Chapter Text
There was a new regular at the Color Café.
They would always come in alone, sit in the same booth towards the back, mumble through their order, and apologize that they couldn’t leave a bigger tip as they paid their bill. They came in daily starting approximately two weeks ago. They wore a gray hoodie that obscured their face, save for the pair of glowing yellow eyes that shone through the dark.
Under most circumstances, Swatch would not have taken notice of this new patron or any of their strange habits. But two members of their staff- Crimson and Forest- were whispering about the customer. They hid themselves poorly behind a curtain as they glanced towards the booth. Based on their expressions and worsening volume control, Swatch figured there must be some cause for concern between the two of them.
Swatch placed a sign reading “We’ll Be Right Back” on their desk and strode over to their squawking subordinates. In their usual level-headed tone, they said, “Is anything the matter over here? Or have you two simply forgotten to punch out for your lunch breaks?”
Forest was the one to speak up, “It’s not our fault, Boss! We need to-”
“Keep your voice down!” Crimson whispered as they put a wing over Forest’s beak, “I saw it too, there’s no reason to scream and scare everyone.”
“Right, right,” Forest trailed off, leaving Swatch all the more perplexed. She took a deep breath and explained, “So you know that new monster in the booth over there? I noticed they like to doodle on the napkins. No big deal, right? Everyone needs a hobby. But I- well I did then Crimson- saw what they were drawing.”
Just before either of them could scold Forest for dragging out the story, she leaned in close: “They were drawing the floorplans to the café. Tables, chairs, even speculating how the kitchen must look.”
Swatch nodded, “I see… that is rather concerning.” “Yep. And she’s telling the truth, I went over and checked,” Crimson said with a grim jab towards the booth.
“Do they have anything left to order?”
“Nope, just the check.”
With a tug of their tie, Swatch steadied themself. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will ensure that the matter is delt with. Now please, go about your shift as usual.” With a nod, Crimson resumed their shift, leaving Forest standing on her own.
“Are you sure it’ll be ok? That they aren’t… super dangerous or anything?” Forest asked, her voice quivering.
“Positive, now just a moment.” Swatch preened a few feathers from Forest’s head before stepping back and smiling. “That’s better. Your feathers had been… misplaced from the curtain. You look perfectly fit to resume your responsibilities.”
With Forest’s departure, the first part of the situation was handled. All that was left was to confront the customer. Swatch had delt with plenty of unsavory characters in their time, and they were sure this was no different. The stranger would turn out to be a common thief looking to steal from Queen’s funds and nothing more.
Despite the Swatchlings’ fears, Swatch decided to walk past the booth for themself. On their way back to the counter, they nonchalantly gazed towards the stranger’s table, only to see another drawing on a napkin. Its subject matter made their blood run cold.
It was a drawing of Swatch, in three-quarter view, from the clear line of sight they had of them from the booth.
Upon seeing the content of the drawings made by the mysterious new customer, Swatch knew they had to put a stop to it immediately. They hadn’t taken their fifteen-minute break for the day, so they utilized it and began to follow the customer out of the premises.
They tailed the customer as they walked back into Cyber City, watching them tug their hood nearly closed. To their credit, the jacket was an effective disguise: it hung down nearly to the ground, leaving only two beige paws exposed at the bottom. The stranger seemed a bit oblivious as they didn’t look behind them once until they stopped to read a street sign.
They were then met with a well-dressed bird staring at them, head tilted down ever so slightly to maintain eye contact.
“Excuse me- my name is Swatch, I work at the Color Café. Would you mind speaking with me for a moment?”
The thief sputtered for a moment, trying to grasp the situation at hand. They glanced at their surroundings- the street was nearly empty, only populated by a few Addisons on the opposite side of the road. Cars rushed past indifferently. Realizing there was no way to avoid this confrontation, they nodded.
“Good, thank you,” Swatch put on their most saccharine smile and began: “Now, a few members of my staff have noticed you. Due to our location, regulars tend to stand out more than one-off tourists. So, if I may inquire-“ Swatch leaned down, shoving their hand on the street sign’s pole for emphasis- “Why were you sketching the floorplans on our napkins?”
The stranger caved instantly. “I’m s-s-sorry, ok! I didn’t- I wouldn’t-” the stranger- who apparently had a slight lisp- interrupted themself, breath not quite reaching their lungs (assuming they had such organs). Swatch removed their hand from the pole. They had meant to be intimidating, but not to this extent. With a few more seconds to calm themself, the stranger sighed.
“I’m sorry about that. I know it looked really suspicious- I tried to hide what I drew whenever someone came by my table. Guess I didn’t do a great job of that, huh?” They laughed, the hollow sound not holding any genuine amusement. “… It’s easier to explain if I do this,” they decided, removing their hood.
The monster before Swatch was some form of insectoid, hybridized creature. Firstly, their glowing appendages weren’t eyes: they were black antennae with oval-shaped, light-up ends. Not counting the antennae, they were roughly a head shorter than Swatch.
Furthermore, their face was the same beige fleece as their paws. It also had a straight, vertical line running through the center into their hairline that appeared to be a seam. Large eyes, black glinting eyebrows, a sideways beak-like set of mandibles, and spikey olive hair comprised the rest of their features.
“I’m not from around here, and I’ve only lived in the city for about three weeks,” they explained as they began to rock on their heels. “Everywhere here is so bright and loud and noisy- it’s been a lot for me to get familiar with. But your café is perfect! I found somewhere I actually feel ok a hundred percent of the time, so I…” They pulled out the napkins, handing them over to Swatch. “I wanted to make sure I understood everything about the place. I’m sorry if I freaked anyone out.”
Swatch thumbed through the drawings until they found their likeness.
Around the construction-line littered drawing of them were several notes; “Swatch- runs the place.” “Pretty glasses (ask where they bought them?)” “Very quiet voice. Always seems to be smiling.” The last note on the page- with its last eight words redacted- stuck out to them the most; “Everyone respects them I wish I knew what that felt like.”
Swatch looked at the fellow-Darkener in front of them with a newfound sympathy. They had never been out of the Cyber World, but they remembered when Queen was still getting acclimated to it. Despite her carefree nature, there were many bits of UI and city life that destabilized even her. They couldn’t find it within them to stay mad.
“It’s alright, just refrain from sketching the staff without their consent first. I doubt you want to frighten them.” The stranger nodded, their antennae lighting up brighter to match their mood.
“Thanks, pal.” They stuck their right hand out for Swatch to shake: “I’m Glimmer, nice to meet you.”
Swatch reciprocated the act, “You as well.” After a pause, they asked Glimmer, “If you really are new here, have you registered your Cyber ID yet?” Glimmer shook their head as Swatch opened a new login window for them. “Simply provide your information in the boxes and you’ll be set. Think of it as a cross between a governmental document and a groupchat for memes.”
Glimmer looked up from the window. “What’s a meme?”
Swatch shook their head. “You have a lot to learn about our culture.”
Within a few seconds, Glimmer had finished the setup, their profile reading as follows:
Name: Glimmer
Serial/Version Number: Unknown
Element: Plush:Electric
Pronouns: ze/zir
Status: Being interrogated at a street sign :3c
Swatch was unsure whether zir use of the “:3” emoticon made them respect zir less or more. Outdated digital etiquette aside, Glimmer seemed happy. Ze closed the window and looked to Swatch, “So… can I come back to the café tomorrow? You can keep my drawings until then, if you want.”
Swatch smiled- with actual sincerity behind it this time, “Yes you can, and I’ll keep your… artwork safe overnight.”
“Sounds good! I’ll see you tomorrow, bye!”
With that, the mysterious new customer had become the excitable new Cyber City resident. Glimmer’s antennae shone even brighter in anticipation of the coming day as ze waved goodbye, walking off into the city. Content with their handywork, Swatch turned around and headed back to the café.