Chapter Text
Trudging down the street, hands stuffed deep into my pockets, I lose myself in thought as I made my way to my destination.
It was a quiet morning in Volcaldera, with the soft hum of life starting up again for the day serving as the background noise.
Now, you might wonder: ‘Why are you walking around town so early in the morning?’, and the reason for that was because of my new job at a café in a quiet corner of the town.
‘Why, exactly, am I going to work?’, you may ask again, and for that, my answer is…
Because I wasted all my money on anime figurines.
Suddenly, reality reels me back in as I finally arrive at my soon-to-be job for probably the rest of my high school life.
Looking at the place, I am greeted by a quaint sight; a small, cozy café with a white-brick exterior and two large windows on each side of the door that allowed the light from inside to illuminate the spots where outside tables were placed at.
A sign atop the awnings swung gently from the morning breeze, with the name “Crystal Café” painted on it in elegant cursive.
Looking down below where the awnings encompassed, there was a wide variety of vibrant and colorful flowers adorning the outside of the café. From the eaves, to the windowsills, and all the way to the door frame and the ground.
I take a deep breath, inhaling the scent of flowers mixed with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. The combination was oddly relaxing—was this the reason almost every other café I’ve seen have flowers on them?
Finally done with admiring the café(and procrastinating entering the café and getting a job), I gather my courage to push open the door. As I went inside, I heard the gentle chime of a bell jingle as the door gave way to me.
Probably due to the day still being early, there weren’t a lot of people inside. At best, two or three customers, as far as I can tell.
Walking over to the counter, I am greeted by a jovial, walrus-like dino man with a rotund stature who wore the typical old man clothes(white collar shirt, black pants, suspenders).
“Hm? Why, hello there. You’re a face I haven’t seen before…Well, what brings you here to our tiny shop, laddie?”
The wall of a dino greeted me with the manner that your usual friendly old neighborhood grandpa would.
“Uh, I’m here for the job offer…Is there still a spot?”
The old man squinted and looked closer at me, before widening his eyes and exclaiming,
“Ah! You must be Anon! Come, come. I was waiting on you so we could have a helping hand for our shop alongside the quiet little lassie.”
With a wide smile, he drags guides me to the back of the café, towards the only other person that was there; a snow-white Troodon with black freckles(?) peppered all over her forehead and all the way to her upper snoot.
The Troodon let out a ‘meep!’ as she got grabbed by the walrus-like man as well.
Then, we were forced to look at each other eye-to-eye.
Though I was nervous, the girl in front of me was a lot more nervous; she was quaking so much I thought she was one of those vibrating children’s toys.
The situation felt kind of like a tiny mouse being placed in the same space as a cat, it was a no-brainer that the situation turned into an awkward pause between us…until the old walrus-looking guy spoke again in a cheery tone.
“Judee, this is Anon. Anon, this is Judee. Familiarize yourselves with each other, because you’ll be working with each other in this here shop o’ mine. Oh, and whilst we’re at it, lassie, please show the lad over here what to do and whatnot. Don’t worry, I’ll give a bonus to you for it. With that said, I’ll leave both of you to it, then!”
And with that, the old dino left.
Now, it was just us two manning the entire café.
Standing around in pure silence.
...
So much for finding a good job.
As I was wondering whether I should just quit on the first day or not, I heard a shy voice utter a 'hello'.
It was the Troodon girl, Judee, who spoke.
I replied back with a 'hey', trying really hard not to sound as awkward as I felt.
“Let us…try our best.”
She raised her fists a bit, before closing her eyes and nodding, she subsequently turned back and walked away…before looking back every now and then at me, slowing down when she realized I’m far behind.
Guess she wants me to follow her. ‘Show me the ropes’ and all that.
With a small smile, I begin walking after her, a bit of stride forming as I walked.
Maybe I’ll wait and see for a bit to see what this job has to offer, see if this is worth it or if I should really just quit and find some other job.
Judee led me around the café, showing me everything there was in it, as well as what its purpose was.
And when I say everything and its purpose, I mean it.
“—and this one, the stools, they are meant for the small children to sit on. Though, we don’t usually have children come here. Kids aren’t really supposed to be drinking coffee, is what my äiti says…”
“—Here, you have to press this button to grind the beans, and this one starts brewing, and then this one—”
“—Then you have to use the tongs to place them on a plate and then serve them to the customers. Uncle Bundo also said we have to keep the displays clean and stocked with fresh pastries because we have to ‘show our best selves to our guests’.”
At the end of our little tour, the last place we stopped at was the storage room, where all the supplies were kept, and the small break room in the back.
“This is where we can take breaks when there are not many customers. There is also a fridge if you want to bring lunch.”
By the time we finished, my brain felt like mush from all the spiel Judee gave.
Yet, despite that, I felt grateful for her taking the time to carefully explain everything I needed to hear, even if that means adding somewhat unnecessary things to that explanation…
She was very kind and patient throughout all the explanation; whenever I had a hard time understanding something, she took the time to carefully tell and show me how it works.
And not once did I feel her stutter or mutter her words; even though she was nervous, she spoke clearly.
Overall, I’d say it was a 9/10 tour, and the tour guide(Judee) was a major contribution to that score.
…Though, right now, after it was done, she was looking at me with those big, yellow eyes with an anxious gaze, like a puppy waiting for approval.
Of course, I wasn’t an asshole(at least not that much…), so I gave her my thanks.
“…Thanks.”
“It is of no problem, Anon.”
She flashed me a smile, looking relieved.
“You will do fine, Anon. Just come to me if you have more questions. We will be working together, after all.”
Well, seems like my life as a barista starts now.
…Wait, I almost forgot to ask something.
“Hey, Judee.”
“Hm?”
“Who’s this ay-tee and uncle Bundo?”
“Ah, my äiti is my mother and uncle Bundo is the owner of this café; the one you met when you came here.”
“Alright, thanks for telling me.”
With that settled, now my life as a barista starts.
I spent the rest of my shift getting into a rhythm working with Judee. Soon, the café started to fill up with customers—many of whom were regulars, apparently, and they took a particular interest to me, the new guy.
“Well, well, well…what do we have ‘ere? New blood, huh? Heh, I remember, back when I was your age, we used to do this and that—”
“It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen a new person here. Are you perhaps that old tool Bundo’s cousin?”
“Wow! A new face! …Now give me my coffee, please.”
“Finally, a kindred spirit, just like me…Now, we both can be the baldies of this cafe.”
“Oi, skinnie, are ya single—actually, nah, even if you aren’t, I got an offer for ya…how bout you come over to 121 Carnal St. over at the Avenue, and I could hook you up with some hot babes—”
(That last one got promptly shut down by the rest of the regulars, and also surprisingly Judee, but nevertheless…)
At one point, a stray cat had barged in, and I had to somehow wrangle it out of our café. Whilst I did so, Judee watched on and sheepishly giggled at my expense as the cat and I had our antics all around the place.
“It seems like you have gotten us a new friend, Anon.”
She teased as her eyes narrowed in amusement.
“Yeah, right. 'friend', my ass...this cat's an absolute bastard...”
I muttered, finally managing to coax the stubborn cat outside and going back to work.
But despite the minor mishaps, the day went quickly, and before I knew it, our shift was already over.
As we cleaned up in preparation for Old Man Bundo to come, I had a realization about this job.
It was quite probably the best job I could’ve ever found.
The customers weren’t shit.
My co-worker is a cute and meek Troodon girl who’s nice and sweet.
And the atmosphere around here is stress-free and just really comfy.
It was a good thing I decided to just wait and see instead of leaving immediately; I’d have been dodging a jackpot of a job if I did so.
“Hey, Judee. You finished over there?”
I asked as I finished wiping the counters.
“Yes, I think so. It seems we’ve cleaned all that we need to now. All that’s left is for uncle Bundo to come—”
“Yes! You called, lassie?”
Just as we had finished cleaning, the old man walrus had come back.
He looked around the café, and had a flustered look on his face.
“Ah, you young’uns really didn’t need to do this…You know what? I’ll give both of you a bonus for being such good kids, and no arguing with me about that. You both will be getting a bonus, and that’s final.”
Seems like I forgot to mention one last thing about why this was the best job.
The boss is fucking great.
And so, we left the café to Bundo, and as I was about to leave, Judee called out to me.
“Anon!”
“?”
“Uhm…You…D-did…”
For some reason, she looked anxious. I didn’t know why, but it’s probably going to show if I wait for her to talk.
“Did…did you…did you have a good time here…at the café?”
“…? …Yes, I did…Why do you ask?”
“W-well, does that mean…you’ll come back and start working here now?”
She looked at me with hopeful eyes full of anticipation; like a child would when checking to see whether or not Santa’s given them presents, or if the tooth fairy had truly given them a coin in exchange for their teeth.
I’m taking a wild guess and saying she probably wants me to be a regular worker around here.
Now, I don’t know why exactly she’d want that. I’m not exactly the greatest co-worker you could ask for. Maybe it’s because she was lonely, being the only worker at this usual time, or maybe it’s something else. In all honesty, though, it didn’t really matter, because my answer would be the same no matter what.
“Yup. I think I’ll stay here. Seems like the best I could ask for as a job.”
Judee lit up like a star upon hearing my answer, and her tail and hands waved excitedly. She was so happy, it was hard not to feel good about it, too.
“That’s…great! That’s really great…S-see you tomorrow, then, Anon!”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow, too, Judee.”
And with that, I stepped out of the café, breathing in the cold evening air.
As I walked home, I couldn’t help but smile as I thought of this new job of mine.
Seems like this won’t be so bad after all.