Chapter Text
The dim, warm lighting did little to comfort Flame’s rush of thoughts.
The cozy lamps stationed throughout the bakery gave just enough light for him to read the scribbled handwriting in the notebook in front of him. The words were hard to make out, but they were legible if he squinted close enough. He couldn’t even tell if it was his own writing anymore.
It was rare that someone would catch the FlameFrags Pyroaire this disorganized. That was a name that was automatically associated with order---no one questioned it, rarely was it that he was questioned.
Though, this night was feeling pretty questionable.
What was he even doing again...?
There was a faint sound of cars rushing past the establishment outside---the sun already passed the horizon, meaning the evening’s activities were just about starting. People heading to late jobs, going home for the night, or just simply out for an evening drive.
It was about thirty minutes past closing currently. The bakery closed at a time that was often deemed “quite early” to most, but it was just the way things ran here. Most of the employees, his friends, were also university students---he didn’t want to take up their entire evening just to get a shift in. Most of them already left for the night, but they’d have to return soon for the meeting Flame called.
He was seated at a table near the back of the bakery, though the barely perceptible scent of baked goods still wafted over from the kitchen. The smell still lingered long after the bakery had closed up; the treats of the past day already sold or put away. It reminded Flame that he would have to put in the shipping orders for the week soon.
He tore his eyes away from the potted plant he’d been staring at. Surprisingly, it wasn’t artificial. When he suggested decorating the bakery with fake plants, his friend Lomedy had immediately objected, stating that real plants would do better for the establishment.
Flame looked down at the mess of notes in his notebook until the unkempt writing stopped resembling the shape of language.
He let out a heavy sigh that took most of his lung power as he shut the notebook. He’d told his friends to meet him in the break room, and they would be here soon. Flame pulled his phone out of his pocket to quickly check the time before pocketing it again and standing up. One minute until meeting time.
He hummed under his breath as he picked up the notebook, a soft but lively melody that he couldn’t remember the name of. Flame made his way out of the cushioned booth and behind the counter. He entered the backdoor “STAFF ONLY” area, making sure that the door clicked shut behind him.
The break room was decorated with colorful beanbags donated to the bakery by Theo, fluffy pillows stacked on top of each other, and leftover snacks on a coffee table at the end of the room. The last one was most likely his brother, Manepear’s fault. Flame huffed quietly as he strode over to pick up the empty chip bags.
He didn’t mind picking up after his friends, but that only applied to the break room. It was their place to relax, after all. Anywhere else in the bakery, cleaning up your own mess was mandatory.
Flame took a quick trip out of the break room to drop off the trash and when he returned, he crashed onto one of the beanbags. He adjusted the red and black zip up hoodie he wore and then smoothed out the creases on his baggy sweats before leaning into the plush bean bag once more.
3...
2...
1...
SLAM!
Flame didn’t flinch as the door to the break room suddenly swung open. Revealing a blonde girl wearing a striped, orange wrinkled sweater that matched the runny egg accessory on her head panting heavily in the doorway. Locks of her honey blonde hair stuck to her tanned skin with sweat as she leaned against the door frame.
“Hah...hah... Did I make it... first? Am---Am I on time?” She panted out, pausing between her words to catch her breath. She must have ran all the way here.
Flame waited a few seconds as he surveyed her disheveled appearance. “You’re first. Right on time.”
Avery paused her exhaustion to pump her fists in the air in celebration. “YES!” She yelled through gritted teeth.
Usually, Avery was always the late one when it came to meetings like this. It was a nice change of pace, and Flame could see that she was clearly proud of herself for coming on time. The glow of her beam was evident on her face---or maybe that was just sweat.
“Are you going to sit down?”
Avery held up a finger, collapsing in on herself. “Huff... One... second. Cramp.” She groaned, her voice slightly pained.
Flame allowed a small twitch of a smile to escape at that.
The first one all evening.
It wasn’t like he was a particularly serious or stoic guy; he smiled plenty! This evening was just different. New problems arising. Those he usually knew how to deal with, but today he was stumped.
Stuck.
God, he was never stuck.
Not as bad as this, never.
He was FlameFrags Pyroaire, for goodness sake! People came to him when they were stuck, not the other way around. He was having a hard time adjusting to the switch.
As shown in the messy scribbles in his notebook.
“---I’M HERE!” A loud voice called out---entering the room and accidentally knocking Avery over as they did so.
“OW! Theo, dude, I was right there!” She yelped, glaring back up at the golden-haired boy who stood over her apologetically.
Flame looked down at Avery sprawled onto the ground dramatically and suddenly began to snicker. The hand that he used to cover his laughter did nothing, and his giggles still escaped through the back of his palm.
Theo gave a heartful apology as he outstretched one hand to help Avery up. She accepted it and grumbled under her breath. “Glad to see that my misfortune is of your revelry, boss.”
After getting Avery to her feet, Theo stuck his hands in his pockets, confused. “The hell does that mean?”
She huffed, smoothing out her brown mini skirt to wipe off imaginary dust. “It’s...” She paused, furrowing her brows in thoughts. “I don’t know. I heard it off YouTube Shorts, or something.”
Theo laughed, shoving her shoulder playfully. “YouTube Shorts?” He asked incredulously.
She stumbled slightly but caught herself. “Hey, watch it! You tryna push me over again?!”
“My bad!” The grin in his voice severely contrasted his words.
“Shouldn’t you know smart words like that, though? You’re like---Parrot’s best friend.” Avery pointed out, walking over to sit in a swivel stool next to Flame.
Theo shrugged as he followed in Avery’s footsteps to sit on the floor. “Ehh. I---”
“---Okay, so when’s the meeting starting?” Avery cut in, smiling brightly at Flame.
“BRO.”
He looked at the small digital clock on the desk before answering. “We’ll wait until everyone gets here.”
Avery nodded, going out of her way to ignore the pointed glares Theo was sending her way.
The man looked like he was ready to start up a fight, but the only thing stopping him from doing so was Flame’s presence. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at Avery, catching her gaze to show her that he wasn’t just letting this go. Avery smiled sheepishly and shrugged, unbothered.
Flame watched the small interaction between the two, before moving his eyes elsewhere as he gave a soft hum of affection. It was like watching two siblings fight over the smallest things, and their dynamic was strangely endearing to Flame. All of his friends were dear to him.
Not long after that, the room slowly began to fill up. Everyone started arriving right after one another---the next person to enter was Lomedy, Flame’s best friend.
Now, Lomedy being Flame’s favorite friend was never explicitly stated; he would never pick favorites when it came to friends. It was just a known fact that showed through actions rather than words. It was something about their relationship, the same relationship that had formed years ago, and stayed firm through countless obstacles.
Out of all his friends, Flame had known him the longest, and he would probably say that he was the nicest out of all of them.
Then, after Lomedy, the rest of his friends entered the room.
Manepear claimed the spot on top of the desk, and he protested loudly when Avery pointed out that he could possibly break the wooden desk with his weight.
Lomedy sat in the beanbag next to Flame’s, greeting everyone on the way in and making small talk with Theo.
Spongs relaxed in another bean bag near the back of the room, occasionally yelling out the most random jokes that never made any sense unless you were Spongs himself.
Everyone was here but one.
Flame scanned the room once more, but still, to no avail, Mapicc hadn’t arrived. It was well over time for the meeting to start.
Lomedy noticed him surveying the attendance and spoke up. “---Looking for Mapicc?” He asked, reading his best friend perfectly.
He responded with a curt nod. “...Do you think we can start without him?”
Lomedy pulled out his phone and glanced down at the screen before looking back at Flame. “I mean, yeah? I’ve already texted him like five times and he hasn’t responded.” He replied simply.
Flame took a long breath and leaned back into the bean bag.
Where could Mapicc possibly be? He wasn’t one to skip meetings, especially if they were emergencies...
He shook his head, then sat up straighter. They didn’t have time to spend several more minutes fussing over where Mapicc could be. He would give them an answer after they finished discussing more pressing issues.
“Alright.” Flame said. His voice was not sharp, nor demanding, but it had the slightest edge to it that caused a blanket of silence to fall over the room.
The one word from him was enough to stop everyone’s conversations and focus their eyes on him. He cleared his throat and continued. “I’m aware that we’re still missing someone, but we can start now.”
.
.
.
fin 😁