Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy gave the guy in front of him a blank stare and puts on an obviously fake smile, “What would you like today?” If he could personify the passive aggressive smile, he would. He would do it a lot, working a minimum wage job at a corner store coffee shop with rare tips. He definitely was not paid enough for this.

The customer was not an ordinary customer, he was quite the opposite, really. He donned a mask and dark outfit made to blend into the shadows. Not that he really needed to blend into the shadows, him being Siren after all. Why he was at a coffee shop as small as this, who knows. 

“You can’t pretend to be happy to have a customer?” Siren asked, no bite heard but one shouldn’t assume. Tommy rolled his eyes and waited for an answer. He was annoyed but he would rather keep his job with a nice boss who was lenient than struggle to find a new one and drag Ranboo and Tubbo down by not pulling his weight in rent. Tommy heard Siren suck in a breath after not getting a reply, “One black coffee, then.”

Tommy entered the order with a click of a tongue, “At this hour?” He started making he drink, trying to get everything together as quick and clean as possible in hopes of a good tip. While the coffee dripped into the coffee cup he turned his head towards Siren, “Name?” Big evil villain or not he will ask out of spite, knock their ego down a peg or two, everyone should know that he is the biggest man, afterall. The register shows the price, “2.70” Tommy calls out.  

He couldn’t see Siren’s facial expression under his mask but he could see his mouth underneath it drop into an ‘o’ shape. His mouth closed and then opened again and Tommy could just hear the unasked are you serious?  

Tommy scoffed, he knew that Siren was probably confused at the fact he asked for his name and not the price, “What? Too expensive?” 

Siren cleared his throat, “Siren. And this drink isn’t for me, it’s for my brother.” He almost sounded indignant or even offended at the idea of it being his order, but he didn’t sound mad. Besides that, Tommy caught onto that last word. Brother? Not much is known about any of the three members of the SBI nevermind their families. Brother could be referring to one of the members of the SBI but it could also be someone outside. He took it as it being a member because he wouldn’t believe Siren would be stupid enough to reveal personal information about himself so freely. 

“Well then tell your brother he’s stupid. Who drinks black coffee at 2AM? That’s absurd!” Well. He lasted longer than usual, his personality usually comes out much faster. Maybe the customer being one of the most wanted villains kept in check for, like, 10 seconds. 

Surprisingly though Siren actually laughed at that. “Sure thing, I’ll tell Blade this kid at a coffee shop thinks he’s stupid.”  He continued to laugh while Tommy wrote down “Siren” on the coffee cup.

“I’m not a kid! I’m actually the biggest man, so you can go away with that, ‘Siren’, what kind of name is Siren anyway!” He turned back to the register, facing Siren. The coffee shop is empty aside from him and Siren but nonetheless, he cupped his hands around his mouth, “Siren. Is there a Siren here?” He could see the villain biting back a smile at that. 

If the mask weren’t covering the top half of his face he probably would have rolled his eyes, “I’m literally the only one here.” 

Tommy looked him straight in the eyes. Well. Not really. But same sentiment. “Are you Siren?” Tommy asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t know how he’s not dead yet. Siren let out a loud, annoyed sigh. He’s not sure how annoyed Siren actually was, hopefully not enough to kill him though!

“Yes. I am, in fact, Siren, seeing as I’m the only one here .” Siren spreaded his arms out, looking around to prove a point. “Yeah, no, definitely no one else here.” Geez, why’s he so annoyed?   Tommy thought, Siren probably wanted to use the passive aggressive smile too. He picked up his order, putting down some cash to pay for the drink before he turned around to start heading out.

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek and pursed his lips. “So…” he started, making Siren pause, “No tip?” He tried to make it sound as nonchalant as he could but it only worked so well when he actually did need his tips. Siren turned his head towards him, Tommy waved it off, “Nevermind, I was just kidding. I don’t want money from someone with a name as stupid as ‘Siren’.” 

Somehow , Siren saw through the act of nonchalance and walked back towards the tip jar, “What? With your service, how could I possibly forget.” He had a sarcastic tone, but he placed a 20 into the jar nonetheless, making Tommy burst into a smile he didn’t intend on showing and Siren paused and stared at him for a moment seeing an actual smile. This was the first time Tommy got a tip more than 5 dollars and this was the first time Siren saw someone smile at him while in his villain form aside from his own teammates.  

Tommy schooled his face back to a more natural and calm expression, then he faked some confidence, “Yeah, of course the biggest man would give the best service!” Siren deadpanned at that and left the shop with a muttered ‘bye’. 

The rest of his shift was quiet, the shop was small and he had the latest shift so not many people came by. The coffee shop was more popular as a study and hangout place for high school students during the day, so with his luck, of course he got the least busy shift where he would get the least tips. He doesn’t blame his boss though, Niki was nice and tried her best to accommodate, but she could only do so much when the other shifts were already covered and no one really wanted to work the night shift. 

With no leftover customers, as usual, he closed up the shop easily, turning off the machines, cleaning up, turning off the lights and then locking the door before he left to go home to his small apartment he shared with his roommates. 

He loved his roommates, a lot of times he felt a little inadequate next to them, but he felt no spite for them even if he felt like he had nothing when Tubbo was extremely smart and good with technology and Ranboo was just overall pretty smart and a paid intern at a big hero company. Tommy was just a normal worker at a coffee shop, but he was happy with that and he was happy for his roommates, too. ‘Roommates’ he called them but he thought of them more like brothers than he did roommates. Roommates felt too impersonal, they have known each other for most of their lives after all. 

Ranboo seemed to have just gotten home as well because when he got to the front of their door, Ranboo was also standing outside the door. He turned to Tommy when he heard his footsteps coming. “Tommy! Welcome home.”  

“Why hello there Ranboob, why are you home so late?” He may have played it off as a lighthearted question, but he was bound to ask at some point when Ranboo would come home late so often despite having a day shift and not really needing to do anything so late at night as he’s an intern who doesn’t have so much work he’d have to come home past midnight nevermind at the same time as Tommy. 

Ranboo let out a weak laugh and scratched the back of his neck, “Oh, just went on a, um, a jog. Yes, I was on a jog.” Tommy already knew he was lying, scratching the back of his neck is a nervous habit that he did when he lied but he decided to humor him anyways. 

“A jog?” he nodded, “At 4AM?” Ranboo opened his mouth to form another, probably unreasonable, response but the door slammed open and there stood a tired and annoyed Tubbo. Understandable because he was awoken at 4AM for the first time because somehow Ranboo and Tommy both forgot their keys at home. 

Even though Tubbo was significantly shorter than both of them, neither of them wanted to test the waters and try anything to a tired and annoyed Tubbo at 4Am who had just woken up. He was much scarier than people would think he was but the glare was very easy to read. It read ‘ I will kill you both and no one will know where to find you if you ever wake me up this late again .’

Ranboo and Tommy both gave a weak wave to try to distract Tubbo with a greeting. Did it work? No. Did they think it would work? No. But it was definitely worth a shot, they would rather die knowing they at least tried to save themselves. 

Tubbo took a step to the side closer to the door and he did a sarcastic hand gesture, motioning for them to get in the apartment.  They both walked in silently and heard the door get slammed behind them immediately. Let’s just say they’re lucky they walked in on time cause they were not sure if all their body parts would be in place if they didn’t. Ranboo’s tail specifically. 

They watched Tubbo trudge to their shared mattress in the living room before looking at each other and giving a nod in mutual relief for being in tact. They did their own things for a bit before they both eventually joined Tubbo on the mattress.

Chapter Text

Suffice to say, the fact that Siren came once was already a weird thing to acknowledge happened in his life -- he felt like it was a fever dream if anything and forgot it after a week. However, he can’t live in peace because as soon as he forgot it happened, Siren came again and this time Tommy didn’t bother letting out an annoyed groan. Again, the coffee shop was empty, 

“Why?” he asked the universe, dragging out the ‘Y’, a clear complaint to anyone who knew what a complaint was. Clearly, Siren didn’t know what a complaint was cause he smiled wide like Tommy was as happy to see him as he was to see Tommy. Tommy was not. He was very much feeling the opposite feeling. 

He straightened up, “What would you like to drink today?” No fake lilt of happiness in his voice knowing that Siren could care less about him giving him an attitude. And honestly even if Siren did care, Tommy couldn't care less since there happened to be no customers coming during his shift for multiple days since there was a new coffee shop that opened up across the street. It was a corporate shop that was already popular so everyone who did go to their small shop decided to go there instead. If anything, he didn’t doubt that less people were coming during the day, too. 

He was lucky that Niki was so nice, she paid hourly even when there were no customers and they got to keep any tips they did earn. It would mean more if he got tips at all though, so he supposes that he was a little grateful for Siren being the first customer in a couple days that he’s had. 

“A black coffee like last time.”

Tommy blinked at him slowly, “For your brother?” A nod. “Again? Can’t he just get his own coffee himself?” He probably should not be implying that the Blade was lazy, but what was he going to do, he wasn’t even there and even if he was Tommy could easily beat him in a fight.  

“Would you like the Blade to come himself? That would look bad for business,” Siren laughed. Probably at the image of the Blade’s large figure entering the quaint shop. Would he even fit through the door? Who knows.  

Tommy squinted at him, “And you aren’t, Mister I’m-Siren-and-everyone-is-scared-of-me?” A knowing smile grew on Siren’s face, he leaned forward a bit, kind of intimidating considering his height. Definitely taller than Tommy who wasn’t too short himself. Tommy couldn’t imagine how intimidating the Blade would be in person. 

“Tommy, are you saying you’re scared of me?” Siren sounded way too happy to say that. So either he was happy that he was scared of him or happy to have something to tease him for. He would have asked how Siren knew his name before he remembered he wore a nametag he always forgot was there cause absolutely none of the customers uses an employees name unless they were pretentious, which come few and far between at such late hours of the night. Or early, depending on whether they just woke up or were already up. 

Tommy rolled his eyes after a small pause, “Of course not, I am the biggest man after all and could beat you in a fight! I could beat the Blade in a fight, too!” Which was true, of course. He started making the black coffee, same as last time. “Why does he need coffee so late? That doesn’t seem very healthy, like, at all.” He commented, looking down at the clock next to the coffee machine that read 2AM. 

He was feeling bold that day, purposely misspelling Siren’s name, which Siren should have been able to tell seeing as Tommy spelt his name right last time and ‘Psyrin’ seemed like a much harder thing to think of than Siren. When he handed the cup to Siren, Siren looked down at the name, already suspecting something was up when he saw Tommy pause for a second before he started writing his name down. Then he looked back at Tommy, then down at the cup again. “Really? My name’s not even hard to spell, you literally spelled it right last time I came.”

Well, in Tommy’s defense, at least he remembered his name? 

“I have no idea what you mean.” And that is definitely the truth.

He saw Siren sit down at one of the tables near the front, the front wall being completely made of glass. Usually people who sat there liked looking out the window to watch the view of people walking by. It was much less common to see people sitting there this late considering it was pitch black save for some LED lights that signaled it was dark, and now the other coffee shop across the street that buzzed with their yellow fluorescent lights and more activity than Tommy had ever seen at their own coffee shop. 

It was also weird he was still there cause he said that the coffee was for his brother. And it is hot coffee, and as most people know, hot coffee gets cold after time like most hot things. “Aren’t you supposed to be, y’know, getting that coffee to your brother?” Siren’s heart grew a little warm at that, not only was Tommy questioning the wellbeing of the Blade but he referred to him as his brother and not the Blade. Not many people were willing to look at them as people before their personas. 

“Ehh,” he said, “Call it revenge for making me go on errands for him when he can get stuff on his own. “

Tommy gave him a questioning look, “You literally said that he would be bad for business--” he cut himself off with a shake of his head, deciding to leave it, but Siren could already tell that if he felt more comfortable he was an instigator when given the chance. Tommy sat down behind the counter again, waiting for the customers he knew wouldn’t come but his shift was still going so it’s not like he could leave. Niki wouldn’t be upset with him, but it didn’t feel fair to leave so early in his shift when there is more than a 0% percent chance that people could come. He leaned onto the counter and tapped his fingers on it a bit. It was pretty awkward. He wasn’t used to people staying in the shop during his shift. 

Tubbo was lucky. He wouldn’t have to deal with awkward situations like this doing his job because he does everything online. Tommy knew that it was because Tubbo was smart and hardworking but he was still lucky that there was no way he could get into awkward situations unless the person commissioning to work with them themselves were awkward, which wasn’t even half as bad because Tubbo could just put it off and deal with those emails after he finished other jobs first and answered other emails from clients. Tommy has a problem where he over-thinks a lot of things when he has nothing to do, he doesn’t know why he does it but it occupies his time and it’s much easier to overthink things than it is to start a conversation with a villain. 

The overthinking did not last long enough however because he immediately hated the awkward silence, he pursed his lip, “So... “ he started, making the Siren look at him, he was probably just as relieved that the awkward tension was being resolved, but he was also pretty happy that Tommy was starting conversation at all, “Don’t you have, like, evil supervillain stuff you need to be doing or…?” 

Siren burst out laughing, which Tommy didn’t understand, because that was a perfectly reasonable question to ask in Tommy’s opinion. “Yes, of course, I am sitting here and planning out a murder.”

“Please don’t tell me that, I would rather not be considered an accomplice in your murdering.” Tommy pauses, “ But if you are, hypothetically, you should stab. That’s a joke. Or is it?” There was a mischievous glint in his eyes. It was a joke, really, it was. Siren’s jaw dropped in slight disbelief before he smiled. 

“Yep. Of course, hypothetically.” It was technically a hypothetical, seeing as the SBI do try to avoid murdering people, but most people didn’t know that cause they assumed they were oh so evil they murder and torture people for fun when in reality they’re just fighting against a corrupt society where they and a lot of people were mistreated. Especially for their powers and other things they couldn’t control. So no, they wouldn’t kill in most cases, but hypothetically if they did, it would be for a good reason. They wouldn’t go out of their way to do it though. 

Tommy gave him a smile and hummed slightly, “Well, besides spite, why are you here?”

Siren tilted his head up a bit in thought, he hummed in thought, “I don’t know really. Not many places to hang out where people won’t call for the authorities because I am a villain. I could change back to my civilian clothing but that’s a bit of a hassle and I should just stay home if I’m going to have to change back so late.”

“Who’s to say that I won’t call the authorities right now?” Tommy was joking, they both knew it was a joke but clearly it didn’t hit very well cause Siren stayed silent for a bit and Tommy could see Siren suck on his cheek in contemplation.

Siren laughed it off though, “Well, you haven’t yet so that’s better than nothing!” He gave a nervous smile. 

“Sorry if that crossed a line, I wouldn’t actually call someone on you unless you actually did something that I would need to call them for.” That seemed to brighten Siren up, not many people apologized to villains genuinely and many people forgot they had feelings because they were, contrary to popular belief, human, too. 

“All good! You didn’t mean anything by it.” Siren said. 

It probably meant something when Siren stayed for the rest of his shift, which was very long and the coffee that Siren ordered for his brother was definitely cold by then. Tommy didn’t really know what but they sat in a comfortable silence the whole time as they both pulled out their phones and waited until closing time and Tommy had to kick out Siren to close up. 

“Alright, now get the hell out of here, you have been here for too long and I need to close the shop.” Tommy was very close to not only kicking him out but actually kicking Siren. 

Siren held his hands up, surrendering and walking out the door, “Okayyyy, I’m leaving already!” Tommy slammed the door shut even though the door was already closing on it’s own as most shop doors do and he could hear Siren laughing as he walked away, satisfied after messing with Tommy. 

Chapter Text

Tommy knew he should’ve kicked him out since the first time Siren entered the shop but no , he had to keep all the business he could get so he served him anyways. He should have listened to his instincts and did that cause there would not be half as much trouble as there is because he knows Siren and lets him shop here. 

Siren came again once or twice, stuck around till the end of the shift with an iced coffee and left at closing time after Tommy would force him to leave. 

This is the fifth time that he's come by and this time Tommy can’t help but ask himself what he got himself into because even under the black of the outfit Siren wore, he could see a dark patch of red bleeding through. Tommy would have facepalmed if he weren’t too shocked at the sight. 

First of all, this is the earliest that Siren has come, 12AM, and of course the fact that Siren was standing at the door, injured. He didn’t really know why he was so shocked, this should have been expected seeing as Siren is a villain, and he knew that he was a villain too. He also didn’t know why he put the fact that Siren came so early before the fact he was injured. But when the realization sunk in--”What the hell?” he questioned, face slack. 

Tommy robotically gestured for SIren to sit down at one of the seats, Siren, surprisingly, obliged to the request. He went to the backroom and slowly became more relaxed as he looked for the first aid kit. “Don’t get blood on the seats, I have to clean it up and I don’t want to explain that to Niki, my boss, or anyone who happens to find the blood.” He said, an attempt to lighten the mood. Siren let out a pained laugh. 

“ Of course not , my top priority is currently making sure that I don’t get the seat dirty and not bleeding out.” To anyone else that would have sounded bitter or sarcastic, it kind of was, but Tommy didn’t take it to heart knowing that was how Siren joked around. Tommy gave a quiet ‘mhm’, not really paying attention as he checked to see if he had everything he needed to treat a wound. 

Tommy walked out to the front again and sat down next to Siren, though he was still in pain Siren smiled a little at the fact Tommy was sitting next to him for the first time. He leaned over the table, burying his head into his arm, trying to muffle his pain by pretending it didn’t exist. Tommy placed the first aid kit on the table and opened it up and nudged for Siren to sit back up. 

Siren straightened his back up and looked at the first aid kit on the table and it took a second for him to process what was happening before he nudged one sleeve of his jacket off and turned toward Tommy and lifted his shirt up. Even though Tommy couldn’t see Siren’s full face, just from the bottom half, he could tell that Siren was trying to hold back groans of pain. He leaned against the chair. 

Tommy had nerve treated a wound before but Tubbo liked watching doctor shows where they always had dramatic walkthroughs on how to deal with everything, so Tommy picked up some stuff. Probably was not very smart to be doing something like that based on knowledge stemming from tv shows but in the moment that’s all he knew. 

He got some gauze out, applying pressure onto the wound to attempt to stop the bleeding. “Hold onto this.” He muttered to Siren, getting up to get a towel to put in warm water to wash out the wound with some soap. Siren pushed down on the gauze, and looked at the wound like he wasn’t sure what was happening. 

When Tommy came back he bit back a laugh. That sounded mean but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. “You’re so dramatic, you’ve already stopped bleeding. I would think that a villain as big as you would be more used to wounds than this, you act like you’re going to die.” Siren put the gauze on the table and glared at him, making Tommy laugh. 

“I don’t do the fighting, that’s Blade and the Angel’s job.” Angel of Death, also known as Angel. Man, what a cringe name. 

Tommy started cleaning the wound, no, he would not be gentle. Siren was a wuss. “You’re still a villain though. I have gotten injured with more blood than this and I work at a coffee shop. Who even hurt you? It’s 12AM, not 3AM, there are still people out.” Siren would not dignify that with a response but he would with an unseen eye roll and scoff. Tommy took the container of antibiotic cream and applied some on the wound before roughly wrapping the wound up. Siren did not help at all and did the most to make it a hassle to Tommy. “You should probably call for one of them to pick you up now, I don’t think you can rely on my work when this is my first time.” Tommy started talking again before Siren could reply. “Not that I’m saying I didn’t do it perfectly, I can do everything perfectly cause I am perfect. All the women love me.”

Siren lazily took out his phone, looking through his contacts. Tommy didn’t understand why he would need to do that assuming the only two people he knew would be the other members of the SBI. Who else would want to be friends with Siren? Certainly not him. He only ‘tolerated’ him because he paid the bills!

He started a call with Blade or the Angel and waited. 

They waited for them to pick up.

The fact that the call was declined made Tommy laugh at a Siren who glared at his phone, cursing under his breath about some guy ‘Techno’ or something being annoying and ignoring him on purpose. He sucked in a breath before he started a call with someone else. Tommy only knew this because he saw Siren click off the contact to find another one. The second person he called picked up on the second ring. 

Tommy heard a muffled voice from the phone as he watched Siren make his call. “Yeah, I’m good, I just have a small wound,” small wound , made Tommy roll his eyes because Siren made that so-called small wound a big deal, walking into the shop dramatically and all, Siren’s eyes flick to Tommy. He waited for the other person in the call to finish speaking, “I’m at that coffee shop I usually go to, I’ll send you the address.” The other person responded and Siren hummed a reply before hanging up.

“Angel of Death is coming to pick me up.” Tommy himself told SIren to get one of them to pick him up but the idea of not one, but two villains being in the shop at the same time was very stressful. He was half convinced he needed to buy some curtains to cover the windows up for when they decided to drop by considering they didn’t have the common decency to not look like the wanted criminals that were on the TV screens of everyone basically everyday. They were a step away from being celebrities, really. He honestly didn’t know how Siren hadn’t been caught the other four times he was here. He waved it off, not bothering to show his dismay over another villain.

They sat in silence as they waited for the Angel. Which shouldn’t have felt as long as it did considering he had wings that flew faster than any machine could go as of current technology.  

“You are so weak.”

“Shut the hell up, Tommy,” Siren said, “I’d like to see you try to do what I do!” A mischievous smile spread across Tommy’s face before Siren immediately shut him down, “No, that was not a challenge, stop looking so excited, because you are not going to be getting arrested anytime soon.” Tommy’s face fell and a pout dawned his face. Plans ruined ! 

They heard a knock on the glass next to them and Tommy looked behind Siren and the only sign there was somewhere there at all was blond hair that stood out against the shadows. Large wings formed a silhouette that encased any semblance of shape that could exist and pitch black clothing and a mask hid the face and body of the man. Those wings were half the reason they never got caught, the other reasons were the mindcontrol of Siren and the power of the Blade. 

“Well, I’ll be going now, bye Tommy!” Siren got up and left the store, Tommy saw him walk up to the dark figure and started talking to the Angel. 

Chapter Text

Tommy was actually considering buying curtains to cover the windows at night during his shift because villains were coming by too casually for them to not be seen one day. He just prayed that a normal customer, normal meaning not a criminal or villain, didn’t walk into the shop while a villain was there, too. Unlikely, but he seemed to have the worst luck ever considering standing in front of him was the freaking Blade, the most feared member of the SBI.

He considered dying on the spot right there and then but decided not to when he remembered he still needed to contribute in paying the bills and Tubbo and Ranboo would simply suffer without him. The whole world would suffer, really, the biggest man dying would cause a huge commotion after all. He decided to live for the greater good. But it was a tough choice. 

“What would you like to drink today?” It was the same line he always asked every customer, but for some reason it felt much more awkward when he asked it that time. Maybe it was because he was talking to the most feared supervillain, but who knows. It’s not like he was scared of the Blade. Definitely not. 

The Blade cleared his throat, “Black coffee. Or is that still a stupid choice, is 1AM early enough.” If he weren’t so shocked hearing his voice for the first time, he would have facepalmed because of course Siren actually told the Blade that Tommy said that it was stupid. But from that reference Tommy assumed, not sure if it was a smart assumption but he went along with it, that the Blade would be fine with jokes. If not, then guess life is cut short!  Which isn’t preferable if he were being honest. 

Well, he’s mostly assured that he won’t die because Siren had told him that the SBI try to avoid murdering without reason so he only had to hope that a joke that crossed a line wouldn’t cross a line that would warrant his death. 

“1AM is still pretty late, big man,” Tommy finally said, starting on the black coffee. While making the coffee, he remembered that he probably didn’t need to ask, considering Siren never ordered anything but black coffee when he ordered for the Blade, who he usually referred to as his brother and not ‘the Blade’.  The coffee dripped into the cup and for some reason, it felt so much slower today than usual. It was most definitely because of the Blade awkwardly staring at him as he made the coffee. “Do you not get any sleep or something?” he laughed, “Siren always orders coffee for you really late.” 

“A lot of work to do,” the Blade responded, “You know, all the villainy and overthrowing the government to do.” The fact he responded at all made Tommy smile. 

“Of course, I totally know all the stuff you’re talking about!” Tommy turns off the machine when the cup is full, and if he made it just a bit fuller to try to get on the good side of the Blade, no he didn’t. “Any reason why Siren isn’t here today? No offense, you’ve never come to get your coffee yourself.”

The Blade’s mouth quirked in something that resembled a smile, “ Siren is being dramatic over his small injury, I was sent here by him to get coffee for the both of us. Will I get his coffee? No. He drinks coffee cold, like an absolute madman.” Tommy burst out laughing at that. 

“Exactly! I don’t trust people who drink coffee or tea cold. Clearly, you’re the more trustworthy one between the two. “ They both laughed a little knowing that if Siren were here he’d make this a big deal about how he was always there and hanging out with Tommy and Tommy had the gall to say he trusted the Blade more. After Tommy wrote down ‘Blade” on the cup, he handed the cup over to the Blade. 

Unlike Siren who always stuck around until closing hours, the Blade left softly after that, muttering a ‘bye’ under his breath. 

-

Clearly, Siren could not deal with the fact that Tommy had an interaction with the Blade without him because he came in 30 minutes after his shift started to maximize the amount of time he would get to spend with Tommy to make up for the fact he wasn’t there last time. He said as such to Tommy who again thinks, I’m not paid enough for this . 

“Tommy,” Tommy hummed in acknowledgement as he continued to scroll through his phone, “Why would you let the Blade leave without my coffee?” Siren sounded like a whiney, spoiled child. That was probably true, but Tommy wouldn’t know. 

“He made a good point, you do drink iced coffee.” Tommy said, looking back up at Siren, “What, do you drink tea cold, too.”

That hit a soft spot or something because he saw Siren full on cringe in disgust at the sound of cold tea, “I may be a villain, but I am not a monster.” It is not that deep. It’s just a drink, who cares about how cold or hot someone drinks a drink. Tommy would judge Siren if he did drink tea cold like he drank coffee cold though. But nonetheless, Siren cares too much in Tommy’s humble opinion. 

“Are you going to order or not?” It seemed that Siren missing one day of visits made him forget he still needs to be a paying customer for the shop to stay running. Siren froze before what Tommy assumed to be a look of realization dawned on his face. 

He actually forgot to order coffee at a coffee shop. 

“Are you going to try something new or are you still going to drink iced coffee? Not sure if you noticed but we also have, like, three different teas on our menu as well.” Tommy pointed to the small menu that stood by the cashier. Honestly, he forgot it existed half the time, so he wouldn’t be surprised if Siren didn’t notice it either. 

Siren definitely hadn’t noticed the menu before, because he leaned forward on the back of the chair, tipping it onto the edge of the leg of the chair- he lived life on the edge, clearly -and he stared at the menu. Tommy wouldn’t doubt it if Siren had horrible eyesight and was squinting under that stupid mask of his as he struggled to read. There wasn’t really anything about the mask that was stupid, he just wanted to call something stupid. “I’d like an Earl Grey, then.”

“Would you like that cold, too?” Tommy asked, obviously messing with Siren, but Siren didn’t take it as a joke because he audibly gasped at the question and fell back in his seat dramatically.

“Never.” Siren said, “You monster.” Siren left Tommy flabbergasted often times, considering he’s been active as a villain since Tommy was younger, Tommy knew Siren was older and yet sometimes he questioned whether he was actually younger than Siren or not. He hoped that maybe the lack of a proper education is the problem. Maybe if he knew how to do math better there would be something that could say that Siren was younger than him. But those chances are low because age is just adding and subtracting and he knew how to do that just fine so there wasn’t a high chance that Siren was younger. 

He sat the tea down in front of Siren, placing a teaspoon next to it. “You are so dramatic.”

“And you are a child.”

“You don’t even know how old I am?” Which should have been true, Tommy never revealed how old he was to Siren, but as Siren was a villain, he could probably find out how old Tommy was without much problem but he would hope that Siren would respect his privacy.

Tommy believed that he did respect his privacy, too, because without hesitation Siren rebutted with his oh so mature response of, “I don’t need to know how old you are to know you are a child.” 

That day felt so much longer than usual and it was probably because of the presence of a man child the whole slow shift. 

Chapter Text

The conversation with Niki was very awkward when he thought about it. Actually, he didn’t really need to think about it, it was very awkward in the moment, too. Niki was extremely confused when Tommy went up to her and asked if he had permission to hang up curtains. 

“You work the night shift though, Tommy. Why would you need curtains?” Tommy looked at her, trying to think of an excuse as to why he needed curtains for his shift, considering he worked the night shift where the sun never appeared. 

“Is that a yes or a no? Cause I’m going to take that as a yes--”

Niki gave a confused smile, “I guess I don’t see why not?” 

He was standing on a ladder because the windows are way too tall and it was not at all an issue caused by his height because he is not short. Tommy should have come to work early to hang up the curtains instead of doing it during his shift where customers would come in. He knew that the only customers that would come realistically would be Siren and apparently the Blade. Who knows, maybe the Angel of Death will come and order something next. 

Tommy learned that he should just do actual productive stuff outside his work time when the door opened, startling him, making him almost fall off the ladder. That was expected but also no. 

He steadied himself and looked over at whoever entered and glared at them, of course, it was Siren, as usual. Tommy put a hand to his chest and let out a sigh of relief at the fact he didn’t fall. Obviously he wouldn’t since he would never be startled by anything. 

Siren looked up at him and one would think that he was the one who almost fell and hurt himself from how he reacted. Tommy wasn’t really sure why he looked so scared. 

“Are you okay?” Siren asked, unable to mask the worry in his voice. He put a hand on one of the legs of the ladders and looked up at the new addition to the room. They were thick and light brown, Tommy chose them so that people wouldn’t be able to see the silhouettes of any suspicious figures. No use in being subtle, he meant people like the Angel and the Blade who had very identifiable shadows. 

Tommy started stepping down from the ladder, Siren offering a hand to help him down that Tommy looked at before accepting cause he didn’t doubt that Siren would take it personally. He stretched a bit and let out a small sigh, “Yeah, I’m good, just had to put those curtains up, so I wouldn’t be caught accommodating to villains. That would not be a good look.” Siren thought about it for a moment before deciding that it didn’t sound like something personal and let it go.

“Fair enough.” 

“Be grateful because I had to ask for permission from my boss to do that and that is not a conversation I want to relive.” 

Siren gave an airy laugh and mock bowed down to Tommy, “Oh how grateful I am for the amazing and generous Tommy who I would die for.” Tommy’s cheeks grew warm and he let out a bellow of laughter. He was both very satisfied and very embarrassed with that reaction, and Siren knew that and was just happy to see Tommy happy. “So can I have my Earl Grey tea.”

Under his breath Tommy muttered, “Earl Grey tea,” in a voice exactly like Siren’s and the latter looked at him in shock. Tommy was better at reading his expressions under the mask after seeing Siren so much. Siren was a very expressive person, but that’s mostly because he had a flair for the dramatics if Tommy were being honest. Which he was because he is always honest. 

Tommy looked back at him like Siren was the weird one before it dawned on him that Wilbur didn’t know what Tommy’s power was. Tommy, as an avian, had a lot of habits that came from his bird side and one of which was mimicking things without thinking too much about it, but as far as Siren was concerned, Tommy could have been powerless and he wouldn’t have known cause he never cared enough to ask. 

Generally, it was seen as the polite thing to do to not ask someone what their power was in case they didn’t have one or they didn’t like theirs. Siren made it a habit to assume that people didn’t have powers. 

“Your power is voice mimicry?” Siren sounded very excited at the idea of Tommy having the ability to mimic voices. What, does he want to use my power for his evildoing? It wasn’t a serious thought but that’s the only reason he could think of. In reality he was just excited at the prospect of Tommy having a vocal ability like him.

Tommy started preparing Siren’s tea, “Nope,” he poured hot water he had already prepared beforehand in a cup, “It’s part of it though. I’m a hybrid, I guess.” 

“I guess?” Which was a good question. 

“I’m supposed to be avian, wings and all that, it’s in my DNA and stuff, too, but since I’m not in a place and have never been in a place where I can grow wings, a lot of documents mark me off as human.” Technically, since he is an avian, he has a special diet that he can’t realistically provide for, because veganism is pretty hard. Avians usually are supposed to have documents to say they can get something for cheaper because they need it more than others for their diet, but because he was never healthy enough and safe enough to grow wings people don’t believe he’s avian and charge him full price. Legally, he could sue them for it but it would be expensive, so they just have to live with the fact he has to force himself to eat things he’s not supposed to. 

He doesn’t say all that but a lot of that could probably be assumed with the whole not having wings thing, it was pretty common knowledge that most hybrids have special accommodations in the law to try to help them fit into society better. Siren especially should know since the Angel himself is obviously an avian. 

According to some research Tommy and Tubbo did, there’s a chance Tommy would never grow wings even if he did get a proper diet but they wouldn’t know. 

When he saw a trace of sadness on Siren’s face from the knowledge, he immediately changed the subject, “I can mimic any sound I hear, even ones you think aren’t humanly possible to make.”

Siren sputters at that, “What does that even mean--” then he paused, remembering who he was talking to, “You know what? I don’t even want to know.” He said quickly. 

He took the tea from the counter and drank it. Siren, the idiot he was, forgot to cool down the tea and immediately burnt his tongue. Tommy felt slightly bad for laughing at him. Only a little. Mostly because he did that to himself and everyone burns their tongue every once in a while. 

“Wow,” Tommy said, watching Siren fan his tongue, “You’re extremely prone to injury aren’t you?” He said this as if he wasn’t even more prone to injury with hollow bones and all, they’re supposed to be good for flight but to him the hollow bones were even more of a nuisance than it was for other avians even if there weren’t many of them. But no one can blame him really because Siren, top criminal, feared by the general public, had come to the shop with a wound from who knows what- probably a nobody small timer who got lucky or something, or maybe he walked into some glass because he’s stupid like that -and then he burns his tongue with hot tea because he forgot that tea was hot. 

Siren couldn’t reply because he still had his tongue stuck out to cool it down, most people would be fine by then but he isn’t most people so he was still waiting, “You were bested by tea.” Siren could only glare at him in reply before putting his tongue back in his mouth. 

Tommy would love to see the reaction of the public if they found out that the villain he feared so much was a glorified toddler. He even threw tantrums and whined like one even though Tommy knew he was a full grown adult who knew how to handle his emotions so he was convinced that Siren was doing it on purpose to mess with him (he was). 

“I was not bested by tea.”

“You were.”

“I was not.”

“I was,” Tommy said in a perfect mimic of Siren’s voice, which was a totally fair thing for him to do. Siren didn’t think so though because he just stared at Tommy like he just committed a crime. Ironic considering who he was, but he doesn’t care about hypocrisy unless it benefits him. 

Siren’s head fell onto the table, making him groan both out of pain and annoyance—he did it to himself in both cases, so Tommy didn’t feel bad at all.

Chapter Text

Tubbo was very good at making anything he wanted to be ominous.  Before he left for work, Tubbo sat him down. More like when he tried to leave, Tubbo forced him to sit back down on the mattress with Tubbo who was laying down. Tubbo sat up and stared at Tommy. Tommy stared back. “We need to talk.” What is this? A breakup? We’re not even dating . Well, Tommy was definitely confused.  

Tubbo turned to Ranboo and nudged him to wake up, Ranboo being a light sleeper jolted awake before sitting up and rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes. Tubbo looked at Ranboo and then back at Tommy, “We need to talk, right Ranboo?” Tubbo nudged Ranboo with his elbow to signal for him to agree. Ranboo was still half asleep so he was barely able to comprehend life. 

“Right, yeah, we need to talk,” Ranboo muttered, already starting to slouch into Tubbo’s side. His eyes started to droop. Tubbo was probably thinking something like this man is useless , except in nicer terms because he’s biased. Tubbo pushed Ranboo down on the mattress again to let the poor boy sleep, god, he sleeps so early , Tommy thought. It was 9:45. 

Tubbo clasped his hands together, he looked kind of sinister, it being dark, a serious look on his face, but Tommy should be fine because he didn’t think he did anything wrong. Or at least he hoped so because out of everyone he knew, the Blade and Siren included, Tubbo seems most likely to get away with murder since he can very easily fake cry for sympathy. Should that be worrying? Probably. “Where the hell have you been getting all the money?” Tubbo finally asked. 

If anything, that question made Tommy even more confused before he realized, right, there have been more tips . He had forgotten how much help Siren had been for so long because Siren never made tipping a big deal and instead focused on talking with Tommy and slipped some money in the tip jar when he wasn’t paying attention. He knew he was getting tips, he just forgot that it was from Siren. He should probably thank him for all the tips he’s been given considering Siren most definitely knew he needed it because he gave at least a 20 every time he did which was way more than what you usually would tip someone. That and sometimes he would order a tea or coffee and he ended up not drinking very much or any at all. It turned out he wasn’t feeling up for drinking and just wanted to order. That probably meant something that Tommy was too dense to get, but either way, whatever reason it was, he was thankful for how much Siren had given him. 

“I’ve been getting more tips recently, we have a regular now and he usually gives at least a 20 because,” he shrugged, “I don’t know, he’s rich or something.” Or something . He was a villain, definitely a bit more than a something. 

Tubbo thought about it for a second, brows furrowing but Tommy guessed that he accepted that because Tubbo lightly pushed him towards the direction of the door, signalling for him to leave for work.

When Tommy got to work, he started his new routine of clothing the curtains, completely covering the windows and changing the vibe of the shop. He was very happy with how they looked with the rest of the shop though, he would be upset if he weren’t and wouldn’t change it if he didn’t because he had just put up the curtains the day before and was not willing to go through the challenge of putting up curtains again, especially during his shift. Definitely not during his shift. 

A couple hours in, he was pretty surprised that Siren hadn’t come yet but he wasn’t too bothered because it’s not like he came everyday and he wasn’t on a schedule -- he was way too inconsistent for a schedule and way too busy with whatever villain stuff he did. 

When the door of the shop opened, he expected to see Siren, but instead a group of three came in.

And surprise, surprise, they’re all villains. However, they were not, in fact, the SBI. Which is actually a surprise to Tommy, more of a surprise than the fact that they were villains. What was also weird was the fact that three of them came at once, even with Siren and the Blade, he’d only seen one at a time. Honestly, he didn’t think he could remember a time he saw more than one customer in the shop at a time during his shift as long as he’s been working there. 

The group that wasn’t the SBI was actually the Dream Team, not exactly super original because it was just named after the leader of the group who wasn’t really the leader, he was just the friend who brought the group together. The other two in the team never actually listened to anything he said unless it was actually important or good advice.

Sapnap, 404 and Dream stood in front of the door, they would have looked cool if not for the fact it was obvious they were just like any other person who acted awkward in a new environment. 404 and Sapnap were observing the surroundings and Dream. Who the hell knows what Dream is doing or thinking under that mask. Of course, like most villains, 404 and Sapnap both had their own facial coverings but at the least you could tell how they were feeling for the most part while Dream had his face fully covered. 

“Hi?” Tommy said to them, making them all look towards him, “Are you guys going to come order, or are you going to just stand at the order the whole time. Can’t you see that you’re holding up the line?” He said this, fully knowing that no one else but them will probably be there for the rest of his shift unless one of the SBI decided to drop by and that no one else was in the shop, but they probably saw that from all their observing. Well, they could probably see that the shop was empty in one glance, but the point still stood. 

The three of them talked quietly to each other, from what Tommy could hear, they were fighting over who would order for them. Tommy assumed that 404 lost the fight because he glared at both of them before he walked closer to Tommy and Sapnap and Dream sat down at a table somewhat close to Tommy’s place at the counter. 

Tommy had never felt such a jarring experience as he had then when he remembered that these people were wanted criminals. From what he had heard, even though they were technically ‘bad’ they weren’t, like, bad bad. They didn’t do anything cynical for fun and they seemed to have motives that were reasonable. Really, the Dream Team seemed to only really target bad people in high positions. 

The main difference between the Dream Team and the SBI was that Dream Team tried to ‘purify’- the best word to describe it -the government while the SBI were just against the government in general. Some sources reported that they were against the system, others said they were against the government. It was probably a mix of both from what the Blade said about taking down the government and the Siren not being super preachy about his hatred for it, if anything, Siren seemed like he just wanted people to be free and happy. 

He was face to face with 404 and he found that kind of hard to accept as a part of his reality. “What would you like to drink?” 404 looked at Sapnap and Dream before looking back at Tommy.

“They said they want sweet tea, make it hot, please,” he said with a smile. Although that’s what 404 said, 404 felt like he was very much lying. Oh well, too bad. “And a latte for me.”

Tommy, ever so happy to help cause chaos, replied, “Sure thing, big man.” And immediately started on their drinks. 404 paid for their drinks and sat down at a seat at the table the rest of the Dream Team sat at. He tapped his fingers on the table like he was anticipating for something to happen. 

When Tommy put their drinks down on the table, he saw 404 looking between Dream and Sapnap, waiting. Sapnap and Dream weren’t paying too much attention because they were mid-conversation. They both paused to say their thanks before getting back to their loud conversation. 404 was also in the conversation before the drinks arrived and he waited for them to drink their drinks. 

Dream, who finally got thirsty from talking too much, drank his tea a little after the drinks arrived and immediately coughed a little, startled for some reason. Sapnap drank his a little after that reaction to see what was wrong, and he had basically the same reaction. 404 immediately bursted into laughter. Sapnap and Dream both glared at 404.

Clearly, 404 lied about what the two wanted, but Tommy didn’t see why they reacted the way they did because it was just tea. 

“Why the hell is it hot?” Dream half screamed. 

“Because that’s how tea is supposed to be,” 404 said, not breaking ‘eye contact’ with Dream. 

“Oh,” Tommy said, “You guys are American. We don’t like Americans here.” 404 found that even more amusing and started laughing again, Dream and Sapnap clearly not feeling the same way. 

When they left, 404 left a 10 in the tip jar, saying it was thanks for helping him mess with the other two. Dream and Sapnap tipped 5 each. 

Chapter Text

The Dream Team coming was a surprise but the fact that they were all together wasn’t surprising because they were always seen with each other, so when both the Blade and Siren came into the coffee shop one night, it was even more of a sight. If he thought the Blade looked intimidating when he was there alone, it was strangely even more intimidating with Siren there.

Having Siren there should have been comforting because he was used to him, but the size difference between the Blade and Siren was a strange sight and also a scary one. Tommy certainly wasn’t scared of it but to most people, it would be terrifying. Siren himself was taller than Tommy who was already 6’3 (not 6’2) and was probably around 6’6. The Blade was shorter, around Tommy’s height but his presence was enough to send chills down his spine. Not Tommy’s spine, of course, Siren’s spine. Siren is a wuss after all. But not only was his presence strong, but he had a lot of bulk to him, he was clearly strong and next to Siren’s more lanky figure, there was a stark contrast.

“You’re both here? What’s the special occasion,” Tommy joked, then he looked at Siren, “Siren, can you close the curtains.”

Siren, refusing to listen to a child tell him what to do, turned to the Blade, “You heard him, close the curtains.” When the Blade instead decided to sit down at the seat that Siren usually sat at, Siren decided that he would take things into his own hands. Which one would assume meant that he decided to close the curtains instead of making it a big deal, but anyone who knew Siren knew that when he took things into his own hands, he made it a bigger deal and very dramatic at that. “Blade, I said close the curtains.” He said with a smug smile.

The sentence itself wasn’t special, but hearing it gave Tommy shivers. Not out of fear though. He had only ever heard of Siren’s abilities, but he had never seen Siren use them in person. That was probably because no one else but them were usually in the shop and Siren had never used his abilities on Tommy. Even though the command was not directed at Tommy, he felt a strong urge to go and close the curtains himself, and he might have too if not for the fact he watched as the Blade got up from his seat and closed the curtains himself.

The rings of the curtains against the metal rod that held them up snapped him out of his daze. He blinked in shock. “Thanks.”

Tommy guessed that Siren noticed when Siren looked at him and sucked in a sharp breath, “Oh,” he said. “I forgot you’ve never seen me use my powers before.” He nodded mutely at that, still slightly out of it. Siren looked down a little, “Sorry, I’ll try not to do that again in front of you, you’re not used to it.”

That sentence actually brought Tommy back to reality, “What? No, you shouldn’t have to worry about me being here, it is your power after all. You can use it all you want as long as you’re not hurting anyone.” Tommy was very adamant about people being able to use their powers, it was somewhat a hot take especially for older generations. For a lot of people, it’s unhealthy to not use their powers and keep it in. On top of that, if it’s something vocal like Siren’s, it’s easy to get headaches after a while.

Siren for some reason looked like he was happy to hear that, Tommy didn’t know why because what he said was just common sense. Techno turned his head sharply to Tommy when he heard Tommy say that Siren should be allowed to use his powers whenever he wanted. “Then why don’t you use yours more?” Siren asked, sitting down across from where he usually sat because someone was taking up his seat, he rested his chin on the palm of his hand.

Tommy thought about that for a moment, he never really thought about it much, because to most people, he wasn’t an avian at all. He whistled a quick, sharp note, “Well, there’s not much to use when I don’t have wings and the mimicking voices thing is kind of a habit that I used to do when I wanted to annoy someone or distract someone at the orphanage or foster homes I was at.” Tommy hummed slightly, “I can’t really use my powers but I do show some quirks, I guess, I do whistle sometimes, but since I’m not around other avians I don’t get to chirp or anything.” Not that he wanted to chirp anyways, he was a big man and big men don’t chirp.

Siren looked concerned at that, but he didn’t say anything probably because he wouldn’t have been able to really do anything. Tommy didn’t understand that either, there was nothing to be concerned about because he can take care of himself. He didn’t understand a lot of things, Siren confused him a lot, always worrying over little things.

“Earl grey and a straight black coffee, right?” Tommy asked, it was getting too quiet because neither Siren nor the Blade said anything.

Siren hummed, “What do you recommend to drink from here?”

Tommy looked at the menu, “I guess for stuff we make the cafe latte is pretty good, but I prefer Coke over coffee or tea. Straight black is the easiest to make though so if you’re going to add an order--”

Siren interrupted him, “Add a Coke, too.”

Tommy knew what he meant but a wide smile donned his face, “I don’t think we have what you want, big man.” Siren bit back a smile and rolled his eyes. Because Tommy couldn’t see his face, Tommy would associate different things to different expressions so he wasn’t even sure if what he would imagine they were doing was actually what they were doing, so even though he couldn’t prove that he was actually rolling his eyes, that was what he thought he did and the fact Siren was who he was made it pretty easy to believe he would roll his eyes as much as he did.

“Shut up, Tommy. Just get me a cola.”

“Ew, who says cola.” Siren just stared at him. “Fine, I’ll get you a coke.” he said, the ‘fine’ sounding forced in an attempt at fake annoyance.

“Why are you both here?” Tommy asked, get a cola out the fridge to place on the serving tray. He turned on the coffee machine and started on the tea as the coffee cup filled up. Siren had found that whenever there was a change in routine, Tommy always asked questions about why it happened. Siren called Tommy a child a lot, but Tommy was actually like a child sometimes like when he asked about why things were the way they were.

Siren and the Blade looked at each other, then they looked at Tommy, and shrugged. “No reason, really. We just both felt like coming.” The Blade nodded in agreement with Siren.

When Tommy carried the tray of drinks over to Siren and the Blade and placed the drinks down on the table, Siren laughed at him, “Wow,” he said, Tommy almost believed that he was actually impressed, “You can actually do that without spilling everything.” But of course Tommy knew that he was going to be sarcastic about it. If he were younger than Tommy it would be considered snarky. Siren was mature like that. See? Tommy could be sarcastic, too.

With the encouragement to use his abilities from before, “Wow Tommy, thank you so much for the coffee, I am forever in your debt.” Tommy said in a perfect imitation of Siren’s voice. Siren knocked his knuckles on Tommy’s head in faked annoyance before taking a sip of his tea.. It made him freeze, it was the first time they made physical contact. When Siren glanced at Tommy and saw that, Tommy imagined that his eyebrows furrowed.

“Sorry, did that cross a line? Should I not touch you?” Siren asked, worry laced in his voice. Tommy shook his head.

“No, it’s all good, it was just a little unexpected,” Tommy said, blinking before he ruffled his curly, blond hair. “I don’t really mind, my roommates are pretty touchy, so I’m used to it. They’re very clingy I tell you, it’s ridiculous.” Siren huffed a laugh out of relief, but it was definitely because of how funny Tommy was.

Tommy brightened, Coca-Cola was his favorite drink, but he didn’t get to drink it much because soda was too expensive. Seeing that, Siren didn’t regret buying him the drink.

Chapter Text

When the Blade entered the shop, the mood seemed to completely drop. It wasn’t in an, oh, he’s being angsty , kind of mood drop, it was an, oh, he’s upset over something . Which was weird because none of the 5 villains that had come to the store had come in mad before. Tired? Sure, but not like they were out for a bounty. Well, maybe that’s a bit much, he didn’t actually look ready to kill, but it did make Tommy feel like he was going to be killed. 

He didn’t look upset, he just seemed like he wanted something. The Blade sat at the spot he sat at last time, the same seat Siren usually sits at. The contrast between when Siren sits there and when the Blade sits there was strange. When Siren sat there, there was a warm glow and an air of freshness, but when the Blade sat there, it felt like being near him would make you freeze. It could be the cold air around him or the fear you felt when you were near him but either way worked really. 

“Black coffee.” Tommy heard him say, he wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t been so focused on the Blade. 

A little wary of the Blade’s mood Tommy muttered a reply, “Alright, big man. I’ll get that for you then.” And he started on the coffee, every noise seemed to be amplified by the silence and the loudest noise was the sound of coffee dripping. 

The clank of the coffee cup being placed in front of the Blade was also loud, and Tommy went to close the curtains instead of standing in silence in front of the Blade.

Tommy went back behind the counter and sat down, stretching a bit before tapping his fingers lightly on the counter, just lightly enough to not make any noise. He picked at his nails, not wanting to look at the Blade, it was already too awkward. 

“What do you want from us, Tommy?” It was a question but his voice and the way he said it made it sound a lot more like a statement. Like it was a fact that Tommy needed something. 

“What?” he asked, his head turning to the Blade. The Blade was looking at him in the eyes, or at least that’s what Tommy assumed he was doing. Oh, so that was a serious question . “What do you mean?” genuine confusion laced in his voice. 

“Why haven’t you turned us in, Tommy?” the Blade asked, he had the same tone as he did for the last question he had, “What do you want us to give you?” 

Tommy wasn’t sure if it was safe to give an attitude to him, he was already upset and he wasn’t sure how much he could push. He decided that it wouldn’t kill him- literally or figuratively -to sigh. He looked around the room a bit. He found it hard to look someone in the eyes when they were upset, “What, you want me to turn you guys in or something?” 

“No,” the Blade responded, “but why wouldn’t you? You don’t have a reason to not turn us in.”

“I don’t have a reason to turn you in either.” Even scared, he could only see that as a fact. None of them; Siren, Blade, 404, Sapnap nor Dream, none of them had done anything to warrant him turning them in. Even though they all did technically commit crimes, it wasn’t like it was proof they were horrible people. Ranboo was technically lying about his age on legal documents so that they could stay in their apartment and be an intern at the agency. Not everyone who committed crimes was a horrible person, he was the last person who would say that. That and his legal documents are forged because they ran away from the orphanage. Ranboo was technically his guardian to the public, but no, they will not talk about that. “Why would I want anything from you?” He was more offended at the thought that he, the biggest man, would need help than he was scared of a confrontational Blade. 

Now the Blade was the confused one, “Why do you make it sound like that is unreasonable, most people want something. So what do you want?” It was kind of comical, the tinge of confusion on top of his adamance that Tommy must want something from him. 

“I literally could care less about getting something, it’s my job to give you guys coffee. If he comes, I’m obviously going to serve him coffee,” Tommy paused, “Or, well, tea, I guess.” 

There was a tense silence. “I’ll take it. But don’t think I’m not onto you.” Techno said, and just like that, even though the tension wasn’t fully gone, Tommy felt like he could breathe again. 

He shrugged, “I don’t know what to tell you, I mean, it’s not like I care that you’re onto me.” He pursed his lips, “You guys are paying customers, I’m not going to kick you out.” Neither of them commented on the fact that he made it sound like he only cared about them paying him. Tommy did mean that, well, that’s what he thought he meant at least. Sometimes he struggled to get a grasp on what he wanted. Tubbo told him that, too. It’s not that he didn’t care for Siren, he just didn’t think that there was a point in acting like he mattered more than he thought Siren mattered. “As long as you don’t cause any problems, I could care less what you do.”

The Blade scoffed at that, “ As long as we don’t cause any problems . You let Wi-- Siren come here all the time and you expect there to be no problems.”

“I expect there to be no trouble , I guess that would be a better word for it. Siren came in here bleeding once, it’s not the problems I’m worried about. Just don’t mess up the restaurant, this is my livelihood and it will be hell to find another if this place gets destroyed because I decided to ignore labels.” 

“Yeah. Be careful whose labels you ignore, some villains aren’t as nice as Siren is.” The Blade warned, “Be careful of Siren, too, he could be more than expected.” 

“Is this victim blaming, are you gaslighting me Mr.The Blade?” Tommy asked, he didn’t know what he was saying, but he knew those were bad things.

If not for the fact that the Blade had a monotone voice that made it harder for Tommy to imagine expressions for, he would think that the Blade was pretty confused and if the mask weren’t there, he would look it, too. “Do you even know what half of those words?”

“Of course, I am the smartest person to ever grace this presence, I know everything.” Tommy paused, “Even things I don’t want to know. You don’t either, trust me.” 

“Wha--” 

“I said you don’t want to know.”  The Blade took a sip of his coffee, slightly shaking his head in some sort of disappointment that he couldn’t quite pinpoint yet this early in their relationship. Tommy let out a sigh of relief, the tension finally fully gone. Tommy is the biggest man, so of course, he would be able to solve all of life’s problems. 

A little bit later, after sitting in silence together, the Blade left, leaving a tip on the table. He didn't trust Tommy, but he wasn't a jerk. 

Chapter Text

Tommy kneeled in front of the glass of the window. He stared into the eyes of one of the crows. It blinked at him. He blinked back. He honestly didn’t know why there was a murder of crows outside of the store, but they were welcome. But also it was very weird to see an eye of an animal he couldn’t see blink at him. Tommy couldn’t see the crows until he saw one blink at him and then he noticed all the others. Their feathers were pitch black, making them blend into the dark of the night. The only feature to identify them with was the gleams in their eyes. 

He would not admit to jumping up onto his feet when the door was suddenly opened, he would not admit it because he didn’t do that. He never got scared of anything.  

When he turned to the left, there stood the final, most mysterious member of the SBI, the Angel of Death. Now, this may have sounded like a stretch but Tommy thought that maybe he had that name for a reason and it probably wasn’t very good. But oh well, what happens happens. 

“Hi?” Tommy said, sending a small wave towards the Angel. He stretched his back, loosening up after kneeling. When he stopped and looked at the Angel properly, he saw why people thought of him as so ominous. Everything he wore was dark except for a bucket hat with green and white stripes, his wings were the same black if not slightly lighter from the vanes of the feathers reflecting the light of the shop. They had the bluish tint, the one that crows had. It kind of stunned him seeing the size, honestly surprised the Angel was able to enter the room with them. It made him think of what he could have had. That’s besides the point anyways, the Angel also wore a mask like the other two. They all had unique masks, but his was by far the most beautiful, it was shaped like a beak over the bridge of his nose and was covered in small, almost scale looking feathers, one side having a small arrangement of longer feathers flowing off from the central mask. 

Tommy wasn’t sure what he expected from the Angel, but it certainly wasn’t a voice with an accent as thick as his was, “Hey there, mate.” The weirdest part of this interaction was hearing him speak for the first time, out of all the members of the SBI, he had the most anonymity. The Blade wasn’t exactly subtle with his getup of a mock of a royal and a pig’s skull for a mask (it being a real one or not, no one knew), and Siren wore a pretty basic outfit, only so many people could hide while being as tall as Siren was and everyone who didn’t live under a rock knew what Siren sounded like--he did need to use it for his power to work, after all. The Blade’s voice was somewhere out there, too, but it wasn’t as common knowledge unless it was actively searched for. 

Tommy looked at the crows that stood outside of the window like they were waiting for something, and then he looked back at the Angel, “Are these yours?” 

The Angel looked at the crows, and Tommy only knew this because he saw his head turn, Tommy saw his mouth form a fond smile, “Yeah.” He said. “They like to follow me around, they won’t really do anything, don’t worry. They’ll just wait outside until I leave.” 

He gave a thumbs up, “Alright then, would you like something to drink?” 

“Just a water for now, Blade drinks enough coffee for both Siren and I.” He said ‘Blade’ and ‘Siren’ like they were foreign to him, he probably called them by their real names more. He didn’t really talk, or well, do anything that could give hints to his identity in front of people, so it wasn’t like he ever actually needed to use the names for Siren and the Blade. 

“That’s true,” Tommy agreed, opening the fridge, “Bottled?” He asked, looking towards the Angel from where he was, back bended down to reach for the bottled water that the day time employees decided would be nice to put at the very bottom level of the fridge. 

“Sounds good, thanks, mate.” And the Angel caught the water bottle tossed to him easily. He sat down at a table, a random one that none of the other villains had sat at yet, that didn’t say much considering there were 5 other villains and there were enough seats for up to 35 people, but it felt offputting nonetheless with the change of pace. “That’s not what I wanted to come here for though, appreciate the water though, how much?” 

Tommy waved it off, he could’ve lied ands named a price, but it didn’t feel right when there was no reason to scam someone who hadn’t done anything. “Water is free, we always have too much since people come here for the coffee. It’s a coffee shop afterall.” He shrugged when he finished the sentence. The Angel put some money on the table.

“Take it as a tip then, heard it’s basically tradition for them to.” The Angel sucked in a breath before letting a sigh, Tommy leaning onto the counter, wondering what was important enough for the Angel of freaking Death to risk losing any anonymity. “Sorry for what the Blade said, it wasn’t anything personal, he’s just like that. Can’t really blame him considering how society is.” 

“Huh,” Tommy mused, “I didn’t really take it as personal though? There are worse things than a villain thinking you’re untrustworthy.” He laughed at the irony, “I honestly forgot that he said anything, you didn’t have to apologize for him though. Though if something needs apologizing for, then the person who is supposed to be in the wrong should be the one apologizing.” Tommy didn’t want for the Angel to think he was doing something wrong by apologizing for his friend though. He stood up straight and gave the Angel a smile, “I guess, thanks for trying though.” 

“I guess that’s true.” The Angel said. Silence. They didn’t really have anything to say to each other after that. “What does Siren even do here usually, this just seems like a normal coffee shop.” The fact that Tommy was practically harbinging villains was left unsaid, they both already knew that was that was a given factor for Siren going there all the time. But they also knew that Siren could easily go to other coffee shops too if he just changed into his day clothing. When Tommy thought about it, Siren was both stupid and brave for going to the shop in villain clothing knowing that he probably would get into some trouble.

He was pretty used to just having Siren being there even if he was just in the background a lot of times, so he didn’t even know what he was supposed to say when the Angel asked what Siren did at the shop. “Hell if I know, he’s all Tommy, you’re a child , this and Tommy, stop ignoring me that.” He didn’t think too much about mocking Siren’s voice, he started doing it more when Siren said he could and it was good to annoy him with. He saw the Angel freeze and that’s when he remembered that this was the first time he’s met the Angel. He didn’t say anything but Tommy knew what the Angel wanted to ask, “I’m avian by the way.” If he weren’t wearing a mask Tommy assumed he would be blinking in surprise, but he couldn’t say that, he made no movements. “Your wings are cool by the way.” 

“Thanks,” the Angel said slowly. He was thinking of what to say. “Where are yours?” 

“Don’t have ‘em,” Tommy said casually. The Angel stayed quiet. Tommy realized how bad that sounded. It was known that in the past, hybrids were treated bad, hell, they were still treated bad. Not nearly as much, but there were some wronguns that would do things to hurt hybrids by taking away features they deemed inhuman. He realized he made it sounds like he was one of the victims, avians were the most hated hybrid in the passive category, the only hybrids hated more than avians were aggressive mobs. “They weren’t taken away,” he started, “I never had them.” 

He heard the Angel let out a breath, “Oh.” He said, “I’m sorry.” 

Tommy’s eyebrows furrowed, he let out an airy laugh “Why would you be sorry? It’s not like you could have done anything.” Tommy thought that people should stop being so weird about him not having wings. It’s not like he ever had them so he couldn’t miss them, people should stop feeling sorry for him, he wasn’t sad over them or anything, and there were people in worse situations. There were people who lost their wings after living with them all of their life. 

“Yeah, I guess not,” he replied. The Angel knew how bad it could get for some hybrids, Tommy knew that he knew. He definitely knew that Tommy didn’t have wings because he didn’t eat right or enough, he’s one of the many hybrids affected by the socio-economic situation given to hybrids. Eating vegan was expensive and that was supposed to be saved by a license that signs off for it to be less expensive for vegan hybrids but people don’t think hybrids are hybrids unless it’s visible. Tommy tried signing up for a new card, using his mimicry as proof but they said that he had vocal mimicry as his ability. The amount of times he’s nearly thrown up or had thrown up when eating meat said otherwise but they didn’t believe him. “What do Siren and the Blade usually buy? I’ll get them their orders since they couldn’t come today.” 

Tommy had honestly forgotten that Siren and the Blade were both villains and had day lives, with how much Siren went to the shop it was hard to remember that they had actual lives. “Siren gets Earl Grey tea and the Blade gets straight black coffee.” Every time he thought of Blade drinking black coffee it got weirder, black coffee was way too bitter to Tommy and anyone who drank it was weird in Tommy’s books. 

“It’ll be 9.72,” but the Angel gave him more than 9.72, he gave a 15. What was it with villains and completely overpaying, not that Tommy was complaining, he needed the money anyways. 

Chapter Text

After the stress of meeting the Angel of Death and being confronted by the Blade in one week, Tommy wasn’t going to lie, it was a little bit of a relief to see a familiar face (that wasn’t a confrontational Blade). It made him just the tiniest bit happier to see Siren over another person. But only a little. He started on making Siren’s usual Earl Grey. 

There was one downside to the fact that Siren switched his usual to an Earl Grey or any tea at all was that he could no longer mess with Siren and write his name wrong on the cup because they served it in a teacup which he can’t write on unless he buys it to go which Siren never did. He would have done that when the Angel asked him for the drinks to go but since it was a bit stressful he forgot. He wasn’t actually stressed, he didn't get stressed, and anyone who said otherwise was a liar. 

The silence wasn’t awkward but it wasn’t exactly completely light. Neither of them really felt like saying anything and neither had anything held in that they wanted to say so it stayed silent for that moment.

The silence didn’t last long. Neither of them could really stand silence especially since they always at least greeted each other even if they didn’t talk for the rest of the time that Siren stayed. “So,” Siren said, breaking the silence, “How was meeting the Angel of Death.” Siren smiled toward Tommy, making him roll his eyes. 

“He was much better than you were, he is the biggest man second only to me with his wings and all,” Tommy proclaimed, pointing a thumb to his chest in fake gusto after placing the teacup down in front of Siren. Siren’s smile slightly faltered, Tommy not knowing why. He didn’t realize the implications of what he said, but Siren took it as Tommy being sad that he didn’t have wings. “Why have you been gone for the past week?” Tommy asked. 

“Aw, Tommy, did you miss me?” Siren said, a teasing tone clear in his voice. No, why would Tommy miss him? It’s not like they’re friends, the only friends he had were Tubbo and Ranboo. They were with him since he was born after all and they stayed. 

Tommy scoffed, “No, of course not, why would I care about you? Actually, I missed when you were gone.” Siren obviously knew he was joking, but he wasn’t so sure if Tommy was joking about not caring. Tommy didn’t know either. He knew that he cared about Siren more than he cared about strangers, but he also knew that he didn’t care about Siren as much as he cared about Ranboo and Tubbo and wasn’t that how much you should care about someone before they can be a friend? Tommy still didn’t know, he was still confused. 

“Oh yeah,” Siren exclaimed, “Can I also have a coke, and don’t you dare make another joke about drugs.” Siren pointed at him which made him imagine that Siren was giving him a pointed look which just made him want to make a joke about drugs even more.

“Are you sure cause I know a guy--” Tommy started, he walked toward the fridge.

“You better not actually know a guy, Tommy,” Siren said strictly, Tommy and him both knew that Siren couldn’t actually do anything to Tommy. It would also be very hypocritical of him if he reprimanded Tommy for breaking the law considering. Tommy slid the Coca-Cola over to Siren before sitting down across from Siren and shrugged with a smile on his face. 

“Who knows.” Tommy said, “You still haven’t answered my question by the way.” After saying that he realized that it could actually be something personal. If not, Siren probably would have answered, it’s not like Siren had to hide anything when it came to villainy since he knew that Tommy wouldn’t turn him in unless he did something unreasonably bad. “Unless you don’t want to answer though. You don’t have to, sorry.” Tommy added quickly, not wanting to accidentally make Siren feel uncomfortable or anything. 

“Oh, it wasn’t anything big,” Siren started, kind of hesitant but not uncomfortable, “Mental break, just some memories, y’know, nothing new for me that I can’t handle.” He gave a nervous laugh. 

“Oh.” Tommy said. He sucked on his right cheek, “Yeah. I guess I do know.” Siren was a hypocrite, and Tommy saw this in that moment when Siren seemed to switch up immediately. Siren was a hypocrite because he said it wasn’t anything big and nothing he couldn’t handle, but when Tommy said he related, he acted like it was a big deal. And it wasn’t fair to Tommy. Not in Tommy’s opinion. How can Siren say that it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle but acted like Tommy couldn’t handle it? Tommy didn’t like the implications that Siren thought he couldn’t handle some memories. What can some memories do to a big man like Tommy. “What?” Tommy asked, “Like you said. It’s not a big deal.” 

“Tommy,” Siren said, “How old are you?” And when he said that, it sounded more serious than Tommy thought that question should be. 

Tommy showed as much when he gave Siren a confused look, “17? Aka basically an adult, I break laws, I am an adult even if the law doesn’t agree with me.” 

He saw Siren’s jaw drop slightly, Siren knew that Tommy would be a minor, but hearing it made it so much worse; hearing from Tommy himself that he was a minor and he was living like that. Siren quickly turned his expression into a more lighthearted one, “Tommy, that’s definitely not how the law works, you either follow the laws or you don’t. The law can’t just disagree with you.” Tommy almost said, the law doesn’t agree with my blood either but alright , but he didn’t, he knew that Siren would be way too concerned over nothing. 

Chapter Text

For once in his life, he thought that he finally had a normal customer. Which was both a nice thought and kind of made him on edge. The chances of a villain coming in while a normal customer was there was abnormally high for a run of the mill coffee shop, but Tommy was Tommy so of course that’s what life gave Tommy. It wasn’t all that bad though. 

He looked to be average except for a scar that ran across his eye, but that could’ve meant anything, people can have scars without being villains. Scars that big was kind of suspicious, but he didn’t want to assume.  The downsides to normal customers were, first of all, he had to pretend to be excited to see them, and on top of that the fact he could get caught having villains at the shop. He plastered on a fake smile, “What would you like to have today?” 

When the guy stopped in front of Tommy who was sitting behind the cash register, he put on a big smile, it was kind of weird seeing so many different smiles. The Blade he had only seen a quirk of his mouth that resembled a smile, the Angel had a warm one and Siren had one that just showed he was happy. This one though, it changed the whole room. If there were other people in the room it probably would have made them happy, too. The guy had wings, Tommy didn’t realize because who purposely looks out for wings in every person when avians are so rare. He was also kind of numb to wings after the Angel, although he was the only person besides his parents that he saw with wings, the Angel’s wings were big enough that it made any other pairs of wings look small. Even without seeing the Angel’s wings, this guy’s wings would probably still be pretty small. They resembled the shape of cartoon angel wings, or a duck, he guessed. There weren’t angel hybrids so they had to be connected to an actual bird. 

The guy looked at the menu which was definitely new, maybe villains were just stupid and unobservant since this guy was the only person that he had actually noticed the menu right away. It also said that he didn’t drink much, even if it was his first time at the shop, most shops have a lot of the same standard drinks. “Water? Do you guys have water here?” Tommy didn’t even bother hiding his emotions this time, he squinted at the guy in confusion. This guy really went to a coffee shop and looked at the menu only to order a water. 

“Well yeah,” Tommy said, “But why would you go to a coffee shop to order a water?” Tommy knew the old saying of ‘the customer is always right’, but Tommy liked to respectfully disagree with that sentiment because in this case they are wrong. If it were someone else they probably would have been annoyed at that, even Siren questioned Tommy when they first met, but instead, the guy burst out laughing.

“Fine, then what would you recommend?” 

“I don’t know, literally anything else?” Tommy pointed at the menu, “You saw the menu, there are options .” 

The guy leaned down to look at the menu and hummed in contemplation, Tommy didn’t know why though, he wasn’t that tall that he would need to. He straightened up again, a smile still on his face, “I guess I’ll get a macchiato.” 

“Name?” Now that finally affected the guy’s positive demeanor, he still had a smile on his face, but it was smaller and he looked confused. He looked around the shop, looking for other people he could’ve missed that were in the shop. When he concluded that there was no one else there, Tommy noticed a slight tilt of his head and a slight clench in his jaw.

The guy pointed a thumb behind him, his speech was hesitant like he was unsure of himself, “There’s no one else here…?” He fixed his beanie, there was nothing wrong with it, so Tommy assumed that it was a habit that he did a lot. Tommy shrugged, “My name’s Quackity.” 

Silence. “You’re kidding.” It should have been a question, but there was a small part in him that hoped he was actually kidding. Quackity wasn’t technically classified as a villain, but he was close enough for Tommy to groan out loud knowing that he didn’t have to pretend to be happy to see him. Either there was something going on or this was a much worse neighborhood than he thought the place was. Quackity wasn’t a villain but he was definitely not on the legal side of things. He was known to the public as someone who just sold drugs, nothing too big especially since it’s one of the easier ways to earn money when you’re on the worse side of things, but even more so, he was an information broker. He was a happy go-lucky guy that people were very willing to be open to and even if he didn’t get information the easy way, he heard everything and everyone had a price and that included Quackity. He never really did anything himself, but if he ever did get into some fights he could hold his own. 

“No, I’m actually not!” And he knew that Tommy was ready to attack him right then and there because he looked like he was there just to cause trouble when he had the chance. He couldn’t attack a customer for no reason, so Tommy did the best he could to radiate his annoyance as much as he physically could. He was clearly someone who laughed a lot, he definitely didn’t actually mean any harm but he definitely knew how to push boundaries to get the reactions he wanted, “Can I have my coffee now?” 

“Yeah, whatever,” Tommy muttered. He was only half sure that he actually knew how to make a macchiato. Making coffee was his job, but he didn’t ever really actually have to make much coffee for a while until the villains and Quackity started coming to the shop. He learned how to make all the items when he first got the job, and he definitely needed the practice after never making anything. 

“Are you having this to go or are you staying here?” 

“I’ll stay a bit, I made plans with someone.” And Tommy hoped it was not a drug deal or an information broking job. Letting villains stay in the shop was one thing, it was another to be compliant when crimes were being committed in front of him because he could much more easily get in trouble for it.  

As he finished pouring the last drop of coffee, he heard the door open and what he saw was something he knew would give him a headache. Siren he could deal with. Quackity he could deal with too even if he had just met him. But both Siren and Quackity, he definitely couldn’t handle them both at once. 

Siren sent a wave at Tommy before sitting down across from Quackity. It was kind of sad, not actually sad, but nonetheless, that he knew that Siren wanted his usual tea even without him saying anything about it directly to Tommy.  Tommy sighed before getting out a platter to set Quackity’s finished coffee on and made Siren’s tea. 

“So how’s it been Quackity?” It was the weirdest thing; seeing Siren and Quackity talk, they seemed like completely different sides of the world. Though he could see why they were close, they were by far the most open people on the other side of law he’s met. The Dream Team were a close second when it came to how open they were about being close and they weren’t shy on their emotions either, but they weren’t open to Tommy, they were open to each other. 

Where the Angel’s body language was completely closed off save for his facial expressions, Quackity was completely open with his body language, Tommy didn’t doubt that Quackity hid things too, it was just much less than most others did. Every time there was even a slight change in temperature, almost unnoticeable, his wings would ruffle up slightly before settling down again. When he got excited or hyped up, his wings would show it too. While his body language was open in general, the wings were where his emotions were. 

It was an interesting thing, the fact that these two people were friends, it reminded him that villains had friends, too. No doubt a lot of them were friends even without their villain personas, the fact they were villains was just a coincidence.

Even with Quackity there, someone outside the SBI, someone he no doubt was close with, and they definitely were close, for some reason, Siren would keep getting Tommy’s attention and opinion on the conversation. Asking ‘what do you think’s’ and waiting for Tommy to answer. Even though Tommy didn’t think Siren was considered a friend, clearly Siren considered him one. Maybe he should consider Siren one, too, or maybe Siren was just really comfortable with people. 

It was hard to tell sometimes, what people felt. 

Chapter Text

Knowing what the crows meant, he was more prepared when he saw the Angel of Death land in front of the door. “Close the curtains, please.” He was still wary enough around him to have some manners. 

“Alright, mate.” When he finished the task, Tommy heard the Angel mutter, “There you go,” under his breath and huffed out some air like it was a hard task. All things considered, all the things being every year the Angel has been alive, he didn’t doubt he was tired doing anything out of old age. Only jokes, of course, but Siren talked about the Angel being old enough to where Tommy believed him even though he himself thought that the Angel was just a normal middle-aged man; in retrospect, that is kind of old compared to him, but definitely not that much older than Siren. He had never seen them without their masks, so he couldn’t really judge their age. 

“What’s your order?” That wasn’t the line that he usually said but it wouldn’t kill him to try to be more casual with regulars. Unless they didn’t want him, too. It wouldn’t do him good to have his regulars being annoyed because they were disrespected, and it would be even worse if they stopped being regulars; even worse if they stopped coming altogether.

“Just the Blade and Siren’s usuals.” The Angel turned his head, looking behind him, he couldn’t see anything, but it was something to do with how you would look at something to hear better even though it doesn’t help. Somehow the crows knew that he was paying attention to them and immediately started cawing in protest. The Angel sighed, turning his head back to Tommy and shook his head, “Alright then, so what pastries here are safe for birds?”

“Most of them should be fine, there are options without sugary stuff, I can just give you the bread parts of some donuts if you want.” Tommy said, listing off the top of his head what pastries they had besides the ones on the menu. If they weren’t on the menu, they were on the display case that he didn’t really feel like looking through. 

The Angel nodded his head, a small smile on his face, “Yeah, I’ll have that, too.”

When Tommy started boiling the water for Siren’s tea, he turned on the coffee machine and went to put some plain donuts in a bag for the crows. After getting used to their orders, it was easier to start a routine where he could do things more efficiently.

While the Angel waited for Tommy to finish, silent, he decided to try to start some conversation to break the silence. It wasn’t exactly awkward, but it certainly wasn’t comfortable either. “So how have you been?” Maybe Siren was right. Maybe the Angel of Death was actually old, who is this awkward. He talked like an older relative asking how a kid was doing. Tommy wouldn’t really know himself since his memory from when he had a family was scarce due to young age, but the Angel seemed to fit the stereotype of the older relative. What was next? Oh Tommy, you’ve grown so much? He wouldn’t doubt it.

He hesitated in answering the question. The first time Tommy met the Angel, it was much less obvious, but he was extremely awkward when he spoke. Tommy was half convinced he wasn’t actually trying to be ominous or conceal his identity, he was convinced that the Angel was just too awkward to talk with his persona. That probably wasn’t the reason, but it was a very reasonable reason in Tommy’s opinion. “I mean, I’ve been fine, I guess?” He put a cup top on the cups of coffee and tea for the two, “Are you not going to have anything?”

The Angel raised his hand slightly in decline and shook his head, “No, I’m good for now, thanks, mate.” He paid for the order and then some. When Tommy saw him leave the shop, he saw The Angel stop outside the door and waited for the door to close.

Then one of the strangest interactions he had ever seen play out. He couldn’t really tell what was happening, but when the Angel had his hands on his hips, looking down at the flock of crows he could tell that the Angel was probably scolding the crows. From what Tommy could see though, he was actually upset with the crows and he took the bag of donuts and started throwing donuts at the flock for them to eat. He stood there waiting for them to eat the donuts before he took off, the flock following close after, it was a very strange interaction, but the sight of all the monotonous crows taking off at once was a beautiful one. 

“Well,” Tommy said to himself, “That was a journey if I’ve ever seen one.” And no, he was not weird for talking to himself. In an empty shop.

When he went home, both of his roommates were still awake. 

He entered the apartment expecting for them to be asleep, instead he entered the apartment to a Ranboo avoiding eye contact with Tubbo who was staring Ranboo down. Clearly Ranboo was in trouble. Yeah, Tubbo was easy to get on the nerves of, he could only hold so much emotion in his tiny body afterall. But this was his actually upset look and when Tommy closed the door and they both looked at him, he saw why Tubbo was so upset.

Tommy wasn’t exactly sure why he was upset, but he could see what made him upset. 

Ranboo had a bruise. 

Now, Tommy understood that Ranboo was a hero in training, ironic, Tommy knew it was  considering what he was doing, but Ranboo never came home with bruises. That and if the bruise or any injuries he had were made while he was training, the company would heal him. It was part of the deal to keep them as safe as possible during training.

“What the hell happened?” There was no malice in his tone, it was a genuine question, but Ranboo was already feeling bad and probably took it as bad. “You good there, Ranboob?” He wanted to at least make sure Ranboo knew he wasn’t upset with him. Ranboo gave him a small smile and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good.” The scratch on his cheek said otherwise, but Tommy pretended to accept that teacher. 

Tubbo continued to stare down Ranboo, staring them down was Tubbo’s way of getting them to talk when he thought something was important enough that he needed to know. He never did it otherwise, they tried to respect each other’s boundaries to the best of their abilities, but they once promised each other that they would always keep each other safe even if it meant breaking boundaries. 

It was clearly important because Ranboo wasn’t a liar. He absolutely hated lying to them, always telling the truth. From memory he couldn’t remember a single time where he had lied to either of them. He wasn’t lying, but he definitely was avoiding answering.

That’s what made Tubbo upset. It was why Tommy kind of wanted to be upset, too. The only thing stopping him was the fact that Tubbo was already making Ranboo feel bad enough. The fact that Ranboo would hide anything from them was hurtful. Ranboo, Tubbo and Tommy didn’t fight. Or at least that’s what they like to say. They pretended that any problems they had with each other were nonexistent, not really wanting to face them. They were teenagers and they wanted to salvage as much peace as they could. 

Tommy could see that they were both wearing thin. He couldn’t stand to see them like this, he muttered he would go get ready for bed before walking inbetween them to the shower, largening the distance between the two so they wouldn’t do anything stupid. 

“Why can’t you just tell us?” Tubbo asked, Tommy heard him struggling to keep his voice stable.

“It’s just better this way.” 

Chapter Text

Between a diamond and a demon, one would expect for the demon to be the loud, brash one who tried to scare people and cause trouble, but that was simply wrong. 

The Happy Duo was one of the most widely accepted “villains” in the country. It was to be expected since they did try to cause as little trouble as they could, and they were like Robin Hood if Robin Hood were a duo. Took from the rich and gave to the poor, they were extremely nice and had a record for not hurting anyone. People didn’t really see them as villains, but since they did steal they were still breaking the law and publicly enough to garner attention. Good attention. Even though they were supposed to be jailed when found, a lot of heroes and cops would turn a blind eye or pretend nothing was happening when in public since if they were arrested publicly, there would be public outrage especially from the poor and the younger generation who thought they were pretty cool. 

Outside of being a duo, Skeppy, the diamond one did like to play some harmless pranks on people, but when working with BBH, the demon, he tried to stay out of trouble. Though they were villains, they were seen more as vigilantes in the eye of the public. Their reputation as a duo was completely clean, they only stole from people who didn’t need the money and wouldn’t have noticed unless it were them stealing, the amount stolen not putting a dent in their numbers. They were only ‘evil’ to the government because they were popular. 

“Welcome to the shop,” Tommy said, “What would you like to order?” Strangely enough, they were the most normal customers he had cause literally everyone else did something completely out of the normal, Happy Duo just stole and helped the poor. 

“A caffe mocha for me and for him a muffin,” Skeppy said, pointing to BBH, “because he can’t handle coffee, it’s too bitter or something,” from that alone, Tommy knew that Skeppy was a talker. He was already oversharing and they just met. 

He placed their orders and was going to get a muffin first since they’re pre-made before realizing they never clarified what flavor BBH wanted, “What flavor?”

Skeppy looked over at BBH, “I want a blueberry muffin.” It wasn’t his first time seeing BBH, it wasn’t his first time seeing BBH in person either, but it was so weird to see BBH smiling. Not that BBH was notorious for being serious, yeah he was more mature than Skeppy was, but he wasn’t some serious guy who was never seen happy. They were named Happy Duo after all, for the happiness they brought to the people they stole for and the positivity they always held even when they were going to get in trouble. But they never cared since they knew what they were doing was for a good cause. 

The reason it was so weird was the fact BBH was basically a void that wore a hoodie and the only features he had were a mouth that could only be seen when he opened his mouth and white eyes. Which in itself wasn’t all that bad, but the light didn’t affect BBH at all, as in the only shadows on him were on his clothing. Otherwise, his skin was pitch black and his eyes were bright enough that Tommy was half convinced that they would give off light if Tommy turned off the lights. But then again that should have been expected seeing as that was how BBH was able to steal so easily, he took care of the stealth part of their heists, even wearing the darkest black clothing he had ever seen on top of his skin. The only color on BBH was red stripes on the sides of his hoodie.

“What name is your order going to be under?” Skeppy and Bad were people he didn’t have to guess the expressions of, neither of them wore masks cause they lived on the edge and they didn’t need it especially after they got support good enough to keep them from ever being arrested as far as the public could see. 

“Bad.” BBH said.

“Bad.” Tommy repeated. “Is that your real name?” This was one of the moments that Tommy was willing to admit he was confused for, out of all the villains, BBH was not the one he thought would reveal his real name first.

BBH, Bad , shrugged his shoulders and he smiled like Tommy’s confusion was funny, “Yeah, something wrong with it?” And Tommy knew that Bad knew that Tommy did not ask that because he thought his name was weird, which in retrospect it was kind of weird but he’s roommates with a guy named Ranboob and his roommate would always try to correct him like he was wrong. Bad knew that Tommy meant that in a why the hell are you telling me your real name way. 

Skeppy clearly found it funny cause he burst out laughing when he saw Tommy’s confused face which caused Bad to start laughing, too. It was extremely clear they were best friends with how close they were, the fact that they decided mutually to do crime for the better good, and how if one of them laughed the other would too just because he liked that the other was happy. 

Also , Tommy had realized that even though the coffee was for Skeppy and they obviously knew he wouldn’t be writing on the muffin, wait actually. No, no, that would be bad for the shop’s nonexistent reputation. He had to hold himself back more than Ranboo had to hold himself back from putting spaghetti into every meal . Seriously. Tommy was sick of it. 

When he finished their order, he did pretend to not know that Bad was Bad’s name, he wanted to at least do something to get back at them, and he doubted that either of them would actually care seeing as one of them was notorious for pulling pranks. “Order for… Bed?” He saw Bad freeze in his spot midconversation with Skeppy who burst out into giggles. Giggles did seem like a weird word to use for a so-called villain’s laugh, but that was what best described it. Bad seemingly did not know how to react to that because he only blinked, Skeppy raised his hand stifling his laughter.

“Here.” Bad crossed his arms, squinting his eyes at Skeppy, Skeppy tried to compose himself, “It’s Bad actually.” Tommy shrugged innocently as if he was completely clueless as to what was happening. Skeppy also shrugged but in a what can I do? kind of way.

Happy Duo were by far the most casual and least intimidating of the villains Tommy had met and it was probably because they were just chill people who wanted people to be happy. 

They talked about whatever they talked about before Skeppy called Tommy for his attention, making Tommy’s head snap up. Tommy looked at Skeppy waiting for him to ask him what he needed from him, “Have we met you before?’

Tommy’s jaw dropped slightly, he closed his mouth after a split second, “Yeah,” Tommy hesitated. ”A while ago you gave my roommates and I some food.” Skeppy and Bad both looked a little shocked at that before they looked at each other and gave each other a smile that probably meant something that he couldn’t understand. To them it meant that everything was worth it.

Even though they were known for their positivity, they were people, too, no matter what people thought of them.

A year before he started working at the coffee shop and Ranboo and Tubbo got their jobs and the three of them were anywhere near stable, they met the Happy Duo. They were struggling with getting food when the renowned Skeppy and BBH were behind them and handed them food with a warm smile. They told the three to stay safe and left as the three stayed standing there shellshocked.

That moment, the moment someone labelled as a ‘villain’ showed him and his family kindness. That was when he decided that someone being called a villain didn’t make them a bad person. 

Chapter Text

Seeing as they hadn’t known each other for long, it was a new and unexpected sight to hear the shop door open to the Angel of Death with a nervous smile as Siren hung onto him. Siren was most definitely drunk and Tommy was not paid to take care of drunk people, he was paid to give them drinks. “Can we stay in here for a bit,” the Angel gestured to Siren, “As you can see, he’s not exactly doing very well. Had a little too much to drink.” Right, a little. 

If it weren’t for the fact he felt bad at the idea of kicking them out with Siren being drunk, for some reason still in costume, and the Angel, also in costume, having to take care of a drunk Siren, he would have kicked them out. He was tempted to even though the idea made him feel bad, but his heart told him that he should let them stay so he did since he is Tommy and he is always right because he is the best. No one deserved to have to take care of Siren nevermind Siren when he was drunk. 

He didn’t mind drunk people too much as long as they weren’t the bad kind or the alcoholics who were always drunk. He also didn’t want to deal with the criers since he couldn’t handle some drunk person crying to him about something; he couldn’t handle people crying, especially if he didn’t know the person. Tommy never cried, obviously, since he was the biggest man. 

“Yeah, just remember to close the curtains.” Tommy nodded at them. He watched as the Angel sat Siren down onto the closest seat and closed the curtains. He wasn’t sure about the relationship between Siren and the Angel, but he knew that the Angel cared about Siren a lot or he wouldn’t have been dealing with it. He closed the curtains without complaint and looked at Tommy with what he assumed to be an apologetic look. Tommy gave an awkward smile to say it was okay even though it wasn’t and he really didn’t feel like dealing with a drunk person, “Need a water to help, I don’t know, sober him up or something?” Or at least lessen the headache he would have when he woke up with a hangover, but he didn’t say that cause he didn’t actually care that much about Siren, that’s what he thought at least, he open the fridge ready to get one and looked over at the Angel who nodded, sitting next to Siren.

“Water would be good, thanks, mate.” 

He walked over to them with a water bottle and gave it to the Angel without a word, the Angel muttering a thanks as he opened the bottle for Siren. Tommy was slightly confused as to why they were there, there were better places to be drunk. Like at home. Somewhere safe. Unless they both considered the shop to be safe enough. Maybe they just thought that Tommy was too weak to hurt him, but that wasn’t it so it was clearly ‘cause they felt safe in his protection. “We’re here cause Siren over here missed you, he kept telling me he felt bad he hasn’t been visiting lately and he doesn’t have a ‘good’ reason except a lack of motivation.” Oh. Turned out he didn’t need to ask anyways. 

Tommy didn’t understand people who felt bad over little things like that. He didn’t think it was something that should be apologized for since it wasn’t their fault. Siren couldn’t control his emotions, so he couldn’t control how motivated he would be to see people and to go out, he didn’t mind not seeing Siren for a week, Tommy saw him all the time anyways.  He shrugged, “Nothing to feel bad about.” Tommy stared at Siren who had his head down on the table, he definitely drank more than ‘a little’ too much. The Angel nudged at Siren, telling him he should drink water.

He was completely out of cause when Siren looked up, he turned his head to Tommy and smiled at him. From that smile alone he could tell that Siren was completely out of it. Siren’s smile was usually bright, but this smile was one that made him look like he was in a dream state, like he was the one who was mind controlled. 

Oh. Tommy realized. He was a happy drunk. And he didn’t know whether he should’ve been relieved or not. “Tommy!” Siren said like it was some surprise to see Tommy at the only place he had ever seen him. “What are you doing here?” Siren really was the kind to be completely unaware of his surroundings when he was drunk, Tommy should have expected that, but he didn’t so he could only stare at Siren in silent judgement. It was silent, but his judgement was clear in his face as the Angel’s lips quirked at the sight, Siren in his state was completely unaware of what was happening. 

“I work here.” Was he purposely trying to deadpan at Siren? No, but it did come across that way since he didn’t go out of his way to fake some sympathy. “You should drink the water.” Tommy nodded his head towards the water in the Angel’s hand. Siren obliged and grabbed the water, sitting up to drink it, Tommy ‘not being able to stand looking at him struggle’, eventually steadied Siren’s hand, making SIren at the fact Tommy was comfortable to initiate any physical contact even if it wasn’t much. 

After he drank the water, he stared off into nothing and blinked, “Oh.” Tommy didn’t know what happened, but it probably had something to do with him being at the coffee shop, only somewhat gaining consciousness of his surroundings after the water. He still didn’t have a hold on his emotions though seeing as he still had the same smile when he did smile again. 

Tommy mentally apologized both to the Angel of Death and the Blade. No one deserved the torture of having to watch Siren all the time, the Angel had to go all the way to the coffee shop because Siren felt bad about something. All the way , Tommy thought, but he didn’t actually know how far the coffee shop was from their home; assuming they lived together.

Siren tugged on the fabric of Tommy’s shirt, making Tommy look down at him, his head back down on the table. He waved for Tommy to lean his head down like a toddler trying to tell someone a secret. Tommy did it simply so Siren wouldn’t complain and throw a tantrum like a child. 

He whispered, horribly at that, but it was an attempt. That part didn’t matter though.

“Tommy,” Siren started, “My name is Wilbur.”

Chapter Text

“Tommy, my name is Wilbur.” 

The Angel and Tommy both froze, the Angel looked more stiff, and even frozen, Tommy looked animated with the shocked expression plastered on his face. Tommy looked at the Angel in shock. Tommy blinked and looked back at Siren. “Um.”

‘Yeah,” the Angel replied. Man did the Angel want to facepalm. He pursed his lips, not knowing what to say. 

They were both speechless, the Angel brought Siren there not expecting anything to happen, Siren wasn’t a secret spilling drunk, but apparently he really wanted to get that secret out. Tommy didn’t expect for Siren to actually say a secret when he acted like he was a toddler with a secret. 

“Um,” the Angel started, “Yeah so, we should just… go. Sorry, mate.” Siren was still completely out of it, not knowing what he did wrong, but got up when the Angel nudged him to get up to leave. 

Tommy watched them. “Yeah. I guess you should. Bye.”

If he could have chosen any moment to say was the awkwardest moment of his life, it would be that moment. The Angel turned slightly to Tommy to give him a wave before leaving and Tommy gave a small wave back.

The relief he felt when the Dream Team entered the shop was a kind he couldn’t describe, he was so happy he didn’t have to deal with what would be an awkward confrontation about the night prior. It would be fear if not for the fact that he had already met the Dream team once and he had seen that they weren’t all that bad, and they acted like anyone else with their close friends. 

“What would you like to have today?” 

Sapnap, learning from the first time they came, took the initiative to order for them instead, not trusting 404 to order their actual drinks for them. Unsurprisingly, Sapnap decided to mess with 404’s order as revenge, “Two sweet teas, cold , and water. Sapnap.” Tommy didn’t think that a water was all that good of a punishment seeing as 404 ordered them a drink that was commonly drank as cold, hot, but he went with it ‘cause it wasn’t 404’s actual order. 

When he went to their table and placed down their drinks in front of each of them, he wasn’t expecting such a visceral reaction from 404 when he saw a water placed in front of him. It was the weirdest thing, he was half convinced that 404 would die if he drank water or something. In short, he looked disgusted by the water. “Why would you do this to me, Sapnap? I thought we were friends.” Dream and Sapnap seemed to find it the most funny thing ever as they burst out laughing at the betrayal in 404’s voice. That and the fact that it was water. Seriously, what was so wrong with the water? 

404 rolled his eyes, “Can I get something else? Literally anything else, I need caffeine to stay up. My ability makes me sleepy a lot.” Oh . Tommy understood why he was so disgusted by the water. Of course, they knew each other’s boundaries, so Tommy saw that 404 wasn’t actually upset and it was just a joke but he did understand why it was so bad to see an uncaffeinated drink. 

“Yeah, of course, big man, I’ll even get you a discount.” He didn’t care for him personally , but he did care for their situation. Obviously, he knew that all of the Dream Team were basically set for life, or at the very least financially stable or ‘comfortable’ as people say it, but it didn’t feel right not giving him a discount so he didn’t have to pay as much for something he needs to stay awake. It was kind of like him and the discount he was supposed to have on necessary foods at stores except his was supposed to be required by law, and 404 was a unique situation so it wasn’t big enough to be added to the law.

404 gave a smile at that, “Thanks, I’ll have a latte if that’s fine.” Tommy gave him a thumbs up before starting on the latte. 

He spaced out, not really thinking about anything as he made the latte, the voices of the Dream Team in the background filling the silence.

In the middle of the latte being made, he heard the door open, making him look up. He was both nervous at the thought of it being a normal customer walking into a shop where the Dream Team was casually hanging out, and excited at the idea of two different parties of people being in the shop at the same time considering it was the first time it was happening. 

Even though it was a villain he ended up seeing at the door, he became nervous, well, not nervous, but it definitely wasn’t excitement. Siren stood at the door, frozen when he saw that the Dream Team was also there. He definitely wasn’t frozen out of fear, so he was probably shocked that other people were there the one day he was planning on confronting Tommy about something stupid he did.

Tommy looked away from Siren to finish making the latte and went to give it to 404 with a smile, 404 stopping mid conversation to thank him with a small nod and smile before going back to the conversation with Dream and Sapnap. 

Siren sat down at a table near the Dream Team, getting their attention, apparently they all knew him because they all greeted him happily and he joined their conversation. Siren and Tommy both knew that the fact that neither of them greeted each other was a sign that something was up, they both knew something extremely awkward was going to happen and that the awkward tension between them was going to stay there even though they weren’t interacting with each other. 

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, Tommy couldn’t really judge since they only came once before then, they stayed for a couple hours, ordering refills and leaving a tip as they were getting up to leave. They left the shop, each saying their own goodbyes. 

Siren and him sat in an awkward silence for a bit, avoiding each other’s eyes. 

“So…” Siren started, “I’m sorry for what happened.” He scratched the back of his neck, not sure what to say. Tommy had never seen Siren so awkward before. “Especially if you’re uncomfortable around drunk people, I’d feel really bad if I made you uncomfortable.” 

Tommy pursed his lips, “You’re good, I didn’t mind.” Sure, it was always weird to talk to people outside of Tubbo and Ranboo, but at some point he had gotten comfortable talking with Siren, so it was a completely weird experience to feel so awkward around Siren. They still were avoiding eye contact.

“You can call me Wilbur,” Siren said. 

“Alright Wil-bur.” Tommy enunciated both syllables. 

“Now get me my Earl Grey to-go, Tommy.”

From that alone, Tommy knew that the awkward tension he felt was mutual even after the situation was confronted. It wasn’t nearly as heavy, but awkward nonetheless and neither of them could stand it or Siren, Wilbur , wouldn’t have asked for his drink to-go.

It was confirmed true when it stayed silent as he made the drink, and Wilbur left the store shortly after leaving a tip. The to-go cup read ‘ Wylbir ’.

For days when he got home, he could feel the silence enveloping the place. He closed the door feeling heavy, not used to the heavy silence. He was used to coming home to happy conversations or calm silence that filled the apartment as his roommates were sleeping peacefully. 

It wasn’t like he could see them purposely ignoring each other, but it was that instinctual feeling that something was wrong. Neither Tubbo nor him knew what that was, they only knew Ranboo was lying to them. Hiding something was a better word, but this was the closest to a lie Ranboo would get.

“I’m home,” Tommy called out, hoping that the tension would be broken, but he got the same response as he got the days prior. He heard them both hum in acknowledgement, but neither of them said anything. They never had a fight that bad and he didn’t know what to do.

When he heard of fights that people had with their friends, they talked of yelling and arguing and passive aggressive remarks. He heard nothing in this fight. He didn’t know what was worse. 

Chapter Text

The people who walked through the door looked to be normal people. He didn’t believe that though, he thought the same thing about Quackity and he was tricked into a false sense of security. A man and a woman walked in, or at least that’s what he thought but he didn’t want to assume, but nonetheless two people walked in. 

One of them wore a gas mask that wrapped around his jaw and nose, his eyes were still visible though, so it was still pretty easy to see what he looked like. Though most people would assume that after so many villain visits that would be a signoff to say that he was most definitely a villain, but a lot of people needed accommodations like masks to function properly and he didn’t doubt that that was the purpose of it. He had green hair, which was whatever, but it was unique enough to note since everything else about him was normal including his clothes which just looked to be a normal jacket and a pair of pants. 

The woman was a few inches shorter than the man and had split dyed puffy hair, half brown and half white. That wasn’t all that weird and he almost didn’t notice since Ranboo also had split dyed hair, it was just slightly different since Ranboo’s was half black and half white. She wore something similar to that of a pirate’s outfit, well, more of a stereotypical one, there were pirates but there were few and most of them didn’t fit the image of a cartoon pirate like this woman did. She had a blouse and wore a corset, completing the pirate look with breeches. The only thing missing was a frock coat that Tommy didn’t doubt she had. She was also a hybrid with horns, it was like Tubbo’s so she was probably a ram hybrid, Tubbo was a goat hybrid but her horns were a similar shape, they were just bigger and heavier but that could have been due to her being older.

“Hey there!” The woman said, greeting Tommy with a wave, the man gave a nod and a lazy wave. 

“What would you like to order?” They looked normal, and yet something told him that they definitely weren’t just normal civilians and he didn’t know what since they look exactly like anyone else. 

The woman turned to the man, “Our usual drinks, or?”

“Yeah, sounds good to me.”

She looked back at Tommy and paused as if she still needed to think even though he had just seen them talking about what they were getting and it was their ‘usual’ drink, so they drank it a lot or it was the thing they drank the most. “Two black coffees for Puffy.”

There it was . Confirmation that he was right . “Puffy.” He said, “Like, like, Captain Puffy Puffy?” She pursed her lips before smiling. She turned to the man who was most definitely also an outlaw in some way like Puffy was in a way that looked to say he recognized me! Which Tommy was conflicted on his thoughts for, he didn’t know if he should be happy that she was excited for him of all people to recognize or not. It really said something about his reputation with villains, weird to say he had one at all. 

Captain Puffy was by no means a villain, she actually didn’t even do anything bad anymore, so it wasn’t like there was any villainy being caused by her. She was someone who would let people seek refuge on her ship where they would go on adventures, he didn’t even know what was so bad about that if he were being honest, but she was classified as an outlaw. After a while, she went back to the land, why, he didn’t understand since a life of adventure seemed so much more interesting, and she went into hiding, never to be found. They all knew she was still alive, they knew she wouldn’t be killed so easily, but apparently she was amazing at hiding considering she didn’t even cover her face so people should have been able to recognize her on the streets. They also knew she was alive because other outlaws would admit that they stayed with Puffy to hide because no one knew where she was except the other outlaws, mostly villains.

“Yeah!” she exclaimed, she pointed to the guy stood next to her, “This is Awesamdude, you can just call him Sam though.” 

“Hey,” Sam said, sending another wave towards Tommy. Tommy blinked at them, shocked, he knew that Wilbur telling him his real name was a big deal even though they were.. friends, but these people were meeting him for the first time and he didn’t think they should trust him to keep their secrets so easily.  

And yet again, Tommy was proven to be right about the both of them being villains, or well, outlaws at the least. Sam was definitely a villain though. He didn’t do anything either. Well, technically he did, but he never did anything on the field. No one actually knew what he looked like. Well, he knew, and obviously Puffy and no doubt other villains knew. Sam was a tech guy, a lot of technology left behind by villains were found to be marked with the same logo, a signature. He also heard that Sam, Awesamdude , would also send in messages, threats,to people he found were doing shady stuff and would leak things to get people in high positions to be kicked out of their position.

Like Happy Duo, Puffy and Sam were also respected by the younger generation, they were just separate and respected for different reasons. Puffy for being a safe place during her active career and even when she ‘retired’, making a home for people who needed it, and Sam for exposing people for bad things and never using violence. People would overlook the fact he made technology for villains cause most villains he gave it to did it for good causes and most of them did minimal damage while still doing it’s job. 

“Yeah I’ll just start on your coffee and you guys can, I don’t know, sit down if you’re staying.” 

“Alright.” Puffy said, going to sit down, Sam doing the same thing, giving him what he assumed to be a smile, but unlike other villains he couldn’t tell ‘cause he couldn’t see his face and he didn’t know if Sam also forgot he wore a mask. 

As he made the coffee he realized what they had both ordered, a black coffee. They were monsters like Techno and no one can say he was calling them monsters cause they were hybrids since he and his roommates, plural, were all hybrids, too. Sapnap was also a hybrid and Tommy didn’t consider Sapnap a monster because he drank not-black coffee. He drank cold tea, but at least the cold tea he drank was usually cold anyway. 

Tommy opted to write ‘Hook’ instead of ‘Puffy’, like Captain Hook. He would not write her name, and he didn’t think that Puffy would care anyways. 

He placed their drinks down in front of them, when they read the name on the cups, they both gave out a small laugh before they started a conversation. Tommy went back behind the counter, and crossed his arms on the surface. He stared at the gas mask, trying to think of what exactly he needed a gas mask for, and no, it wasn’t in a judgy way, it was a he needed to know because he wanted to know kind of way. 

Puffy locked eyes with Tommy at some point, making Tommy look away, pretending like he wasn’t staring at them, but it was too late cause she knew he was staring and nudged Sam on the shoulder to look at Tommy. Sam turned around in his seat, relaxing his arms on the back of his chair.

“You need something?” That sentence would have been somewhat confrontational if not for the fact Sam had such a calm and steady voice that made it not seem like a bad thing. It wasn’t a bad thing, Tommy never did bad things. 

Tommy contemplated asking for a moment, he wasn’t sure if it would have offended Sam to ask what the mask was for. Sam didn’t seem like he was the type of person to be easily offended though, so he assumed it was a safe question to ask. He vaguely gestured at his face where Sam’s mask was, “What’s the mask for?” Puffy seemed to think for a moment about whether he was being rude about it or not by the way her eyebrows furrowed and then relaxed, probably settling with Tommy not meaning anything bad by it. 

“The air sucks, I’m a creeper hybrid so it makes me feel really stuffy and makes me want to explode.” So he was a creeper hybrid. It made sense, he knew that Sam was a hybrid due to the green eyes, he wasn’t sure if his hair was naturally green, too, but him being a hybrid half confirmed that it was natural. 

He nodded his head at the response, “Oh, I totally agree with that, big man. The air is downright horrendous ,” Sam’s eyes furrowed, probably thinking Tommy was making fun of him, but Tommy continued, “I’m an avian, so I feel like I’m suffocating when I try to sleep down here. Our apartment isn’t high enough for me to sleep comfortably.”

“Oh.” Tommy didn’t know if he meant that in an, oh, you’re an avian , way or a, oh, I’m sorry , kind of way, or maybe Sam meant both. 

“Yeah.” It went awkwardly silent for a moment as they avoided eye contact, not knowing what else to say, but he saw Sam look in thought for a moment. 

They did end up staying for a while though, and conversation picked up again after maybe 30 seconds. 

Chapter Text

The third time the Dream Team walked through the door, he didn’t think much of it, he had decided that he simply would not care about villains being regulars at the shop anymore,or he would be way too stressed out every time there was a customer seeing as literally no citizens went there. He’d rather have villains than heroes cause at least villains are already classified as bad and are willing to break laws for their cause, showing that what they say they’re doing it for is what they’re actually doing it for. Heroes on the other hand are loved by all and could easily be bad people, people who have met certain heroes have said that they were ‘cocky’. Obviously, not every hero was bad, there were some good ones like Timekeeper who was known to turn a blind eye to criminals getting away to instead save citizens in the situation. If any hero came to the shop, he’d rather have Timekeeper come, but that's besides the point. 

He got out cups, not thinking too much about it, “Same drinks as last time? Who’s paying this time, Dream?” The Dream Team knew that he knew who they were, but this was the first time Tommy actually said something directly to them that they didn’t say to him. 

Dream was one of the more annoying villains to Tommy, not that Dream actually did anything to him personally that made him dislike him, but the fact that his mask covered both his top and bottom half of his face was very annoying since Tommy depended on facial expressions to know what people were feeling half the time and he already had to guess what all the other villains were doing. It was extremely annoying that he couldn’t see Dream’s face at all. 

“Yep.” Dream sounded exasperated, it was clearly a joke though. It was kind of obvious that Dream would be the one paying, seeing as Sapnap and 404 had paid the last two times they paid so it was clear it was Dream’s turn. 

“Hey Tommy,” Sapnap said, walking to the same seat he sat at the last two times. 404 gave him a wave before going to his seat, Dream following closely behind. 

They fell into steady conversation as he made their drinks, he looked up when two more customers walked in. He didn’t expect to see the two back so soon considering he only met them a bit before. 

The Happy Duo were clearly in the middle of conversation but went quiet when they heard the Dream Team speaking. He should have guessed that the Dream Team and Happy Duo knew each other cause villains are full of surprises so of course one of the most notorious violent villain groups is friends with the most liked calm group who helped the poor. It was weird how life worked, the fact that they were friends, and they seemed close, too, because Bad broke out into a smile when he saw them.

It was mostly Sapnap, Bad guessed, or well, it wasn’t really a guess, it was the fact Bad exclaimed, and Tommy does mean exclaimed, “Sapnap!” He didn’t think he would see anyone say Sapnap’s name with that much excitement, but you learn something new everyday.

Sapnap froze when he heard Bad’s voice, his back was turned to the entrance, and he closed his eyes and looked to be praying it wasn’t who he hoped it was. It was the same kind of look of embarrassment that a kid would have towards their parents in public. He didn’t understand being embarrassed of your parents, he loved his parents, but maybe it was ‘cause he was too young to start rebelling against them. 

Dream and 404 turned their heads towards the door to the duo, “Hey Bad,” Dream nodded towards Skeppy, “Hey Skeppy.” Dream always sounded really casual until he got really heated, passionate , as Dream put it, in a conversation. Dream got ‘passionate’ a lot, but he was never scary or aggressive when he yelled, Tommy would interrupt them if they actually started causing trouble. 

404 waved at them both, the fact that 404 and Dream both greeted Skeppy and Bad seemed to solidify that the Happy Duo were actually there, so he stiffly turned to them, “Hey Skeppy, Bad.” He didn’t seem scared or annoyed or upset, he was just extremely awkward, and he means extremely. Almost as awkward as his last encounter with Siren-- Wilbur . But not as awkward, not many things could be as awkward as that interaction. 

“Long time no see,” Skeppy said, the two of them sat down at a table near the Dream Team. 

Tommy expected the interaction to end at that, but the conversation continued. Skeppy said they would be having the same orders as last time, Bad was more focused on the people at the other table, specifically Sapnap. Tommy seriously had to wonder how they were at all related seeing as they were on the complete opposite sides of the spectrum in all ways. 

“How have you guys been doing?”

“We’ve been doing well, a lot harder to help people though with the new laws that have been preventing the homeless from camping, so we can’t go to our usual spots.” Bad answered Dream’s question, the answer was much sadder than Bad made it sound, but maybe it’s because Bad was older and had already accepted that was how life was. 

404 grimaced at that, no one was really happy with the new laws. If it was bad when Tommy, Ranboo, and Tubbo first ran away, it got worse now that there weren’t camps, the government expected them to just… get a home. As if they didn’t want one, and a law would make them buy one with the money they didn’t have and couldn’t earn because of said government. 

Their government sucked, but it’s often overlooked by anyone not negatively impacted by it, aka the privileged. 

“And you guys? How have you been doing?” 

And that was the line that opened up the catalyst for them to cause trouble for Sapnap. 404 and Dream looked at each other before looking at Sapnap and dramatically gasped like they both were in complete sync with each other. Tommy concluded they shared a single brain cell and it usually went to Dream. 

“Sapnap.” George said, he sounded completely scandalized by whatever Sapnap did wrong. 

“Sapnap.” Dream also said. Dream sounded more serious, but they all knew he was just being dramatic even if he did make it sound like Sapnap committed a serious crime. Well. That was a bad way to word it, obviously Sapnap had committed serious crimes before, but that wasn’t the point. A better comparison would be that Dream sounded like Sapnap kicked a puppy or something. “You haven’t been telling your dad how you’ve been doing?”

Sapnap leaned his head back and groaned, he would have yelled, too, if he didn’t know that Tommy would kick them out if they caused any trouble and yelling in the middle of the night counted as causing trouble ‘cause why wouldn’t it be. Tommy’s jaw dropped, he was still processing what Dream said, thinking that he might have heard Dream wrong. He blinked in shock and it felt like he was watching some soap show. Or celebrity drama. Same difference really in this situation ‘cause everyone there was popular enough to be considered celebrities, or at least famous. 

He couldn’t keep out of this conversation. “Wait, wait, wait. Back up.” Tommy waved his hands in front of him, they all looked at him, the sight of five villains looking at him should have been scary, but he was pretty numb to the fact they were villains by then. “ Bad is Sapnap’s dad?” 

“Well,” Bad said, “Legally, yeah, but he’s adopted and doesn’t call me ‘dad’. I’m just whatever he needs me to be.” Even though Sapnap was being all pouty, Tommy saw that he was trying not to smile at that. Tommy understood why, Bad seemed to really care about Sapnap. He seemed to care about everyone, really. 

“Aww,” Dream and Skeppy ‘gushed’, Tommy couldn’t tell if they were teasing them or not, but he wanted to believe that they were being genuine so he took it as genuine.

Tommy looked away, shaking his head, deciding to focus on other things instead. He remembered that he actually had a job and finished the Dream team’s orders and started on the Happy Duo’s. It was extremely weird to have so many people in the shop at once. Five didn’t seem like much, but it was everything to Tommy who wasn’t used to so many people. The shop bustled with noise and it felt warm, not physically, but somehow he felt warm. 

Chapter Text

When Tommy said that if he were to meet a hero it would be the Timekeeper, it wasn’t an invitation for the Timekeeper to actually come to the shop. It was kind of ironic that he was more scared when a hero came to the shop than when a villain walked into the shop, but considering his situation, it was understandable. 

There was no adrenaline rush like the one he got when he saw the Timekeeper walk into the shop. The fear of a villain coming into the shop not knowing that a hero was there was the scariest thing. He wasn’t scared. He didn’t care enough about the villains to be scared. They just gave him his paycheck. He didn’t care about them. The only one he probably cared about was his ‘friend’ Wilbur. At least that’s what he told himself when he stood stock still, staring at the Timekeeper. 

“What’s up?” It took a moment for Tommy to process that the Timekeeper was talking to him. It also took him a moment to process it was him speaking at all ‘cause he wasn’t expecting for this hero to be talking so casually, especially in costume.  

In Tommy’s opinion, it was much harder to think of heroes as humans than it was for villains. Obviously, they’re human, too, but it was very weird that people idolized them so much, acting like they’re all perfect. At least villains were flawed and everyone knew they had flaws, the only thing people didn’t bother looking for were their positives. The heroes had the opposite problem of people not acknowledging flaws. Only a few people would acknowledge their flaws even when people did. 

Tommy seemed to forget to respond though, because the Timekeeper whistled awkwardly, “You seem pretty young to be working so late.” And that made Tommy remember why the Timekeeper was so respected, he always cared for people a lot. He also liked Timekeeper since he often turned a blind eye to petty crimes like small stealing, and when asked in interviews as to why he did that, he would evade the question or say that he thought they did what they did for a reason. Basically , he liked the Timekeeper for being a decent person. 

He reminded himself that he still had work to do, and nodded mutely, unable to comment on the age thing, “Yeah, um, what would you like to have today?” The Timekeeper smiled when he finally got a response. One good thing about heroes was that most of them showed their faces so he could see the TImekeeper’s expressions, they didn’t really have secret identities, but they did go by hero names to separate their hero selves from their normal selves. It was mostly common knowledge that you shouldn’t approach a hero who is off duty, but there were still people who would bother heroes when they’re trying to live their lives.

“I usually drink Monster, so can you give me a second to pick?” And Tommy nodded. And he waited for the Timekeeper’s order. And this hero, this professional who gets looked up to, looked at Tommy dead in the eyes and said, “Apple juice.”

Tommy stared at him. The Timekeeper stared back. “Seriously?”

“As serious as I can be.” 

Tommy had really lost his filter while serving villains, without hesitating, and not even thinking about it, he responded, “You must not be serious a lot.” And as soon as the words left his mouth, he covered his mouth. He expected to get in trouble or something even though the Timekeeper had a good reputation, but instead the Timekeeper… giggled ? Which was so weird to see and hear from the hero. The Timekeeper wasn’t exactly known as some huge hero, but at least in their city he was known for being all over the place, a lot of people had met him and had good experiences. It was kind of weird that people didn’t consider him a powerful villain, in Tommy’s opinion as well as Tubbo’s, Timekeeper was one of the most powerful, being able to stop time for a bit, rewinding a bit, and fasting forward, he was able to change how things played out. His only limitation was short-term amnesia and derealization he would go through when he couldn’t remember which timeline he was in. Only , it was a big one, but it was the only thing stopping him from constantly using it. People thought of him as less powerful for having a non-combative ability.

Tommy shook his head, in disappointment or disbelief, who knew. “Who’s the order for?” 

The Timekeeper seemed pretty happy to hear the question, it really showed how much villains and heroes just wanted to be treated like people. “Karl.” Now, technically people knew who the heroes were, they knew what they looked like and sounded like and what their abilities were, but no one actually called them by their real names and none of them went by their real names in front of people they weren’t friends with. 

Karl started walking to sit down, but since apple juice took no preparation, as soon as he turned around, Tommy called out his name signalling he had the apple juice ready. All he had to do was take a bottle of apple juice out of the fridge, it was the laziest order tied with the water Quackity was going to order. 

He turned around to grab the apple juice and gave him the amount shown on the register, “Do you have a tip jar?” Tommy grabbed the tip of the jar and held it up, shaking it a bit. Karl put a tip in and turned back around, Tommy was relieved that no villains walked in during the short exchange.

But obviously he was too hopeful, because the moment Karl was turned to the door, the door opened and Quackity was at the entrance. Quackity had a death wish or was extremely stupid becuase the curtains weren’t closed, so he should have seen that Karl was in the shop and known that he was a hero seeing as Karl was still in his hero costume which consisted of some googles that sat on his hair and a color blocked hoodie, not super safe, but he wasn’t a hero that was in a lot of dangerous situations. Well, he was, but he could stop time so clearly the agency thought he would be fine or something, not considering how Karl had negative repercussions when he used his powers. 

Quackity and Karl looked at each other, frozen. Neither of them said anything before Karl’s body relaxed, “I’ll pretend this never happened.” Karl smiled, “I’m not on duty right now.” And so of course the one hero that comes to the shop is one who purposely ignores a big name criminal because he’s not on duty.

Tommy would think that a wanted criminal wouldn’t be so quick to trust a hero, but he clearly underestimated the extrovert tendencies of Quackity who also smiled, he laughed, “Alright, thanks Timekeeper.”  Karl nodded and left the shop easily. 

Well, at least he knew Karl wouldn’t be a problem when it came to the shop unless Karl was different towards villains like the Dream Team or SBI. 

Quackity walked up to Tommy, “I’ll have an espresso.” Which was a different drink from the last time he came. 

Surprisingly, he didn’t stay for long, leaving the shop shortly after, “Have a good day, Tommy!” 

Chapter Text

When a crow flew into the shop window holding a bill in its beak, he knew something was up. Tommy looked at the crow in shock, it was definitely one of the Angel’s crows, because why else would a crow come to the shop with money. Sometimes he forgot that he, other avians, and actual birds couldn’t see glass, the only reason he hadn’t walked into a wall of the coffee shop was because there was a door knob and the addition of the curtains. 

He didn’t discriminate between heroes and villains, so why would he not accept a crow who was also a paying customer? He opened the door, ready to take the money and get the crow 's plain donuts and that would be that. Of course it didn’t work out that way though, because he heard the sound of wings flapping. Multiple sets of wings. It was a flock of wings, actually. He looked up to see a flock of crows flying towards the shop before landing in front of the shop. Tommy didn’t even know how to react to that, and he couldn’t react to it either ‘cause not only was the murder there, the Angel landed shortly after. It was even more startling, because somehow Tommy didn’t even notice he was there. The Angel had mastered the art of being extremely silent and for what? 

Tommy looked up at the Angel, he closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again. No, it was definitely real, what he thought just happened actually happened. He didn’t have the energy to be embarrassed by reality checking in front of the Angel. Instead of actually saying anything, he bent down to take the bill from the crow’s beak and walked inside to get the plain donut holes for the crows. When he checked how much it was worth, he was surprised to see it was a 20. Where the hell was a crow getting a 20 from. Actually, how did a crow get money at all? 

He went back to the door and dropped the bag of donuts in front of them. He looked at the Angel.

“She wanted a pumpkin spice latte.” Tommy blinked at him. He was too tired for this and underpaid, he did not need to question life. He huffed a breath and went back inside. How the hell was a pumpkin spice latte made again? Was a pumpkin spice latte even good for a crow? He couldn’t be bothered to find out. 

He barely scraped one together, he couldn’t really remember the steps, but what would a crow know about a good pumpkin spice latte? He went back outside and placed the pumpkin spiced latte on the floor, seeing the other crows finishing up the donuts. The crow that gave him the money hopped to the cup that read ‘Crow’ before watching her dunk her whole head into the cup. Tommy’s jaw dropped slightly.

“Her name is Amy, by the way.” Tommy looked at the Angel. 

He deadpanned at the Angel and then looked at the crows, he spread his hands out in front of him, gesturing to all the crows, “You’re not telling me that all of them have names right?” When the Angel stayed quiet, Tommy gave him a look of disbelief, “Right?” “C’mon, seriously, there are so many crows!” He looked at the crows, there were so many crows that if you weren’t paying attention you could be tricked into believing it was a completely pitch black area. Every inch of the space was filled with crows, and the only signifier that they were crows were the blinking eyes as they stared at Tommy. “How many are there?” 

The Angel stayed silent, probably embarrassed about the amount, “Over… Over 3000.” Tommy was in disbelief. He was speechless. He had no idea what to say. The door was still open, so one of the crows clearly thought that was an invitation to walk into the shop. Tommy’s eyes followed the crow who looked to be half asleep as it hopped up to the nearest table. It looked into Tommy’s eyes and then chomped the leg of the table. Tommy was half convinced that everything was a fever dream. 

The Angel groaned a bit before walking into the shop and picking up the table, “I’m so sorry about Nap, she’s American.”

It all made sense. “Of course she is.” Tommy looked at the crow, Knap, in the Angel’s hands with squinted eyes, “I’m watching you.”  But while the door was left unintended, another bird walked in.

The Angel watched the bird, the bird flew onto the table silently. And then hell was released when the crow went on a… rant ? The crow continued to caw at the Angel, the Angel looked very tired. The Angel opened his mouth, then closed it. “I’m not translating all that.” The Angel looked at Tommy and said in the most monotone voice, “Latte wants a cake pop.”

“ Latte wants a cake pop ?” The Angel pursed his lips and nodded, he looked to regret his choices.

“No sprinkles please. Latte really doesn’t like sprinkles.” Tommy had to keep reminding himself that he had decided to not question anything anymore. 

He went behind the counter and got a cake pop and went back to ‘Late’, and pointed the cake part of the cake pop to the crow. The crow somehow swallowed it whole. Why would anyone order something only to not savor the taste. Do crows even have taste buds? 

It was silent in the shop, no one knew what to say, ⅗ of them couldn’t talk at all. Well, that was debatable, Late seemed really talkative. Late cawed at Tommy. “Please get these crows out of the shop.” 

He opened the door and the crows waited for them to leave. Somehow they knew what he meant and they all hopped out. It was really a fever dream. 

It got worse. 

When he looked forward, he saw a knife-wielding crow. Where the hell were the crows getting everything? “How do your crows have the most random things? ‘Aimee’ had a 20 and this crow,” Tommy pointed to the crow holding a knife in its beak,  “has a whole knife.” 

“I don’t know, and I’m honestly afraid to ask.” 

The crow with a knife put it’s head forward, probably expecting a pet or something. He lightly pet it’s beak and it let out a satisfied caw.

When the Angel finally left with his murder, he felt like everything was a fever dream. 

Chapter Text

Years of repetition led the young vigilante’s feet across the rooftops. Since her first impression of so-called “villains”, vigilantism called to her. Everyone called them the bad guys, but they gave food and water to starving and thirsty children. She scouted out the streets she had already committed to memory, checking and rechecking supply caches for those who need it and escape routes from the police. She checked her makeshift outfit once more for her smoke bombs.

    Comprised of random fabric scraps, a green hoodie, black joggers, and a stolen pair of sneakers, her outfit has plenty of room to hide her paint cans. A few more hastily sewn-on patches and strips of discarded clothes conceal most of her face. Her forest green eyes are the only thing of her that is visible. Her hair is tucked back under the hoodie, and strips of cloth cover her forearms. Fingerless leather gloves cover her palms
    She recounted the paint cans in her backpack and her gas mask. She slipped it around her neck, preparing to make hasty work of some mansion’s pristine walls. 

Rooftop to rooftop, the neon-green ninja makes her way to the rich district. Sparkling roofs and crystal clear display fountains. She made a face to herself, unable to hide the disgust she was feeling.

 She had helped the happy duo with some runs, not that they knew. When they weren’t looking, she snuck more food--mainly clean water--onto their supply cart. She took the rooftop routes, carrying even more supplies. It still wasn’t enough to sustain everyone who needed some. 

Seeing people with more than enough money to fund the entire lower districts singlehandedly made her want to gag, let alone wasting clean water as a decoration. She dashed off before she did something she would regret. She’ll tag them later. 

The houses got farther and farther apart, with larger gardens and lawns and golf courses and tennis courts and-

She slides to the ground, fuming. The main headquarters for the heroes sat just a couple of streets down. Its sign was out and proud, taunting . It dared villains and vigilantes alike to storm the place. She pulled up the gas mask, calling their bluff.

Weeks of intel gathering, stake-outs, tests, and a well-timed video gave her enough information to breech the whole compound. She’s not going to, of course. She just needs to tag the place to kingdom come. 

She snuck to the front, remembering the lax security. The heroes were so cocksure that no one would dare try anything, they barely had guards. That made it much easier for her to scale the facade and sit next to the sign. She pulled out her phone, opening up a security feed from a camera she’d installed across the street.

It was trippy, seeing herself in the third person, but it made the mural much easier. She tied a long, thin strip of fabric to the poles on the left of her “canvas” to control her movements. Using the sign’s edge to make her way to the other side of the sign, she fed the fabric between her front two belt loops. She pulled some slack, tied the fabric, and pushed off back to begin her sketch. 

Sketches are her favorite part of the process. She gets to use up the old cans with thin, broken streams, and make abstract shapes to define with her new paint. The good paints are super expensive, so she doesn’t waste a drop. 

Slowly but surely, the full moon makes its way across the sky, casting a dim light on the building. The vigilante floated around, using her strip of fabric like a zipline. Her mind became completely enamored in the work she was doing, passing hours with her cans and pure rage.
    Every stream of paint contained neglected children, homeless families, cardboard beds, smashed roofs, tears, blood, skin, and bones, that empty hunger. Each mark told the story of everyone unfortunate enough to be born in the poorer district. Kids lived on the streets and fought for scraps. Teenagers lied about their age to get jobs that don’t pay nearly enough, and the shop owners turn a blind eye because, with no workers, no money comes in. 

Lots of teens and adults turn to escapism. Usually illegal substances. They get hooked, spend all their money on a quick fix, and then wither away in a dead-end alley. If you were lucky enough, you could do a job for the middle district. They took pity on poorer children and viewed them like performing dogs. They paid a fair amount, but few could even perform the labor, and even fewer can endure the coos and taunts. 

Emaciated teens, sullen adults, hollow children-- tens of thousands of stories packed themselves into the young girl’s demonstration. Her red paint started to stall, and she crushed it in her hand. She could barely keep herself from throwing the damned thing into some bigot’s lawn. She stored the can away, promising herself to use it until its last drop.

She knew her limits. While painting the truth onto this stark white building, she almost zoned out in her intense thought. Scheming, planning, needing to break in and distribute supplies to every single kid and adult in the lower districts. Realistically, she knew she was barely old enough to start high school, let alone break into the biggest hero compound in the state. That doesn’t make it hurt any less to see people with empty cups and cardboard signs. 

Wiping sweat from her forehead, she checked the monitor yet again , this time, looking for final details to add. A few more spritzes later, she finished. Untying the ropes, deactivating her power, and running back to the poor district was a chore. She had spent dusk until dawn tirelessly pouring her heart and soul into that piece. 

Slowing to a trot once she reaches her neighborhood, she lowers her gas mask. She lazily scaled the brick wall, climbing in on the top floor. Her other little place to stay after runs and tags. 

The vigilante switched into some nice clothes as if she were the teenage daughter of a high-class businessman. Before heading out, she took a minute to dry her sweat. Relentless work had near worn her out. One bottle of water and a small occurrence of deja vu later, she climbed down the stairs very cautiously, avoiding the gaps, rotten wood, splinters--that is to say, she barely touched the stairs on the way down. 

Her stride reeked of money and power, just like she wanted. She’d learned the secrets of this hellhole a long time. She pulled out her phone to adjust her hair. A sleek high ponytail was the most common hairstyle for the snobs in the high district. Following the sidewalks, she took a different path from her excursion the night before. 

The grocery store came into view. Her plan was to grab water and food, then dash. She reminded herself that if you act as if you belong there, most people won’t question you. It was barely noteworthy, boring , even, to pull off this heist. A few cases of water and nutritional granola bars almost acted like a one-way ticket to the back door. From there, she dashed to her home. 

A little girl sat on the street corner, dressed in rags. She clearly hadn’t gotten proper nutrition. She gave the girl a few water bottles and a box of food. It won’t be enough , her mind supplied as she watched the girl run away. Her smile was forced, the crinkle in her eyes full of sadness. 

Every interaction went the same. Utter joy from the recipients, and a dull pang in the girl’s heart. Even after all her supply runs and sleepless nights, it was never enough. She scaled her building once again, climbing to where her vigilante outfit and everyday clothes laid. She changed, preparing to sleep all day and do another run come evening. 

Before she shuts her heavy eyes, she takes one last look at the camera feed. Entirely unobstructed, her masterpiece positively rips the building to shreds. Anarchy symbols everywhere, depictions of heroes destroying peoples’ homes, workplaces, livelihoods, lives . Rich folks ignoring begging children that they stride by. That scene was so familiar, so close to her heart, almost like she’d seen it before, over and over again.

Down in the bottom right corner, the vigilante put her crushed paint can to use. 

Deja Vu , she signed. 

After almost a week straight of helping the needy, Deja Vu was almost completely exhausted. Her feet took her where her mind wouldn’t have been able to remember. Out of habit, she peeked around the corner. No one was guarding the door. She snuck close to the wall and went into her unofficial room. 

She knew that the Dream Team pretends to not notice her, and she pretends she doesn’t know where they stay. Dream was like an older brother to Deja Vu. There was no threat in the house, so she grabbed some of his clothes and used them as pajamas.
    She fell asleep to the sound of soft laughing from the kitchen, curled into the two-sizes-too-big hoodie. 

NOT CANON!!!!!

Chapter Text

Wilbur clearly needed supervision not by one, but by two people at once. When Wilbur walked into the store he thought that things were back to normal, not that it was not normal, but nonetheless he was not expecting all three members of the SBI and the murder of crows to follow. Not that the crows went into the shop, he had to put a sign up on the door saying ‘NO CROWS IN THE SHOP’. Well, that was a rule, but one of them clearly couldn’t read the sign ‘cause it walked into the store anyways.

Tommy glared at the crow and it got the message and hopped out of the shop. He was later told the crow was named ‘Sink’, which explained why it wore a sink tap on its head. It was probably the other way around though and Seenk was named Seenk cause it wore a sink tap. 

The Blade seemed to still be pretty wary, he couldn’t see his facial expression besides the fact his lips were in a firm line, it might have been a frown but he wouldn’t know, but he was able to see his body language was still pretty tense. From the beginning, he always saw that the Blade was tense, he was probably naturally wary anyways, but it became more stiff after the confrontation. That didn’t really make sense to Tommy, he would think that it would make him less wary but he wasn’t one to judge. 

“Same as usual or?” He didn’t look away from them, he wasn’t as scared of them as when he first met them all individually, it was the first time he saw them in person. It should have been more intimidating, but to him it wasn’t all that intimidating after seeing them all as themselves even if it wasn’t their actual citizen personality, it was at the least not their villain selves. Not the villain selves that people made them, at least. 

The Angel nodded and gave a soft smile, “Yeah, thanks, mate. “

Wilbur was still the tiniest bit off, but not enough for him to act awkward. He was just bad at hiding, he was awkward, but he wasn’t good at acting on the awkward tension. Tommy didn’t understand why Wilbur was still awkward, they talked it out afterall and that should have been enough. At least that’s how he thought it worked. Talk about your problems and then put it behind you, right? He didn’t really know, he didn’t encounter many problems with his friends, but that seemed to make the most sense in his opinion. Tommy believed that people should just talk their problems out if they’re not ignoring it. What was so bad about ignoring your problems? Their apartment wouldn’t be so awkward and tense if they ignored their problems, or maybe if Ranboo finally told them what was wrong. But he didn’t want to force him to tell them what was wrong, so ignoring their problems it is. But that’s besides the point, he got sidetracked too easily. 

“Why are you all here at once? Special occasion?” Because why else would they come all at once or maybe, “Or do you both just not trust Wilbur to come here alone?” When he saw the both of them slightly turn their head towards each other silently, he knew he hit the mark. They both seemed to be just the tiniest bit stiffer after hearing Tommy say Wilbur’s name. They both were too uncomfortable to actually answer, so the Angel nodded for the both of them. Tommy nodded, a dramatic sympathetic look on his face, “Yeah, me neither. Wilbur is pretty stupid isn’t he.” It was worded like a question, but said like a statement. It was a statement. 

Surprisingly, the Blade huffed a laugh and the Angel smiled, Wilbur rolling his eyes, offended. “Deserved.” The Blade and Tommy commented. 

“ Is not .” And the Angel patted him on the back in mock comfort, or real comfort, but either way, it came off as mock comfort since the Angel held back a laugh and had previously smiled after Tommy called Wilbur stupid. Because he was. No need to reiterate that though.

He placed the full cup of black coffee down and clanked two tea cups on the tray. Tommy gestured for them to take a seat before pouring Wilbur’s usual into both cups. The Angel stared in confusion at the second cup Tommy poured. He grabbed some paper towels and wrote something down on the top paper, leaning down over the counter to do so. He paused for a moment before continuing whatever thing he wrote, short as it was. 

Tommy took the tray of drinks and brought it over to the table the SBI sat at. And wow, it was a weird thought. The SBI . He didn’t really get hit with the realization that they were powerful villains until he remembered they had an official group name they were known by and wanted for. Yeah. But he didn’t know the SBI. He knew Wilbur and whoever the other two were. But it definitely wasn’t their villain selves. Not the Blade, the Angel of Death, and Siren. Not from what Tommy knew or saw at least. Or maybe he was getting ahead of himself. Maybe they did act like that as their villain selves.

He didn’t know them . Of course he didn’t. Tommy didn’t know why he would think otherwise.

He placed their cups in front of them, when he looked at them, Tommy saw them staring at him weirdly. They were weird like that. The Angel opened his mouth, picking up the Earl Grey tea, probably going to say something about not ordering it. “If you’re going to do anything but drink that tea with that open mouth, I will sock you in the face.” The Angel played it safe and opted to drink the tea quietly. The Blade on the other hand looked at him skeptically, debating on whether to take that threat seriously or not. 

After drinking some tea, he placed the tea back down. “You make some good tea.” Tommy blinked at him, not sure what to say. People didn’t usually compliment the drinks made by employees knowing that all cups were supposed to be made the same. Tommy obviously made everything the best though, so he wasn’t surprised. Of course not.

“Of course I do! I make the best tea, mister the Angel of Death.” Wilbur, who was drinking his cup of tea, choked when Tommy finished the sentence. Because of course he did, Tommy was the funniest person to ever exist. 

“Mate.” The Angel deadpanned. “Stop calling me ‘mister’! I’m not that old, stop listening to Wilbur.” Wilbur had a big smile on his face that he tried to hide by taking another sip of tea when the Angel looked at him.

Wilbur faked a serious face after calming himself down. “I don’t know what you mean, I would never do that.” He turned to Tommy, “Don’t listen to him, I would never lie to you.” And he wasn’t sure if Wilbur was being dramatic or if he was actually telling the truth. Tommy also didn’t know if he wanted Wilbur to be telling the truth or not. 

The Blade was weirdly talkative that day, talkative wasn’t the best word but in the Blade’s standard, it was a lot. “That’s true, if anything, you tell Tommy too much. What’s next, your face?” Wilbur and the Blade looked at each other, having a stare off. The Blade must have recognized the look on Wilbur’s face as one that’s about to do something stupid. In Tommy’s opinion, Wilbur always looked like he was about to do something stupid and always did stupid things. “That wasn’t a challenge.” 

“It was to me.” And Wilbur, the idiot he was, took off his mask then and there. All of them face palmed, but Wilbur took that as a win. Tommy could audibly hear the disappointment from Techno and the Angel. 

“Never speak to me again.” The Blade no longer wanted to be associated with someone like Wilbur. Wilbur clearly trusted Tommy too easily because he had the common decency to be nice to people he didn’t know. The Blade and the Angel understood why he trusted Tommy, but two months of knowing someone was a bit quick to be revealing their identities considering they never told anyone but other villains their identity. Even then, the amount of people who knew their names and faces were few and far between. The Angel gave the most strained smile to Tommy and then looked at Wilbur like he would be yelling at him if not for Tommy being there. Tommy thought Wilbur should be thankful for Tommy for saving his life. 

Wilbur, in all honesty, looked nothing like Tommy thought he would, but then again he didn’t have any expectations for what he would look like. 

Tommy sucked in a breath, closing his eyes, trying to not sock Wilbur in the face. Letting out a breath he asked, “Anyone want a refill?” He decided that he would pretend that nothing happened. It would give him peace of mind.

Chapter Text

“Man, you’re kind of ugly, not gonna lie.” He was joking, of course. Everyone is ugly in comparison to Tommy. 

It was so much better to make fun of Wilbur when he was able to see his face. Not because it was a nice face, but because his facial expressions being seen made his reactions so much funnier. The Blade let out an extremely frustrated sigh at the reminder that Tommy knew top secret information.

At some point after they all finished their drinks, the Angel and the Blade forced Wilbur to leave. The Angel gave Tommy a wave and the Blade gave him a nod in acknowledgement, Wilbur actually said “Goodbye, Tommy.” before leaving. 

Well, at least he knew what to expect for the future when Wilbur came. 

Shortly after they left, the door opened to a boy around his age walking through the door. Surprisingly, he wasn’t wearing a mask, but he wouldn’t let that fool him. Not like when he thought Quackity was a normal citizen.

Tommy wouldn’t let himself be fooled into thinking that Purpled was a civilian, especially when there were such clear signs he wasn’t. Specifically, the boy donning a recognizable purple hoodie. Recognizable in the sense that he had seen pictures of it plastered on street light poles, not in the way that he had seen Purpled before.

Purpled, a name Tommy found kind of stupid, it was just the color purple with the letter D at the end, would have been a vigilante if not for the fact he also did a lot of ‘jobs’ for money. His only real rule was that there was some sort of good reason and he got paid, Purpled had been reported to have some sense of justice. He has been seen fighting crime on the streets as well, so he definitely wasn’t the worst of the bunch.

“Is this the cafe I’ve been hearing about?“

Tommy rolled his eyes at the boy, “What part of ‘Corner Store Coffee Shop’ do you not understand, we’re not a cafe. ” And Tommy sounded offended at the idea of working at a cafe, rightfully so though. Tommy would never work at a cafe. That would be stupid. Coffee shops were clearly superior. Wait a minute. “Wait, what do you mean you’ve been hearing about?” ‘Cause as far as he was concerned, the only people coming were villains, unless the shop was blowing up during the day, which Tommy doubted was happening. 

Purpled shrugged, “I don’t know, apparently, Siren has been going around and telling everyone to come here. Some others have been talking about it and stuff, making plans to come here more in the future.” Tommy groaned, he was kind of happy to hear that they were going to continue coming, but it was also pretty stressful that they were outlaws being looked for and embarrassing that Wilbur was going around telling villains and the like to come to the most obscure coffee shop that people only come by once or twice before forgetting it, only thinking about it when they pass by. 

“He’s so embarrassing.”

“Right? Sucks to be you, I guess.” He paused, realizing that, like the Blade who he couldn’t be bothered to think too much about, Purpled lacked the accent that made someone valid, and had the accent that made them invalid. He was American . The nerve of the guy. Everyone was valid until they weren’t, and they weren’t when Tommy says they weren’t. 

“Wait,” Tommy started, “Are you American?” 

Purpled stood there, they stared at each other. “I tip.” 

Fair enough. 

“Fine, what do you want to drink?” Tommy wasn’t exactly in a place to complain. With a victorious smile, he walked up to the counter, and the guy, like a wrongun’ , picked up the menu. How messed up is that? Out of everything he had seen before, someone picking up a small menu that sat on the counter was the most disturbing thing ever. Well, actually, the Blade drinking black coffee, and Wilbur drinking iced coffee was worse. 

Like the horrible person he was, Purpled answered, “I want a donut glazed with strawberry icing.” Glazed with strawberry ice cream , god did he sound pretentious. Like Wilbur, he wasn’t sure why he decided that he had some imaginary grudge against Purpled, but he did and he was in the right for it. 

“You come to a coffee shop,” Tommy said slowly, “to order a donut. Without a drink.”

“The customer is always right, Tommy.” Of course Purpled was the type of person to use his name. Purpled was Purpled. And yes, Tommy was qualified to make these conclusions from the couple minutes that they had known each other. 

Without breaking eye contact, he got a napkin, almost knocking down some to-go cups that were next to the napkins, placing it down on the counter; continuing to not look away, he opened the display case to grab a strawberry donut- not ‘donut glazed with strawberry icing’ -to place on top. “0.85.” 

Purpled glanced at the donut, then he looked at Tommy,  “I only have a 10s and 20s.” 

“Oh wow, look at mister rich guy, guess what, I can’t break a 10 or 20 right now because no one else has come today, so you’re going to have to choose.” Purpled let out a sigh. He took out his wallet and looked through his bills, probably double checking whether or not he had smaller ones. After realizing that no, he didn’t have smaller bills, he glanced between the donut and his money and decided that the donut was worth it. If Purpled was going to overpay, he was going to overpay, he placed a 20 in front of Tommy. Where were these villains and vigilantes and drug dealer, no S, getting all their money, and how can he get it. Well, it was probably illegal, but that’s okay, if Tommy did it, it was okay.

He took the donut before Tommy could even pick up the bill, and he sat at a table that was unoccupied. Which wasn’t saying much seeing as the whole shop besides the one seat that Purpled sat at was unoccupied. 

Purpled bit off a piece of the donut and he watched Tommy, man was Purpled weird. But Purpled also thought that Tommy was extremely weird. “Man, you are so weird.” He bit off another piece of his donut. 

Tommy wasn’t sure how to react to that, it was so out of nowhere and random. “What do you mean?” It was weird how different Purpled was from a lot of other customers he had been getting. Weirdly enough, he was somehow comparable to the Blade and Dream. They definitely weren’t the same, but they definitely had the same energy. The three of them were all analytical in different ways is what Tommy had noticed. 

The Blade and Dream were definitely more similar to each other than Purpled was to either of them, they were the quiet observers. They would watch Tommy in silence as everyone else would be talking to Tommy. Everything Tommy did they would look at and add it to some internal file, or something, that they had on everyone.

Purpled was different, he was pretty up front about the fact that he was watching. Though Purpled did say that he thought Tommy was weird, he still didn’t ask any questions to clarify any confusion he had. Purpled knew that Tommy could lie. He had a harder job though, he couldn’t watch silently as Tommy interacted with everyone, he had to watch Tommy and just assume. Not to say that the Blade and Dream didn’t have to make assumptions either. 

People too often underestimated Tommy, Tommy knew that they were observing him. No, he didn’t change how he acted, and no, he didn’t know everything they thought about him. However, he did notice.

Purpled didn’t answer his question. “Tommy,” Purpled said. “I think we’ll be seeing each other a lot more in the future.” He ate the last of his donut and left the shop before Tommy could reply.

Chapter Text

It was a good day, he knew this because the customers he got were Sam and Puffy; they were one of the more normal customers and that was probably because they didn’t do crime so explicitly. 

“Same as last time?” 

Sam gave him a thumbs up, and Tommy started on their drinks. Black coffee, these two were the only ones he wouldn’t make fun of for drinking coffee, because they were at least chill villains. Weird wording, Tommy was aware. 

He placed their coffee down in front of them and he turned to go back to the counter, he paused when Sam cleared his throat, “Wait,” Tommy turned around, “I have something for you.” Tommy saw that Sam had reached a hand out that he never placed on Tommy, probably not wanting to touch him without permission. His hand fell when Tommy was fully turned around. 

“What?” And Tommy, though he was also asking what Sam had for Tommy, was just genuinely confused as to why Sam would have something for Tommy in the first place. 

Sam turned to take something out of a backpack that Tommy hadn’t seen he had in the first place. It was clearly something he made, his logo was on it, and as much cool technology that Tubbo had shown Tommy, Tommy didn’t recognize whatever it was that he took out. He realized it was something related to breathing though, an oxygen mask attached to a tube that linked to the main machine. 

Tommy stared at the machine.

“The air sucks, I’m a creeper hybrid so it makes me feel really stuffy and makes me want to explode.” So he was a creeper hybrid. It made sense, he knew that Sam was a hybrid due to the green eyes, he wasn’t sure if his hair was naturally green, too, but him being a hybrid half confirmed that it was natural. 

He nodded his head at the response, “Oh, I totally agree with that, big man. The air is downright horrendous ,” Sam’s eyes furrowed, probably thinking Tommy was making fun of him, but Tommy continued, “I’m an avian, so I feel like I’m suffocating when I try to sleep down here. Our apartment isn’t high enough for me to sleep comfortably.”

“Oh.” Tommy didn’t know if he meant that in an , oh, you’re an avian, way or a, oh, I’m sorry, kind of way, or maybe Sam meant both . 

Tommy’s head snapped to Sam at the memory. “You didn’t.” And a smile grew on Tommy’s face, it sounded too good to be true, but he wanted to believe it nonetheless.”

Sam’s eyes crinkled in a smile that Tommy couldn’t see, but was no doubt there, “I did.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, Tommy saw Puffy smile, too, Tommy looked at her. Puffy nodded, “He did. I watched him make it himself.” No, he didn’t want to cry. Big men don’t cry. 

Big men did express their gratitude when it was deserved though, “Thank you… like,  genuinely.”

“Of course.” It was weird that the most genuine people that Tommy had met in his life were all villains; Tubbo and Ranboo, too, but they don’t count ‘cause he doesn’t remember meeting them. Tommy looked back at the machine, wondering where he would keep the machine until his shift was over. 

He wasn’t able to revel in the bliss for long before he froze, hearing the door open. Tommy looked over to the door--oh. Oh no .

There at the door stood Tubbo. The only saving grace in the situation was the fact that it wasn’t his other roommate who was a hero intern, that would be so much worse. Tommy prayed that Tubbo wouldn’t recognize them. 

All hope was immediately lost when Tommy saw Tubbo’s mouth open into an ‘O’. He looked at Sam and Puffy. Tommy looked at them, too. “Is,” Tubbo paused, “Is that Sam… and Puffy?” The three guilty parties, guilty wasn’t exactly the right word though since Tommy was never a guilty party, looked at Tubbo- Sam and Puffy unfreezing -and faked a nonchalant laugh. 

“What? No, me? Puff--"

“What do you mean? They’re not--” Tommy spluttered, not sure how to lie, he was a horrible liar, it was his one fault, “Who, them?”

Sam placed his bag in front of the machine, covering it horribly, without breaking eye contact with Tubbo, “Nope.” How was it that in a group of three people, none of them were good at lying? It was a truly curious thing.

Tubbo didn’t try to hide the deadpanned expression from his disappointment. There were reasons that the ‘only’ person that Tommy feared was Tubbo; the fact that he was able to stare into the eyes of people legally labelled villains and show how disappointed in their lying skills he was. Among other things that Tommy would rather not admit to happening. He wanted to keep some of his dignity and he had a reputation to keep as the biggest man. 

The shorter boy took a step forward, “They’re not hurting you, right?” Tommy nodded his head.

“No they actually--” Tommy moved Sam’s bag onto the floor, showing the machine that Sam had made, “Sam made a machine for me to breathe easier when I sleep.” Tubbo’s demeanor changed, clearly that convinced him they weren’t all too bad, but he was still a little skeptical. He pushed the thought aside, he knew about Sam and Puffy, and from what he heard, they weren’t the worst villains that Tommy could be talking to. Tommy could have been talking to the Dream Team or something. Tommy knew that Tubbo was still suspect of them, “Look, Tubbo, big man, Tubso,” Tubbo looked at him, “They are actually really cool, alright? Just trust me .”And Tubbo knew that Tommy was being serious when he heard that Tommy was using his soft voice--he never used his soft voice otherwise. He only used it when he really wanted Ranboo and him to have faith in them. Ranboo and him always listened, at the end of the day they only had each other, so trusting each other was the only thing they could do.

Tubbo swallowed, nodding, “Alright.” He walked up to the three, stopping in front of them and looking down at the machine. He observed it for a moment, “Is there a price?”

“No,” Sam replied, “Of course not, why would I make Tommy pay for something he didn’t ask for? It’s a gift.”  

Apparently, the reason that Tubbo was there was because he was bored at home all alone, and he had a lot of time for once, not having any jobs that he needed to do. Eventually, Tubbo warmed up to them and saw that they weren’t that bad, and if anything, they probably were already friends somehow. Tommy didn’t know how they became friends so fast, but it probably had something to do with the fact that Sam and Tubbo discussed technology with each other. Tommy didn’t understand any of it, but from what he heard, Sam offered to help Tubbo explore technology on a deeper level after hearing that Tubbo never went to school for computer science or engineering. He said he would help provide some supplies and teach him things that Tubbo didn’t know. Basically, he would take Tubbo in as an apprentice of sorts.

That night, he slept peacefully.

Chapter Text

One would think that a hero coming to the shop would be more comforting than it was. Which to say it wasn’t. 

Tommy thought that Karl coming was stressful. He was wrong. He would reflect on that mistake upon his death. There in front of him stood Grian. Grian didn’t have a hero name, it just wasn’t his thing. What he could do was not able to be fit into something as small as a hero name. Whether that was a good thing or not was unclear.

Grian was a true wild card. He was someone who saw things basically black and white but also had no moral ground. He just went where the chaos was. He used to be a villain before the government decided that because they couldn’t detain him, they would instead strike a deal to let Grian do whatever he wanted as long as he was only hurting villains. 

He was basically completely fine with that, the only thing that he wouldn’t reek his havok towards were vigilantes who also helped fight crime or, well, kids and teens. The government did try to send heroes after younger outlaws, too, but Grian would never listen.

In most cases, heroes wouldn’t be able to fight back and would have to listen to the orders, albeit they did purposely go easy on them because they didn’t want to hurt some kids, Grian wasn’t most cases though. He was able to stand up for himself and they’ll listen to him knowing that he could easily go and just… reverse reform? He was truly a special case, but Tommy gave him the benefit of the doubt since even when he was a villain he didn’t hurt innocent people. He just caused chaos through some pranks that went a little too far and then fought back against heroes who tried to catch him. 

With the hero debut of Grian, a lot of people were upset, to say the least. Half of it was because he was a villain formerly. Though a lot of it was not because he was a villain, Grian was an avian . But along with the hate was people starting to show support for avians, learning and accepting hybrids more, generally, the education of hybrids. Tommy was at least grateful for that. 

As per usual, with Grian was his best friend, Mumbo Jumbo, often referred to as Mumbo. Mumbo was a vigilante, he was like a lesser known version of Sam; they both made and sold technology illegally, though Sam sold mostly to villains and Mumbo wasn’t all too picky and would sell some basic stuff to citizens, too. 

Tommy was heavily debating whether he should or should not treat Grian like how he treated everyone else; like they were just average citizens. He feared no one, Grian didn’t count though cause he wasn’t a normal human and he didn’t mean that in the discriminatory way. He was just another level of chaotic. He would not let that deter him though, “What would you like to drink?” Mumbo being there did give him some comfort. Ironic but all things considered wasn’t too weird. 

“Two black coffees,” Grian said, it only proved Tommy’s theory- fact, even -that Grian was not a normal human, he didn’t think much of it but it was awfully suspect that Mumbo let out a groan at that. He could have sworn that Mumbo muttered ‘ not again ’ under his breath, Tommy chose to ignore that though, hoping that he was hearing things. “And an iced coffee.”

He had questions that he didn’t know whether or not he wanted answers to, nonetheless, he decided he would ask anyways, “Who’s the third coffee for?” 

Yet again proving his point, Grian answered the question, “Me?” And the monster said that like it was an obvious thing that everyone did. No one drank black coffee unless they were a wrongun nevermind two . Tommy took a second to process that and then shook his head, attempting to get rid of the confusion. Deciding to not question it, he started on their order and told them to take a seat unless they were getting to-go.

Knowing no one else would be coming so close to the end of his shift, he turned off the coffee machine, “Name for the order?” 

Mumbo gave him a confused look, obviously not sure why Tommy would ask such an obvious question. He could understand if Tommy didn’t know who Mumbo was, but Tommy would definitely know the top hero. Even if Tommy wasn’t all that into the news or heroes, Tommy should have and had to know. 

Grian on the other hand, didn’t think much of it, “Grian.” Grian, like the casual person he was, smiled when he replied. 

Tommy placed their drinks down in front of them, Grian snickered when he read the name off the cup-- Grain . It wasn’t even all that funny, but it was widely known that Grian just liked basically any kind of ‘prank’, big or small. It made him wonder if Skeppy and him were friends, or if that would be too much and would break the world. He stopped wondering, not wanting to think of what the two would get up to if they were friends. They needed friends like Bad and Mumbo to control their chaos at least a little bit. 

“Hey, can I get two straws?” Which, even though not many people got straws for their coffees, wasn’t all that weird, so Tommy nodded.

“Sure, big man.” And he went to get their straws and gave them to them. He watched in horror as Grian placed a straw in both of his cups of black coffee. His eyes widened, he looked to Mumbo, expecting for him to say something, to stop whatever Grian was doing because it was wrong. But he didn’t, he just looked at Tommy and shook his head in silent apology.

He, yet again, gave Grian the benefit of the doubt. His hopes were immediately crushed, stomped on like the glass that he couldn’t see, chewed on like food, drank like their coffee. Tommy wasn’t good at metaphors, give him a break. Grian placed both straws in his mouth at the same time and he drank them both at the same time. He was truly another kind. 

And for the first time, he let out a scared, confused chirp. He then remembered that Grian was an avian who didn’t know that Tommy was an avian who also had a soft spot for kids--which he was not, but he was legally seen as one. Grian had a spit take that looked like it was taken straight out of a movie. He looked at Tommy with wide eyes. Tommy looked back, confused, but not in the same way Grian was. He didn’t know in what way Grian was confused in all honesty.

He pushed himself up from his seat, his hands on the table. Grian turned to Mumbo who was even more confused than Tommy was. Which was saying a lot because he was extremely confused. 

“Mumbo!” 

“Yes, Grian?” It was obvious in Mumbo’s voice that he was used to Grian’s dramatics. 

“I think I’m a father now.” He sounded completely serious about it.

Even that surprised Mumbo though. At the same time as Tommy, he asked, “What?” Though, to be fair, Tommy was much louder. 

“He chirped!” Grian waved it off, “You wouldn’t get it, you’re not an avian like-” he looked at Tommy’s nametag, “Tommy and I. You’re an avian right?”

He nodded, “Yeah, but I don’t think that’s how it--” 

“No matter, it’s okay, you’re my son now, you don’t have anything to worry about.” Mambo facepalmed, tired but unable to say anything.

It was certainly a night. 

Chapter Text

Niki by all means was not a bad person. She wasn’t mean either. She also wasn’t super strong; Niki couldn’t even stay on land for longer than like a minute without water breathing potions she got provided for her by the government or she made or bought which was extremely expensive to do. Tommy had known Niki for a while, and Tommy knew that Niki was a good person. You would think that with all these factors, Niki wasn’t a scary person. You would be wrong, she easily gets upset when there’s a good reason, and Tommy had heard stories where Niki fired people after they said something stupid in front of her once. 

 She could be scary, yes, however, Tommy didn’t know what her limits were. She was obviously a good person, but Tommy couldn’t be too sure about how accepted villains coming to the shop would be. He’ll admit that maybe he is a little too forgiving of villains when he hadn’t heard of them doing anything too bad . Like, the Dream Team murdered, sure, but they murdered bad people at least. And Bad and Skeppy weren’t even bad, they just Robin Hooded around. The SBI even went out of their way to not murder people!

Before all of the villains started showing up, it was all good when Niki said she would be dropping by during his shift to check up on him every month- she missed last month for whatever reason -but the times have changed. And it was very nerve wracking for Niki to drop by with no warning when villains could walk in at any time. 

That day Tommy realized that he should have probably got something for villains to be able to signal to villains that civilians are in the shop. The signal, unfortunately, wouldn’t be able to stop civilians from coming in when villains were already there. That was a problem for another day though. 

He was broken out of his thoughts by a webbed hand waving in front of his face. “Tommy? You good?” 

Tommy shook his head to get his thoughts straightened out, “Yeah, I was just thinking.”

Niki was leaning onto the counter next to the cashier across from Tommy. “Hey Tommy,” Tommy was already looking at her, so he nodded his head in acknowledgement, “I’m sorry I can’t come by a lot, only have so many potions, I don’t have the time to make them and I don’t think I should have to pay to interact with people in normal life.” 

He knew what she meant. It was pretty obvious that they weren’t struggling to make the potions. There were only so many merlings and the ingredients weren’t expensive nor scarce. “Yeah. Still waiting for my avian card.” Niki frowned at that, she was pretty informed about Tommy’s situation save for the villains that would come by. They stayed silent until Niki straightened her posture, remembering something. 

“Oh!” Niki remembered something, Tommy could almost see a lightbulb go off above her head, “Right, I remember what I wanted to talk to you about.” 

“Am I in trouble?” Tommy hadn’t really been bothered by Niki before, she would usually just let him do his thing and trusted that he would be fine. There was nothing that he could have possibly done wrong from, not anything that Niki would know about at least. Unless some guy at the other coffee shop said something about something, he didn’t know what that something was unless someone noticed villains. Though he doubted that seeing as besides the Angel, who didn’t come by often, most of their silhouettes and figures were pretty normal. Especially in the case of ones like Quackity and Purpled. 

Niki shook her head, “No, no, of course not, I was just wondering who’s been coming by? There’s nothing wrong, there’s just been this weird influx in customers recently. The day shift isn’t doing half as well.”

He debated lying to her. He decided he wouldn’t, he trusted Niki enough to just tell her. It would be easier, assuming that she would be accepting, if he didn’t have to hide such a big secret from her that could easily raise suspicion. It would also mean he could never be caught by Niki, and he wouldn’t have to make Niki feel betrayed. “Before I explain, “ Tommy started, “Please don’t get upset.” He didn’t think that she would be upset.

Her face scrunched up in a confused expression, “Of course, why would I be upset that you’re making money?”

Tommy laughed nervously, “You see… there are these villains that have been coming to the shop.” Niki opened her mouth to say something, even more confused. Tommy interrupted her before she could say anything, “Look they’re not doing anything wrong here. They just want to drink coffee like all of us, and the shop is sti--”

Niki put a hand on one of his shoulders, “Tommy, calm down,” he quieted down, he didn’t anticipate for it to be that nerve wracking, he could hear his heartbeat loud in his ears and he was almost convinced that Niki could hear it, too, “As long as you don’t see them committing any crimes, they’re paying you, not hurting you or the shop, I can’t be mad.” Tommy felt a weight get lifted from his shoulders. “You’re safe, right?” He nodded. “That’s all that matters to me.” Niki cleared her throat, “I think I should head off now, I’m already starting to feel a little lightheaded.” It was stupid to Tommy that the potions lasted for such a short time. 

Chapter Text

Ranboo wasn’t supposed to cry. It wasn’t that Tubbo and him didn’t let him, or that they thought that he wasn’t allowed to. They thought of him as the calm one, yeah, but he was still a teenager at the end of the day. He wasn’t supposed to cry because he got hurt when he cried. Crying only made Ranboo’s pain worsen. 

Tommy woke up to the sound of Ranboo crying, and he knew that something was wrong. Ranboo wasn’t supposed to cry, he didn’t let himself cry. When he cried, Tommy and Tubbo knew it was bad. Tubbo was going to ignore the fact he was supposed to be mad at Ranboo for whatever it was that he was crying over. Did it really take Ranboo crying, Ranboo hurting to make up? Was that how fights usually went? 

He made a call to Niki saying he wasn’t going to be there. He hadn’t once called in sick in his time working for Niki. She easily accepted it, and said that she would just close the shop, not wanting to risk having a villain come in when another employee took his place and not being able to work herself.

Tubbo was already up and by his side, surprising because he wasn’t someone who woke up early or easy. Tommy went to Ranboo, careful to not startle the boy. Tubbo looked at him and Tommy gave him a questioning look only for Tubbo to shrug his shoulders. 

Him and Tubbo sat by his side and waited for him to calm down, letting him take his time. Though Tommy debated stopping him before the scarring could get too bad, but let it be since Ranboo was at a point somewhat used to the pain. When he stopped crying, he looked at them both, he opened his mouth to speak, but Tubbo interrupted. 

“If you even try to say you’re fine--”

Ranboo stopped him before he could get too upset, “My pay got cut.” It was like all the air in the room was stolen from them. They held their breath, like it was their last breath before death. It might as well have been, Ranboo was the one who made the second most amount of money. 

Breathless, Tommy had to make sure he didn’t hear him wrong. “What?” 

“My pay got cut off because I’m almost an adult, and they wanted to see if we would stay even if we don’t get paid for a month,” Ranboo said. Everyday Tommy got reminded of why he was so willing to trust villains. The hero system was a joke. ‘See if they would stay even if they don’t get paid for a month’. What were they supposed to do in that month? Die? If Tommy could, Tommy would throw something, but they didn’t have anything that they could throw, the only thing he could do is roll his eyes. “It’s okay. I’ll still bring in some money. I promise.” He made it sound like Tommy and Tubbo would leave him if he didn’t bring in some money. 

“How?” Tubbo’s voice cracked, “How are you going to make money? Through whatever the hell you’re doing when you think I’m asleep? By getting hurt?” 

Ranboo grabbed onto Tubbo’s shoulders, his hands were shaking, he started tearing up again, “You’re not the only one allowed to make money.” His words were as shaky as his hands. A tear slid down Tubbo’s cheek.

“I don’t care if you try to make money,” Tubbo said, it would have sounded harsh in any other context, “I care if you’re getting hurt doing something you don’t have to do .” 

“I’m getting hurt because I have to ,” If he were any louder it would have been a yell, that was a lot for Ranboo who typically kept to himself, trying to stay out of trouble, but it wasn’t completely out of character. He was always one to stand up for himself. 

Ranboo let his hands fall from Tubbo’s shoulders and they both avoided looking at each other. Tubbo glared at the ground like it had wronged him in the worst ways, Ranboo was looking at the wall, and Tommy was sick and tired of all the arguing. It was time he finally did something, he couldn’t stand by and watch Ranboo hurt himself and let Tubbo hurt himself and Ranboo in the process of trying to protect Ranboo. 

“Ranboo.” The enderman hybrid looked at him. Tommy let out a breath, he was not going to yell at them. He wasn’t going to. That’s not how you deal with someone who’s sad. “ What have you been doing ?” It didn’t sound like a question. He wasn’t asking and waiting for an answer. He was asking and expecting an answer. Ranboo swallowed. 

“Tommy…” Ranboo said, sounding like he was almost asking Tommy to not pry. Tommy only stared at him. “I’ve been…” He muttered the last words.

“What?” 

“I’ve been fighting in fighting rings.” Tubbo’s head turned to look at Ranboo. Both Tommy and Tubbo had their mouths open and Tubbo almost cried again. Instead he pulled Ranboo into a hug. Tommy heard Tubbo mutter apologies to Ranboo, and Ranboo sobbed. He was finally released from the burden of hiding a secret and the two made up. 

Tubbo pulled away and slapped Ranboo on the arm. “You idiot! Never do that again or I will kill you myself. Where would you even find a fighting ring? They’re illegal.” Ranboo apologized in a small voice and Tommy pulled them both into a hug before Tubbo could get any more riled up. Tommy would scold him himself another time.  

Chapter Text

When he saw the SBI walk through the door, he was in a weird way relieved to see them. It was a hard feeling to describe, but he knew that there was definitely a correlation between what he was feeling and what he found out the day prior. He watched Wilbur close the curtains, and the other two greeted him quietly. They didn’t order anything, so it was safe to assume that they wanted their usual. 

Wilbur sat down where the other two were, “How have you been, Tommy?” And with that he was so tempted to tell them what he found out. Dump all his feelings on them, tattle on the heroes like he was a toddler that was being bullied on. He wasn’t sure what they would do, he knew that they said that they tried to avoid killing as much as they could. He knew that they would do something , they were motivated by political reasons, so it would have made sense. He didn’t know if they would do something big or small, or if any of it would be motivated by their connection to him. Though he wasn’t so sure that they would care about his roommate’s pay being cut off unless he told them explicitly that all of them needed any money they could get. 

Tommy had been silent too long, and he only realized when Wilbur called his name again for attention, “Tommy?” He blinked and looked at him, he was previously looking at the counter. He nodded, though his actual response was delayed.

“Yeah,” he said, “Yeah, I’m good, big man.” Tommy scolded himself for letting himself get so off track. Wilbur furrowed his eyebrows. 

“You sure?” Concern was laced in his voice. 

Tommy hummed unconvincingly and started on their drinks. Not without noticing the glance that Wilbur gave to the other two when he thought Tommy wasn’t paying attention to them anymore though. He felt their stares on him, he forced himself to not look at them. They knew he was lying, they wouldn’t do anything though. Couldn’t, possibly. 

He placed their drinks down, and they knew something was up, he didn’t misspell the Blade on the cup, he shortened it to just ‘Blade’. Even when the Blade wasn’t there, he would write down some joke or horrible misspelling of ‘the Blade’ when Siren ordered a black coffee. Well, sometimes it would be the Angel who came and ordered drinks. 

The Blade wasn’t one to really show that he cared for someone so explicitly. Tommy wasn’t one of the people he actually considered to be someone he cared about, but it wasn’t fun to sit in a room with an atmosphere as awkward as it was. The Blade cleared his throat, making Tommy freeze, waiting for the Blade to say something. Ask something of him. Instead he only got, “Thanks.” The Blade and Tommy looked at each other, and the Angel and Wilbur glanced at them both.

Tommy nodded his head, “Yeah. Of course, paying customers, yeah?” And, of course, Wilbur knew that Tommy was bad at expressing himself sometimes. Even WIlbur couldn’t say that he was all that good at expressing himself. Usually when Tommy said something that could be taken badly, Wilbur was usually able to brush it off, laugh even. It wasn’t unusual for Tommy to say something about them paying, or joking that he only tolerated them for the money, but he sounded genuine to some point with his voice as somber as it was. It hurt. Just a little. Or maybe a lot. 

Wilbur looked away and the Angel immediately took notice. “Yeah,” the Blade said, “paying customers.” Wilbur and the Angel both took notice of him actually responding. A response meant that he was caring. Or that he was at least starting to care. Neither of them expected for him to respond. It immediately ticked a mark off in the ‘there’s something wrong’ list in Wilbur’s head; the fact that even the Blade knew that something was going wrong. Something much deeper. The Blade . The same one who came the least. The one that was least happy about their endeavours of becoming friends with a civilian. The one who was so adamant about only coming to make sure that Tommy wouldn’t rat them out. 

Tommy went behind the counter after the interaction and he sat there silently, unmoving, it was like he was completely gone in all ways but physical. He was horrible at hiding his feelings. 

“Tommy,” Wilbur called out, “ Are you sure, you’re okay .” He had a habit of using his powers when he was feeling a lot of emotions. It was never on purpose. Wilbur would never take control over one of the people he cared about without their permission on purpose unless it was for something small or as a joke. He paid no attention to it though, the fact there was some power laced in his voice wouldn’t do anything unless he commanded Tommy to answer the question honestly, and he wouldn’t force Tommy to answer a question if he didn’t want to. Though it did hurt just a bit that Tommy didn’t trust him enough to tell him, Wilbur understood why though. Didn’t make it hurt any less. 

Tommy wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. Even if it took him a bit to snap back, he was able to answer just as Wilbur opened his mouth to call for him again. He let out a sigh. “Yep, never better, big man.” All things considered, he sounded annoyed. With his sigh, the lack of response, not fully being there, it was easy to see all of it as him being annoyed. He wasn’t annoyed. He was tired. He was so tired. 

“Do you want us to leave?” Wilbur asked, “Would that help you feel better?” It was a genuine question. He genuinely wanted to do whatever he could for Tommy to not be upset. Tommy took it as him being annoyed that Tommy was ‘annoyed’. 

“If you want to.” 

“Alright.” He said, nodding, “Alright. Then I’ll stay.” 

And they did. 

Chapter Text

Tommy had been feeling off for a bit. He would struggle to fall asleep and when he woke up he never wanted to get out of bed, he definitely wasn’t a morning person, but he got used to getting out of bed in the morning regardless. 

When Karl and Quackity walked into the shop, he gave them a small nod, and watched Karl close the curtains. It was safe to assume that Quackity informed him of the use of the curtains. 

His eyes furrowed when he finally processed the unlikely duo being in the shop. It immediately went away when pain spiked through his head. Quackity and Karl both noticed but didn’t ask anything after seeing that Tommy was trying to hide the fact. Karl instead chose to explain that they had talked the last time he came and they came to an understanding of sorts, Quackity would sometimes help Karl with some cases where he would need information and Quackity would help. Even with the explanation, Tommy didn’t really process any of the story and looked at Quackity.

Quackity understood the look and listed their orders, the lazy apple juice and some sweet tea, no preparation needed, and he was grateful for that. Though it was still strange that Quackity ordered a different drink from the last two times he came.

He got their drinks from the fridge and when he turned back around, they were still standing there waiting for their orders instead of going to their seats like they usually did. He handed them their drinks and they sat down at a table.

The whole time, Tommy’s head felt like it was going to burst, he put his head into his hands, blocking out the lights. His whole body was sore when he didn’t really do anything. Unless he slept the wrong way, but it felt a bit more dramatic than that. 

Dots blurred his vision. The last thing he heard before he passed out was someone calling out his name, worried. 

Chapter Text

Tommy remembered this scene well. He was looking at the room where it all happened. He was turning five-years-old back then, Ranboo and Tubbo six. He didn’t really have many dreams, and he didn’t really remember anything when he woke up, but he knew it wasn’t a dream.

Right.

He passed out. 

The room was decorated well. Balloons were in the corners in reds and silver, his favorite color, and there was a cake on a long table in the middle with the number five placed on top. It was his birthday. He could only stare at the cake, memories flooding back. But then again, he didn’t need those memories to come back. Tommy was in the memory. 

Too busy staring at the cake, he didn’t notice that they- his mom, Ranboo, Tubbo, and their moms -had arrived, bursting into the door. Tubbo and Tommy were chattering loudly about a cartoon they both liked while Ranboo was following them both closely behind, looking just as happy despite being quieter. 

Their moms were talking, too, they were best friends, like parent like child. That wasn’t how the quote went, but that’s how Tommy saw it. 

There were games and stuff in the room that he and his best friends busied themselves with. Their moms went to sit at the table, Ranboo and Tubbo’s moms going to set down some presents they had gotten for Tommy. 

It was happy. 

For such a large room, it felt quiet. Not that it was quiet, but rather it felt like all the noise was small even when it was big. In short, Tommy was lonely. He didn’t have many friends, so it wasn’t like he could invite anyone else. His mom had asked him, knowing that he only had Ranboo and Tubbo. It was lonely being a hybrid. He was bullied at the playground. 

Eventually, they got tired of running around and playing, it took awhile, but it did happen. Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo had their hands on the table, looking up at their moms. 

“Can we have cake now?” Tommy begged. His eyes were wide, and he had a pout on his lips. Tommy’s mom laughed, and pulled out a chair next to her to let him sit on, Ranboo and Tubbo both pulling out their own chairs. 

She looked inside a bag to pull out a lighter, and pushed the cake towards Tommy. He was swinging his legs over the edge of his seat, kicking the leg of the chair. He should have gotten scolded for that, but he didn’t. Ranboo and Tubbo were watching silently in anticipation. Tommy’s eyes shone when the lighter was turned on.

His mom sat back in his seat, and said to get ready to sing ‘Happy Birthday’, and counted down for them to start. When he blew out the candles, his mom had asked him what he wanted. Of course, he had said that he wished that he had wings just like his mom’s. At the time he didn’t notice it, but looking back, he realized that his mom’s smile faltered. Her heart broke. The hate Tommy would get for having wings. Being a hybrid. She told him that was a great wish. That he would have wings even better than hers. 

She didn’t get to cut the cake. There was a boom. Tommy’s head whipped to the door, still closed. Their moms froze in their spots, only Tommy’s finally reacted after a second. She quickly ushered them towards a closet. It was a closet meant to store party decorations. She gently pushed them inside and shushed them. Her face was stern, no room for argument and little Tommy knew that. 

There was another boom, and his mom closed the door. The closet was cramped. He could hear the heavy breaths of Ranboo and Tubbo. He remembered that feeling well. He didn’t have claustrophobia up until that moment. His social worker said it was due to trauma. He was too young to understand what that meant at the time. 

The three of them flinched, Ranboo had his hands held over his ears. His ears were sensitive. He was an enderman hybrid, afterall. 

There were loud voices, he could hear them yelling. There were screams. They were their moms’ screams. There were more booms, more yelling, more screaming. At some point he started crying, and he didn’t know when. 

He wasn’t there to see what was outside that closet, so all he saw was black. He felt the world cave in. His breath grew heavy. He felt trapped, and it somehow felt worse than being cramped in a small closet with two other people. 

He let out a heavy breath when he could finally see again. His breathing was still quick. His eyes were wide. The room was completely silent. Too silent for the chaos that had happened. There was fire that shown in his eyes, and bodies on the ground and the room was warm. Too warm. The red of the blood and the orange heat of the fire. Everything else was a blur. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was back in the present. 

He was looking at Quackity’s face that was way too close for comfort. Tommy’s eyes shook, looking everywhere and nowhere in particular. “Tommy?” His eyes went back to Quackity.

“Quackity. Hi.” He wasn’t sure what to say. There was worry in Quackity’s eyes. Relief, too. 

“Tommy, how are you feeling? Are you okay?” He nodded his head in reply. 

The door of the shop opened, and he heard Karl’s voice follow shortly after. “Quackity!” Karl put a hand on the counter, “Is Tommy--” He looked down and his eyes made contact with Tommy’s. Karl let out a breath of relief and held his other hand up, he was holding a bag. “I got the pain relievers like you asked.” 

“Pain relievers?” Why would you need to buy pain relievers?” Tommy looked between the two. Quackity’s eyes went behind Tommy. Tommy was leaning back onto the wall. He turned his head behind him and he sucked in a bed. His eyes met bright red feathers. “Oh.” Just like his mom’s.