strings

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You tugged on the loose string unfurling from the cuff of your flannel, staring mindlessly into the abyss of the sky. Today was a pretty slow day-- in fact, everyday at the small music shop was slow. There wasn't any day where more than 50 customers a day, making you wonder how the shop was still in business. As you started to doze off from the warm sunlight leaking through the windows, you heard the old rusty bell on the door jingle, causing you to jump up a bit.

"Hello!" you said automatically. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Uh, sure," the customer said. The figure walked up to the counter, giving you a better view of him. Holy shit. Where the fuck is his eyes. You were a bit startled, but tried to brush it off. "Do you guys carry bass guitar strings?"

"Yeah, do you have a particular brand in mind?" you said, turning to a drawer behind you.

"Whatever's best," he said, sighing afterwards. "If you could get a full set, that would be great." It was clear that he wasn't too fond of being here. Or maybe he had noticed that you were a judgemental piece of shit. You pulled out the drawer, reaching into the back to grab a small box. Turning back to him, you inputted the number next to the barcode as the scanner was broken, but the outdated computer rejected the code. You tried inputting it again, but was met by another "ERROR" popup. As you attempted to type in the code a third time, you decided to try to make small talk.

"The code isn't working and our scanner is broken; sorry this is taking a while," you said awkwardly. The hooded man just simply shifted his weight from one foot to another as a response. "So, uh, have anything going on today?" Beep. The computer finally registered the number.

"Contemplate life and cry," he said nonchalantly, clearly sick of dumb questions like that. You made awkward mumbles with a series of uh's, not sure how to respond to that.

"Uh, well, that'll be $27.49," you said before he handed you thirty dollars.

"Keep the change," he said before taking the guitar strings and leaving the store.

See, usually, you would forget about customers pretty quickly despite having so few. Even the more strange customers would retain in your mind for a few hours days before any memory of them is lost. In most cases, the bored eyeless man would be no exception. Except that in that period of time, you kept on running into him. Again, and again, and again. On day one, you accidentally rammed your shopping cart into his at the grocery store by accident, on day two, you ended up sitting next to him in the crowded cinema to watch Return of the Zombie Pirates from Hell... XII? You weren't entirely sure since there were so many sequels. Small occurrences like these continued for a week. Finally, on the eighth day, you saw him at the music store once again. You found yourself face-to-face with the stranger.

"Why the hell are you following me?" he said. You opened your mouth to reply before he continued. "I swear to god, if you're one of Tord's goddamn spies--" he groaned, his "eyes"... flickering? You could've sworn you saw a faint magenta light, but you blinked and it disappeared. Your brain was probably playing tricks on you.

"Look, I have no idea how we keep on meeting up, but it's a coincidence and I've never even heard the name Tord," you said. When you said his name though, it did trigger an extremely faint memory. Maybe you did. The man grumbled, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket.

"Tell Tord to leave me the fuck alone and if it's not him, then you leave me be," he said, turning around to the exit. You watched him storm out and once again saw a faint magenta glow trailing behind him. As the bell rang, signaling his exit, you let out a sigh and slouched over the counter, resting your head on your hand. It was only a matter of waiting for another customer once more.  

a/n: o shit i haven't written legitimate fanfiction in a while so forgive me if this is pure garbage lmao

this is probably gonna be more adventure-oriented rather than fluffy shit so uh buckle up kiddos

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edit (may): i beg of ya'll to stop referencing undertale/sans, the eye flickering/changing color thing is a reference to the halloween special (which is in paul's animatic for "the end" too) ok thanks

also holy moly a lot of ppl are still reading this thank u

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