Hunk takes a chance on trying out a new bakery in town, and falls in love with a knife-wielding cashier who's being raised by a hoard of terrifying buff men (who make surprisingly good cakes).
“Ah screw it. Mom really liked those muffins. I might as well go get us a couple,” Hunk muttered under his breath.
Gathering up his courage, Hunk pushed his way into the bakery.
Overhead, a bell rung and a flurry of heads turned towards him. There were half a dozen big, burly men in aprons, Antok and Wolverine included. They were a unique crowd to say the least. One guy had a mohawk carefully styled and dyed purple. He had his arms crossed, giving Hunk a long sideways look. Hunk could feel himself shrinking back, hand still gripping onto the bar of the front door.
No one said anything until Antok rose his hand up in greeting. His deep voice rumbled. “Welcome to Bakery of Marmora, what would you like?”
Hunk stepped further in, hands bunched together in front of his chest. His fingers fiddled together, pressing incessantly against each other as he struggled to not meet their gazes and read the menu from his place by the door. Their eyes continued to bore into him, sending a swirling cloud inside his stomach.
“Uhm, uhh, m-muffins?” Hunk squeaked.
Antok shoved Wolverine by the shoulder. “ Thace. You heard the boy, get ‘im some muffins. The weekend special right? What kind of coffee you into?”
“I’m not really a coffee guy,” Hunk stuttered out. One of the big men, the one with the long ponytail curling around his neck, narrowed his eyes. “B-but my Mom loves coffee! Uhh, what kind do you have?’
Thace swept an arm skyward towards the overhead menu. “All right here. How does she feel about hazelnut?”
Hunk nodded furiously. “Good. Hazelnut is good. Uhh medium sized.”
“You gonna stand there the whole time, boy, or are you coming in?” Antok drawled, sitting heavily back against a chair and reclining against the table. It rocked under his weight. He held up a phone that looked dwarfed in his hands.
Hunk squished his fingers together faster, trying to work up his words from out of the trap of his throat. “No, uh, no, I’m just soaking up the ambiance, you know? Really g-getting a good feel of what I’m seeing.” Hunk took a few hesitant steps forward.
“It’s much easier to ‘soak up’ if you come in closer,” Mohawk man said, the lilt of an accent tinging his words.
Hunk tried to minimize his wince. He gripped his hands together and stood awkwardly near the cashier’s counter. Hunk felt like he was floating in a metal cage, watching a flurry of sharks circling him, each just barely grazing the cage. Hunk could feel his palms growing sweaty, hoping they wouldn’t make a nasty squelching noise as he moved them against each other. An overpowering, energy attached itself to Hunk and refused to let go. No matter how much he fidgeted, Hunk couldn’t get rid of it.
He took to looking around the shop.
The shop was bathed in alternating blacks and deep purples. Despite its dark colors, it was well lit. The tables were thin and wooden under low hanging glass pendant lights. All around the cafe were dozens of hanging succulents in glass containers, a few with the cafe’s logo painted on the side. In the far back, near one of the windows, were equally dark sofas, with delicately sewn pillows that looked like swords.
When Hunk raked his eyes over the walls, he was startled to discover rows and rows of weapons proudly hung. Battle axes, swords, knives. Hunk felt his stomach drop out. He supposed they were true to their name, but it didn’t make it any less - intimidating.
“So what do you think. How is our ambiance.” Mohawk said each question like a statement.
“I’m really loving the, uhm, weaponry. Sticks to your sign, I think,” Hunk awkwardly said.
“Exactly what we were going for!” Antok yelled from his spot. “Ulaz, make sure he gets an extra muffin. Do you see the arms on that boy? He needs them!”
Ulaz, the Mohawk Man, rolled his eyes and moved behind the counter, reaching into the display for a couple muffins. He deposited them into a little cardboard box. “If we just give them away, we won't make profit,” He muttered under his breath. Hunk crossed his hands over his chest, gripping each bicep with a hand. He mumbled a thank you. Thace shimmied around Ulaz and deposited Hunk’s coffee at the counter on the other side of the displays. Ulaz slid the box next to the coffee.
“That’ll be ten bucks,” A voice said. Hunk looked towards the register, seeing no one, until he looked down.
There, a shaggy haired boy his age was looking up at him with a resting frowny face. His name tag read Keith in messy handwriting. His bright gray eyes peeked out from long dark eyelashes. Hunk was surprised the boy was so short in comparison to the other men around them. He couldn’t be more than a few inches shorter than Lance, who stood a good five-eight. He had an unfairly pretty face, with a few stray fading acne scars, along his jawline. His eyebrow had a tiny, cute scar. His lips were thin and his cheekbones high, littered with faint freckles. Peeking out from his thick fringes was a little silver earring.
“Uh bwuh?” Hunk replied back intelligently.
The boy narrowed his eyes, not unlike Terrifying Braid Man, eyes roving over Hunk’s face as if trying to sift out any trickery.
“Your order. It’ll be ten bucks all together,” Keith said. A pair of slightly jagged teeth peeked out at Hunk, and what looked like the shiny glint of a tongue ring. Hunk felt his blood pressure skyrocket.
With shaking hands, Hunk reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Hunk winced when the change fell out of Hunk’s hand when he tried to drop them into Keith’s hand. Snatching at the coins, Hunk rambled out a string of apologies, and hastily shoved them into Keith’s palm. Keith blinked, looking between his hand and Hunk. Wordlessly he put them in the register, waiting for Hunk’s rambling to peter off.
“Dude,” Keith began. “It’s okay. Accidents happen.”
Hunk took a deep, shuddering breath. The corners of his mouth wobbled as he tried to smile.
Hunk mechanically paralleled Keith’s journey towards to opposite counter. Shakily, Hunk reached for the coffee and muffins in Keith’s hands. When Hunk’s fingers brushed against Keith’s, a strike of lightning rocked through him.
Keith shot him the ghost of a smile. “Come again.”
Resisting the urge to clutch at his heart, Hunk told Keith he would.
-
i lost steam doing this but hopefully i can finish! I’m writing this for a friend after all, and that’s usually what gets me to finish /anything/
