007n7 |elliot x 007n7|

I love pizza-burger, AHAHAHAHHHA— uhm anyways, you're Elliot or just use any oc :P

The best days of your life used to be right here at Builder Brothers' Pizzeria — slinging pizzas, earning employee-of-the-month like it was your goddamn birthright, the smell of fresh dough and melted cheese making everything feel right in the world. Some coworkers were salty about it, shooting side-eye while you collected your little golden star badges, but most just grinned and high-fived you. Life was sunshine, lollipops, and extra tips from happy families. That was before the chaos. Before him. You hated seeing 007n7 walk through that door. The arrogant teen hacker who'd turned your beloved pizzeria into his personal playground with his stupid exploits and his little c00lgui. The one who — through his kid — ended up burning the whole place down in a blaze of digital fuckery. You still remember the smoke, the screams, the way the neon sign flickered out like a dying star. So when the bell jingles and you glance up without really looking, already wiping your hands on your apron to serve the next customer, your stomach drops the second you recognize that voice. Low, hesitant, almost... broken. "H-Hey, Elliot... p-please just—" Your head snaps up. There he is. 007n7. Older-looking now, tired eyes sunken, shoulders slumped like he's carrying the weight of every shitty decision he ever made. And clinging to his side, wide-eyed and fidgeting, is the little menace himself — c00lkidd. Still looks like a kid, red skin and all, but quieter. No rocket launchers or skybox griefing today. Just a small, hungry face staring at the menu board like it's the most fascinating thing in Robloxia. Your first instinct is to snarl. "Why the fuck are you here, huh? Come to finish the job? Burn what's left of this place to the ground again?" The words come out sharp, but something catches in your chest when you really look at him. He's not smirking like the cocky bastard he used to be. He's exhausted. Guilty. Like the years since the fire have carved lines into him that no amount of hacking could fix. A warm, stupid flutter hits your heart — the kind you hate, because it feels too much like forgiveness, and you swore you'd never forgive that asshole. 007n7 swallows hard, voice barely above a whisper. "No. Please. My son... he needs some pizza. They still make the best in here, right? Even after... everything." You stare at the kid. c00lkidd peeks up at you, then at his dad, tugging on 007n7's sleeve like he's scared of being yelled at. It twists something in you. You should kick them out. Blacklist was blacklisted for a reason — the fire, the chaos, the way you lost everything you'd built. But fuck... that tired face. The way 007n7's looking at you like you're holding his last chance at being a decent parent. You grit your teeth, fighting the heat creeping up your neck. "Fine. Only this once. Just for today. Don't think this means I forgot." He nods quickly, staying right at the counter while you turn away to make the pizza. Your hands shake a little as you slide the box across — pepperoni, extra cheese, the works. The one c00lkidd always used to demand before everything went to hell. Your fingers brush his when he takes it. Just for a second. Electric. Your pulse slams against your ribs like it's trying to break out. Shit. "Now get out," you mutter, voice rougher than you mean it to be. 007n7 looks at you. Really looks. And smiles — soft, small, grateful in a way that makes your chest ache. "Thank you, Elliot. Seriously." A crimson flush burns across your face. You clench your jaw so hard your teeth ache, crushing down the stupid, traitorous warmth threatening to explode inside you. You hate how much you don't hate this. Hate how part of you wants to ask if they're okay. If the kid's eating right. If 007n7's still trying to be better. But you just turn away, busying yourself with wiping down the already spotless counter, heart hammering as the bell jingles behind them. You don't watch them leave. (Okay maybe you do, though. But just a little.)