Work Text:
The rec room hall that was rented out by the community service leaders smelled lightly of pine-sol attempting to conceal the even stronger odor of sweat. The floors were pretty clean, however, Tyler noted, and the garden out front made the place seem inviting enough.
Tyler wasn't thrilled to be here, but he wasn't upset either. It could be worse, he thought to himself. 'It could be worse' seemed to be Tyler's catchphrase of sorts, as he always found a positive in the pool of negatives. Left his phone at home? Well, at least he knew there was no chance of breaking it today. Car ran out of gas? He needed the walking anyway. Shark bit off his legs? No more shoe shopping!
That's just who Tyler was, the face of hope that stared back into the face of adversity, and smiled.
Then there was Josh.
Josh wasn't thrilled nor upset to be here. He was fucking fuming. All because of one run in, he thought to himself as he watched more and more people spill into the rec room, choosing tables to sit at and quietly chat. Josh's table was almost empty besides some brown-haired guy who looked about his age and was completely unfazed by his dirty glares that the others were pushed away by. He wasn't doing too bad in the looks department if Josh did say so himself, but the guy was smiling which pissed him off a bit. Fuck your happiness, Josh thought bitterly.
He shouldn't be here. He should be at his best friend Mark's house, with a joint in one hand and the other occupied with a girl (or boy, he didn't mind). Or in his air conditioned room with a huge pizza and his beanbag chair and Netflix. Or just fucking sleeping. Basically, anywhere but here.
Two awfully cheery girls at the front of the room clapped their hands to gather everyone's attention. "Hey everyone!" The blonde girl on the left started. "My name's Jenna and this is Debby," she said, gesturing towards the smiling girl next to her. "We're so glad to see you all here!"
"Like I had a choice," Josh muttered under his breath, catching a look from the brown-haired boy across from him.
"So this year we're going to try and incorporate more socialization into the picture, because as you know, two heads are better than one," Debby said, pulling off a sheet of labels from her clipboard. "Each of you are going to get a label for a name tag, and after you have it on we're going to give ten minutes for you to go and talk to at least three people. Sound like a plan?"
Josh quietly sighed, using the best of his abilities to not slam his head into the table. He walked up with the others to get a label, greeted by the two smiling faces. "Your name?" Jenna asked.
"Josh," he said quietly. She wrote it down and peeled it off, handing it to him. He flashed a smile back. "Look at that, I've already met two nice girls, just one to go." He turned away and walked back to the table before they could inform him they they don't really count, but whatever.
He slumped back into his chair and moments later the same guy came back to the table, his label reading Tÿlër. Josh looked at his own plain label that he still hadn't put on, crossing a line through the 'o' before placing it on his shirt. Hm. That should do it for today's creativity.
Josh assumed there was still a good five minutes left, so he laid his head on the cold table for thirty seconds until he heard a voice. "Josh?"
He looked up to the the Tyler kid who was looking back at him. "That's what my name tag says," he deadpanned.
Tyler laughed quietly. "You must be pumped to be here."
"Yeah, can't you read it on my face?" Josh said, lowing his head back to the table.
Once again his rest was interrupted, this time by Jenna. "Alright guys, so what we have here is a basket full of papers, each with a different short term project for you and one partner to work on. Choose a partner and come up when you're ready."
Josh's chest tightened. He hated pretty much everyone right now, why couldn't he just work alone? He looked at Tyler, who was now looking around as everyone partnered up. He sunk in his seat ever so slightly, but enough for Josh to notice. The kid looked like a goddamn puppy and it frustrated Josh.
"Look, out of all the people here so far, you're the least shitty, so if you need a partner..." Josh sighed, not even bothering to finish his sentence.
"That would be nice," Tyler smiled, letting out a nervous breath. "I'll go get our project," he said, quickly getting up and walking back over to Jenna and Debby. When he came back he opened up the small folded piece of paper and simply 'hm'ed.
"Hm?" Josh repeated.
"We get to paint over the graffiti on that shut down bakery on 2nd street," Tyler stated, passing the paper to Josh.
"Oh."
"What?"
"Nothing," Josh muttered, standing up and stretching. "Let's get this over with."
•
After they gathered the provided paint and brushes they headed to the bakery, which was only a few blocks down.
Tyler looked over at Josh, who was staring at the wall with a small frown. "You okay?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Josh replied bitterly.
Tyler sighed. "I know you don't want work with me, but I really need to get my volunteering hours in and you're being difficult."
Josh rolled his eyes. "I could give a shit that I'm working with you. If anything, in a sort of glad that it wasn't any of those others." He walked up to the wall, gazing over the mural of years worth of art. "It's this fucking wall."
"Wait, what?"
Josh pointed a finger over to a small area that had a few drawings and symbols. "That's mine. This is my wall." He traced a finger over a small alien face, smiling. "That was my first one. I was fifteen, I was just staring to get into The X-Files, you know? The left wall of the bakery, everyone knew that it was mine." He shook his head, backing away and leaning up against the opposite wall. "I don't deserve this. I shouldn't have to do this."
Tyler frowned. So the bitter punk could be sentimental. Who knew? He thought to himself. He walked over to the wall when Josh had now let himself slide to the grimy floor, knees pulled up to his chest and arms crossed. "What did you do to get community service anyway?" Tyler asked and sat down next to him, hoping to get the kid to think about other stuff because this was becoming awkward and unnerving.
Josh laughed, muffled by his jacket sleeves. "I kind of punched a mall cop in the face."
"You what?" Tyler burst into laughter.
"Me and my friends, we were a bit buzzed, just wandering around the mall when one of them comes up behind us on his stupid little moped and starts hitting on one of my friends. Like, legit flirting. And she was making it clear that she wasn't interested but he would counter with shit like 'Sorry sweetie, but I'm the one in charge here.' So I got sick of it and decked him, sent his ass flying off of that moped. And although it was in my friend's defense, it was still pretty frowned upon so here I am."
"Wait, wait, so this wasn't just because you were being stupid and drunk?" Tyler asked incredulously. Josh shook his head. "That's stupid, the cop should've gotten in trouble."
"Yeah, well, Ohio sucks, cops suck, this world sucks, what are you gonna do?" Josh shrugged. After a moment of silence, he spoke up again. "I can't do it, Tyler. If you're gonna do it I have to go."
"We don't have to," Tyler smiled warmly at Josh, who to his surprise returned the gesture. He stood up, reaching out for Josh's hand to help him up. "When we get back put on your best sick face. The paint fumes made you dizzy and I'm taking you home, aka the movie theater, if you're down for it."
Josh's eyes grew. "That's pretty convincing, and as long as we go see the Avengers." He paused. "What about your volunteering hours?"
"I've got all summer, Josh. And so do you. Let's go."
Josh took Tyler's hand to stand up, and Tyler might've just held it for the walk back to the rec room, too. Josh didn't mind.