Chapter Text
"I mean it when I say back the fuck down, shorty!"
Ace R. Ace was, honestly, too tired for this shit. Just when they had thought a streak of good customer interactions was gracing their days at work, this whole incident had to happen.
The world really did spite them, didn't it? Sending a couple of people barrelling through their shop and having them dropkick the good service streak as if it was an infant; that infant, of course, being Ace's fleeting moments of peace.
"Oh, and look who’s using their attributes, aren’t you?" an angry brunet shouted in response to the other man’s challenge. The barista felt a headache coming on as they solemnly shook their head, absentmindedly counting the paper cups to try and keep their mind off of the present situation. "Well, dickhead, how about you try using your brain for once! My friend hasn't done anything to you!"
Luckily, there was someone interested in everyone's safety; more than Ace was, at least. This person, a ravenette, made sure to stay in the middle of the two quarreling men. They were acting as a wall; playing the role of a mediator and making sure no punches were thrown. Which Ace did appreciate, tables were hard to replace, after all.
The taller man snarled at the other, eyes ablaze with fury from the remark. "I am using my fucking brain, and I sure know for a fact that your friend here stole my goddamn wallet!"
Shrinking back into their chair from the shouting, the barista couldn't wait to get out of here. Even the crackheads at their late-night Wendy's shifts were looking a lot more appealing than this bullshit.
"Alright, let's both calm down here," the ravenette suddenly chimed in, both hands raised as if he was trying to tame the velociraptors from Jurassic Park. "We can talk this out,” he tries, “and hey! Maybe buy a drink in an apology for—"
The tall blond's attention was quickly turned to the poor soul. "An apology for what? Not wanting to have my money fucking stolen?" he scoffs.
“Dude, you’re accusing him over nothing! You don’t even know if—”
“But he did! Someone fucking said he did, and they said they saw him pocket my wallet!”
The ravenette’s expression suddenly soured, a weird symbol flashing in his eyes. It illuminated his brown irises in orange, a sinking feeling enveloping Ace at the sight of it. “And you’re really going to trust their word—”
“Oh, so now we’re going off ‘he said, she said,’?” The brunet snipped at the blond, interrupting the ravenette yet again and reminding the room he indeed did exist. A swirling blue rune slowly started to appear across the male’s backhand, similar to a marker bleeding through paper.
Not able to say anything, the tall blond only snarled in response to both of them. A bright green symbol began to shine in full force on his right cheek, blanketing the freckles that dusted his face in a lime-colored light.
Ace suddenly straightened their posture, the realization finally clicking for them.
Oh.
Oh.
Wow. Wasn’t the barista just so lucky? Not one, not two, but three Unexplainables quarreling in their coffee shop. And the trio was just about ready to go at each other’s throat at a pin drop. What a nice early birthday gift.
Fortunately, now that Ace knew who these people were, the worry for their salary—uh, the shop, finally came to fruition, making them give a damn about this current situation.
Slamming their hand on the counter, the loud sound echoed through the yelling and accusations somehow, the people who were present in the shop turning their attention to the barista.
The tension in Ace’s shoulders released just a bit as they flashed their most customer service smile possible at the three. The anger boiling just under their expression was evident, though.
“If you’re going to fight, please take it outside, or I’ll have to forcefully remove you from the premises.” the barista said slowly, making sure each word they said sunk in.
“And how are you going to do that?” someone said.
Both the ravenette’s and brunet’s gaze snapped back to the now cocky-looking blond, the two looking rather unsure before the shorter brunet spoke up. “Let’s just take this outside, we shouldn’t involve civilians in—”
“Stop.” The taller suddenly spat out, the mark on his cheek glowing like a star as he focused his gaze on the other.
The brunet’s speech abruptly came to a halt as he paused mid gesture, a faraway look taking place in his eyes. The ravenette flinched at the sight, Ace knowing the telltale sign of an outburst as his eyes turned an intense amber.
Scrambling, the barista fumbled to grab the emergency baseball bat. Ignoring the strange looks they got as they jumped over the counter, they made a bolt for the trio without any warning.
The ravenette’s expression finally showed ripples of fury as the edges of his hair started to float softly—akin to fire. “You asshole!”
Words edged with a strange unfamiliarity, the ground around him was set ablaze, turning a fiery orange and red. The flames around him licked at anything in range, the blond jumping back just in time to avoid the onslaught of heat.
“We could’ve done this the easy way,” the ravenette drawled, flickers of fire spilling out the corners of his mouth as he grinned. The screams of terrified civilians were all but silent to the two Unexplainables, their gazes locked together. “But now you’re just making me pissed—”
A muted clang suddenly rang out through the shop, the flames dying out abruptly. Eyes rolling back into his head, the ravenette slumped to the ground in a tangle of limbs, a certain barista standing over the male with a bat in hand.
Anger was clear on their face.
“I said take it fucking outside!”
...Sometimes, one would wonder why superpowers were given to humanity in the first place.
Standing at the window of the drive-thru, Ace felt like strangling the teenagers that currently stood outside. The barista’s rage from their earlier encounter not dying down.
“What do you mean we have to be in a car? This is a car!”
Across from Ace were three boys, two of whom were sitting in a toy Barbie car. Legs pulled up to their chests, both were still too big for the poor thing; one of them being sat on the windshield of the vehicle. An indignant expression was painted on the lanky blond’s face, the teen’s ice blue eyes looking between Ace and the brunet beside him.
Behind the two and pushing the toy was a very tall teenage boy. His white and black locks spilled onto his face, a pair of tinted sunglasses not able to cover the red and green eyes that glinted with shame.
“I’m so sorry about this…” he stuttered out, Ace only shooting him a thankful look before having their gaze return to the other two.
“You know you can just go in through the front—”
“Boring, predictable! We’re too poggers for going through the peasants’ route!” the brunet shouted, nudging the blond next to him with his elbow. “Right, Tommy?”
“Yeah!”
The barista grimaced. “Sirs, this is a Wendys’ drive-thru. Not the play place.” Ace said, trying to sound as deadpan as possible as they closed the sliding window.
A muffled ‘you BITCH’ was barely able to be heard from the other side of the drive-thru window as the fast-food worker walked away.