Sounds pretty cool.” William said nodding his head. “Yeah, I’ve been there for about five years now. I applied there to work with my twin but she recently left.. so now it feels weird but it’s still great. You should definitely come get some new studs, we got some pretty good deals going on right now, too.” 

[rxttleheads]

“Hey there!” Jamison turned on his heels when he heard someone call out to him, giving the newcomer a little smile and a wave as the man approached, asking what sort of food Jamison might recommend. He was bad at decision making on the best of day, but there weren’t exactly an extreme amount of options here – they’d probably be able to work something out together. “Well, let’s see –” He paused, taking a cursory glance around the food court, little neon signs calling out to him from the semicircle of restaurants. “If you’re in the mood for burgers, you can’t really go wrong with All-American – or Chi-Chi’s is good if you like Mexican. The noodles at Panda Express ain’t bad, either.” With a hand stuck in the pocket of his vest, somewhat mirroring the other, he asked, “Any of that sound good to you? Name’s Jamison, by the way. Think I’ve seen you around here before, right?”

[williamxleland]

“Hm.” William thought over all of the options the man put out there, considering each and every one. “Damn, everything sounds so good. I feel like you also just named everything I love.” He said with a laugh, looking around at all of the places around them. “I feel like a burger from All-American and some noodles from Panda would really hit the spot right now, so maybe I go with both..” He really hadn’t eaten all day and wouldn’t have another chance until he got home, so a heavier meal was probably best. “Do either of those sound good to you? Or did you want food from somewhere else?” Will asked him, wanting to make sure he got the man something that he wanted to eat.

“Nice to meet you, Jamison! I’m William. I’ve definitely seen you around but don’t think we’ve spoke.” 

[out-ofhell]

No questions asked. He hoped the guy — William, according to his nametag — actually stuck to that promise. “Okay,” he said, holding up his hands in innocence, then dropping the backpack on the floor and kicking it over to William. “Have a look for yourself. But you better fucking stick to your promises and not ask any damn questions.” He hated losing, and yet, he wasn’t in the mood for a fight right now.

[williamxleland]

William relaxed a bit as it seemed the man was going to comply and not make things harder than it had to be. And he just really hated confrontation. “Thanks, man. Seriously, no questions asked.” He reassured him as he grabbed the bag and unzipped it, looking inside. As expected, he did see something that belonged to his sister, the piercing gun that was in her station. William grabbed it before handing the man his bag back. “Nah, you’re good, I didn’t see anything.” He played it off as he walked back over to the piercing station and put the gun back in the drawer before turning back to the man. “Sorry for wastin’ your time.”

[jakefm]

interactions with william.

It was finally dinner time and William was starving. He was scheduled to close and he still had a few hours ahead of him, so he was definitely more than excited to get some yummy food court food, sit down at a table, and just relax. Walking around the area with his hands stuffed into his hoodie pockets, he searched for the right place to eat. The problem was, everything sounded so good. “Ugh.” The man groaned, throwing his head back in frustration for a moment before noticing the person standing not too far from him. Then, an idea hit him. “Excuse me,” William said immediately walking over to them. “Mind helpin’ me out a bit?” He paused for a moment, giving them time to answer. “I am starving and just don’t know what to have.. I’m not picky, I just want it all! Wanna throw out an idea so I can narrow it down? And as a payment of my gratitude, I will buy you some food, too.” William asked, eyebrows raised and a friendly smile on his face.

jake has finished his work for the day, but as the same can’t be said for his sibling posey, who’s still up at life rose on, wrapping up bouquets of flowers, trimming stems, and everything in between, jake decides to stick around and wait until they’re done, too. he just feels more comfortable to be close, especially not fond of the idea of his sibling hanging around by themself in the most dangerous place in shrike heights. thankfully, there’s plenty of places to hang out at the mall, and as his rumbling stomach reminds him of dinner time, he decides to make the food court his first stop. he doesn’t expect company, but he smiles and happily listens when he receives it. “hm?” he looks up at the person as he speaks to him. “oh, yeah, sure.” he nods. he doesn’t know what help is needed, but he has plenty of time, so he may as well. “well i don’t expect you to pay, i was heading down here for dinner anyway.” he chuckles and he smiles. “i was thinking about going to olive garden, or maybe kfc, even. late riser is good too, though, so that’s another good option.”

[williamxleland]

“Hey, man, it’s what I owe your for helping me. Honestly.” William said with a reassuring nod. He loved to pay for people so really this was just an excuse to do so. It was his love language. “Damn, Olive Garden sounds great right now.” He looked down at his watch, trying to calculate if he had enough time to have a meal that took a little longer. “There’s no way it would take longer than fifty minutes, right?” William said half out loud to himself, half to the man in front of him. “Would you want to join me at Olive Garden?” He asked him. Even though the man was a complete stranger, William didn’t even know his name, he really wanted to eat a meal with another person. He couldn’t spend another break on his own staring at the wall as he ate silently, it was miserable.

[ofchrysoprase]

Eun Jae had just wrapped up his shift at the bakery, exhaustion clearly visible on his pale features. Though he absolutely loved both baking and customer service, his lack of a healthy amount of sleep or food, made it difficult for him to keep up his energy throughout the day. So much so, that he started to look forward to going home where he could lie down and cry in peace, even if it meant being alone, which was something he was exceptionally bad at.

The boy rubbed his aching eyes and grabbed his backpack, hoping that maybe tonight he would be tired enough to peacefully pass out on his bed. He’d gathered a couple of leftovers to bring his parents later this week and set off to leave the mall, however he was then approached by someone asking for help. Blinking slowly, Jae nodded and pushed his lips into a small smile. “Of course,” He answered, happy to be of use, even though he felt like he could collapse at any moment.

“Oh…” His expression fell for a moment, though he managed to get the smile back on his face within seconds. “Well, I guess it depends on what you’ve recently had. Unless you don’t mind having the same thing twice a week?” God, he was the worst person to ask for meal advice, but he was still eager to help out. “I don’t- I’m not hungry, but, um, do you have a preference for burgers or Italian or something?”

[williamxleland]

“I’m trash, honestly, and I’m not a picky eater at all. I could eat the same meal three times a day, it doesn’t really matter to me.” He said with a laugh, shrugging his shoulders. A lot of people couldn’t live that way and he knew it. When William had first graduated high school and started ‘cooking’ his own meals, it had mostly consisted of ordering pizza for breakfast and eating the leftovers for lunch and dinner. His mother wasn’t very happy with him doing that, but it was a great money saver in William’s eyes.

“Are you sure?” William asked him. “Even if you’re not hungry now, I could still get you something and could take it home and eat it whenever you are hungry.” He suggested, really wanting to pay him back for his help. “I suppose burgers do sound pretty good.. I can’t think of a time they don’t sound good.”

[retrocuts]

Ryanne didn’t mind helping people out around the mall, especially when they were all going through what felt like a never-ending nightmare. “You don’t have to buy me anything.” She clarified first, feeling as though that was a bit much to get in return for simply throwing out a suggestion or two. She may have gotten used to the kindness people would offer up randomly more and more as of late, but some of it still felt too hard to believe at times. “I was going to grab something at Late Riser’s, probably pancakes and some coffee before I head back to my shift. I’m kind of a sucker for breakfast as dinner.” A sheepish smile accompanied her words. It would take up her entire break, but that was something she was okay with. There wasn’t anything else she was going to do with that time. “If you wanted something quicker though, you can’t really go wrong with a burger and fries from McDonald’s.”

[williamxleland]

“No way, it’s my way of showing that I appreciate your help. And I wouldn’t offer it if I didn’t want to do.” He pointed out which was true. It was also obvious that William just loved treating others. It made him happy and, most of the time, the other person happy as well. Someday it may make him go broke, but today was not that day. “Now that actually sounds amazing. And there’s nothing more filling than breakfast food.” That’s why that meal was so important to start the day, right? “If you wouldn’t mind me joining you, I’d love to go to Early Riser’s. I also do love McDonald’s but maybe I’ll just save that suggestion for tomorrow.”

[bodhi-foster]

Bodhi just shrugged, because he didn’t agree, but he was trying his hand at politeness. “Sure, they’re right this way” he shifted back into his professional (somewhat) persona, leading William to the other side of the store. “Are you thinking cardio, or strength building?”

[williamxleland]

“Great, thanks, man.” William followed the man in whatever direction he was heading in. He also glanced around the store as they walked, and it was no wonder why he’d never been in the store before. None of his interests were in this store. “Oh uh...” He cleared his throat, obviously not knowing the next part of his ‘script’. But he figured improvising was fine. “Definitely strength building. You see these noodle arms?” He asked, flexing his arm.

[bodhi-foster]

“It does go slower though” Bodhi shrugged, because he was anything but optimistic. He flicked his gaze over to his manager before returning his attention back to William. “Ask me about the exercise machines, if he sees me interacting with the customers for a bit, he’ll get off my back”

[williamxleland]

“Yeah, I supposed that’s true. But sometimes a slower day is better than getting your ass kicked.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. Surely other people felt different than William did, but as a manager, he basically lived at the store anyway. Whether it went by fast or not, he was still always there. “Oh yeah, easy enough.” William cleared his throat, speaking loud enough to be heard by the manager but not too much where the plan was obvious. “Hey man, you mind showin’ me some of your exercise machines?”

[ofchrysoprase]

Dante briefly let his eyes wander over the stranger for a moment, contemplating if he was indeed minding helping out. Though he concluded that it really depended on what the help was for. “You looking for a haircut? Because we’re not closed yet.” He offered, eyes narrowed slightly as they gave the other another look, this time of slight disapproval. “Food? Sweetie, trust me, that haircut should be higher up on the priority list.”

He let out a sigh and then looked around the food court. “Well, you’re in luck, I guess. I was also on my way to grab a quick bite, while I let my co-workers finish up and clean the place. Low blood sugar excuse works every time, you know?” A rare grin pulled at his lips. “Since you’re buying, you do realize I will only suggest things that I would want to eat right now, right? So, yeah, tacos it is, big boy. Let’s go.”

[williamxleland]

William made a face. “A haircut?” He asked him a little confused. “I definitely don’t need a hair cut. I like my hair and so does a lot of other people. Even though it’s a little on the longer side, I still fell like it’s kept up.” He said defensively, not really liking when strangers give unsolicited opinions, especially when it came to his hair.

“I’m really starting to reconsider if I should buy you food or not since you sort of dragged my hair for no reason.” William said. “But I am a man of my word so I suppose tacos it is. You’re lucky I really like tacos, too.”

[out-ofhell]

He didn’t do as he was told, at least, not right away, instead looking at the guy, wondering why he took his damn job at the Claire’s so seriously. “I don’t have time to wait around,” he said, “I got somewhere to be. There’s nothing in here but books. What are you expecting, a million bucks or something from your cash register?”

[williamxleland]

“Well, if you don’t have time, maybe you just need to work with me and be honest. Because if you want to be hard headed, I can make this take hours, buddy, trust me.” William told him sternly, starting to lose his patience. “I’m willing to work with you, too. Just give back whatever you took, no questions asked. That’s all I’m asking for.” He said genuinely. “And of course I don’t think it’s anything worth that much value, especially since you’re by the piercing station and not an actual cash drawer. I just want the shit back.” At this point, he didn’t even know if he actually stole anything, but he still just trying to feel him out.

[clerksworks]

"guilty." she nodded, not even a little bit trying to deny that accusation. she liked gossiping, she liked hearing about interesting things that happened. nothing interesting ever happened to her, anyway.

"ew, who?" she wasn't overly prideful of her work, it was average at best. but she sure didn't like people messing with her workspace. even william, sometimes, wasn't allowed to move her drawers. "I'll pay you back if you do. creepy."

William shrugged his shoulders, crossing his arms after finishing the granola bar. “Just some random guy, I guess. I went easy on him so I didn’t much info.” He told his sister honestly. Even though he wasn’t happy with what happened, it was something small and he really didn’t feel like filling out the incident paper work. “No need to pay me back, sis, I got it. It is my duty as your manager, after all.” He said with a small smirk on his face.

[noahcohen]

“Only if you pinky swear,” Noah teased, raising his brows and tilting his head a little. He wondered if the guy was new to the mall, but kept that to himself as he turned to look around at the food court. “I like Panda Express, but I guess it depends on what you like. There’s a McDonald’s if you want burgers, or KFC if you like chicken and want something fast. There’s the restaurants too, but I dunno what kind of a hurry you’re in, cause it takes a while to get your food. Personally, I’m on my break, so… Panda or pizza for me,” he said. Noah was working a closing shift at Snapshot that night, and like the other, wanted to just sit and relax for a bit. He was wearing his usual little work vest with his name tag on it that said “NOAH” in all caps, with little happy face and daisy stickers on it.

[williamxleland]

William instantly held up his pinky and let out a laugh. “Of course I pinky swear! I would never dangle food in front of someone’s face and just take it away, that seems just plain cruel.” He listened closely to all of his suggestions and nodded his head every so often to show he was still listening. “Yeah, as much as I loved to sit down at a restaurant, I definitely don’t have the time for that. But Panda actually sounds amazing. You can never beat orange chicken and noodles.” He said as he immediately began walking towards Panda Express. “I’m William, by the way. Manager of Claire’s. I see you’re name is Noah.” He said with a small laugh, gesturing to the name tag. “Great name, by the way. Where do you work?” 

[alie-cline]

“Help you how?” Alie asked, raising a brow at William. She was done for the day, clocked out, and downing one greasy slice of pizza separated her from getting the fuck out of this mall. She tried to dampen the expression on her face that she was sure read clear annoyance, but she still couldn’t tell if this guy was serious. He wanted her to pick out his food? It seemed like the kind of request that would come with more strings attached, but if he wanted to pay for Alie’s meal too, she wouldn’t exactly turn him down. It’s not like she made good money. “Pizza,” she suggested after a hesitation. “Maybe a side of fries, because why not?” They could all be dead at any time, might as well get fries too.

[williamxleland]

“Pizza and a side of fries... now that sounds really good.” William usually wasn’t the kind of person to eat a side with his pizza, but at this point he was starving and it really didn’t sound like a bad move at all. “What’s your favorite kind of pizza?” Will asked her as he began to walk towards the pizza place. “I’m more a plain cheese kind of guy, but I know most people like more flavor than that.”

[bodhi-foster]

Bodhi didn't mask his deep sigh once he was met with small talk, something he liked even less than working at Dick's fucking sporting goods in the first place. "Dead here too, yeah" he answered, nodding, trying his absolute best to look interested, because he'd just spotted his manager eyeing him up from behind the till. "Do me a favour, would you?"

“Must be one of those days, then. Which in a way, dead days aren’t too bad since it doesn’t effect our pay, right?” William loved getting paid the same amount for standing there and doing nothing. “A favor? Yeah, of course! What did you need?” He asked him.

[williamxleland]

@shrikestart​ open location: food court It was finally dinner time and William was starving. He was scheduled to close and he still had a few hours ahead of him, so he was definitely more than excited to get some yummy food court food, sit down at a table, and just relax. Walking around the area with his hands stuffed into his hoodie pockets, he searched for the right place to eat. The problem was, everything sounded so good. “Ugh.” The man groaned, throwing his head back in frustration for a moment before noticing the person standing not too far from him. Then, an idea hit him. “Excuse me,” William said immediately walking over to them. “Mind helpin’ me out a bit?” He paused for a moment, giving them time to answer. “I am starving and just don’t know what to have.. I’m not picky, I just want it all! Wanna throw out an idea so I can narrow it down? And as a payment of my gratitude, I will buy you some food, too.” William asked, eyebrows raised and a friendly smile on his face.