Chapter Text
The town always seemed to be abuzz, even in the early mornings with seagulls beginning to stir in their nest and shallow waves lapping onto the shore in rhythmic motions.
Morning light shines throughout the seaside town, casting shadows down alleyways and stirring a previously sleeping cat. The smell of freshly baked bread wafts gently out the windows of a bakery, comfortably nested in one of the back alleyways of the town. A cool breeze comes over the waterfront, marking the day as the first in a long line of days with dropping temperatures.
Fall is just on the corner, with trees beginning to lose browned leaves and temperatures dropping. Dropping temperatures always results in less profit to be made in the town, with tourist activity slowing dramatically and fish less likely to be found in shallower parts of the water.
The morning light (it can't be more than half-past 6) shines through the upper floor window of a coffee shop nestled away in the winding streets. The shop has well worn eaves hanging outside, with a fading green and white pattern decorating them. A large sign adorned with the name of the shop lays outside, with fading paint that would require a retouching soon.
Wifies knows he has to get out of bed, to set up shop for the morning regulars and all, however he sits in bed for 10, perhaps 20 minutes not wanting to leave his warm bed and step into the brisk morning air. Eventually he takes into account how he does, in fact, need money (the image of the ledgers holding the money earned flash in his mind, with the ones from the past few days being noticeably less full) and moves the warm blankets off of his body. Still in his purple heart pajamas he trudges across the worn floor boards to his closet and takes out his uniform, not really caring about the apparent wrinkles that are due for an ironing, and is ready to begin his day working as the owner and only barista of the coffee shop. After getting changed he trudges down the wooden stairs, each making a loud creaking noise as he places his weight on them in turn.
He begins his day opening the doors and the cold morning air embraces him, silently wishing he brought a sweater he takes out the display board, with “WE ARE OPEN 8:00pm - 5:00am” written with chalk in admittedly messy handwriting. He props the display open, with it making an unsatisfying scrape against the pavement before wifies turns to go inside to get ready for the day.
Going inside he notices a slightly chipped cup still in the washing machine and makes a mental note to deal with that later. He goes over to one of the shelfs, standing on his tiptoes, to grab the paper filters he keeps in the cabinet. He then went over to place it in the filter basket of his coffee machine, adding several tablespoons of coffee grounds and pouring a few cups of water from the sink into the water reservoir on the back of the machine. He closes the lid securely making a thumping noise before pressing several buttons, prompting the machine to buzz and begin the process of brewing the coffee.
While the coffee is brewing he goes over to the pastry shelf to restock, nearly empty as yesterday he had almost run out of supplies and had to make an emergency store run. He takes the remaining pastries and moves them over into the discounted section to make way for today's fresher desserts. The smell of coffee began to lazily waft throughout the cafe, setting a nice ambiance to the whole place.
He knows the typical crowd that would be around, consisting of retired folks and fishermen wanting a quick boost of caffeine before starting their work for the day. Tourists generally won't be around till midday, but the morning generally consists of the same group of elderly folk.
Outside the sun seems to be rising, casting warm, golden rays across the pavement. He walks across the wooded floor of the cafe and opens one of the lower cabinets, grabbing a slightly rusted watering can. He walks to the sink and twists the knobby lever handle, water flowing from the brass faucet. When the can is about half full he walks towards the window sill and goes to water the flowers, each in tacky designs that look like they were taken right out of an 80's movie.
A ding seems to break him out of his trance, meaning the coffee is done brewing. Seeing that no customers have yet to arrive he grabs a mug from underneath the counter and pours himself a cup of coffee, adding a generous amount of fresh cream to the drink. As he enjoys the fruits of his labour he hears the bell ring softly above the doorway, officially staring his work day.
An old lady clutching a cane walks up to the counter, hobbling with every other step.
“Ma'am what would you like to order?” He asks, rather enthusiastically, considering how early in the morning it is.
“An earl gray would hit just right in this weather, the temperature really getting rather cold recently, don't you agree?”
“Well, I mean it has been rather foggy lately, and less sugar I assume.” He says over his shoulder as he prepares her drink.
“Yeag, as per usual.” She says in response before leaving to find a seat to wait for her drink.
As he finishes making the tea he looks over his shoulder to find a crumpled 5 dollar bill laying on the counter and the old lady sitting down in one of the booths near the back of the store, reading one of the books from the shelf.
Carrying the mug he walks up over to her, gently setting down the warmed mug in front of her. The glass making a clinking noise as it makes contact with the wooden table. He then returns to his position behind the counter, ready to prepare the order of the next customer who finds their way into his shop.
Wanting to bake some more Cinnamon rolls too restock the shelves, he preheats the oven before setting out the batter he had premade the previous night onto a large wooden board. He dusts the board with flour before spreading the batter across the board and applying ample frosting into each piece. He then rolls and cuts the large batter into pieces (approximately the size of his fisted hand) and places them into the preheated oven.
Wifies typically hates how the oven seems to heat up the entire back room, however, a break from the cold, salty morning breeze is much appreciated. It doesn't take long before the back room is at least a few degrees hotter. Wiffies contemplates taking out the needed money to get an oven that doesn't make the back room so stuffy and dry, however he doesn't really have enough money to be spending it on whatever new minor inconvenience he has.
It isn’t long before the bell rings again, however, wifies was too distracted dusting the shelves to notice. He doesn't realize someone has entered their store until they loudly clear their throat, startling wifies. He turns quickly around and walks to the register, getting a better look at the new customer.
He doesn't recognize the man as one of their usuals, although he doesn't take them to be a tourist with his getup. The man is wearing overalls and a large sweatshirt with a hood that covers the top of his head. Wifies can see the collar of the shirt poking out around the man’s neck. More peculiar is the fact that the man doesn't even have a head, instead replaced with what appears to be a tv (he thinks he can hear a low frequency whirring noise but it could just be his imagination.) Several wires protrude from his head, connecting to several places across his body. The tv looks rather old fashioned, resembling an antique from several decades past closer than more modern technology. Several rows of brightly colored lights that remain mostly stationary are displayed across the mans… well, face for lack of a better word.
He assumes the other is a fisherman and not a tourist mainly because his build would point to the former and his outfit looks rather suited for the profession. The sweater does suggest a more casual profession, but he can tell his muscles are well toned and a sweater in such cold weather isn’t uncommon. He has, well, what one would best say is a rather conventionally attractive body.
“Excuse me, could I have a blond roast medium sized coffee?” The other man reads, rather stiffly off the menu.
Looking back, wifies would probably think the whole interaction was kinda funny but in the moment the only thing wifies realized was how much he was staring and how weird that must look. God I messed up what the fuck that was so awkward
“Oh, yeah I can get that ready for you, feel free to take a seat while you wait.” Wifies sats in his very best customer service voice, desperate to not make the interaction any worse than it already was.
He makes the coffee, not really paying attention to what he’s doing. He doesn't really know why but he has a strong feeling of wanting to impress the man. I never did get his name, did I. I should ask later. Wifies takes the finished cup of coffee and nervously walks over to the man, his steps incredibly anxious, scared he would mess up some weird, unsaid rule.
“Um, excuse me, here’s your coffee sir.” Wifies mutters, it came out quieter than he would have liked but the man seems to hear him, seeing as he puts down the book he had previously grabbed from the shelf. Huh it’s a book on that urban legend, a compilation of sightings of a leviathan of sorts that was rather popular a few years ago. Although, Wifies had never really been interested in it.
As wifies goes to set down the cup of coffee the other man reaches up to grab the cup. Their hands brush against each other, and wifies can feel his hands are rough and incredibly cool and metallic to the touch. Their hands only brush against each other for what must be a fraction of a second but the simple gesture impacts wifies incredibly.
Wifies stumbles away, the previous events playing back in his head, his heart racing quickly with what he assumes is just a case of severe social anxiety, I mean new, unfamiliar customers aren't exactly commonplace in such a small town. Before he can freak out too much about the interaction, a ding can be heard in the other room, directing his attention to the now fully baked pastries. Wifies grabs the plaid oven mits from where they were resting hung up next to the oven. He opens the oven and the heat hits his face as he removes the pastries. He then places the metal tins on the counter to cool.
A group of three people come through the door, one of them has long curly blond hair and a green handkerchief hastily tied around their neck who currently has his arm wrapped around someone (a good deal shorter than himself) talking rapidly, however wifies doesn't bother to make out anything their talking about. Wifies goes to the booth they had sat down at and gets occupied with taking their order.
After he delivers their food and the party leaves (bastards didn't tip) he notices that the man from earlier left the establishment. Oh god he never paid for his drink. Wait, wifies thinks he could have left the money at the table.
Wifies walks to the booth he remembers the man had been at, yet the only thing on the table was the book opened to a seemingly random page. Wifies notices messily scratched handwriting on the page. Oh god he vandalized the book too? I mean, it was his book so looking at what he wrote isn't technically snooping right?
Wifies turns the paperback book to face him and reads what the man had written in the book, next to a passage that reads “A rare, previously recognized as extinct mob is what is believed to be what so many mistook as the illusive leviathan. It is believed that the barnacle can be found in incredibly deep oceans, where the said leviathan is rumored to reside.” He had written “Why don’t they understand? Why don't they understand Levi won’t just magically appear? Why, why couldn't anyone understand?”
Well, wifies thinks to himself, there’s nothing wrong with being a crazy conspiracy theorist, but writing in books is a true act of psychopathy. Wifies figures he shouldn't put the book back, out of fear someone else would read it and make some stupid complaint. Instead he heads to the back room and puts it on top of one of the filing cabinets.
The rest of his shift is fairly uneventful, with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Just the same repetitive cycle of serving customers and washing dishes.
Finally, wifies checks his watch, at six pm the final customer leaves the store and wifies figures he should just close down for the day. Happy with today's earnings, wifies takes the money from the cash register and files it onto the ledger marked for today.
Wifies takes out a mop and cleaning supplies, in turn wiping down the wooden tables and floor. After the place is cleaned to his satisfaction he goes to the several trash cans across the rooms and takes them outside to a dumpster.
Wifies then goes to the back room to grab the keys, double taking when he sees the book he admittably forgot he put there. Obviously his interest is piqued, and hey, some light reading never hurt anybody.
Wifies pockets the book.
He then takes the keys and makes sure the windows and doors are securely locked before trudging up the worn stairs to his personal quarters. He undresses and turns the water on, waiting for it to turn hot before stepping in and washing himself. After he finishes showering he goes over to his closet and puts on whatever random article of clothing that could loosely be described as "comfortable clothing.” He then gets into his bed, feeling clean and plenty curious about the contents of the book from earlier.
The story, or record, follows the documentation of all known reports and data available about the leviathan. Wifiea found himself getting rather invested in the story. He figured while the book did have a rather clean explanation perhaps he would make that decision for himself.
However, before he can get too invested in the story the sun has long since set over the horizon and his eyes begin to drop. He puts the book on his bedside dresser, far too lazy to find a bookmark before clicking the off button on his lamp, sending the room into almost complete darkness.
Wifies has never really been able to sleep quite quickly, and when he does manage to sleep he can easily be awoken by the random noises outside his window.
Anyways, today is another one of those nights, with the events of today making themselves clear in wifies tired mind. The fact that he didn't pay was for one of the main topics. Think he only realized hours later that he forgot or did he truly just dine and dash? Whatever the reason, he didn't strike wifies as a bad person. Maybe, by some chance, he will be back tomorrow. At the very least that was comforting to think about.