Chapter Text
Grian didn't have a very interesting life. He had a really boring one, in fact. He was a simple waiter in a small local café, earning minimum wage, working more than not, and living in a small apartment with his roommate, Mumbo.
Not that he disliked his life, of course. He doesn't mind doing the same thing every day. It gives him the feeling of familiarity. He was never one with a thirst for adventure, he always preferred the simple things.
Today was another day just like the last. Grian was sitting behind the counter at his job, tapping away at his phone. The day had been relatively slow, with only a few people coming and going from the café. Grian's manager, Cleo, had allowed him to relax until any new customers arrived.
Grian silently hoped that he hadn't just jinxed himself, but he felt the annoyance seep in at the quiet sound of the door chime.
He quickly set his phone aside and brought his eyes to the new person walking through the door. It was a man, and a rather tall one at that, in a well-fitted outfit. He had dark brown hair that flowed into a short ponytail. It looked ridiculously soft and silky, which made Grian a little embarrassed by his own nest of messy hair. The man was well-tanned and had a scar that severed his right eyebrow. His eyes were a stunning emerald green, not the mention he was fit. Grian was not one to ogle at someone's appearance, but he had to admit the man was handsome. He watched with a mindful eye as the man took a seat at a table near a window, quickly pulling out his phone.
Grian didn't linger long before grabbing his pad of paper and a pen, heading in the new customer's direction. He slowed to a stop in front of the table, eyeing the man. He hadn't seemed to notice him yet. Grian quietly cleared his throat before speaking. "Excuse me?"
The man startled slightly in his seat, eyes quickly snapping towards Grian. A sheepish smile crept onto his face. "Oh, why hello there!" He responded, having calmed down after the initial shock.
There was a beat of silence. Grian raised an eyebrow, gripping his pen a little tighter. "Well?" He spoke up, expecting the man to give his order.
"Huh?" The man muttered, eyeing Grian with a confused look. He... he did know how ordering food worked, didn't he? It was silent again before the man perked up, maybe in realization, and flashed a shiny smile. "Oh, I'm sorry! Do you want an autograph?"
Grian didn't even bother trying to hide his immediate grimace. He stood in silence, eyes glaring daggers into the man who had the balls to talk to him with such audacity.
"...I want to take your order." He said, making the irritation evident in his tone. The man's grin faltered, quickly realizing his mistake.
"Oh- Oh! You're the- right, yea, that makes sense." He stammered, at least having the mind to be embarrassed about it. He fumbled with the small menu, trying his best to avoid the angry fire that was Grian's eyes. "Right, I'll have the, uh- a white chocolate mocha and a blueberry muffin. Please." He said quickly, eyes going back to Grian with the same charismatic smile he had before. Grian wanted to wipe the stupid look off his face.
Grian quickly wrote down the order on a piece of paper, not bothering to look back at the man as he spoke again. "Order for who?"
"Scar."
Grian negligently wrote the name next to the order, closing the pad of paper and shoving it into his apron pocket. He looked back up at Scar, who only smiled. Grian scoffed, rolling his eyes before walking away without another word. He didn't look back, but he couldn't deny he was a little upset he couldn't look at the man's dumbfound expression a little longer.
He made his way behind the counter and placed the order on the wall before getting to work. "Hey, Pearl?" He called out to the backroom, leaning back a bit. A woman poked her head through the doorway, her long hair is as messy as ever.
"What's up?" She called back.
"Can you get a blueberry muffin from the back for me?" He asked, pausing a moment before grinning. "Preferably the moldiest one you can find."
Pearl rose an eyebrow. "Someone's gotten on your nerves." She pointed out with a small smile.
"Maybe a little bit."
Pearl giggled. "Well, I'm pretty sure we can get sued for giving out moldy food." She remarked as he leaned against the doorway.
Grian snorted. "Yeah, you're right..." He said with an overdramatic frown. "Maybe I could spit in his drink, though..."
"Oh, quit it." Pearl hushed him, playfully shoving his shoulder. Grian laughed softly, his mood already feeling lighter.
It didn't take long for Pearl to return with a nicely wrapped (not-so-moldy) muffin. Grian finished making the drink, having a satisfied smile as he topped it off nicely with whip cream. He set the order on the counter and rang the bell, quickly checking his pad of paper for a name.
"Order for Scar." He called out, holding back the attitude that so desperately wanted to come out. While he loved being petty, he loved his job just a little bit more.
He saw the man grab the cane that was laid on the seat beside him and stand, walking toward the counter. Grian offhandedly noticed a small limp in his walk as he slowed to a stop. Now that Scar was standing right in front of him, Grian was able to notice just how tall he was. He had to of been taller than Grian by at least a foot.
"Thank you." The brunette said with a smile. His voice was deep, flowing smoothly with charm. Grian resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "What do I owe you?"
Grian quickly ran the order through the register. "That'll be five dollars and twenty-two cents. Will that be cash or card?" He asked as he looked back up at Scar. The man quickly shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He fumbled slightly before pulling out a card and handing it to Grian with a slight smile. Grian hastily ran it through the machine, handing the card back. "And you're set. Have a nice day." The words sounded tense through Grian's teeth, his distaste was obvious. Scar smiled, although nervously, before heading back to his seat.
Grian cracked his knuckles, turning to head for the door before being faced with Pearl once again. Although, this time, her mouth was gaping and her eyes were wide. Grian rose an eyebrow.
"What's up with you?" He asked in a teasing manner, but Pearl didn't seem to find it funny.
"Grian." She started slowly. "What was that."
"What was what?"
"That! Was that Scar?" She questioned him, her voice almost frantic.
Grian tilted his head. "You know Scar?" He was thoroughly confused. He had never heard Pearl talk about any friend named Scar, and lord knows she loved to talk.
"Scar? As in Scar Goodtimes? That Scar?" She asked again.
"I- I don't know? I don't keep a personal file on all of our customers, Pearl." He snapped back, starting to get overwhelmed by the frantic questions.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak out, but- Grian! that was Scar Goodtimes! How did you not recognize him?" She questioned as she brought her hands to his shoulders, shaking him lightly. He appreciated her lower tone, but he was still left dazed.
"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to recognize someone I don't even know." He muttered. Pearl gasped.
"Grian, don't tell me you don't know who he is." Grian answered with his silence. Pearl breathed out a laugh. "You know Hotguy The Siege, right? The action movie that came out last year?"
"I mean, I know of it. Haven't watched it myself." Grian answered quietly with a shrug.
Pearl groaned. "Of course, you haven't. Well, the main character, the hero? That was Scar. He's the actor who played in that movie, Grian!" She exclaimed with a bright smile.
Grian's face shifted.
"Oh."
Yeah, actually, that made a lot of sense.
Pearl bursts into giggles. "I can't believe you just talked to a giant celebrity, and you didn't even realize it!"
Grian felt his face flush at the teasing, going quick to defend himself. "Who says I care about some dumb celebrity? He was a stuck-up prick, anyway." He huffed out, crossing his arms. Pearl moved to his side and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"Was he really?" She asked with a quirk in her voice.
"I went to take his order and he thought I wanted an autograph. Which, now knowing the context, makes a little more sense I guess." He muttered the last part, but he still made his dislike known. So what if he was some celebrity? That doesn't mean he has to parade around like he owns the place!
Pearl cringed. "Yikes. Well, you can't really blame him. He probably gets that a lot."
"You're on his side now?" Grian accused with a gasp, placing a hand on his heart dramatically. "Betrayal!"
"I'm not disagreeing with you! He is a filthy rich celebrity, though. People always want pictures and autographs from them."
Grian rolled his eyes, still salty that his co-worker, his own sister, would defend the man that wronged him so horribly.
...Okay, maybe he was being a little dramatic. He was a theater kid in school, alright? Leave him be.
"Still a prick."
Pearl chuckled. "Prick or not, I'm never letting you live this down."
Grian frowned. "Oh, come on!"
Pearl had already gotten her phone out, typing away to whichever friend she decided to humiliate Grian to next. "Too late!" She called out in a sing-song tone.
"Hey, no! give me that!" He reached for her phone, failing miserably and stumbling down to the ground. Pearl laughed wickedly as she ran off into the back room, leaving Grian to sulk.
He stood up, patting down his apron, and sighed. Despite never seeing the movie, he was actually a little shocked that he didn't recognize a so-called hit actor. To be fair, he hardly ever watches movies anymore. Maybe he was out of the loop. Well, even if he did consider watching Hotguy, he certainly wasn't going to now.
Maybe he was overreacting. He will admit that he tended to do so. He would often get petty or salty over little things that shouldn't bother him at all. It was a bad habit, getting so angry at random people who didn't mean bad, but even then, he couldn't help it.
Luckily for him, he doubted Scar would ever visit their raggedy little cafe ever again, especially after his hostility towards him.
He peeked back towards the celebrity in the corner, who was sipping his drink and doing something on his phone. Now that Grian was actually examining him, he definitely looked like an actor. His fit build, his nice clothes, even his rugged good looks (What? Just because Grian doesn't like the guy doesn't mean he's blind). It was the whole superstar package arranged together in one man.
His staring was rudely interrupted by Pearl walking out of the back room and past the counter, beelining straight for Scar. Grian could already feel his chest tighten with anxiety.
He couldn't hear all that was said, but he could see Pearl approach Scar with a smile. She said something, holding up her phone, and Scar nodded in some kind of agreement. The man grabbed his cane and stood next to Pearl, peeking over at her phone as he pulled out her camera. Grian wanted nothing more than to shrivel in embarrassment while his sister was posing with Scar, quickly taking a selfie. Pearl seemed to thank the man, to which the man gave her a smile and nod before going back to his meal.
Pearl quickly rushed up to Grian with the biggest smile on her face. "Gri! Did you see that? I got a photo with him!" She proclaimed gleefully, to which Grian nodded.
"Yeah, I saw." He strained a smile. He wasn't going to ruin Pearl's mood just because of his own grudges.
"Don't get too jealous!" She cooed, waving the photo in front of his face.
Grian scoffed playfully, shoving the phone back. "As if."
His eyes went back to Scar inspecting the man. Normally, he would have ignored him by this point. However, it was a slow day. The only other thing he could do was mindlessly scroll through his phone, so staring at the stuck-up, stupidly handsome celebrity was looking a lot more interesting.
He wasn't sure how long he watched, taking in the details of the man's appearance, but it must have been quite a while because Scar eventually turned his head and made eye contact with the shorter. Grian felt himself flush out of embarrassment of being caught, quickly frowning and turning in the other direction.
Grian wanted nothing more than to bash his head into the wall when he heard a quiet shuffling and then approaching footsteps, followed by the light tapping of a cane.
There was a small tap on the counter, calling for Grian's attention. He sighed, bringing his gaze up to the man he simply did not want to deal with.
Scar was looking down at him with a grin, not making eye contact as he cleared his throat. "Hi, sorry to bother you, uh, Grain?" He squinted slightly at the shorter man's nametag as he spoke.
"It's Grian." The dirty blond deadpanned, watching as the other man seemed to grow a little tense. It brought Grian an odd sense of satisfaction.
"Oh, my bad! I'm not- I can't read very well." He chuckled nervously.
Grian raised an eyebrow and tapped his finger against the counter. "What is it then?"
Scar fiddled with the handle of his cane as he spoke. "Who's the baker?"
"The baker? As in the one who made the muffin?" Grian questioned.
Scar nodded quickly. "Yep! It was amazyn! I wanted to speak to and give props to whoever had made it." He explained quickly.
Grian wasn't sure what annoyed him more; the fact that this guy was acting like their interaction from earlier didn't even happen, or that he kept smiling at him like they were old-time pals. He decided it was both.
"That would be Ren, but he's not in today." He explained simply, not bothering to go into any detail.
Scar's grin faltered. "Aw, that's a shame."
"I could send your regards next time I see him." Grian offered. Although, he wasn't sure why. Maybe he just wanted to see Ren’s reaction to positive feedback? Yeah, that made sense. Ren always got so excited when people would go out of their way to compliment his baking.
Scar's smile was immediately back, his eyes shimmering with delight. "Oh, really? Thank you! That's so kind of you!"
Grian didn't really understand why Scar was so overjoyed, but frankly, he didn't care. His best guess is that it was a ruse to try and look good for the public. The man was an actor, after all.
"And you made the drink, right?" Scar asked suddenly. Well, maybe not suddenly considering the conversation topic, but it caught Grian off guard nonetheless.
"Oh, uh, yeah."
"Incredible! I'll definitely have to come back and try what else you make." Scar complimented with a wink. Grian wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cringe at the gesture. He really, really hoped Scar was just trying to appear nicer than he was because Grian didn't think he could handle any more of this guy.
"Ah, well, uhm, thank you." He said quietly, watching Scar's expression carefully.
"Why, of course!" The brunette quickly reached into his pocket and grabbed his wallet. He pulled out two twenty-dollar bills and slid them across the counter. "Here. One for you and one for that lovely baker of yours!"
Grian stared at the money for a moment, blinking. Scar was tipping him? Huh. Well, you won't catch him complaining.
Grian picked up the cash and tucked it under his phone case. "Uh, thank you. I'll make sure he gets it." He replied awkwardly, looking anywhere but those shiny green eyes.
Scar smiled. "Well, I'll be off now." He put his wallet back into his pocket and backed away from the counter. "Keep up the good work, buh-bye now!" The man called out before heading out the door, whistling a tune that grew quieter as the door shut behind him.
Grian stared at the door, narrowing his eyes a bit.
What a weird guy.