Chapter Text
Sometimes, life just throws curve balls at you when you least expect it to.
… like right now, standing over the absolute mess that snot nose brat made while throwing a tantrum. Two overturned cups of coffee, now staining the floor with a caffeinated mess. Not only dealing with two spilled cups of coffee, But a hysterical father shouting in your ear about his precious son's poor hand and third-degree burns, he crys..... The little shit doesn't even have a mark on his hand.
But that's the reality of working in a bustling city coffee shop, especially during the chaotic rush hours of the day. You’ve been working at this coffee shop for a few years now. Since you’ve moved to the city actually. You get used to the daily spills, noises, smells, and tired belligerent parents who can't take care of their damn kids.
“I'm so sorry, sir! Is your son okay?”. You say in a worried tone, well, put on a worried tone. You can't bring yourself to care about the kid. Since he's done nothing but scream and shout until he's gotten his way.
“No he's not fuckin’ Okay! Can't you see his hand! What if he needs to go to the hospital you.. you'll be liable!!”. The man snarls at you, getting in your face and stopping you from cleaning the mess up.
This is new, though you've never had someone get in your face. Feeling the familiar bubble up of anxiety, you splutter and take a couple of steps back, eye narrowing at him. This bitch.... Before anything else can escalate, thankfully your co-worker steps in to deal with the angry customer. He gestures for you to go to the back to calm down, likely seeing the frustration on your face, and you do.
That's how your day went, dealing with customers and keeping your false peppy attitude despite the earlier confrontation. With a warning from your boss, Even though it’s not your fault the kid was over exited, and a few hours left of your late shift you finally get to go home.
You pull your apron off and pocket your name-tag, now in a sour mood from the confrontation earlier. Grabbing your bag and coat, and quickly making yourself a coffee for the journey home, You sigh and walk out from behind the counter. Just wanna get home and die on the couch...
“See ya later. Get home safe”. One of your co-worker’s says, despite the name tag on his chest you’ve never really been bothered to learn his name, Not out of impoliteness, you just hate you're job to much to care. Waving with a quick polite smile and nod you leave.
Finally fresh air, taking a deep breath and exhaling onto the cold winter air. The path you walk along is dark and kind of spooky. You tend to not like the later shifts due to this, the recent muggings in the area don’t put your mind at ease either….Cupping your coffee a little tighter than you need to, you walk a little quicker to your usual bus stop.
On the way to your usual bus stop, you watch some monsters walk by. Chatting among themselves and walking with one and other, There eyes briefly shift to you, glaring. You can hardly blame them though.
Its been a few months since monsters have resurfaced from there underground prison, apparently a kid freed them. Which was just as surprising as literal monsters coming up from a mountain....well it was just as surprising to you at-lest. There had been a fair few anti-monster protests that sprung from there sudden arrival, as-well as some violent attacks by anti-monster assholes. It makes you a little annoyed to think about, the poor fuckers just got to the surface and there already being attacked....that being said, the monsters aren't so innocent either. Apparently starting the war that got them locked up in the first place. But you aren't really sure whats true and whats not anymore. The amount of news stations and media saying there demons from hell. tch
you dont really get involved with politics...as along as your left alone you're content.
Finally you see your bus stop up ahead and sigh, the street lamps dim and flickering slightly. Once you get closer to the bus stop, you notice theres a dark figure there, holding a lighter in there hand. A hood covering up their face, wearing an old looking blue hoodie, hands in their black basketball shorts pockets. Smoke drifting from underneath the strangers hood, the smell of Tobacco and…dust? Coming from them. Strangely you notice a faint red glow coming from the strangers chest.
Tensing up and holding your coffee a tad bit tighter, you stop at a distance from the stranger. Fuck this…oh god this is where I die huh. You look forward pretending to ignore the stranger, drinking all your coffee in one go with shaky hands. For some reason, despite how dull they are, your instincts are telling you to RUN. But you being you, Curiosity gets the better of you, quickly take a side glance at the stranger......
......He's looking directly at you. A monster....he’s a skeleton monster. Eye sockets hollow, leaking some sort of black liquid down his cheeks and a... target? on his chest. That’s all you see before you whip around and face forwards. Now as stiff as a board. Finding the cars on the road a lot more interesting than the stranger behind you.
“Aye kid”. His voice is deep, hints of amusement in his tone, It cuts threw the mostly silent air. You can feel the smirk on his mouth.
A chill shoots right threw your spine, You were in a sour mood but now your nervous. You don’t turn around. Whether it’s out of fear or from how stiff you are right now, you stay very still. Trembling a little and not in the mood to talk to creepy men, you go to pull your phone out, pretend to text someone or maybe play one of those emergence tik toks of someone pretending to be on the phone with you, you have saved in your gallery. But a cold and boney hand on your shoulder stops you.
“you deaf or somethin’ kid?”. The strangers voice has a bit of a growl to it now, Not quite annoyed, Slightly mocking but...
Yup this is where you die.
"O-oh uh, hey....Can i help you?". You're voice is shaky and nervous, turning to face the stranger.....His hand doesn't leave your shoulder. The skeletons eye-sockets are crescent shaped, a grin almost splitting his face in half. He looks amused. The goopy black liquid trails down his face slowly....Is he upset? lost? "Oh, are you ok?".
The skeletons grin drops slightly in confusion, tilting his head slightly and finally letting go of your shoulder. Hes flicking the lighter open and closed, fidgeting with it. The clinking noise slightly annoying you.
"Your crying...Do you need help?". You explain, rummaging in your bag for a napkin, remembering putting it your bag a while ago. You feel tense and wildly uncomfortable with the situation. you are tired and quite frankly, feeling annoyed again.... But your not gonna sit there and not help someone who might need it, you feel a little more sympathetic for him since he's a monster, and well...monsters are not exactly liked at the moment. Some label your sympathy a weakness but theres already so much hate in the world. You dont help often so...Why not help now?
"...I ain't crying, heh. But I will take what a pretty lady offers me".
yeah this is why you dont help
You give him a blank look, staring at him. His grin only getting wider as he winks at you, purposely grazing his fingers against yours as he takes the tissue, you inwardly cringe feeling bone on skin. Fighting the urge to roll your eyes you huff and Place the empty coffee cup onto the ground, stuffing your hands into your pockets. You eye him as he drys the black ooze from dripping down his cheeks with the napkin. The situation becoming a little awkward now.
He seems to notice your discomfort with his slightly flirty attitude but...doesn't care, In fact he looks more amused than anything else. "Thanks kid." He says, An easy grin plastered on his face, the black ooze drips down his cheeks once more, making you a little confused. Was there even a point in you giving him the napkin? "So why you out here this late?".
His question sets off red flags in your mind, just incase you hold your keys between your knuckles in your pocket. Side eyeing the skeleton.
A sudden jolt rips threw you, His sockets somehow feel like there looking straight threw you to your soul, his face blanks briefly, looking a little confused....you tremble a little.
"Waitin' for the bus." You grumble, really not liking this situation. "Why else would I be waiting at a bus stop".
The skeletons expression defaults back to laid back. He chuckles, Taking a drag from his cigarette...You...are not gonna question that for now. He blows the smoke away from you before shuffling his feet and huffing out another laugh.
"heh, Whats got you in a bad mood?" The skeleton raises a bone brow, again not questioning it, and starts to flick and fidget with his lighter again.
"Look I'm having a pretty shitty day okay? Im sorry if Im snappy or..or nervous or whatever." You grumble and start to feel a little embarrassed about being called out.
He grins a little wider "eh s' fine. I expect this reaction from someone in a fellverse". Taking a long drag from his cigarette before extending his hand towards you, silently offering you a drag. You decline and manage to let a small appreciative smile grow on your face. "No, no thank you...But uh whats a fellverse?"
The skeleton nods in understanding and flicks some ash from his cigarette "dont worry about it, kid" He dismisses the question with a wave of his hand, making you frown in confusion. A sudden sharp laugh erupts from him making you jolt in alarm, he snickers and gestures to the coffee cup you placed on the ground. "The daily grind? sounds like a stripclub."
You blink in surprise and confusion until you cop he's gesturing to your coffee cup, letting a chuckle slip past your lips, you pick up the forgotten coffee cup and spin it around to look at the logo. You laugh a little louder. "phhff, oh my god I've never noticed that. h-hahah, its a coffee place i work at. The coffees mediocre at best but the atmosphere is nice". You'll have to tell some of your co-workers that one.
The skeleton snorts and takes the cup from your hand, turning over in his hands a couple times before looking back to you. "Coffees just mediocre huh? Well with a name like that I'd kinda expect it". He's tone a lot more playful than before.
"Hey Im no coffee connoisseur or nothing!-" you giggle slightly, his grin stretches upwards a tiny bit "-but i can say that this one kinda tastes like ass".
The tension leaves your shoulders a little, feeling less on edge around the skeleton now that the situation feels more playful than threatening, your instincts around him are probably wrong anyways. They always are. He flicks his cigarette onto the ground and stomps on it, turning his attention to down the street behind him, before looking back at you.
"Well I better not take your word for it then". He says with a wink. You playfully roll your eyes at him and readjust your grip on your bag strap. A little cat paw charm dangles from the strap catching his eye(socket). Reaching forwards he grasps the charm and gives it a little squeeze. "cute".
His gaze catches your attention, Its on you. Like he wants some sort of reaction from you. Like hes playing with you.
Hes closer to you now but you dont react, well negatively at lest. Raising an eyebrow at him you grin. "Do you usually grab at random woman's bags or just at mine?". That seems to amuse him and he lets go but doesn't step away from you. Lingering near you instead, you feel oddly small under his stare...
"hm, you said you worked at this coffee joint?". He holds the coffee cup up and shakes it around. his other hand resting in his hoodie pocket. "Would ya give me a free coffee if i stopped by?"
You roll your eyes again and shake your head, smiling. "I cant promise anything, got a pretty stingy boss,"
He huffs out a laugh and messes with the coffee cup before looking down the street once more. You follow his gaze, seeing nothing out of the ordinary....Maybe he's just as nervous talking to a human as you are talking to a monster, because to be quite honest, you haven't spoken to many.
"your bus is here" He suddenly says, snapping you out of your thoughts. You look back at him but....he's not there. You spin around, looking for him. But hes gone! like he was never there to begin with. Your head starts to hurt and you groan, exhaustion hitting you finally. But the strange skeleton wasn't wrong, your bus is here.
Stepping onto the bus and getting your ticket, you take your usual seat at the back of the bus. Poping your head phones on and listing to some music, That strange skeleton still in your mind. Where did he go? how did he walk away so fast?
With a huff you will him out of your mind for now, watching the street lights fly by out the bus window.
Hanging up your keys with a heavy sigh, you let out a long and pained groan. Long shift at work, the confrontation and weird slightly scary disappearing skeletons? Man you need a drink... Making your way into the kitchen and pulling out a can of cider, you crack it open and take a drink, no work tommorow so why not!
Yawning you lean against the kitchen counter and look out of the window, up at the night sky. Theres a few stars out tonight, twinkling softly. You wish you could see more of the stars, but sadly theres to much light pollution to see them in their full beauty. Wanting to get a better look at them you walk towards your apartment's balcony, your drink hand, nice and relaxed, feeling cosy and content now that your finally home.
You get to the sliding doors, roll up the blinds and slide them open...
....
....
....
....
....
"What the Fuck".