As they went through the rote motions and changed the lights, Jin found themself half-listening to conversations from the students.
“– can’t believe they gave us an exam after Break – ”
“ – ate way too much for Thanksgiving dinner – ”
“– and I swear she’s fucking the TA – ”
Useless chatter, most of it. Jin had spent the majority of their Thanksgiving in a line at the food bank, able to get one plate of turkey and vegetables donated by a local restaurant. That had been nice. There had been dusty cans of food as well, no doubt from the back of some rich person’s pantry. It seemed the only time there were really donations were around the holidays. Most people forgot the homeless existed the rest of the year. Jin had gotten used to the continuous, gnawing hunger that came from never really being satiated. This was just par for the course of their life – there was just not enough to go around. Homeless shelters were out of the question; there was no place for someone like them.
Another conversation caught Jin’s ear.
“– just leave the plate, the cleaning people will pick it up, it’s their job after all – ”
Jin felt an old, familiar anger bubble up in their stomach at those statements. Casting their eyes toward that particular conversation, they saw two girls getting up from their table, and indeed, leaving plates full of half-eaten food behind. Jin’s fist clenched so hard that their knuckles popped in unison. They wanted, so badly, to say something to those spoiled brats. The staff had enough to do without cleaning up after those stupid children who had everything. For all the opportunities and gifts they had likely been given in their life, they couldn’t even bother to take a plate to the trash? Rich people were the absolute scum of society.
Pouring the rest of their focus into their work lest their tongue get them in trouble, Jin finished up the cafeteria lights and started packing up.
As the brats took their leave, Dakota and his annoyed expression took their place. Disgruntled from the damage caused in the bathroom earlier and frustrated with his own feelings, he had found himself making a U-Turn and skipping his class. That last nap made him hungry, anyhow: He could at least find a little joy in some food instead of being pestered about somehow else prying on how much of an opportunity he was wasting.
His irritated march came to a halt when he saw the leftover mess on one of the tables. Now, he was more than happy to spite himself, but the sight of someone having left their mess laying around for someone else to pick up was just terrible. Where was the common courtesy? Sure, there was staff who were paid to clean, but that didn't mean leave them more of a mess than they already had to deal with. "People around here." He grumbled to himself, gathering up the garbage. He took one of the crumpled up, unused napkins from a mini stack that was left behind and used it to sweep some of the crumbs off the table and back onto one of the plates, as well as clean some sauce he couldn't particularly identify off the table, though it'd probably still need a proper wipe-down later.
Satisfied with his quick job, he took the plates and carried them over to dump them in the trash. Noting there seemed to be a university staff member packing up some of their work supplies in front of his destination, he passed by only a short distance away, offering a simple "'Scuse me, sorry!" As he managed to dump the trash in its rightful place. Momentarily standing there to clap his hands together and brush a few crumbs off into the trash.
“Oh, sorry.” Jin shifted the ladder backward, to keep from blocking the garbage, half watching the guy throw things away. Then they did a double-take. Had they really just seen that?
“Uh.” They really did not like talking to the students. Despite being within the same age group of most of them, Jin always felt a deep disconnection. They were the ‘haves’ and Jin was most definitely a ‘have not’. Without making eye contact, Jin continued to speak.
“Did you actually just clean up after those girls?” They didn’t see a uniform or badge or anything else on him. He wasn’t a worker. “Why?” The old anger had been buried and replaced by utter confusion.
Dakota turned, hands getting a final wipe against his jeans as an attempt to clean them as his head slightly cocked to the left at the question. He hadn't actually expected someone to notice his small deed, let alone question it, but considering the tone the boy couldn't help but try and provide them with an answer, as simple as it was. "There's enough for staff to do without people piling crap on," He answered, gesturing towards everything being packed from whatever they'd been doing. "Not like I came here being productive anyways, why not pick it up and loosen the load on you guys a little? Just good manners."
Jin stared for a moment, very surprised. It seemed that all the ‘haves’ were not built the same. That was refreshing. A twist of guilt hit them, as they realized that they’d been shoving all the students into the same little box. That wasn’t without reason, but still…
A faint smile appeared on their face. “Well, thank you for doing that. You’re a really thoughtful person.” Definitely more thoughtful than most of the other students, that was for sure. How many times had they seen trash and other things simply left behind on benches for someone else to deal with? It got old, and fast.
There wasn't much room to hide the small but cheery grin on his face, Dakota feeling a mixture of embarrassment and satisfaction in being able to help. "Hah, it's not an issue. If people were a bit more considerate maybe we wouldn't have so many problems day-to-day." Momentarily, his mind raced to the ways he wanted people to be considerate of how he felt after his whole medical ordeal. That wasn't anyone's problem but his, though, so he'd happily bottle that up as to not ruin a decent conversation.
Jin found themselves chuckling softly at the boy’s grin. “I totally agree with you, there. You wouldn’t believe how many dorm lightbulbs I have to change. Stuff people could do for themselves. There’s enough larger work around this place that I could skip all of that and have plenty to do still… I mean, you can Google how to change a lightbulb, right? Geez, you would think… n-nevermind.” Realizing they were about to launch into a pretty bad rant, they backed off a bit. Out of the corner of their eye, they noticed something on the cafeteria wall that they could swear hadn’t been there before.
There was a crack in the plaster, a decently sized one at that. Usually that kind of thing was on the bathroom floor due to humidity, not in the middle of a cafeteria. “’Scuse me a sec.” Jin said, carefully putting down their tools and approaching the wall. They poked gingerly at the crack in the wall, finding it warm to the touch.
“That’s… really weird.” They sighed, marking it down in a little pocket notebook all the maintenance crews carried. It helped to notice what needed to be done before it became a larger problem. Goodness knew Jin would probably be the one asked to fix it later.
Going back to the boy, Jin apologized quietly for leaving the conversation. Then there was a pause, as if they didn’t know what to say. Which was the case. “Uh. I guess I should let you get some food, huh?”
Blinking away from the thought of someone not knowing how to replace a lightbulb, the mentioning of food did catch Dakota's interest. He almost forgot that's why he came marching this way in the first place, one of his hands gently pressing against his stomach as if to visualize his hunger. "Ach, maybe so. First meal of the day is the most important one!" He stated, keeping a positive disposition. Maybe that was why things were getting to him so much: A good meal might make today go a lot smoother, though this conversation had helped a bit overall.
"But maybe I'll see ya around? You definitely gave me a reason to keep picking up trash I see--" Pausing, he realized that the two of them hadn't exchanged names at all, which brought him to a halt as he thought of a way to rephrase it without needing a name, before giving up and changing the subject entirely
to names. "For someone talking about manners, I sure lack 'em! Didn't even introduce myself; Name's Dakota." His introduction was followed by an extended hand, the boy noting he didn't really know many of the people here, and beyond popular belief, the staff were people, too. They didn't even seem to have much of an age gap, though someone working diligently like that was probably a few years his senior, he assumed.
Jin was a bit lost in thought, wondering if they had in fact eaten yet today. Sure, breakfast was nice when you could get it. But work coffee was free, and Jin tended to add a ton of sugar just to keep their energy up. It wasn’t break time for another several hours, and the job paid for one meal a day. Jin usually piled their plate as much as physically possible, and the staff usually let them get away with it.
Coming out of their thoughts, they noticed the boy’s – Dakota’s – outstretched hand. “Oh, right.” They wiped their hand on their pants, trying to make it clean before shaking Dakota’s hand briefly. “The name’s Jin. You’ll probably see me all over the place doing what I do. Feel free to come up and talk – it’s nice to have a little break.” A faint smile lit their eyes up. “And thanks again for being a cool person.”
Jin... Dakota repeated the name mentally, trying to nail it into his noggin as he gently shook their hand. "For sure! Be careful though, or I might keep ya from getting any work done." He offered as mostly a joke, but with a certain fondness for social activity, it was quite possible he'd talk Jin's poor ears off one day without meaning to. That final thanks meant a lot, even if it was all over just a few crumbs and some plates. Or maybe there was more he couldn't read into, though his mind wouldn't drift off that far thinking about it. "Ah, you're too kind. I better get going before I start getting embarrassed or something." He remarked playfully, grip loosening and allowing his hand to slip away, a small thumbs' up being about all that was left he could offer to Jin before he went to look over what sort of selection the cafeteria had for a hungry individual like himself.
Unfortunately for him, he was not only hungry, but also indecisive. He scratched at his chin as he thought way too much about his decision, being more of a prop in front of the staff than an actual customer as he began letting other people go in front of him because of his lack of ability to choose. It seemed his late breakfast would probably take a little while longer.
Jin flashed a thumbs up of their own, chuckling as they started gathering up the tools and ladder again. That had been a pleasant distraction, but now it was back to work. They had to report in for the next task, not to mention advise the boss about that wall...
(Collab between
@Mistress dizzy and
@Potemking)
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