I Just Fell in Love With a War [CH-2]
Summary: You go to work, and three of your neighbors manage to follow along.
Notes: N/A WORD COUNT: 6.1K
MAIN PAGE CHAPTER 1 <- OR -> CHAPTER 3
Work was a hassle, getting up was a hassle, getting dressed was a hassle… What the hell isn’t a hassle at this point? The fucking word didn’t even seem real now to you…
Staring at yourself in the mirror, you looked down at your clothes. You owned the bakery, can’t you just… Go in pajamas?
…No. No you can’t… You cant… If you do, then you’ll look like a homeless person claiming to own a building. Then someone’s going to call the cops or something. You’d rather not deal with that.
So, you quickly got dressed. Grabbing the ‘uniform’ (In your opinion, it’s just bakery appropriate wear.) that only you wore, since you were the only employee at your bakery. You should hire some people soon…
The clothes you wore was a button-up shirt that had a pure beige colour, with black buttons. Then you put on your black slacks, slipping a black and golden coloured belt through the loops and adjusting it until it fit snugly around your waist. Your apron was at the bakery, so you didn’t have to worry about it.
You opened your curtains, only to see someone doing the same. You forgot the neighbour’s house had a window to a room right in front of yours. You didn’t expect it to be… Palace?
Eyes widening, you stared at him. He seemed busy with making sure the curtains were hung to the sides, since you could see him tying something and a bit of the curtain drooping at the top to make a curtain bang type of look on the windows. He was wearing a black t-shirt, from what you could see. It was early in the morning so it made sense if he was still getting ready.
What time do lawyers even go to their job?
It seemed like Palace sensed someone staring because he paused with what he was doing, and snapped his skull towards where your window was. Staring you dead in the eyes, making your heart almost leap out of your mouth. You clutched where your heart was, your eyes widened. His eyes matched yours, as wide as the sun at this point.
You gave him an awkward wave, to which he furrowed his brows at. Guess he decided he didn’t want sunlight with how quickly he closed the curtains. Yikes.
Is waving offensive or something..?? Damn. Talk about rude.
You couldn’t blame him to be honest, if you were in his shoes, you’d act the same.
Dismissing that weird interaction, you went downstairs so you could put your shoes on and then grab a fruit from the fridge. You grabbed a banana because it was the easiest to eat on the go. Like, you wouldn’t choke on it or something. It was too soft. Maybe.
Peeling the banana, you stuffed half of it into your mouth as you fixed your pants to layer over your black shoes. Grabbing your keys and locking your door, you removed the banana from your mouth before it could rip off of itself.
The banana tasted good. You subtly looked at your neighbour’s house, to see if they were out or not… And by subtle, you snapped your neck towards that area, scanning like you were trying to find a victim to attack.
Once you saw nobody, you hummed. You didn’t bring your bag with you today since you plan to just quickly work and go home asap. You pocketed your phone and keys, checking your other pocket to see if you had your bus card. Yup. You did.
You were going on the bus today because you had turned your car in to get fixed yesterday, so public transport was the next best thing. So, you began your journey towards the nearest bus station, which wasn’t too far from your house, a 4 minute walk.
“I wanted you to know, that i’m ready to go, heartbeat– in a heart beat…” You were muttering lyrics of a song that’s been stuck in your head for ages. Bopping you head to the music in your mind, muttering gibberish as you enjoyed the music in your head.
As you approached the bus station, you noticed someone tall there.
Oh. It was Caesie. He seemed to have noticed you as soon as you entered hearing range, his head slowly turning towards where you were. For some reason, his gaze on you felt threatening. Though, nothing about him made it seem like he was going to attack you.
Looking him over, he had a black shirt on under a black leather jacket, a silver chain and black pants. You look at the sky, then back at him. Isn’t he hot? Matte back usually absorbs the most light out of any other material…
“Aren’t you hot?” You asked immediately, since he wouldn’t look away from you. It’d be awkward if you just walked towards him without speaking and waited for the bus. You hated socialising, but you hated awkward silence even more.
“NO.” Simple and short, you suppose. Clearing your throat, you tried to figure out what to ask, feeling a bit unnerved by his side.
“So.. How are you, Caesie?” Continuing the conversation, your sentence seemed to cause him to choke. On his saliva? While breathing? You didn’t know, but his gaze definitely felt much more threatening now.
“HOW DARE YOU CALL ME BY THAT NAME.” He seemed pissed. Did you just call him a slur or something???
“Isn’t– that your name?? I heard Anaia call you that yesterday so–” “NO. IT’S CAESIUM. CALL ME BY SUCH. NEVER AGAIN DO I WANT TO HEAR THAT NAME COME FROM YOUR MOUTH.” Caesium stated, cutting you off swiftly and looking ahead. Yeah, he was angry with you. Talk about a great few interactions. He seemed so lively talking to Comic and whatever the orange’s name was, so why was he so angry talking to you? Even yesterday he was like that.
“..Sorry, uh… Where are you heading?” You didn’t dare to ask about the vehicle situation, keeping it minimal since he seemed mad enough. He glanced down at you before continuing to stare ahead. You figured you weren’t going to get a response, so you continued the conversation for the two of you. “I’m heading to my bakery, since I work there… And need to get money. And… Yeah.” Caesium suddenly looked over at you, eyeing your outfit before nodding.
“If you’re not busy, do you want to come see it…?” Fuck. Why are you asking him to come? He already seemed like he was going to bite your head off, was this considered overstepping a boundary? Even Caesium seemed disinterested by your offer, tapping his foot against the floor and keeping his gaze off of you. Lord, let a time traveller come and scoop you up so you can kidnap yourself before you run into this guy. Seriously. How does a single skeleton make you so anxious.
“YES.” What the fuck. You looked up at him, but he didn’t bother looking at you. It seemed like he was already thinking about something.
Fuck all that meditation and yoga classes you took, dude. You’re jumping off a building later.
“Oh. Um. Okay.” You cringed at how rough your tone seemed about him coming, but he didn’t react. So you both just stood in silence, neither of you choosing to sit down like a normal person. Why the hell did he want to come? Why did you ask??
The bus eventually arrived after a few minutes of silence, you were mentally scolding yourself while it arrived, so you hadn’t noticed. When Caesium had cleared his throat, you looked over at him– or where he was supposed to be, noticing him about to step onto the bus. So you rushed behind him, joining him and… Literally no one else on the bus.
I mean, it made sense. The neighbourhood you lived in mainly had elderly people or people with small families and young kids as it was known to have a more peaceful and less lively place, so most were retired or worked elsewhere. You lived here because you liked your peace and quiet. Throughout your life, you weren’t known to be loud. The only person who knew how loud you were, was yourself.
Sitting down on a seat at the back, Caesium proceeded to sit as far from you, but in the same row. Guess that ‘Caesie’ thing really added onto his distaste for you. Fair enough.
You thinned your lips and leaned into your seat, closing your eyes as you let your head fall back onto the wall of the bus. It was about 5:30am, the sun was still rising so it wouldn’t hurt to take a nap. It took about 20 minutes to get near to your bakery anyways.
While you kept your eyes closed, Caesium took it as an opportunity to observe you. You could also tell… I mean, how can you not feel a gaze as heated as his? It always felt like he was judging you, and you’ve met this guy like, twice. Eventually he looked away and you opened your eyes, letting out a sigh of relief that you could breathe without being judged now.
Caesium glanced at you before looking out the window.
“So, Caesium…” You began a new conversation, the skeleton not responding. “What do you do for work? I only know that one of your cousins work as a lawyer, and the other is like a music producer– soon to be? Something like that.” He looked over at you once you mentioned his cousins, raising an eyebrow at the choice, but nodding slowly.
“YES. SLIM IS BECOMING A MUSIC PRODUCER…” He then paused, as if he was trying to remember who was a lawyer, his eye sockets squinting a bit before humming. “PALACE IS A LAWYER. YES. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS.” Caesium suddenly asked, crossing his arms and moving so his body was facing you while he leaned against the interior of the bus’s wall.
“I… Talked to them..?? I’m not a psychic or something, if thats what you’re asking.” You responded, a bit confused by what he meant but still played along. He furrowed his brows– or where they would be?... Same thing, there’s brows somewhere on that massive skeleton head of his.
“So… Like. I’m taking you to my bakery, could I please know what the hell you work as? I’d rather not go into my bakery and find out you actually work as a murderer. I’m not ready to die in that place yet.” It didn’t seem like he liked that with how he changed his gaze, yikes. Talk about a guy who can’t take a joke.
“I PLAN TO WORK IN THE POLICE FORCE.” Your eyebrows went flying up in surprise, him? Working with the police??? He seemed like he would be the one police would be chasing. “WHAT? DO YOU THINK A MONSTER CAN’T BE APART OF THE POLICE?” He asked angrily, leaning forward and keeping his arms crossed but a harsher fire in his eyes.
“Alright you’re just putting words in my mouth.” You rolled your eyes, “I never said that. It’s just that you seem like the type that would be the police would be trying to catch.” You explained, this is the second skeleton who’s assumed this, the first to verbally express it too.
“BECAUSE I’M A MONSTER.” He argued back, squinting his eyes as if he was testing you. “Again, I never even said that?!” You matched his intensity, shaking your head and squinting your eyes to emphasise your need for him to shut up about this. He nodded slowly and leaned back, you sighed and turned yourself to face forwards. Looking at the window, you seemed to be close. And honestly, fuck if you wanna be in a bus with this guy.
Standing up, you pressed the red button to alert the bus driver you wanted to stop here. Caesium noticed you stand up and followed, you forgot he was coming with you…
Thanking the driver, you quickly hopped out and checked your pockets to see if you dropped anything. Thankfully, nothing was lost yet. So you began walking, letting Caesium walk behin– nevermind, he rushed forward.
“SO. WHERE IS IT.” He asked impatiently, looking around.
“Hell.” You replied, your mood being a bit off now, I mean, who would be joyous after having someone insist you’re something you’re not? Caesium’s mood also seemed to be a bit off now, great. You honestly hope he trips now, just so you can bolt. He didn’t reply to your sarcasm and just stayed silent.
Eventually the both of you reached your bakery, you shoved the key inside of the keyhole and entered the shop, letting him in before you went to open the blinds, pulling the chains so they rolled up.
“This is my shop, what do you think?” You were curious on how he thought about your store, glancing at him as you finished rolling up the curtains. You chose a store that was facing the sun, and adjusted a bit of the windows so when the sun sets or rises, the sunlight hits the window and casts a pretty colour upon the inside of the bakery.
That’s what was happening now. The colours orange and yellow began to turn into a more blue colour, as the sun rose, but it gave the cafe a warm feeling.
When you looked at Caesium, he had an unrecognizable look on his face. You hadn’t known him for long, but you never saw an expression like his. It was a mix of awe and curiosity, but something else too.
“You good, dude?” You asked, opening the counter’s swinging door and entering the employee’s area. “Do you like it that much?”
“NO. IT’S JUST HORRENDOUSLY UGLY.” …Okay.
Wow.
Your shock was evident, because when he looked at you, he smiled.
“Get out.” You sighed, shaking your head. You didn’t need this type of negativity, did someone piss in his drink or something? You went into the back of your bakery, in hopes that Caesium would just waltz out. But to your disappointment, when you had returned, he was still there. This time, he was looking at the empty glass display that normally had pastries in it. It was curved outwards so he could place his gloved hands onto the glass and lean a bit.
You noticed his gloves just now, it’s not even cold, whats the point? You didn’t want to ask though.
“WHERE ARE YOUR EMPLOYEES.” Caesium suddenly asked, normally in a store you would see the employees and, if there’s any, a manager opening up the store. Not the owner of the store.
“Uhh… Don’t have any?” You replied, spraying the cleaner liquid you grabbed onto a rag and cleaning the counter. Suddenly, a phone began buzzing. You immediately picked yours out of your pocket and checked if someone was calling you, but nobody was. Looking up, Caesium had already fished out his phone from his pocket, accepting the call. He turned towards the left to face away from you and began talking.
“HELLO? WHAT DO YOU NEED?” He asked, however his tone didn’t seem impatient. “WHAT? WHAT DOES HE NEED?! DOESN’T HE HAVE HIS OWN DAMN PHONE– OH? BROKE?? HOW THE FUCK… WHATEVER. GIVE THE PHONE TO HIM.” Nevermind, it was definitely impatient and irritated now.
You watched from behind the counter, he used his hands a lot while on phone. Scrubbing the same spot over and over again, you eavesdropped on his call… Not really, his voice is incredibly loud and you can’t hear anyone else.
“YES. RUS, WHAT DO YOU WANT?” Caesium asked, tapping his foot against the floor. He seemed to be content with talking to the person before Rus, now he seemed normal– fast-paced and rude. Nodding along to whatever was on the phone, he glanced at you.
“NO– PLANS WERE CHANGED. IM AT (NAME)’S BA– WHERE? IT’S– CAN YOU LET ME FINISH!?” He yelled all of a sudden at the phone, causing you to flinch from how random that was. Though, it was easy to assume that Rus was interrupting Caesium with random questions…
“NO– YES IT’S DOWN NEAR THE COMMUNITY MALL, THE LITTLE SHOP CENTRE WITH ALL THOSE THRIFT STORES AND CAFES. NO– NO- YES, NO… YES!! YES THAT ONE. FINALLY– YOU’RE COMING HERE???” As soon as he asked the final question, he pulled the phone away from the side of his skull and look down at his phone, confused.
“Is everything alright?” You asked, noticing you barely cleaned the counter, you began to wipe around the surface properly. Sometimes, you got too absorbed in listening to other people’s conversations… What can you say? You like drama.
“YES. JUST FINE.” Caesium sarcastically replied, turning his phone’s screen off and placing it back in his pocket. “IT SEEMS LIKE THE VANILLA HERO WANNABE IS COMING OVER.”
“The– the what?? We have a vigilante??” This immediately threw you off, who the hell is ‘The Vanilla Hero Wannabe’..????
“NO– RUS.” He exasperatedly said Rus’s name, as if it was going to kill him if he said it once more. Now it made more sense… Kind of? Caesium rolled his eyes when it finally registered in your head, opting to take a seat on one of the two seater tables.
“So… Uh. When is he coming?” You were confused, why would Rus want to come anyway? Don’t any of this guys have jobs…??? I mean, Palace obviously does, Slim’s starting his in a few days– a week was it?? Caesium was going to be a police officer… But you had zero clue about anyone else.
“DON’T ASK ME.” Who the fuck are you supposed to ask then??? Your imaginary friend???
You didn’t speak up though, staying silent and finishing the counter off by starting to wipe down the glass display too. Moving around to go back to the front to wipe it down.
While cleaning, you glanced behind yourself to see what Caesium was doing, he was looking outside the bakery’s windows from his seat. Maybe he was watching out for Rus? You couldn’t figure him out. He was like a Katy Perry song. He was hot and then cold…?
You went to the back to grab a broom and mop. There was two hours until opening so you could take your time. Finding both tools, you grabbed some soap and water and put into the bucket– midway, the bell to the door rang as someone came in. You dropped everything to check who had the audacity to come into a closed shop so early in the morning.
Surprise, it was Rus! You forgot he existed while you were trying to remember how much soap you put into mop water.
“HELLO CAESIUM!!! HELLO (NAME)!!!!!!! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WORK AT A BAKERY!!!! WHERE IS THE OTHERS?!” Rus was already energetic, he wore a cropped shirt– his spine visible– paired with those jean shorts again. But this time they were a bit shorter, above his knees and it was ripped a bit on the bottom, a cute look on him. Especially with the… Picture of him? On his shirt? Did he get a custom crop top with his own face??
“Hi Rus! I–” “SHE DOESN’T HAVE EMPLOYEES. SHE’S THE OWNER OF THE SHOP. IT’S DEPRESSING TO SEE SUCH A POOR STORE.” Caesium sighed, obviously attempting to provoke you. He leaned back into his chair, he kind of reminded you of Palace. You knew everyone had a pair, but you didn’t know who was blood-related (bone-marrow related???) to who. You should ask Rus later.
“WHAT!! YOU DON’T?” Rus suddenly asked, shocked by the revelation.
“Nah. Never needed any, business is slow and…” You trailed off, watching Rus walk towards you with a weird sense of compassion in his eyes.
“I UNDERSTAND… YOU MUST BE BROKE!!” Rus exclaimed, placing both his hands on each side of your shoulder, shaking your head. You heard a bone slap onto something, glancing behind Rus to see Caesium’s hand over his teeth, closing his eyes… Was he holding his laughter back???
“I’m– I’m not broke??”
“IT’S ALRIGHT. I UNDERSTAND YOU’RE TRYING TO KEEP YOUR DIGNITY IN FRONT OF CAESIUM AND I!! BUT ITS ALRIGHT!!! I WILL ALWAYS HELP A FRIEND IN NEED!” Looking up at him, you were fighting an internal battle. Do you say no to his help, or do you say yes? On one hand; you might hurt his feelings if you say no, on the other hand, you get free help.
“Okay. If you want to help… Can you mop the floors?” You asked, deciding to just go with it. If someone said you’re broke, then I guess you’re broke now. In response to your request, Rus’s eyes brightened up. He immediately turned around towards Caesium.
“CAESIUM!!! GET UP!” He called, to which the other skeleton gave him a confused look.
“WHY AM I HELPING?” Caesium replied, crossing his arms. He frowned even harder. If he was a human, he’d have wrinkles from how much he frowns…
“MY GOODNESS.. (NAME)... HE’S BECOMING LIKE HIS BROTHER… A LAZY BONEHEAD!!” Rus gasped, slapping his boney hands over his teeth as if the situation had shook him to the core. But, thanks to Rus’s immediate taunting, Caesium stood up. Knocking the chair he was sitting down.
“HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT TO ME!?!? I AM NOT! IN FACT, I’LL CLEAN BETTER THAN YOU! YOU’LL KNEEL DOWN AT MY FEET BECAUSE HOW WELL I’LL CLEAN THAT YOU’LL BEG! YES, BEG FOR MY ASSISTANCE AGAIN! MWAH HAH HAH!!!” Caesium yelled, immediately stomping over to where you were earlier, behind the counter, after flipping the swinging door open and marching into the back of the bakery.
You heard some stuff being moved around, guess he was trying to find the mop. Looking up at Rus, you raised an eyebrow.
“Was that on purpose?”
“PURPOSE? WHAT?... NO! OF COURSE NOT, NYEH-HEH-HEH!!” He replied, waving you off with a massive grin on his face. It was definitely on purpose. He seemed to have a brighter attitude when he was out of the house from what you saw last time, it was a bit odd, but you suppose everyone had bad days at home.
“Whatever you say…” You played along, a smile on your own face. “Could you set the mats and seasonings onto the table?” At your request, he seemed a bit confused.
“I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BAKERY, THOUGH?” He asked, only noticing how odd the tables and chairs seemed now.
“It is, but we have some items that allow people to sit and eat– like a cafe I suppose… Do I even run a real bakery..??? What..” You trailed off to your own thoughts when you realised it was similar to a cafe. Rus stared at you while you were in your own mental battle.
“WELP! I KNOW MUFFET’S IS SIMILAR! SO DON’T WORRY, SOME BAKERYS TEND TO HAVE SEATINGS!! IT’S STILL A BAKERY!” He tried to reassure you, Rus did the same thing as you sometimes. So he knew how to deactivate it, patting your shoulder, he decided to move on. “WHERE’S THE MATTING AND ITEMS? DO YOU HAVE A PICTURE I CAN GO OFF OF?”
You quickly whipped your phone out, showing him a picture. He gently grabbed your wrist to pull the phone closer to his face instead of grabbing your phone. Then, he let go of your hand, having successfully studied the layout. You told him where the decorations where and he rushed off.
While he went in, Caesium came out with a mop. Ready to scrub the floor back to hell. You opted to go to the kitchen. Your bakery sold pastries and cakes, so you normally came in the night before to start. Truth be told, you forgot this time.
When you realised you forgot to bake some items beforehand, you groaned into your hands. Quickly grabbing an apron and hair-net, you got to work. Item by item.
20 minutes in, it seemed like Caesium was done mopping the entire store, even in the tiniest spots. You glanced up, mid-mix. He stared at you, then the metal bowls you were using. Sighing, he walked away into one of the rooms, coming back with an apron in hand. He put his head through the loop and tied the strings around his back quickly.
A bit confused, you stared at him. He quickly noticed when he stood next to you, in response, he placed his left hand on his hip and leaned onto his left leg.
“WHAT?” Caesium seemed ready for confrontation already. You shook your head slightly, as if to say nothing was wrong.
“I was just going to ask why… You’re in the kitchen..?” You struggled to put words together to form a sentence, not sure on how or what to ask him. Why he was wearing one of your aprons? Why was he helping?
“BECAUSE YOU SEEMED PATHETIC AND IN NEED. THE GREAT CAESIUM NEVER IGNORES SUCH A PATHETIC BEING.” He announced, patting his chest in pride. You furrowed your brows in response, a bit concerned about how big his ego was proving to be. You glanced at the door that led outside, and he caught on.
“RUS IS BUSY CORRECTING THE PLACEMENT OF THE CHAIRS AND TABLES. AND FIXING THE COUNTER. HE’S ALSO THOROUGHLY WIPING DOWN YOUR PASTRY DISPLAY…” The skeleton rolled his eyes, facing the kitchen island you were working on and looking around. He had seen the board that was above the counter earlier, the ones with all the pastries and cakes. He turned to look in the ovens, crouching down, it seems like you had a few going already.
“But I already wiped it down?” You muttered, continuing to stir the dough in the bowl until it began to form.
Standing back up, Caesium grabbed the container of flour you had put on the island, and a bowl. Putting it in one area and going off to grab eggs and such. “IT’S BETTER IF HE BUSIES HIMSELF.” He left it at that. Returning with some ingredients and getting to work immediately.
In truth, Caesium hasn’t baked in a while. Last time he did, it was underground. This world’s underground. His eyebrows furrowed in memory of the underground, how weird it was, how… claustrophobic it was. Instead of lingering on those thoughts, he kept mixing.
Noticing his aggression being put into mixing, you let him be for a while. The two of you were like that for a few minutes until Rus popped into the kitchen as well. He seemed to be sweating bullets, but it didn’t seem like it was because of fixing and cleaning.
“IM SO SORRY, BUT I HAVE TO SKIP OFF!!! THERE’S AN EMERGENCY– ARE YOU COMING, CAESIUM?” Rus rushed his words out, an emergency? Looking over to Caesium, you saw an irritated expression. Seems like he knew what this was about, but didn’t look or say anything to you.
“NO. YOU CAN HANDLE IT JUST FINE, CAN’T YOU? TELL MY BROTHER TO COME HERE. I DO NOT WANT HIM MIXED UP IN THERE.” Caesium demanded, having paused his motions since Rus popped in. The worrisome skeleton just nodded, not phased by his attitude and rushed out after yelling a quick goodbye to you.
Caesium went back to pouring the batter into cake moulds after putting some extract in each bowl. Meanwhile, you were just concerned as hell. What emergency had Rus rushing like that? At the same time, it was none of your business. You had just met the guys yesterday– but at the same time, it’s their first day in a new house and they’ve already got an emergency.
However, it seemed like a topic Caesium didn’t want to talk about. Or maybe he had a resting bitch face? No clue.
“So uh… Palace doesn’t seem lazy.” You started a new conversation, to which he snapped his skull towards you for.
“HE IS NOT. WHY BRING HIM UP?” Caesium asked, moving around until he reached a vacant oven and placed the cakes in there. He made about four one-tier cakes. Quick baker, you noted. If he wasn’t going to be a police officer, then you would’ve asked him to help you at the bakery.
“I mean– Rus said he was a lazy bonehead?” That had Caesium turning and looking at you like you were a mad man, then looked at the wall while trying to figure out what you meant. Then his face slowly looked back towards your direction.
“PALACE IS NOT MY BROTHER. WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT!?” He sighed, crossing his arms. Quickly unfolding them when he felt flour from his apron touch his bones. Suddenly, the both of you heard someone knock on the glass door before the bell rang. Indicating someone’s entered.
You walked out the kitchen to see who it was, Caesium walking behind with little to no tension. He seemed to know who was here. Looking at where the door was, you recognised the skeletons, he was the one talking to Palace the other night.
“‘ey.” Caesium’s brother raised his hand, not waving it but deciding it was good enough for a hello. He shoved it back into his jacket. He was dressed up in a black parka, red turtleneck– you could see a glimpse of something golden under the folds of the turtleneck, a necklace maybe?– long black shorts with a yellow stripe on the sides of it, yellow socks and red shoes. Oh, and he red gloves too. But they looked more like mittens compared to Caesium’s.
And he was sweating, no wonder. It’s summer, why is he wearing all that?
“Hi.” You greeted back, feeling a bit awkward before Caesium spoke up.
“THATS MY BROTHER, CRACKLE.” He pointed at the short skeleton. You stared at Caesium, who looked down at you, before looking at his brother. Your eyes widened as your mouth fell into a small ‘o’.
“Thats your brother?” You asked, shock evident on your face. In all honesty, you thought Crackle was related to someone like Slim. “I thought he was like… Slim’s or something. They have matching teeth and all…” You pointed out, which caused Crackle to raise an eyebrow and approach the counter. Since he was closer now, you could tell he was sleepy. It was almost 7am now anyways.
“why are we talkin’ like i ain’t even here? ‘that’? what? am I some branded microwave now, ay?” He asked, chuckling. He yawned and basically unhinged his jaw with how wide he opened it, lazily waving his hand in front of his mouth as if he tried to cover it. He slowly blinked his eye sockets.
“My bad, haha. How are you?” You asked, smoothing out your apron as Caesium went back to the kitchen to check on something.
“i’m doing a’ight.” His reply was bland, but it was expected, you two just met and he’s tired. “knock knock.”
Raising an eyebrow, you slowly replied. A bit confused on how sudden it was. “...Who’s there?”
“are ya a here?” Crackle raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he was genuinely asking the question, but it didn’t make sense. So you continued.
“Are you a here who?...”
“one, it’s pronounced hero, two, nah. but you’d be mine if you lemme sleep somewhere around here.” He grinned, showing off his golden tooth unconsciously. A small smile slipped onto your face, that joke was horrid. Genuinely, horrible. You had to take a second before replying, knowing you’d burst out in giggles if you tried talking.
“I do have a little staff break room– which is just for me, actually. You can go there. Do you want me to show you where?” You got a nod in response, so you opened the swinging door for the fifteenth time today, letting him into the back and pointing him towards the You Room, can’t even call it a staff room.
You looked to the side, seeing Caesium work on the cakes, and you decided to start putting out the pastries that you’ve made into the display areas. Walking in and out of the kitchen. It was already opening time… With Caesium working on the cakes, it’d be finished before 9, hopefully.
Once you flipped the sign at the door to say ‘OPEN!’ you made sure to not to move from behind the counter too much. The day went by quickly, Caesium proudly presenting the cakes he’s made and placing them in a nice area inside the display glass. It seemed like he was planning to stick around until you finish. So he ended up working in the back for any person who wanted something to eat here, or a drink.
You didn’t know why.
It was almost like he was avoiding going back home.
Crackle woke up about a few hours after you had led him to the You Room, asking if he could get some mustard. You told him you didn’t own any, so he opted for a chocolate shake. You told Caesium to take a break and he did, mentioning that this hour of day, 2pm, didn’t have a lot of customers.
The three of you talked about nonsense, none of you mentioning the ‘emergency’ at home. It was just about the customers.
Sooner or later, you closed the store at 8pm, surprised the two had stuck around for so long.
“Didn’t the two of you have plans?” You asked, pulling down the blinds for the windows, Caesium had his jacket in his arm, his phone in the other, texting someone.
“PLANS? NO.” Caesium replied, smiling at his phone. Crackle snuck a peak at who he was texting and got shoved. Laughing at whatever he saw.
“Well, thanks for sticking around. Hope everything is fine with Rus, though.” You mentioned Rus, which caught Crackle’s attention.
“y’mean the grand ol’ hero, Rus? don’t worry, i was checking up and the guys thought there was a burglar, turns out it was just our distant cousins visiting, heh. haven’t seen the two in ages, y’know?” He explained flawlessly, watching you walk out the bakery, the two skeletons following. You locked the door to the bakery, it was a bit breezy outside now. “too bad they left so soon, might get to see ‘em again later.”
“Really? I get that. Once, I thought someone broke in but it turned out to be two of my friends that got in because one of them had the key and the other was drunk.” You related, letting Caesium walk behind the two of you.
“what time was it?” He asked, happy to continue the conversation with his hands in his pockets. For a second, you thought the fur on his parka flew up like flames, but there wasn’t anything when you looked at it. Must’ve been some bit of fur flying off.
“2am? I was busy writing down some bills and deadlines when it happened, so I was stressed-stressed. Like, holy shit, I’m already mentally going insane, is this guy gonna actually make me lose my mind?” You animatedly told, causing Crackle to let out a few loud cackles. He seemed to laugh heartily whenever he did.
“So, how’s Anaia?” You liked her, she seemed pretty and nice. Welcomed you as much as she could, in your opinion. You knew Crackle was dating her, so you wanted to hear more about her. Crackle seemed to sense that you didn’t have some sort of malicious intent behind the question, and didn’t hesitate to talk about her.
You didn’t notice, but Caesium was glancing at the two of you a lot. Especially whenever Crackle said the name ‘Anaia’.
After riding the bus back home together, you bid the skeletons goodnight. They went in first, but you noticed something odd.
Even though Rus was the one to open the door, you saw someone different next to him, you didn’t recognise them from the dinner party… Didn’t Crackle say they left already?
They looked at you before the door closed, which ran chills up your body. Shit, it felt like you got caught. You quickly walked into your front yard, then walked up the porch and opened the door. You rushed into the house as quickly as you could, it wasn’t like you were in danger, but it felt like you were invading their privacy by looking at that person's eyes for some reason.
You locked the door, and went up to change back into your pajamas. You made sure the curtains were closed before changing. After you did your nightly routine, you got curious if Palace was in his room, so you opened your curtains. Sadly, the curtains were still closed. Blowing a raspberry to nobody, you closed your own curtains and flopped onto your bed. The thought of that cousin for theirs kept pestering your mind, but you still managed to fall asleep.
Maybe tomorrow will be good too.