The Willie Three, Tyrone Gang, Beehive…. Whatever they might choose to call them were not the only store employees discussing the present and the future. Business had picked up lately, but not much. They knew the store would close someday soon, and without much to do or anyone to care if they did it, the team members were left to their own devices. As such, several of them had gathered in the food court to ride out the clock.

Eren looked at Kenna then snorted. “You really think that’s it?”

“Hell yeah, girl,” said Kenna before she finished eating her second lunch. No one needed to know that she had already taken her lunch early. She was even still on the clock, because it just wasn’t that big a deal anymore.

“Just because he’s lost a little weight?” asked Eren.

“A little? Come on, you’ve seen him! The guy looks like he lives in the gym now,” said Kenna. She took a bite of her sandwich then sighed. It wasn’t the same when she had to pay for it herself. She sorely missed the free sub sandwiches that the topic of discussion used to share with her.

Eren made a goofy face. “Oh yes, he does.”

“Yeah, seriously. Who knew he’d look like that if he dropped a few pounds?” asked Kenna. “Not that he probably doesn’t look like he was run through a wood-chipper now, since he was attacked by a monster.”

“Big muscular roadkill,” said Eren with a giggle.

Amanda snickered at her. “I thought you had a boyfriend? You’re pretty keen on the way Scott looks nowadays.”

Eren glanced over to her. “What? I can have a pet and still play with neighborhood dogs.”

Kenna choked on her sandwich a little. Eren said the craziest things at times. Her clueless routine when at work was not exactly a lie. The girl was prone to misfortune. Yet, she had a certain way of looking at the world that made her amusing to hang out with during lunch breaks.

Amanda rolled her eyes then started patting Kenna on the back. “You really need to work on your gag reflex girl.”

Kenna glared at her, but her expression was less effective due to the fact that she was still choking on a sandwich that she had to buy with her own money. Oh, the indignity of it all.

“I wonder how he did it?” asked Eren seriously.

Amanda shrugged. “Maybe it has to do with the dream world? My cousin used to look like a beached whale, but she spent a lot of time fighting monsters and training her dancing skills in the dream world. A lot of that transferred over during the status thing.”

“She lost a lot of weight just doing that?” asked Eren excitedly. “I’ve mostly just been wandering around getting into mischief.”

“She still looks like a bulldog in the face, but the rest of her is doing alright,” replied Amanda before she tore into another one of her microwaved chicken wings.

Kenna stopped choking long enough to take a sip of her energy drink. Afterward she asked, “Do you really think that’s what it is, though? I mean, didn’t he start changing over a month ago?”

“You mean…. You noticed how big he’d gotten?” asked Amanda snidely. “Goodness! How surprising.”

Kenna flashed her engagement ring at the girl. Amanda snorted then said, “You’re engaged. We get it.”

“You’re just a little too excited when he gives you free food,” said Eren. “It’s not like you mean to open your mouth and beg for a little more with your subs. It’s just in your nature to want extra meat.”

Kenna frowned at her then waved her ring hand around rapidly. They should be able to see the ring on her hand, right?

“Ladies, ladies. No need to fear. I have arrived,” said Eric Greene as he walked into the break room. While he bore no relation to a certain former city guard in the dream world, the local Greene was just as apt to ruin a good time by simply existing.

“I thought I smelled two hundred pounds of bullshit,” said Amanda with a friendly smile. It was a trap, of course.

Eric stuck out his tongue at her in a display of absolute maturity. “You didn’t complain last night.”

Amanda snorted. “You wish.”

“Damn right,” agreed Eric.

Amanda glanced over to Kenna. “Show that bitch your ring hand.”

Kenna flashed her engagement ring at Eric, and he laughed. “Keep waving it at me and I’ll kiss it in a minute.”

Kenna wiggled her hand even more. Eric leaned forward to make good on his promise and she snatched her hand away with a smile.

Mark, one of the workers that stocked shelves and occasionally worked in the backroom, came in for lunch then and sat down at the table. “Sweet, I get to eat with the cool kids.”

“Hell yeah,” said Eren.

“So, did you hear about Scott putting in that overtime a few weeks ago?” Eric asked Mark. They were long time acquaintances who chatted over lunch frequently. Mark had been gone for a few weeks on vacation, not that they even needed to call it that anymore.

“No, he’s getting overtime? I barely get thirty hours,” replied Mark. Not that he couldn’t just work whenever he wanted at this point. No one bothered much with a schedule beyond begging people to come in to work. Sure, there was a schedule… At this point, though, it was more of a suggestion than a fact.

Amanda snickered. “You weren’t here that day, right?”

“Huh?” asked Mark. He hopped up then went to the refrigerator to get his lunch. The conversation continued around him while he went about the task of sticking it in the microwave.

“So, he was called in just to spend time with Tits in her office and then they left together?” asked Mark.

“Yeah, let’s leave out the part where that oversized bastard chased the boss lady’s fiancé out of the store like his ass was on fire,” said Eric.

“No... I hate that I didn’t see that,” said Mark. “Stupid sexy vacation days.”

“Mine!” exclaimed Eren with a giggle.

Eric turned to look at her then nodded. “Yeah, I saw them through the window in the food court. Dude was hauling ass. Probably shit himself.”

“You know it’s only a food court when you’re in a mall right?” said Mark.

“Really? What’s it called here?” asked Eric.

The two guys continued to discuss the topic of proper names for a dining establishment inside of the Archer’s building until Eren exclaimed, “Hold it. Focus! Focus!”

“Hmm?” asked Eric. “Hold it?”

“Mine! Remember?” asked Eren.

Eric reached out and took Eren’s hand. “Sure, anything for my harem.”

Eren snatched her hand back like it was on fire. “Not what I meant, and Eww.”

Eric glanced at Kenna and she flashed her engagement ring before she said, “Engaged.”

He glanced at Amanda and she snorted then said, “Bring it near me, and I’ll pickle it in a jar.”

“Fair enough,” he said before he turned to Mark.

Mark batted his eyelashes and said, “I never knew you cared.”

Eric blinked twice then looked back to Amanda. “What kind of vinegar you use in that?”

Everyone shared a laugh after that. Eric preferring his dill pickled rather than enter a harem relationship with Mark was enough to change the topic from Scott and Ashton to Eric being a horny idiot.