Welcome to AresJoxerCupidStrife

Title: Graveyard Shift
Author: Scribe
Fandom: Xena: Warrior Princess
Pairing: Sorry, no sex. :)
Status: Finished
Sequel/Series: Answer to Christine's AJCS 'put theguys in your own environment' challenge.
Archive: Sure, but tell me where.
Disclaimer: The guys aren't mine.
Websites:http://www.angelfire.com/grrl/scribescribbles andhttp://www.angelfire.com/grrl/foxluver
Summary: The guys and other Xenites transferred tomodern Southeast Texas, my home town of Groves, to beexact. Just hanging out at the convenience store Ispent two hellish years at. Guess who the clerk is.
Warnings: This is a slice of life story. No realplot, no sex (sorry). Self insertion, but I try notto be annoying about it.
Notes: This takes place in one of my former places ofemployment on the Gulf Coast, about two hours fromboth Galveston and Houston, and about the samedistance from the Louisianna border. I'm gonna try todo a Cajun accent in this, so bear with me. 'Theboats' referrs to the floating casinos in LakeCharles. Cher is pronounced 'sha'.
Rating: R

Graveyard Shift

It was deep, dark, past mid-night on a typicallysweltering night in Groves, Texas. Florescent lightsbuzzed over the deserted lot of the only 24 hourconvenience store in town, situated across the streetfrom the Fina Refinery. A lanky figure walked out ofthe trailer park across the side street and made itsway to the entrance of the store. In theair-condition chilled interior, the woman in the redsmock bending over the plastic crate filled with ajumble of merchandise, looked up with a wince as theelectronic buzzer on the front door sounded. Herexpression smoothed out when she saw who it was.
"Hey, Joxer!"

The tall, thin young man dressed in jeans, work boots,a Budweisser t-shirt, and a John Deere gimme cap gaveher an engagingly goofy grin as he eased the doorshut. "Hey, Mo. They got you workin' graveyardsagain?"

She shrugged. "All the time. I prefer them, though. I have to do a lot of the grunt work, but the trafficis slower."

He ambled over. "So you can spend time talking toloafers like me?"

She laughed. "You're one of my best customers, andyou know it. What can I do for you?"

"Nothing right now. Ares is s'posed to meet me here. He's got to take his nephew back to Louisianna for theweekend, and we figured we'd drop by the boats."

"Cool. If I give you a couple of bucks of nickleswould you run them through the slots for me? Maybeyou'll have better luck than I ever do. Scuse me if Iwork while we talk. They want this stuff up bymorning."

Joxer went to the counter on the other side of thestore that held a bank of coffee makers, beveragedispensers, snack cakes, and a hot dog roaster. Hestudied the flavors available in the Slushie machineand opted for Blue Raspberry. "They work you toohard, darlin. They ought to hire a man to do theheavy work."

"Now why should they do that when they have aperfectly good peon like me?"

He came back and sat in one of the three tiny boothsalong the front wall, slurping his drink as he watchedher price canned goods and candy bars. She said, "Whyis Strife going back to Louisianna? I thought Areshad custody?"

"He does, but Strife's mama is up for parole, and theywant him there to make a good impression on the paroleboard." The woman stopped what she was doing andlooked at him skeptically. "I know, I know, but he'spromised to act right, at least till he's out of sightof anyone official."

Mo grunted. "Has her old man found gainful employmentyet?"

Joxer bit his straw. "W-e-l-l... Auto got himself ajob as a used car salesman. I'm not sure whether thatqualifies or not, but it's better than what he used tobe doing. Eris wouldn't be in the pokey now if shehadn't gone upside the head of that State Trooper whenhe handcuffed Auto that last time."

A huge 4 x 4 truck, black with lots of chrome, andscarlet flames painted down the side pulled upoutside. It parked, and both doors opened. A darkhaired figure got out on each side, and a blonde manjumped out of the bed. Mo smiled as she saw the wayJoxer's face lit up. This area wasn't the mostenlightened in the world, and Joxer and Ares had totake some shit for their relationship, but they surewere sweet together.

They entered. Both of the dark haired men werewearing all black, mostly denim or leather. Theslender, pale youth grinned at the racous buzz of thealarm, and held the door open when it started toclose. Mo pointed a pricing gun at him and yelledover the noise. "Strife, stop that!" He just smiledwider. Mo raised her voice to the tall blonde manstanding patiently behind the boy. "Cupid!"

The blonde man cuffed the dark haired one gently onthe back of the head. "Cut it out, Mischief, or I'llcut you OFF."

Strife pushed the door closed with a pout, saying tothe clerk. "You don' play fair, cher. Ain't nice togo messin wit a man's love life."

"Don't you 'cher' me, you devil," she replied. "Thelast time you were in here you slipped Hustlers in allthe copies of Family Circle and MAD magazine. Somekids got an education their mamas and daddies neverfigured on, and I had to help one old lady sit down,and bring her a glass of water."

"Cain't he'p it if dey got no sense o' humor,darlin'."

Ares had slipped into the booth, Joxer sliding over tomake room for him. He put a hand on the younger man'sshoulder, rubbing it, and said, "You're lips are blue,Jox. You been holding your breath again?"

Mo called, "Oh, go ahead! There's nobody here, and you know you want to."

Joxer turned his head, giving the empty parking lotand the street outside a quick scan, but Ares laughed.He flipped off the other man's cap, put his hand intohis dark hair, and kissed him, licking at the bluestained lips. When he released the blushing Joxer hesaid, "Mmm... raspberry Joxer, my favorite flavor."

Strife was heading for the back cooler. "Mo, yougonna sell me some beer tonight?"

"One, it's after hours, and don't give me that 'theysell it all night long in Louisianna' garbage, causethis is Texas, and two, I'm still not taking that jokeID you have."

"Hey, I paid good money fo' dat!" he complained,bringing a bottle of Jolt cola to the counter.

"From who? Salmoneus?" She groaned as she checkedhim out. "Just what the world needs--you on a sugarand caffiene high." When Strife joined the others inthe booth she went back to her work. "Hey, 'Res, youhad any interesting jobs lately?"

Ares was a bounty hunter. His dad, Zeus, was some bighoncho at the gas refinery across the street, and hadtried to get his son to take a job as a shift foreman.Ares had told him to stuff it. He liked hisindependence, wasn't real good about answering toothers, and said he'd be damned before he shaved offhis beard to meet the safety regulations. "Nothinmuch. I hauled some blonde bimbo back from Dallas. She's supposed to go up on forgery charges--falsifiedsome scrolls and tried to sell them to a collector. It almost got exciting, though. When I went to gether she was holed up with her lover--a big, buff,brunette chick who was ready to kick my ass till shefound out WHY Blondie was hiding out. Turns out thegirlfriend has a serious attitude about honesty. Surprised the hell out of, uh... what was her name? Oh, Gabby. Boy, did that name fit, too. Nearlytalked my ear off on the way home, and not a singlenice thing to say."

Cupid had sat down opposite Joxer and Ares, and nowStrife joined him. Mo was used to seeing Cupid in asuit and tie, but he looked a lot more comfortable inthe cowboy style shirt, jeans, and boots. He said heHAD to wear the 'straightjacket' (his name for ajacket) at work, and he wasn't going to wear it aminute more than he had to. Cupid headed research ata local chemical plant. Some people said that heconcocted aphrodisiacs in his spare time. Mo alwaysscoffed at this rumor because 'nobody THAT fine needsto waste their time on trying to cook up Spanish fly.'

Not if Strife was any indicator, anyway. The youngerman was totally at ease with his sexuality, and didn'tgive a damn who knew about it. He currently had anarm around Cupid's neck and a leg thrown over one ofCupid's. He wasn't the least uptight.

And speaking of uptight...

"What do you hear from your half-brother these days?"Mo asked.

Ares scowled, "Not a hell of a lot, but still morethan I'd like. He sent Daddy another Skybox pass forthe next game in Houston."

Joxer rubbed his arm, saying quietly, "You got to stoplettin' him get to you, 'Res. Yeah, Zeus ain't muchof a daddy..."

"He's one mean, selfish, favorizin' ol' bastard iswhat he is," drawled Strife. "Just cause ol' Herk th'Jerk plays football he thinks dat musclebound mo-ronwalks on water."

"So do a lot of people," commented Cupid wryly. "Let's face it, you get to play for the Dallas Cowboysand people here in Texas think you're some kind of ademi-god."

"I just hate how hypocritical he is," snarled Ares.
"Yeah, he was married, and he lost his wife and kids,and that was so bad it was almost a Greek tragedy, buthe's gotten so holier-than-thou since then. Walksaround like he's some sort of a hero, turns his noseup at Joxer..." Oh, here was probably the main reason.You didn't mess with Joxer when Ares was around... orwhen he wasn't around, for that matter. Ares had agood memory, a rotten temper, and a long reach.

Strife was nodding vigorously. "Yeah, 'specially whenhe's hangin' wit dat lil blonde place kicker on histeam. Hooee, you seen him, Cupie? He got hair asbright as yours, but it hangs down past his shoulders.How th' hell he get away wit dat in th' NFL?"

"Because he can kick a field goal from, like,sixty-five yards out, that's why," said Joxer. Hesucked up the last of his Slushie. It made an anobscene slurping sound, and he blushed.

Ares smiled, pulling him closer, and murmured, "Gimmesome cold tongue, baby." Strife did a wolf whistlewhen Joxer obliged. Ares kicked him under the table,never breaking the kiss. When they finally broke forair he stood up and said, "Y'all go use the pot beforewe go. I ain't pulling over to the side to let y'allrun off in the bushes." He arched an eyebrow atCupid, who was nuzzling Strife's neck. "Last time Idid it you two were gone almost an hour."

Strife and Joxer both went back to the restrooms. Since Joxer went into the men's, Strife went into theladies. Mo called out, "I find anything nasty writtenon the wall in there, I'm skinning your hide when youcome back." She was answered by a giggle.

She went to the counter and sold a pouch of Red Mantobacco to Ares, setting a styrofoam cup on thecounter. "Here's a spit cup for you, and you knowthat Joxer isn't going to kiss you while you use thatstuff, don't you?"

"I know. Cupe, get me a bottle of water. Mo, I'lltake that itty bitty bottle of Scope, too. I canrinse out after I have my fix, and I'll be kissin'fresh."

The other two came back from the bathroom. Mo gaveJoxer a roll of nickels, and he promised to try to runit up a little for her. They all waved, Strife givingher a cheeky wink, and went back to the truck.

Mo watched as the sleek truck sped off, headed forthe Louisianna border. They were all nice guy. Joxer, bless his clumsy heart, had faced down drunkswho were trying to give her a hard time over beerselling hours. Of course, Ares had to step in andkick ass when the drunk tried to throw Joxer throughthe plate glass, but he did it in a way that didn'thumiliate his lover. Strife had let the air out thetires of the car of a couple who had been shoplifting,trapping them till the cops arrived. Cupid hadintroduced her to her current boyfriend. All goodguys.

They never gave her grief like some of her so-called'normal' customers did. Take Zeus, Ares's dad, forinstance. What number marriage was this, and HOW manyillegitimate kids did he have scattered around? Sheshook her head, grabbing a broom to begin sweeping thelot, muttering, "And he says he wants 'Res to get intoa 'stable' relationship..."