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"Hey mate, holding up okay?"
His boss, Phil, asks, leaning against the counter with his head resting atop his hand. His hair falls in front of his face as he shifts, his nose scrunching as his vision is obstructed by blond strands that he quickly struggles to blow off.
"'m alright, 'm alright," Techno mutters. And then, louder as he turns to address the customer before him, "That'll be $6.99. I'll bring it over."
He's aware of Phil's eyes on him as he takes the ten dollar bill they hand him, as he rummages through the drawers of the cash register to provide the correct amount of change. He slides the coins across the counter, receiving a muffled "Thanks" in return before they scurry off back to their seat.
Techno finds his posture relaxing, feeling a little more at ease when he isn't having to deal with social interactions with complete strangers. But still…
"What's up?" He asks Phil. The man has began fidgeting nervously, shifting on his feet. It's something that is incredibly unlike him, Phil is usually calm and collected; the sight of him being so hesitant is enough to catch Techno off guard.
He appears almost startled at the question, looking to Techno as if in shock. Maybe he hadn't expected Techno to pick up on his nervousness. Or he hadn't wanted him to. Before he can open his mouth to apologize and laugh it off, Phil speaks up.
"Look, I normally try not to ask too much of you, but…"
"But..?" Techno prompts as Phil trails off. He's starting to get concerned now, and he finds himself straightening in preparation for whatever the man is about to throw his way.
"Me and Kristen have to go and pick up that new coffee machine from out of town later. I know it's short notice, but would you mind staying late tonight to clean and lock up?"
Oh. That's it? Why would Phil be so nervous to ask him to…do his job? Techno thought that he was getting fired or something!
"Uuuhh yep. Should be fine." He says nonchalantly, shrugging.
"You're sure? We can just close up early if you don't want to," His boss offers. Yeah, Techno can definitely sense something off here. He's fairly certain that Phil trusts him enough to allow him to manage things while he's away though, right?
"You tryin' to pay me less, Phil? Such a horrible thing to do, bankrupting your favorite employee," He teases, grinning impishly. Phil shakes his head wryly, smiling.
"Technically, you're my only employee…and you know I would've paid you, you dumbass," Techno chuckles, taking no offense to the words. He and Phil talk like this all the time, even if it isn't what most would class as exactly professional. What're they gonna do, fire him? Only Phil has that power, surely the man wouldn't dare. "Anyways, will you be okay with that? Staying later?"
"It's fine, Phil. I'll be fine," He reassures, waving Phil off. The man seems a little less nervous now, thank goodness.
"Mkay, as long as you're sure." He rests a hand upon Techno's shoulder, squeezing once before wandering off. Techno winces as he realizes that he'll have to stay quite a bit later than usual, having very little experience with staying after the shop has closed. That job usually falls onto Phil.
He supposes it'll be worth it, though, to help out. It's not like he has much waiting for him back home anyway, in his shitty one-bed apartment. At least this place has heating.
Now, what did that customer want again? Phil has managed to distract him for just long enough for him to forget. He's glad he noted down the order in his notepad, he thinks that the embarrassment of having to ask them what they wanted after all of this time would be enough to kill him.
He grabs a napkin, cutting a slice of carrot cake and plating it before moving on to brewing their coffee. Black coffee, to be specific. They must be insane to drink something that strong so casually. That or they hate themselves. Techno isn't one to judge.
He sets the plate and mug in front of them without voicing his thoughts, knowing that even here he must have some form of limit on how casual he can be before receiving a scolding. And partially because Phil is still within earshot and the man also chooses to subject himself to the bitter drink for some reason unbeknownst to Techno.
A few hours pass. Techno spends his time at the register dealing with the lunch rush, overwhelmed by the sudden influx of customers. Luckily, it seems to pass by fairly quickly and without issue, and within the hour the place has calmed.
"Alright, we're heading out!" Phil says. Right, he had come by in the midst of all of that to tell Techno that they would be leaving a few hours before close to make sure they could be back at a reasonable time in the night. Curse Phil and his old man bedtime. "If there are any issues then call me, I've left the key in the back so just leave it under the doormat and we'll come get it when we get back. Thanks for helping us out with this."
Techno huffs, mildly annoyed by all of Phil's fussing. He's been working here for long enough by now, he thinks, that surely he can be trusted without supervision for a couple of hours during the laziest shift they have.
"Alright, we'll see you later, mate!" Phil calls, pulling him out of his thoughts. The man turns to wave at him, beaming. Honestly, he looks a bit like a proud dad sending his child off to kindergarten for the first time. The comparison causes Techno to cringe slightly, squirming. Phil is a great boss but he struggles to imagine him being a parent of all things.
The bell above the door chimes as he swings it open, refreshing cold air flowing into the shop from outside. Techno wishes that they could keep it open all day long but the thought of bugs flying in to an environment where people are supposed to be peacefully eating is enough for him to ignore that idea. Gross.
"Byeeee," He draws out that final syllable until the door falls closed once more, leaving him stuck with the few remaining customers left over from lunch. If they leave soon, maybe he'll be able to close up early…
It's good to dream, he supposes.
The rest of his usual shift goes by without any issue, although he still finds himself mildly relieved when he's finally able to flip the sign on the door to say CLOSED. Look, Techno doesn't mind his job— he actually quite likes most elements of it— but he always finds himself looking forward to the peace and quiet at the end of the day.
It's not his fault that he's an introvert.
Exhaling softly, he quickly checks the list of tasks Phil had pinned to the door of one of the cabinets in the back after he repeatedly forgot certain elements and was left with extra work to do in the morning when he first got into work. Wipe down the tables and other surfaces, clean the bathrooms, take out the trash, clean the coffee machine. It's all scrawled in Phil's messy handwriting on an old post it note.
Luckily for Techno, it makes his job a lot easier. He doesn't want to end up missing anything and having to leave it for Phil to do in the morning.
"Phil~" A high-pitched, whiney voice breaks through the quiet, causing Techno to jump and spin around, his hands automatically clenching into fists. Maybe he should've locked the door as he cleaned, although he didn't here it open, so- he scans the room, his eyes landing on a translucent figure hovering in the corner. It looks…like a teenager?
Techno blinks, unsure of whether what he is seeing is actually real. Sure enough, when he opens his eyes, the boy is staring at him with his head tilted to the side and a look of contemplation on his features.
"Oh, you're not Phil…" The figure- the boy- mutters, in a voice with an uncanny echoey tinge.
"Not as far as I'm aware," Techno responds, dumbfounded. "What're you, anyway?"
"OI BITCH, I think you mean whom are you?" Techno shakes his head, sighing. This was not what he had expected when taking this shift on. Phil has got to pay him extra so that his therapy bill can be covered.
"It would be who not whom actually but-"
"Exactly! Whom am I?" Techno sighs again, louder this time. To his dismay, It only makes the figure grin. "And to answer your question, I'm the local friendly neighborhood ghost, Sir Thomas Innit, the most amazing creature to ever roam the Earth!"
"You don't seem very friendly…" Techno points out, and it's true! While Techno has to admit that he can't exactly call himself the pinnical of politeness, the only thing that this…ghost has done is swear at him and correct his grammar. Which, somehow, isn't the worst interaction he could've had today in his field of work.
"Hey! Fuck you!" Tommy shouts, prompting Techno to wince. He really hopes that they don't get a noise complaint from all of this. That would be a difficult one to explain to Phil and Kristen.
"You're just proving my point." He informs him, crossing his arms.
"Are you not even going to introduce yourself?! And you call me the rude one!" The kid suddenly exclaims, scowling. Techno is half tempted to start pretending he doesn't exist at this point. It would be far easier than acknowledging the abnormality of this entire scenario. But, he does want to know a little more about ghosts, so-
"Fine. Well, I'm Techno. I work here." He says, deciding to humor him for a while. Honestly, he's still stunned that ghosts exist, having only heard of them in fairytales and horror movies thus far.
"That's it?! That's all you have to say?!" Tommy sounds scandalized, gaping at him. Given how he'd introduced himself in such an over dramatic fashion, Techno guesses that he must not be used to people being unsociable.
Well, tough luck. He'd have to deal with it if he wanted to talk to Techno.
"Mmmm yep."
"What about…hobbies? Do you not have any hobbies?" He seems to almost flounder for something to say, appearing to be grasping at straws. Well, maybe they were both socially awkward. Not that it would help the conversation much but at least Techno would have an easier time empathizing.
"Are you trying to make small talk?" He asks, amused. The kids face appears to redden, somehow, although Techno doesn't know if that's possible or just a trick of the light.
"Yes!! Are you always this rude to people you've just met?"
"I mean, I've never really met a random ghostly child while trying to clean a cafe before sooo…" He drawls, gesturing vaguely at Tommy.
"Hey, who are you calling a child?! I'm probably older than you!" The ghost yells, unimpressed. Yep, they'll definitely be getting that noise complaint. Damn it.
"Doesn't seem like it," Techno mutters as Tommy continues to sputter indignantly, something about being a big man? It doesn't matter to Techno and so he simply decides not to listen. "How old are you, anyways?"
That seems to shut Tommy up quickly. He appears contemplative for a moment, silence passing between them.
"I…don't know?" He offers at last.
"How do you not know how old you are?" Techno questions, genuinely confused although Tommy appears to puff up as if he had been trying to insult him.
"HEY! It's hard to keep track when your body has disintegrated. Besides, age is a stupid concept. Like "Ooh look at you, you're a year closer to dying alongside the rest of us! Good for you" Like, what's the point?"
"I guess…" Techno trails off, struggling to respond. Before he can come up with something to say, another thought pops into the forefront of his mind and he chooses to voice that aloud instead, "Wait, does that mean that every person that dies becomes a ghost?"
"What? No, of course not! Have you even thought about how crowded that would be? We'd be bumping into each other 24/7…or, I guess, we'd be floating through each other since y'know…"
"How come you're a ghost, then?" He questions bluntly, realizing a second too late that it may be insensitive to ask a dead person about their death. Oh well.
"I am simply built different," Tommy responds. It's about what he had expected, honestly. The kid seemed to have trouble staying serious for longer than a few seconds. Oh well, it was worth a shot.
"…Right."
"Okay fine. I guess I'll tell you since you're so desperate!" Techno bites back a laugh, amused. He hadn't even pushed the matter. He can only presume that Tommy had actually wanted to tell him and had instead chosen to be difficult to get a rise out of him and was disappointed when that failed, "My parents used to own this place and they sorta managed to set the place on fire…Not on purpose! They weren't like, arsonists or anything! But yeah, we sorta all went down with the ship, so to speak."
Oh. Techno frowns at the way he says that so casually, barely batting an eye. He seems completely unphased in the way he jokes about the incident as if it isn't one of the most traumatic things a person could experience.
"Huh okay…" Techno says, instead of acknowledging all of that, "But your parents aren't with you now?"
"Nahhh. You only become a ghost if you've got other things you wanna do in life. If you've settled down then you just sorta…die? I don't know." Okay. Noted. Make sure to live a fulfilling life to avoid getting trapped between the realms of the living and the dead. Got it. "Kinda grateful for that one. I had to deal with enough old people in my life, don't wanna deal with them in my afterlife too."
"You don't wanna deal with old people but you came here looking for Phil? That seems counterproductive." Techno jokes, scrunching up his nose in mock disdain. Tommy wheezes at that, clearly amused.
"Oh yeah, where is he?" He suddenly asks as his laughter quickly dies down, "I wanted to come and bother someone and he's a lot more fun than you are."
"He's not here." Techno replies with a roll of his eyes. Is that not obvious by now?
"Well, duh, I can see that. But where is he?"
"Out of town. Picking up a new coffee machine. For some reason he chose to go and pick it up rather than getting it delivered." The things are massive. Maybe he didn't want to pay the shipping cost or inconvenience the minimum wage worker that would have to haul around the heavy appliance. Or something. Honestly, Techno fails to pinpoint Phil's logic most of the time and this is no exception.
"Well that's stupid. He could've at least given me a warning that I'd have to deal with the new guy."
Deal with? If anything, Techno is the one having to deal with an unexpected visit from a random teenager intent on distracting him. Honestly, he could have been ready to leave by now. Also…
"I've been working here for months, I'm hardly new," he retorts.
"How come I've never met you until now then? You never thought to come and say hi to your colleague?"
"A) You aren't my colleague, you don't work here," Techno chooses not to point out that Tommy hadn't come to see him either considering that a ghost randomly appearing in the coffee shop just to prove him wrong may not be the best for Phil and Kristen's business. He'd like to keep his job, "And B) I only learned about your existence 20 minutes ago, cut me some slack!"
"Wowww, so they never even told you about me? Damn, talk about a neglected child."
"Oh, so now you're a child?" Techno mutters, shaking his head.
"I'm basically Phil's son since I come here so often."
"I don't think that's how it works…"
"My parents are dead and I'm never going to see them again." Tommy's sudden solemn tone startles Techno instantly, causing his eyes to widen. There's a deep frown on the ghost's face, something that looks terrifyingly close to tears brimming in his eyes.
"Okay, okay, fine. You're Phil's son." Techno agrees, and Tommy's demeanor shifts in an instant. A wide grin stretches across his features.
"Yep, so you have to be nice to me or I'll fire you!" Tommy sticks out his tongue, blowing a raspberry at Techno. Ew.
"That's also not how that works but sure, whatever." Techno dismisses with a wave of his hand. Tommy opens his mouth as if prepared to protest, shuts it again, then reopens it, looking a little like a confused goldfish.
"What're you doing here, actually? There's no one else here." The teen asks, as if that isn't perfectly obvious. Although, well…Techno had clearly gotten sidetracked from the job he was supposed to be doing. He still had quite a bit to do before leaving, despite the fact that the sky is beginning to glow a muted orange.
"I was supposed to be cleaning until someone came along and distracted me." He mutters, pouting. Tommy simply stares at him for a moment.
"Huh...well, you're not getting rid of me now." He exclaims cheerfully, looking to Techno as if that is something he should be excited about. Though maybe it would be nice to have the company? No. Techno disregards that idea the second that it pops into his head.
"Damn it." He huffs instead, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tommy giggles like the gremlin that he is.
"Oh c'mon, I'm a delight. It's like having your own personal podcast to listen to. I'll just follow you around and talk."
"Y'know I usually prefer to work in silence after having to deal with other people all day." Techno hints, very aware that there's no getting rid of the strange ghost now. He's stuck with him until he leaves for the night, provided Tommy doesn't find a way to follow him home.
God, he hopes he doesn't. Techno wants to be able to get some form of a break from people and preferably a solid 8 hours of sleep before his next shift.
"Maybe a change in routine will be good for you then!" Tommy chimes, overly enthusiastic. Trying to antagonize Techno, it appears.
"It won't…" He complains, knowing that it serves little purpose by now. Tommy isn't budging.
"Well, you'll have to deal with it then because you're stuck with me now!" He jeers enthusiastically.
"Bruhhh," Techno groans. It's going to be a long night.
True to his word, Tommy proceeds to follow him around as he goes through the motions of preparing for the following day. He mops the floor, wipes down surfaces, cleans the current coffee machine out of habit despite the fact that they'll have a new one set up in the morning, all while listening to Tommy's ramblings. The ghost even follows him into cleaning the bathrooms, surprisingly, spouting horrific jokes that Techno blocks out as he attempts to get through the process as quickly as possible.
It isn't horrible, he observes. Honestly, he thinks that working in silence would have been worse. Though the shop does have speakers, something Tommy most certainly knows about as he spends ten minutes attempting to convince Techno to blast some video game soundtrack from his phone onto them and then another five pouting when he makes it clear that he will absolutely not be doing that.
But, all things considered, it's not too bad. It sure as hell makes things go by a lot faster.
"What're you doing?" Tommy asks, tilting his head inquisitively. As dusk began to set and the sky became tinged with darkness, Techno had finished the list of tasks he needed to do before he could finally leave for the day.
While he hadn't hated the experience, he was still pretty exhausted after the whole ordeal and wanted nothing more than to go home and pass out on the couch for the remainder of the evening.
"Getting the keys? I'm done cleaning, sorta gotta go home, y'know?" Techno reminds him. Tommy mustn't have even noticed that he was done working. That, or he'd assumed that he would stay after to keep him company.
"Oh. Well." Techno pretends not to hear the note of disappointment hidden behind his mask of loud overconfidence, "You better come visit again sometime. Even if you are boring."
"That doesn't really make me want to come back, honestly." Techno says, although he's sure he'll encounter the kid again in the future. It'll only be a matter of time until their paths cross again, especially if Phil starts insisting on ordering all of their equipment from a town a couple of hours away. He'll have to take on this shift a lot more often if that's the case.
"Hey! I can fire you, remember?" Tommy shouts, even though they've already established that he doesn't have that kind of power here. Not that the kid would ever listen, naturally. Techno has gotten the impression that he's rather stubborn. It'd take a lot more than one tired argument with a coffee shop employee to sway his mind on anything, really.
"You really can't…" The words lack any real fight, more resigned than anything else. He knows that this is a battle he definitely doesn't want to be fighting, "Well, whatever, I'm leaving now so have fun with whatever you do when you're here alone."
"Usually I break stuff, so we'll both be having fun with that." Tommy says, and his tone is far from joking. Techno searches his face for any hint of jovialness and comes up empty. Come to think of it…
"Wait, are you the reason the dishwasher broke the other day?" Techno asks, despite being fairly certain that he already knows the answer. God, this menace. He's surprised that Phil has kept him around for this long, though he is aware of just how difficult it is to get rid of him.
"You needed to get home, right?" Tommy asks, clearly baiting him into getting distracted. Despite this, Techno finds himself nodding, "Bye, new guy."
"…Bye, Tommy."
With a small wave, Techno pulls the door to the shop shut and locks it. Leaning down, he lifts half of the doormat and slides the key under it. A terrible place to hide something if you were to ask him, but it's where Phil had told him to put it. If the shop is burgled, Techno cannot be held responsible. He's just doing his job, after all.
His walk home passes by in a blur. Now alone, he finally had the opportunity to process the events of the previous hour or so. Ghosts are real, and he's spent his time this evening talking to one. Huh, okay.
He feels a lot more calm than one would expect when trying to process such absurdity, though he supposes it hasn't really had time to fully sink in yet. He still has a million or so unanswered questions. If Phil knows that ghosts are real, does that mean Kristen does too? It would make sense, all things considered, but he grimaces at the thought of the two keeping such a massive secret from him.
Why wouldn't Phil tell him? There's no way that the man had assumed that he already knew, it would be crazy for anyone to automatically assume that their new place of work is haunted while filling out a job application. Did the man not want to scare him off? Even then, why wouldn't he tell Techno after months of him working there?
The thoughts follow him up the stairs and into his apartment. Upon entering, he forces himself to stay awake for long enough to change out of his work uniform and make something relatively nutritious for dinner. When he is finished eating, he places the dish on the table in front of him and proceeds to flop backwards onto the couch, dragging a blanket down to cover himself with as he does so.
He stays there, staring at the ceiling with a racing mind, listening to the roar of cars on the street below, until sleep claims him.
"Morning, mate! Was everything okay last night?" Phil asks the second he walks through the door to his shift the following day. The man seems awfully energetic, something that Techno finds himself unable to relate to.
Despite getting a lot more sleep than usual, it's quality was mediocre at best, meaning that he is still battling against the urge to close his eyes for at least a few more hours. Really, it's his own fault for spending his night sleeping on the couch rather than his own bed, but in his defense, he had been exhausted while trying to process everything.
"Yeah, everything was fine," He says, rather than voicing any of his previous confusion. Phil beams at him, although it's more reserved as he clearly notices Techno's lingering tiredness.
"Oh, that's great!" He praises, a little quieter than before, "How was Tommy?"
"He was fine, though you should maybe give someone a warning before they have to comprehend the existence of paranormal creatures," He grumbles, slightly petty. Phil's jaw hang open.
"Wait, are you- Did you not know?"
"Phil. Phil. How could I have known?"
"I mean…we pay you a little more than average," Phil replies, looking slightly sheepish. Good. He deserves it for not telling Techno that he was working in spooky central.
"I'd thought you were just generous! Why would I have automatically assumed ghosts from that?"
"I guess you have a point…" Phil sighs, his smile fading, "Look, I'm sorry for not telling you, mate. If it bothers you then let me know and we can figure something out. You don't have to stay here, I'm willing to put in a good reference for you if-"
"What? No," Techno cuts Phil off before he can even finish his sentence, hating the thought of having to look for another job so soon. And maybe, just maybe, he's grown a little fond of the owners by now, but that is neither here nor there, "It doesn't bother me, really. Just wish I'd known sooner. What if I'd upset the guy and gotten possessed or something?"
"That's not how it works," Phil chuckles under his breath, appearing both amused and relieved, "He may be a chaotic little shit but he isn't that bad."
"I don't know, Phil. Did you know that he's the reason the dishwasher broke the other day?"
"He's the reason for what? Oh, that little-" Techno cackles as Phil splutters out curses, drawing the attention of the few customers they've gathered. It seems Phil might be more in the dark about Tommy than he had known.
Oh well. If he can use this as an opportunity to mess with Phil then it might be worth it. The man should consider it payback for keeping him in the dark about all of this.
Come to think of it, maybe he's just as much of a menace as Tommy is. He can absolutely use this to his advantage.