2Hi, and welcome to my first attempts at a mix between AUctober and OcTOAber! I've tried Inktober 2018 and FreeTober 2019, but eventually gave up on both, so third time's the charm, right? I hope it can be. Do note that I have a lot of schoolwork and tests under my belt this month, so I might not be able to produce my best quality of work. Anyway, sit back, relax, grab a drink and enjoy the ride!
Alternate title: Hey, Pretty Stranger
Content warnings: Mentions of ableism (lack of accessibility) and capitalism, plus LGBTQ themes.
Special thanks to nicostolemybones from AO3 and Tumblr for the help (via past fanfiction) and headcanons.
The bell attached to the shop door jingled - another customer had just come in. But on second glance, Will could see that this new customer in question was definitely trying to come into the shop, but their wheelchair was stuck in the front door, which was too narrow for them to enter through.
"I'm so sorry for the inconvenience! I'll ask the owner next time they come in if they can widen the doorway — oh, hi, how can I help you?"
"Can you take me to the fantasy section, please?"
"Uh," his very eloquent mouth replied. The fantasy section was upstairs, and the store didn't have an elevator. The lower level of the store was dedicated to textbooks for the university, each of them priced so high that you could probably buy a brand new iPhone for the price of the materials for one course. The upside — if you could call it one — for working in a store like this was that he could have a source of income to pay back his student loans, but he always felt guilty for having to overcharge his fellow young adults for school essentials of all things. And this person in front of him was quite good-looking—
"I'm sorry, we don't have an elevator in the store, but I can get you any books you want from there?"
The customer then proceeded to list off the books that they wanted to purchase. Their dark eyes seemed to sparkle under the lights, and who was he kidding, Will was practically already falling down the rabbit hole of liking this person.
"S-Sure thing, I'll go get those for you."
Five minutes later, as the receipt was printed out, Will scribbled his phone number at the bottom with a bright orange sparkly gel pen, adding 'text me sometime!' beneath it. The only thing he could hope for was that this cute stranger would be able to read his 'stereotypical doctor handwriting' and actually text him back.
"Have a nice day!" he called as the customer wheeled out of the store, their smile still fresh in his memory. It was otherwise a perfectly ordinary day at the university bookstore; but as an unknown number did send him a text message later that day, and he managed to convince the owner of the store that accessibility was more important than space to display their products the week after, Will found it to be more than an ordinary day personally.
And the fact that he eventually got invited to go out for coffee with the handsome now-not-so-stranger — Nico — after several weeks of texting back and forth? It made his memories of the day so much brighter.
I'd have used 'lift' instead of 'elevator', but Americans are Americans.
And for the record, yes, I did the price check, American college materials can cost US$400+ per course, which is about the same price for which I can buy a brand new iPhone 11 in Hong Kong.
I don't think I've ever had feelings for anyone, but… well, I tried my best. I am also not sure if this stuff is against workplace protocol or not, but as someone who has never been part of the workforce, part-time or full-time or at all… please do not trust my judgement.
Thanks for reading! The next chapter will not be for AUctober, but OcTOAber, hosted by octoaber (run by some of my mutuals) on Tumblr! I hope you'll enjoy nonetheless!
(Chapter wordcount: 452 words)