Misc ideas/One shots

The Secret Ingredient [Perospero X Reader idea] Part 2

You showed up again the next night. You hadn't gotten a call telling you that you were fired, so you hedged your bets and swiped your pass at the front doors of Wholecake Chateau. To your surprise, they beeped and let you in.

"Hey there, Hardy," you walked up to the front desk, "I brought these. You looked pretty tuckered out yesterday."

The chair squeaked as the security guard sat up to look over the box of cookies and carafe of coffee.

"You didn't have to do this, Y/n," he smiled as he lifted the lid on the cookies, "But thanks!"

"The toll is that you have to save one for me for after my shift," you laughed as you made for the basement.

There were a few other night cleaners there. You grabbed your assigned mop bucket and joined the short line to fill it up at the sink.

"Hey there," the guy in front of you turned around and smiled, "What floors do you have?"

He was wearing sunglasses (inside) and had some sort of symbolic tattoo on his cheek. You decided you liked him.

"Forty-five through fifty-five," you said, "You?"

His jaw dropped.

"Woah! You've got the tops! Me n' Yosaku got ten to twenty-... something."

The guy in front of him, who had just finished filling his mop bucket, turned around and punched the guy you'd been talking to in the shoulder. He had a buzzcut and a wide jaw that made his smile both welcoming and frightening at the same time.

"Twenty-four, idiot," he chuckled, then he turned to you, "I don't recognize you. You must be new. I'm Yosaku, this is Johnny."

Johnny adjusted his sunglasses and gave you a winning smile, which you returned.

"I'm Y/n. Yeah, this is my third night. Well, my second if you don't count orientation."

Both men nodded in unison.

"They always give the newbies the tops. They take the longest," Johnny said as he hauled his mop bucket up to fill, "We've been here for a while, so we've been working our way down."

You cocked an eyebrow at this tidbit of inside information.

"An interesting hierarchy," you said, "I don't mind going all the way up there though. The view's great."

Yosaku gave you a look that said 'sucker' plain as day. You shrugged.

"Here's a tip from us pros to you, newbie," Johnny turned off the tap and kicked his bucket out of your way, "You gotta start at the top levels you've been assigned, not the bottom ones."

Yosaku nodded wisely.

"It feels like going downhill," he said.

"Sounds like you guys know what you're talking about," you chuckled, "I'll take your wisdom into account."

They flashed identical smiles at you and then turned to each other.

"Yeah!" they high fived, then performed some sort of multi-step handshake, "Have a good night, Y/n!"

They waved and hauled their carts and buckets out of the room. You were still chuckling as you turned your attention to your own mop bucket. After filling it and restocking the paper towels and toilet paper in your cart, you trundled over to the elevators.

Tonight, you hit the button for level fifty-five first.

As you rode up the height of Wholecake Chateau, with a new playlist running background music through your headphones, you wondered whether that man would be working late again tonight. You hoped he was. You wanted to ask him what he'd thought of your hot hot chocolate. And why he hadn't followed through on his threat.