Chapter Text
When Tommy saw the help wanted ad in the paper for a bookstore called The Sleepy Bois Inc, he immediately got on his best shirt, which Tubbo kept insisting was hideous, and booked it (pun intended).
Now that Tom was in front of the place, though, he noticed that the place was pretty empty. Even though the sign said open, he didn't see anyone at the register.
"Ahem." A voice next to Tommy pulled him out of his thoughts.
"You just gonna keep fogging up our windows or..." A guy with square glasses and long brown hair with pink ends stood leaning out the door, looking at Tommy with an eyebrow raised.
"Shit! Sorry, man, I didn't know if you were open or not." Tommy stood straight up, nervously smiling.
"Well, the sign says open?" He said it as if Tommy just said something stupid, which is impossible because Tommy never says anything stupid.
"Weeeell, no one was at the desk, and it's pretty dark in there, and-"
"Okay, okay, I get it. So you needa buy something?" He said, cutting Tommy off quickly.
"Oh, uh no, I'm here about your help wanted ad." Tommy pulled out the newspaper clipping from his bag and showed it to him.
The pink haired guy looked at the clipping and back at Tommy. "You wanna work here? You look twelve."
Tommy resisted the urge to curse at his future employer. "I'm 16 actually and yes I wanna work here. I have quite the passion for books." Tommy stuck out his chin and grinned.
"Suuuure." The guy said with absolute confidence in Tommy.
The guy held the door open, and Tommy stepped inside where he saw a blonde man in a green and white striped bucket hat come out, what Tommy guessed was, the backroom.
"Oh, hey Techno." He then noticed Tommy following behind him. "Hello, you need help finding something?"
Tommy smiled and walked up to him. "Yeah actually." Tommy leaned on the counter. "A job."
He stared at Tommy for a second. "Really?" He said not expecting a teenager to willingly work at a bookstore in a million years.
"Yeah, I'm a great employee, trust me." Tommy gave him a very reassuring smile, and he chuckled.
"Alright then, right this way." Tommy followed him into a cozy little reading nook in the corner of the store and sat on a bean bag across from him.
"So, why do you wanna work here...?" He trailed off.
"Oh my name's Tommy and to be frank with you, I really need a job to pay for my apartment, cuz you know college dorms kinda suck."
"Hm." The Techno guy made a noise behind Tommy.
"College, huh? What's your major?" The blonde guy gave Tommy a warm smile. "Oh theater!" Tommy smiled proudly.
Both techno and the blonde guy chuckled a bit, and Tommy looked between them confused. "Sorry, Tommy, it's an inside joke. Anyway, that's pretty cool, you have any experience working someplace like this? Any prior jobs?"
"Uh, well no, but I'm super efficient, and I promise I'll work super hard." Tommy really, really wanted this job.
"Calm down mate, you seem like a good kid and no one else has responded to the job ad, so you're hired." Tommy smiled and shook his hand. "Thank you..."
"The names Phil, mate."