Chapter Text
Jason forgot to get new batteries for his hearing aids… and he worked as a barista.
To say he was going to struggle with work was an understatement.
So now he was thinking about how to explain this to his manager and best friend, Bea, while walking to the cafe.
A cool breeze blew through the streets and Jason shivered. Sure he did slap on a greyish-green jacket this morning but walking around in jeans, a pale blue T-shirt and a thin jacket wasn’t the best outfit for cold weather. Bea would also argue that it isn’t the best outfit in general but he didn’t care.
It was a short walk from his apartment to the cafe but it was nice. It was nearing autumn and orange leaves littered the street along with well… just general litter. The area where Jason lives was not the cleanest or safest (considering it has the highest crime rate in Brightkeep) but hey it was cheap.
Jason stopped in front of the cafe. Its walls were a muted green with wooden columns and ivy climbing up it. Near the roof was a sign saying ‘ Beatrix Tea’ in cursive.
He took out his crusty, old phone and checked the time.
9:27am
He was 27 minutes late… Bea was going to kill him.
He breathed in the scent of freshly baked croissants and coffee and opened door.
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The first thing Jason saw as he entered the cafe was a sleep deprived Bea, who turned around to stare straight into Jason’s soul.
She said something but Jason didn’t know what. He cracked an awkward smile and nodded slowly. Then he saw Bea deflate and drag a hand over her face.
‘ You lost your hearing aids didn’t you?’ Bea signed. Jason thought that it was close enough so he shrugged .
‘Yeah…’ he signed.Bea gave him the most deadpan expression possible.
‘You’re also late… At least you lost them on your shift with me.’ Bea signs. There weren’t many people in Brightkeep that actually knew sign language, in fact Bea and his neighbour, Austin, were the only people he knew that did.
‘ Can I just start my shift, please?’
‘Fine, you little gremlin. You know the drill.’
He pouted,‘I’m not little!’
‘Jason, you’re literally like 5’5”…’
‘That’s average for 16!’ He crossed his arms. The audacity to call him short! ‘You’re only tall because you’re old.’
‘Im not old! I’m only four years older than you!’ She threw her hands in the air.
‘Old. You’re practically ancient.’
‘Yeah, well you’re short.’
Jason squawked in protest as Bea ruffled his hair. Then, he helped Bea set up and eventually customers start filing into the cafe.
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‘ Regular decaf latte,’ Bea signs.
Jason gave a thumbs up. He went through the monotonous steps of making a shot of espresso: grind the beans, put them in the portafilter, press it down, put it in the espresso machine.
He’d done it so many times that he didn’t even need to focus on it… except he probably should because the world hated him and he got burnt by the espresso machine for the third time today. Like seriously THREE TIMES TODAY.
As he sighed and trudged to the back of the cafe to clean his hands, he saw another customer come in through the door at the corner of his vision. He’ll deal with that later. Right now he has to deal with this stupid burn on his stupid hand from the STUPID ESPRESSO MACHINE.
He turned on the sink and relaxed as cool water flows into his hand. He checked the clock above the sink.
3:27pm
Only… 1 hour and 33 minutes and his shift is done, then he can head back to his apartment and pass out.
Nice.
There was not much at the back. It had countertops lining the walls and a small table in the middle with stray trays on it. The walls and floor were made of boring white tiles with a wooden door at the back. The ovens were in the far corner of the room, lighting it with a dull amber glow. Bea forbid him from ever going near the ovens because he may or may not have almost burnt down the entire cafe when he tried to bake croissants.
He was still mourning those croissants.
They had so much potential.
The dough was literally per-
He was rudely interrupted by Bea as she rushed into the room and slammed the door behind her. He shut off the tap and turned to Bea, who looked like she’d seen a ghost.
‘What’s up?’ He signed.
Bea locked the door and put a chair against it as well. Then she turned to Jason.
‘ Don’t freak out ’- which literally made him even more confused and freaked out -‘ but there’s a person with a…’ Bea paused; she probably forgot how to sign the word.
Instead she finger spelled.
‘ G.’
‘U.’
‘N.’
The colour drained from Jason’s face.
‘ What are we gonna do?’ He signed.
Bea did’t respond for a moment, her eyes searching around the room, then,’ I’ll-I’ll distract them. You get everyone out. Ok?’
‘You’re kidding right?’ Signed Jason, his brows furrowed. There was no way in hell he was going to let Bea do that. Heck, there was no way in real life he’d actually let Bea do that! ‘Have you at least called the police or something?’
‘Yeah, but we need to get out of here NOW!’
As if on cue, the door shuddered.
Bea muttered something, probably a curse word, grabbed Jason’s arm and booked it to the table. They both hid behind it; Bea slapped her hand over Jason’s mouth and peered behind the table. She jolted back just as he heard a small pop.
Jason’s breath hitched in his throat.
There was a singular small hole in the floor. Wedged inside of it, was a bullet.
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Jason moved before he could even think. One second he was behind a table with Bea, the next he was barrelling towards the robber at full speed. Should he be running in the opposite direction? Yes. Was he going to let some jerk with a gun rob the café and harm his best friend? Absolutely not.
He fell to the ground as he heard another small pop to his right, the bullet ripping through his sleeve but, luckily, not his arm. He rolled behind a countertop, giving him less than a second to catch his breath before another bullet struck a tile next to his hand.
Okay, maybe he should’ve listened to Bea and escaped. At least he won’t be lectured if he’s dead!
Remembering that he left Bea, Jason peeked his head out. Just in time to see her creep behind the robber, who was currently trying to kill him, and punch them point blank in the back of their head. Jason gaped as the robber crumpled to the ground.
Then, Bea turned and looked at him straight in the eye. ‘Jason, if you ever do that again I will die of cardiac arrest’ she signed.
Adrenaline still pumping through his veins, Jason nodded. Bea gave him a hand as he stood up, legs shaking slightly.
‘Is your arm good?’ Bea asked.
He looked over to his right and sure enough there was a large gash in his sleeve. That was definitely going to be a pain to fix.
‘Yeah… only the sleeve is ripped.’
‘I’ll help fix that later. Now, I’m going to get everyone out of here. Go through the back and I’ll meet you at the front. The police will be here soon, okay?’ Bea signed, a comforting smile on her face.
Jason watched as she rushed out of the back. He made his way to the door and grabbed the handle. Before he left, he took another look behind him.
He definitely should’ve listened to Bea and left. He definitely should’ve left the room and let the police deal with everything. This wasn’t his problem, he was just dragged into it. But as he looked over to the silhouette of the robber on the floor, he stopped.
He should probably check that they were still alive. Even with his limited knowledge on medical things, he was pretty sure a person shouldn’t be knocked out for this long from one punch.
Jason took a deep breath and approached the robber. He crouched down, carefully reaching out his hand to check their pulse.He felt a thump thump thump beneath his palm and let out a sigh of relief. They weren’t dead.
Now he can leave.