We meet again Mr. Unicorn (Charlie)

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The holiday parties and breaks were winding down to a close and Grayson was back at work, finishing up a string of graveyard shifts he'd been awarded for his 'great' customer service. He was pretty sure it was that old lady who had complained, maybe she shouldn't have been watching him hit on one of the college kids on their way back into town.

Honestly, it was her fault. Luckily, his manager liked him and offered him a warning and kept him away from busy hours for a while just to cover his own ass. Now, he was back to his usual shifts because most of the other workers were at least taking a few classes at the community college.

He flipped through one of the magazines at the front desk, looking up every now and then to check out the camera monitors to his left and when he heard someone come up to the counter. He heard footsteps come closer and looked lazily up to do his job, but paused when he met eyes with a familiar face. "No shit, it's the unicorn." Thankfully, there was no one else close enough to hear his curse and he grinned at the teen after confirming this, "Did you decide it was love at first sight?"

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Charlie only stepped into the gross, unsanitary, smelly atmospheres of convenience stores when it was absolutely necessary. He’d been out running some errands and hadn’t realized how low he was on hand sanitizer and mouth wash, and when he pulled out a bottle of the former, he was met with the tragedy of only squeezing out a little drop. He didn’t want to have to go all the way back to the dorms just to get another bottle, though, since he had more that he wanted to do while he was in town, so he reluctantly stepped foot into one of the grungy little shops, half tempted to hold his breath while he was inside.

He didn’t pay any attention to the guy behind the counter until he spoke, and Char froze for a brief moment, wondering why the voice sounded famil- oh of course, who else would call him unicorn? He groaned internally as he turned to look at that smug-faced bastard perched nearby. “I never would have come in this shop if I knew that you worked here…” he grumbled, turning away to wander down an aisle and find what he was looking for. Unfortunately, the store was small and he didn’t get too far before he found what he needed, still in talking distance with the drunkard.

“How bad was your headache the morning after I took you home?” he asked, scooping up a couple bottles of each. Yeech… He hoped these things weren’t contaminated with anything. “I see you survived even though you didn’t get laid on New Year’s.” Charlie allowed himself a small smile as he placed his items on the counter.

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The annoyance plainly written on Charlie's face energized him in a way, he liked that he got that reaction, meant the guy hadn't forgotten him. He propped his head on his hand, grinning as he watched him walk through the store. "Aw~ Why do you have to say such hurtful things, Charlie. I have feelings too you know."

He continued to turn the pages of his magazine as his New Year's savior perused the aisles. "Did you pick up any more wayward drunks on your way home that night?" When Charlie finally made his way up to the counter he stood up from the stool he'd been perched and grinned down at the other teen, whistling at he number of bottles.

"What kind of party are you throwing with all these?" With his usual lazy movements, he began to ring up the bottles, "Absolutely awful." He groaned at the memory and chuckled at his next comment, returning his smile and teased, "No thanks to you, prude."

He bagged the items and read off the total, not handing over the bag quite yet. "I've only got a little bit of my shift left," he began, moving the bag closer to him, "It's boring here, and I remember enough of that night to know I liked you, so you should just hang out here with me for a bit." Grayson wnked at him before sticking out his tongue, "I'll keep all my appendages to myself."

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Of course Charlie hadn’t forgotten the guy – it had only been a week ago, and pretty much the whole second half of his night had been involved with the drunk, talking to him and getting him home and making sure he didn’t die in a ditch. “You do? Sorry, I thought your only moods were ‘snarky’ and ‘horny’,” he teased back, a small smile playing at his lips despite himself. “And usually both of them at the same time.”

Why did he have a small twinge of gladness to see this guy again? He’d been entertaining, he supposed… “Nope, you were the only one,” Charlie informed the guy. “I had to go home and shower after I dropped you off, thanks to your clingy hands.” He shuddered at the memory, especially the attempted kiss.

“None,” he sniffed, looking away as the boy began ringing him up. “I just ran out and this was the most convenient location. Lucky you.” Char glanced back at Grayson as he spoke, smirking slightly. “Just be glad you woke up in the safety of your own home, and that I only pushed your face away,” he said with his chest puffed out. “I did way more than I needed to.” Sex had been wayyy far out of the equation.
He reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet, and handed over the money just in time for Grayson to speak. Char scowled, glancing down at his bag of cleaning products. He let out a small growl. “…. Fine, but at least let me pour some sanitizer on my hands, they feel nasty,” he pleaded. And no way did he want to ask to use the bathroom – public bathrooms were his worst nightmare. He wasn’t going to admit that he was a little curious to see what the guy was like when he was sober. “Well, I was right that you’re still a snarky pervert when you’re not drunk,” he commented, huffing out a breath. “Is my ass still as sexy now as it was that night?”

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As far as that night went, Gray's memory was a bit fuzzy, he remembered precious few details mostly events and certain feelings. Lust and attraction being some of the two most dominant ones he recalled, but a few others swirled in there. Like amusement, which he was reminded of when Charlie shot back his own teasing line. Grayson shrugged, "The others exist... just buried underneath all the snark and horniness."

The same sense of happiness, or maybe it was excitement, found its way to him when Char finally engaged him in conversation. He appreciated getting another look at his face since his memories were blurry and in poor lighting, yeah, he decided, he rather liked his face. "Look at me," he wiggled with exaggerated giddiness, "I'm special."

He waved off his comment about the shower and shook his head, "Psh. It wasn't so bad," he was realizing the guy was bit of a clean person, but still unaware of just how intense it was and thought he was mostly joking. "Lucky me," he repeated and looked up with a wink, "Now I get to hear you whine about how I invaded your personal space and challenged your self confidence with my stunning good looks."

Grayson reached forward to push at his inflated chest and sneered playfully at him, "You wouldn't have hit me," He said confidently, "You think I'm hot." Once Char agreed to his demand, Gray took the money and retrieved Char's change. "I have Lysol wipes if you want this stool to sit on," he handed over the bag to Charlie.

"I prefer comfortable with my sexuality," he said and stuck his tongue out at him. Grayson chuckled at his question and leaned over the counter, gesturing for him to turn a bit before nodding appraisingly and whistling. "Oh, yeah. Definitely." Blurry, drunk memory did not do that backside justice.

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Charlie remembered everything that had happened, because he hadn’t been very drunk, only a slight buzz, and by the time he and Gray had walked home it had pretty much worn off. He laughed a little at Gray’s response, starting to relax a little more. At least the guy seemed a little less douchey when sober. “Well, I’m not about to start digging,” he shot back. He could deal with snark, and the horniness… well, he would just try to go with it.

He snorted. “Yeah, you sure are special alright,” Char teased, getting into the rhythm of interacting with this guy again.

“That’s easy for you to say,” he shot back, crossing his arms as his items were rung up. “I had no idea what sort of grime and germs you had on you. I could’ve gotten the flu or worse.” But that was just how he felt about touching anyone. “And my self-confidence is just fine, thank you very much. You’re not that stunning.” That might have been a slight lie – Charlie hated how attractive the gross, grubby boy was. How was it possible?

He saw the hand coming this time and stepped back just in time to avoid it. Who knew when they’d last been washed? “You don’t know that,” he countered. “I do not.” Another lie. Charlie grumbled as he took the change and put it in his wallet. The Lysol wipes, however, were a surprising relief, and Char took one gladly and thoroughly cleaned the seat before plopping down on it. “… Thanks,” he muttered as he threw the used wipe in the trash.

He rolled his eyes as the boy requested to see his butt, and grudgingly stood and gave him a quick peek. Why had he chosen to wear his tight pants today…? “Glad to hear,” he replied sarcastically. “That’s all you’ll get to see of it, so don’t get too excited.” He sat back down and looked around, unimpressed. “Sooo… this seems like a pretty shitty job,” he commented. “Do you hit on all of your customers, or just the cute ones?”

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Good," he replied with a challenging tilt to his head, even if Charlie had been tempted to dig Grayson wouldn't have made it easy. No, it would have been impossible. Grayson wasn't the kind of guy who was in touch with his feelings, in fact despite his earlier jest, he would rather those around him believe he was emotionally incapable of remorse or sadness, or any of the shitty oh-pity-me feeling. So, it was good that Charlie wasn't interested enough to dig.

"How special am I," he asked childishly, batting his eyelashes at the boy and propping his head up on both his fists.

For the most part, while they talked Gray stayed leaned against the counter, fiddling with various things around the counter while he spoke before concentrating back on Charlie. He rolled his eyes at him, "I actually don't get sick very often," probably once a year or so if that, and it was usually a common cold, "So you can shove it." He stuck his tongue out at him.

It was truly unfair, though, that Charlie wasn't aware of the nature of his ability when he spoke next. But he supposed he had tried to warn him that night and he had refused to believe him. So, he didn't to feel bad when he grinned at the words that popped into his mind, proving just what the male thought of his looks.

He leaned over the counter now, fixing him with a playful look, "Hey, remember how you said you were gonna test whether or not I was lying about being a lie detector?" Grayson quirked an eyebrow, expressing that now was potentially a good time for him to test him. "That's fine it's a good enough view to last a while."

Grayson snorted in laughter, scratching the back of his head as he nodded, "Yeah it's total shit, but they haven't fired me yet so I guess it's a good job for me to have. It's more fun at night, I like to talk shit about the customers and come up with stories for them. " He leaned closer to him, "And I only hit on the really pretty ones that turn down my New Year's kiss."

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“Very special. In the mentally challenged way,” Charlie retorted, tapping his fingers against his own temple with a smirk. He was tempted to push on the guy’s stupid face again, but he didn’t want to risk the germs involved.

Unfortunately, Char’s habit of keeping his environments as clean as possible often backfired – since he didn’t allow himself to get exposed to dirt and other ‘germy’ things that often when he could control it, he seemed to be much more prone to catching colds and the like when he ended up in situations that he had less control over. But he refused to change. “Whatever,” he sniffed. “Better for me to take precaution than not.”

Poor Char was entirely set on denying any attraction he felt for the older boy, and didn’t realize that his words had had the opposite effect. However, when Grayson leaned over and reminded him about his lie detecting ability, his brow furrowed uncomfortably. “… Yeah…” he admitted hesitantly. “Why, should I try it now so I can prove you wrong?” Hmph, well, at least that might knock the guy off of his high horse, so he could give it a try. It was better than bending over and letting Gray just gawk at his ass the whole time he was stuck here.

His arms were crossed over his chest as he sat, trying not to look around at all the obvious grime in the cracks and corners of the grubby store too closely. “Isn’t there some sort of job you’d rather have?” he asked wryly. “You’re going to get old and fat and ugly if you work somewhere like this for too long.” Charlie smirked briefly before Gray was flirting with him again, and Char rolled his eyes, leaning away from that stupidly attractive face. “Lucky me,” he grunted. “How much longer do I have to stay here? I do have other things I should be doing with my time.” Like anything other than being stuck here with this… douche. He wouldn’t want to stay here even if he did get paid, who knew what kind of druggies and creeps came in this place?

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"Well," he crossed his arms grumpily, he did not like that special comment whatsoever. He knew he was a little dense, but he knew what words meant and stuff and he'd managed to graduate so that was really all that was important. "So far I've graduated and you haven't so suck my dick, asshole." He curled his lip into a quick snarl before returning to his playful behavior.

It was pretty obvious that the guy was clean to say the least, and Grayson was starting to pick up a few germaphobe hints as well. He shrugged, "Be as careful as you want, it's gotta be pretty boring being that careful all the time, though," he didn't seem like the uptight type, but it cold have fooled him considering how strict he seemed about cleanliness.

"Yes, please," he waved his hand in a motion of allowance, "Please /try/ and prove me wrong," he was smug and confident, even more so than usual. Because this was a game, he could not fail. 

Grayson scoffed, eyes rolling, "Please, there's no way I can get ugly. And I'd get old anywhere I worked idiot." He didn't respond to the fact thing because honestly Grayson had never been anywhere close to that description in his life and frankly he didn't find it worth mentioning. Grayson smirked as Charlie went on to complain about being there, "Thirty minutes," he said glancing at the clock on the wall next to him. The next shift would be coming in soon, and maybe he could convince Charlie to walk with him back home after that. "Am I not entertaining enough for you," he asked with a smirk.

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Charlie let out a good-natured laugh, finally giving the guy a break from his teasing. “Calm down, I’m just playing around,” he replied with a smile. “Besides, I’m graduating this year on time, so it’s not like I’m behind or anything.” He hadn’t meant to actually make Gray upset, which is what he was afraid he’d done, so he even wondered if he should apologize… Nah, it wasn’t necessary, right? Despite how snarky he acted with the older boy, Charlie wasn’t a mean person, and would only taunt as long as it stayed fun.

Charlie knew most people thought he was way too worried about being clean and germ-free, but he couldn’t help but be anxious about it – it was just how he was. “It’s not boring,” he replied with a pout. “It keeps me busy, cleaning my dorm and stuff.” Sure, he sometimes wished he felt more comfortable touching people, but what could he do?

“Fine,” he replied, sitting up straighter and trying to think of something he could lie about that would seem true, or vice versa. “I have a younger brother named Joseph,” he said with a straight face. Lie, he only had his younger sister, Hani. If Gray guessed right, it wouldn’t prove anything, so Charlie would keep playing the game until he was convinced one way or another.

He laughed at Gray’s vanity. “How much more into yourself can you get?” he teased. “I bet you just look in a mirror when you masturbate, huh?” Char blushed a little at that comment, wondering where it had come from. Dammit, this guy was making him think dirty! And he had to be around him for thirty more minutes!? Charlie groaned and rolled his head back, unhappy. “That’s so loooong,” he complained. “I’m going to catch some disease if I’m in this place for that long.” He humphed and glanced over at his companion. “… I never said that,” he replied with a haughty pout. “I actually think you’re highly entertaining, just with awful hygiene.” There, hopefully that made the guy happy. “Maybe if I thought you were cleaner with a more tidy apartment, I might consider hanging out with you to be fun.”

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Grayson rolled his eyes at the guy's reassurances, they weren't necessary at all, "I am calm dumb ass." He wished there were more things around him that he could toss at the male, but he settled for his pen and threw it at him. "Yeah, well, shit happens and you could fail." Even if Charlie had managed to upset him it didn't last long, there were only very rare occasions where Gray held grudges and luckily he hadn't managed to cross that line yet.

"It's boring," he insisted dryly, not believing for an instant that he actually found cleaning to be fun. "Oh yeah, keeps you busy instead of doing other things that would be way more fun." He rolled his eyes again, "Liiiike~ Hanging out with me." He pointed to himself and grinned.

Ugh, this was hardly even a challenge, why had he even bothered telling Char what his ability was. Oh yeah because he was drunk and full of himself, which was actually a constant and separated from his sobriety levels. "Lie," he said simply with a flick of his fingers, in reality he could repeat exactly what he did have, his younger sister and even her name since he had decided to mention the fake brother's name that information was also included. But he wanted to maintain some secrets, if the guy knew he could uncover the truth as well he might be less inclined to speak.

Gray smirked, "Nah, I got too many options to resort to that," he leaned in closer, "But it looks like you're enjoying the image." He sat back snorting and shrugging, "Yeah, well at least you don't have to work while you're here. You can catch a disease from anywhere y'know, but you can't exactly never go anywhere can you?"

His smirk widened and he chuckled in amusement, "Gee thanks, and I don't need your opinion on my hygiene, I'm clean enough," he stuck his tongue out and rested his chin between both hands. Gray pondered what he said, "What if I said I'd clean my apartment?" He had to do that anyway soon or the smell would spread into the hallway and the neighbors would complain.

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Charlie sucked in a breath as Gray threw the pen at him, trying to move out of the way but only managing to make it hit his shoulder rather than his face. “What was that for!?” he whined. “You could have poked my eye out.” And who knew what kinds of germs were covering that convenience store utensil? Char could have shuddered. “I guess I could, but I’m a good student,” he replied, inflating his chest a little again. “So just watch, I’ll be graduated and working somewhere better than a convenience store in no time.” He didn’t know where, granted, but he’d rather be jobless than work in a place like this.

“It is not!” he protested. “And my roommates love it, so I’m on everyone’s good side.” If there were ever any messes to clean, Charlie would clean them, although sometimes he did like to see if he could get a bribe into the mix so he got something else out of it. Char snorted as the boy pointed to himself. “Right… Well, how about you come over sometime and we can do some cleaning together,” he replied wryly.

And… Well, Gray sure did seem to pick up on that lie quickly, but Charlie wasn’t convinced just yet. “Hmph… Okay, that was just one right answer.” He thought for a moment. “Let’s see… I own at least a half-dozen pairs of high heels, and can dance in all of them.” That was the truth, but it was also bragging, because it was something that the boy was very proud of.

He felt the flush creep lower down his neck as Grayson suggested that Charlie liked what he’d imagined, and he sputtered incomprehensibly, flustered. “I am not,” he huffed. “Stop trying to make me stoop to your perverted level.” Char scuffed a foot against the floor, staring downwards until his blush went away. “It’s not like you’re working much either, all you’re doing is sitting here and making me miserable,” he accused, ignoring the rest of his taunts.

Charlie muttered under his breath something about Grayson having the hygiene of a pig, but didn’t say anything more loudly than that. The possibility of the lie detector cleaning his room intrigued him, however, and Char sent a sideways glance at him, disbelieving. “…. If you did, I might consider coming over, if it was up to my standards,” he sniffed. Which he doubted it would, his standards were stupidly high. “How about this. You clean it the best that you’re able, and I’ll come over and finish off whatever you miss.” Which would probably be a lot, but Charlie was obsessed with cleaning so he wouldn’t mind too much. “Then maybe we can actually have civil conversations in a clean environment.” He smiled.

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The familiar snort of Grayson's laughter came in response to Charlie's protests, a grin stretching his lips over his teeth as he shrugged. "You deserved it for being a little shithead." One brow raised and dropped in a challenge before he leaned away from the counter again, palms pressing against the edge so he could stretch his back out."Well," his voice strained as he bent back a little bit, back popping satisfyingly as he did, "don't get in the eye then."

Work was always a little tiring due to the tediousness of it, and he was happy Charlie was, at least, alleviating some of the boredom for him. He shifted his weight to his other foot and propped his head back on his elbow and continued to grin at his new found (hopefully soon to be if he could play his card right) plaything.

Grayson resisted the urge to poke the boy in the chest yet again, it was the third time now he was sure, but manage to restrain himself from doing so. "That's a pretty low bar," he teased playfully, fully aware of the very unenviable state of his job. But money was money. His eyes rolled upward and was accompanied by an amused sigh, "Yeah? I guess you don't nag at them like you do me then," and they barely knew each other, who knew how he would be after spending more time together. His lip curled in disgust at the suggestion that they clean together while it was incredibly tempting to agree and just get Charlie off topic once they were together, the very idea of even pretending to want to clean was just... ugh, too much. "No thanks," he replied, denying the idea rather quickly, before looking back at him with a sly smile, "Unless you plan on rewarding me for my hard work."

The game seemed to continue after his initial correct answer, which didn't surprise him. Everyone was a critic. His eyes widened at his next statement, sucking in an excited breath, and exhaling it along with his very interested question. "Holy shit, do you have pictures or better videos. I wanna see." He leaned over the counter enthusiastically, "And here I was thinking you were straight edge but look at you being all kinky."

Ah, he definitely had a very nice blush, but his reaction showed he was, at least, considering the things Grayson said. And any reaction was good for him. "Oh, I don't think I'm making you do anything you don't want to," he teased seductively, a thin smirk as he brought the nail of his pinky between his teeth, very interested in how else he could make him blush. "I never do much work, but you've captured all of my attention. How do you expect me to concentrate on anything else when I have you here?"

Yes, that was a great deal. It was the kind of cleaning he couldn't get out of anyway (or Jay would beat him up) and, at least, this way he got a bit of a reward for doing it. Even if it meant that Charlie was just going to come over and criticize him. "Deal!" He said quickly before the other boy could retract his offer, "This means I get your number right?" He already had his phone out before he finished his question.

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Gray was right, it was a pretty low bar, one that Charlie planned on stepping over completely while on his career path. He wanted to have his own dance studio someday, but he figured he probably needed to go to college for that first, which he doubted this perv went to at all. But he wouldn’t judge his education, just the state of his environment. “Mmm, I do sometimes, when they just try to take advantage of me, he replied, musing about his roommates. “I mean, I don’t clean up after all their dishes and stuff, just vacuum and dust and the like…” Gray deserved nagging, though, as far as Charlie was concerned. He chuckled as the creep turned down his ‘invitation’. “And here I thought you were desperate to see me again,” he teased. “I guess I over-estimated how far you would go. And I doubt I would like offering whatever ‘reward’ you would like to have,” Charlie added with a wrinkle of his nose.

He blinked in surprise at Gray’s reaction to his ‘test’, not expecting such an enthusiastic response to what he thought sounded like a total lie. Huh, maybe this guy really could detect them… “Uh… Yeah, sure,” Charlie replied, still a little bewildered, as he pulled out his phone and flipped through until he found a photo of him standing in very short shorts and tall, mid-thigh-length black heels with his back facing towards the camera. “Happy?” he asked, ignoring the comment about him being kinky completely. “Maybe if you’re lucky, someday I’ll show you one of my routines.” Highly unlikely, though.

He wanted to leave, dammit! But damn Gray was holding his hand sanitizer hostage, and Char would likely have a panic attack if he tried to finish the rest of his errands without some. He kicked himself for not thinking ahead earlier. “Think again,” he grumbled mopily. As Grayson hoped, the dancer’s face flushed again when the older boy flirted with him, and his gaze shot quickly upwards before averting to the side. He could usually flirt back with a cute boy, but this guy was too much. “I’m not that great-looking,” he protested with a scowl. In fact, he thought he was kind of the opposite sometimes, which was why he didn’t get this interaction at all.

At least maybe he would get the satisfaction of making the guy actually clean. “Really?” he replied, a little surprised. He rolled his eyes at Gray’s enthusiasm for his number but finally relented. “Alright, I guess….” Charlie listed off his number before studying his nails and swinging his legs impatiently. “How much longer?” he moped like a kid.

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If  Gray were anyone else, anyone else at all, he might have been offended to have someone younger than him question his position in life. For all, Charlie knew he had a perfectly good reason for working at the convenience store and not aspiring to acquire a better job anytime in the future. But Grayson was very much himself and he didn't question his own decisions and didn't give a flying fuck if anyone else did. Even if he wanted to run his hands all over that person's ass.... The person was Charlie but he was open to other great ass options if they presented themselves.


It wasn't that Grayson didn't have aspirations... or rather thoughts he didn't put effort into reaching, he had one or two of those that he would NOT be sharing with anyone anytime soon. "Not desperate," he said lifting an index finger and an eyebrow as he corrected him playfully, "I would like to see you again... and other parts of you," of course it was perfectly unnecessary to add that and he winked as he did, "but I don't think I'll die if I don't."


Grayson shrugged, he'd expected that kind of reaction to his request for a reward, "I've had a pretty positive response," it didn't take too much thought to get what he was talking about and he had plenty of faith that Char had a good enough handle on his personality to get the not so subtle pervy hint.


Of course he could actually detect lies, he'd told Char that, it was really his own dumbass fault for not believing him. At least he had been rewarded with some valuable information due to his distrust, and wow he would not soon forget it. Grayson clapped his hands in excitement, almost jumping as he waited for the teen to pull up the promised photo. "Very!" he chirped out happily as he oohed over the picture he was shown, grinning conspiratorially at his companion at his last comment. "Oh really? And how lucky exactly do I need to be for that?" Meaning what did he have to do because he was down to do it.


It was only about ten more minutes now, and he began to put his jacket on in anticipation for his co-workers arrival, though he kept the boy's purchase close by. After all he didn't plan on handing it over until he was absolutely ready to leave. It was funny how flustered Charlie got, he could tell the boy was not used to it, but that made it all the better really. "Well," he said, stepping aside as his relief finally arrived, "I disagree." He stopped a lot of his teasing, though quickly brought his phone out to store the boy's number before finishing out the shift switching process and hopping over the counter, earning a bit of a scoff from the girl now standing behind the counter.

"You want this?" Grayson asked, dangling the bag in front of Charlie's face and making a kissy face. He kept swinging it as he walked backward out of the store.