#like... Im trying to run my stock low so I can fix my shelves in game. and I can't get fired!

[actual-corpse]

Did I really just sink 15 consecutive hours into Supermarket Simulator?

Yes... yes I did...

[calpops]

collision | a.i.

In which Ashton owns a record shop and you work in a bookstore a block over. A missing book, a collision and a broken binding bring you together.

Word count: 1k

***

Ashton never usually roams too far from the street his record shop Music Mayhem is on. The store admittedly rules a huge part of his life. He’d raised it from the ground up with his best friend Calum. It dictated most of his free time, if he wasn’t behind the counter for purchases he was perusing the aisles or the back to keep a mental inventory. Even the moments he found himself outside the same poster splashed walls it was usually all tied back to the shop in some way. He’d stop in at Past Presents, the antique shop just a couple buildings up the block, to search for answers or pieces of musical past. The owner Luke always had pieces worth purchasing or advice on vintage players. He also made his daily iced coffee run to the bakery across the street; his good friend Michael enabling his habit with the best brew he’d ever tasted.

Today he finds himself a block over; to the bookstore he’d only ever seen in a rush as he passed. It stands small against buildings double its size, but there’s a certain charm that captures the brick littered with ivy and windows with flower boxes overrun by bright zinnias. Ashton can tell it’s dimly lit just through the windows, shadows dancing across the short spaces and dark wooden shelves seemingly lost in the lack of light. He wonders if it’s even open for a moment but a person cuts past a window and affirms that it is. He’s in search of something specific; looking to replace a book he lost some time ago, only now realizing it no longer sits among the chaos of his overfilled bookshelf. It’s a rare find, written by a local author and out of print. He only hopes he can find it among the used books.

He strolls in and as his eyes adjust to the lighting he spots a table filled with used books. They lay in piles, books askew on top of one another, a mess of literature marked for a dollar with covers and pages creased and worn from time. He walks over with expectations low and sifts through the piles, careful not to damage the books any further.

He has no luck in his endeavors. He double checks just to make sure and sighs in defeat when he comes up empty. He spins around to head back to the doors but stops short and into a collision. A handful of books fall to the floor with resounding thuds and so does a person Ashton has never seen before. His own balance is thrown off as he stumbles but catches himself on the edge of the table, rights himself quickly and looks down at the chaos he inadvertently and accidentally caused.

You look up at him and he goes breathless. Your eyes are wild with worry as you gaze back down at the books now littering the floor. Ashton drops to a knee in an offering of help as your shaking hands reach to recollect them.

“I’m so sorry,” Ashton apologizes and begins to stack the fallen books.

“No, no. I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I took more than I could handle,” you explain while you shake your head in denial of his apology and thumb over a cover that seems to have an extra crease from the way it fell. You sigh and add it to the pile you’ve begun stacking.

“I should watch where I’m going,” Ashton says in an attempt to alleviate your guilt. There’s something in your voice that pulls at his heart strings. Something in your eyes that tells him you’re worth defending.

You both go silent for a moment as the task at hand becomes you. You both reach for the same book, fingers brushing fingers and pulling away quick. Ashton bites his lip and lets you reach for it, but the book falls from its binding and a horrified gasp falls from your lips as the pages splay out onto the floor.

Ashton moves to help quickly, catching the pages and putting them back together in some semblance of what they were before. The cover lays on the floor and the title finally catches his eye. It’s the book he was looking for; a hardbound cover with different colors from the paperback he used to have making it nearly unrecognizable. A tiny laugh rolls out of Ashton but cuts short when he sees your shining eyes and flushed face.

“This is exactly what I was looking for, actually,” Ashton says as he shoves loose pages back into the binding. He hopes his words will comfort you but realizes quite quickly they have the opposite effect.

“I-I’m so sorry, I can try to track down another copy for you I know we don’t have another in stock but we have a sister store in another city I could call and-“ you say in a nervous rush but Ashton smiles and reassures you.

“I actually know a guy who can fix this,” Ashton promises, broken book still in hand and a collection of the other fallen ones under his arm. He starts to stand and so do you, with your own pile of books in hand. “He owns an antique shop. He’s always binding old books, it’s no big deal.”

“Are you sure?” You ask as you both discard the books into the pile on the table. Ashton nods and heads towards the register, throwing you a look as if to communicate he wants to be rung up by you. When you take his hint and follow his lead another rush of words falls out of you.

“You don’t have to pay for it it’s damaged it’ll cost more to fix than buy I can have my wages docked by a dollar for ruining inventory...”

Ashton laughs and hands over a bill. “No need to get in trouble for something I caused, yeah?”

You hesitantly take the money and nod. “Could I at least… buy you a coffee sometime to make up for it?”

“Are you asking me on a date?” Ashton inquires with a raised eyebrow and hope flooding his heart. You blush and butterflies accompany the hope. You nod. “Then, of course.”

You agree to meet for coffee the next day during your break at the bakery a block over; Sweet Stuff being Ashton’s recommendation. Ashton leaves the bookstore with loose pages in broken binding, with a plan for tomorrow and more than he bargained for. Hope and butterflies linger and Ashton’s sure they will stay until he gets to see you again.

***

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