Chapter Text
The brisk morning air nipped at Legs' cheeks as he made his way down the sidewalk, the autumn morning welcoming him with it's usual bitter attitude. Gadget didn't seem to mind the chill as much as he did, the australian shepherd happily walking beside him.
Legs didn't usually take the morning shift—Zam liked waking up early to do some of the baking for the café, but she didn't work weekends and Graecie had choesn to take the day off (read: been asked by all three of them to) after finishing her law midterms. Sausage wasn't really a morning person, so that left him.
He didn't mind it—in fact, he was notorious for coming in earlier than he needed to, it'd just been a while since he'd opened by himself.
It'd be fine.
Everything would be fine.
His and Juniper's apartment wasn't far from the café, and the walk wasn't that bad, even if it was five-thirty in the morning as he approached the building.
They didn't open until six, so he still had time to set everything up before they had to open. Plus, surely there weren't that many people who came in before the sun had the decency to rise.
He could do this. It was fine.
Everything.
Would.
Be.
Fine.
Legs unlocked the door to the café, letting himself and Gadget into the unlit establishment. It took him a few minutes to get all the lights on, having to navigate his way behind the counter with only his phone flashlight and the dim light of dawn to guide him. The warm glow of the lightbulbs was a lot better on his eyes than the harsh white light of his phone flashlight, and he got to work setting everything up.
He had been on the closing shift the night before (as either he or Sausage usually were), so everything was where he had last left it prior, making setup a lot easier on him than he had initially anticipated.
Gadget had made himself useful by lying down on the floor directly in the middle of the walkway behind the counter, sprawled out on the tile and making Legs have to step over him every few moments to turn on the espresso machine and plug in the electric cooktop that they had bought solely for making tea.
Amber and Juniper had convinced the four of them to add a variety of tea blends to the menu at Metalla Caelestia, with their help creating the blends from plants that Juniper had growing in her section of theirs and Legs' rooftop garden. Legs himself wasn't the biggest fan of tea, but a lot of people seemed to like it.
By the time six A.M. rolled around, he had finished setting everything up, the hum of appliances in the background filling the space as he turned on the OPEN sign that hung in the window. They usually had music playing, too, but he couldn't get the speaker to work, so part of him hoped that he wasn't alone on shift for long.
There was a small nudge at his leg, and Legs looked down. Gadget had moved from behind the counter to stand beside him, nosing at his leg with his snout. His vision fuzzed around the edges slightly, and he blinked a few times in response.
Gadget nosed his leg again with more force. Sit down.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting there," he grumbled, bracing himself on the back of a chair before ultimately deciding to sit on the floor instead, his knees tucked up against his chest.
Gadget laid down next to Legs, resting his snout on top of his paws and looking up at him. He scratched behind Gadget's ears, and he leaned his head all the way into Legs' hand.
He probably had some time before customers would start to arrive for the morning, so he could sit for a few minutes and-
The bell above the door rang as it opened, letting the chilly air from outside enter the café as a guy entered, quickly closing it behind him. The guy spotted Legs and immediately stopped in his tracks, barely a few feet from the door. "…Are you okay?"
Legs cleared his throat slightly. "Yeah, I'm– I'm fine, just gimme a minute."
Gadget looked at the new person, his ears perked up slightly, and Legs took the moment to get a proper look at him.
He wore jeans and a white sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, the bangs of his blond and white hair peeking out slightly. A pair of black headphones rested around his neck within his hood, almost completely out of sight.
"…Are you sure? I can call someone-"
"No, seriously, I'm good. Just pushed myself a bit too much." Legs reached up to grab ahold of the table edge, pulling himself up from the floor. Gadget followed suit, pressing against Legs' shin as he regained his footing. "Can I get you anything?"
The man hesitated for a moment as Legs slipped back behind the counter, Gadget resuming where he had been lying before, right in the walkway. "Medium green tea to go, please, and could you only fill it halfway?"
Odd request, but he'd heard weirder before.
He nodded. "It'll just be a few minutes."
The blond smiled. "I'm in no hurry. Six dollars?"
"Yep."
The man pulled out his wallet and handed him cash for the drink, and he tucked it into the register before getting started.
Legs filled the kettle and turned on the cooktop before scooping a bit of their green tea blend into a strainer ball and setting it into the cup. True to what he said, it only took a few minutes before the water finished heating up and the tea steeping.
He set the drink on the counter in a to-go cup. "Careful, it's hot."
"I doubt it's hotter than you are," the man grinned. "Okay, thanks, bye."
Before Legs could respond, the blond was already out the door, the bell ringing as he left.
…What.
Legs looked at Gadget, who was staring up at him with his head tilted to the side. "You heard that, right?"
Gadget barked in response.
"Yeah, I thought so." he turned to look out the storefront window as the man passed, disappearing from sight shortly after.
He never got his name…