Chapter Text
The air here is strange. Lighter in a way, he thinks, as he cleans the remnants of his latest batch of dough. He's already learned to tune out the somewhat grating song the cafe plays over the speakers, despite it only having been a month and a half since he came here.
Ding! The oven sounds, alerting him to the latest batch of mini-pies finally being done.
It's funny, he muses, how easily he slipped into the routine of it all. His gaze flicks up as he sets the tray on the cooling rack. Lucian leans against the counter, eyes settling on a specific table, watching as the hunter girl snickers. She just placed down a card that got her twelve points, from the sound of it, a cute little kitty appearing in one of the cups on the table. Her companion, much more stoic, watches with an attentiveness that Luci knows is fond as the hunter starts to brag.
And yet, it still feels surreal. He doesn't watch for too long. It would be strange if he did. He's nobody to them, after all, and they're nobody to him. He busies himself with prepping more pastries, noting a few of their more popular snacks are running low.
Destiny Cafe, Linkon City. The setting for a mobile game his sister had been utterly obsessed with. Zayne, the city's top cardiac surgeon. Emcee, (Or was it MC?), the protagonist, a Deepspace Hunter. Deepspace, Wanderers, Evols…
He's not sure what to think about it all. Hell, he barely understands half of it, and every time he tries to search for information, he feels overloaded. Monsters, magic… He's still not entirely convinced this isn't all some strange nightmare. That just maybe he fell asleep listening to Ari ramble about the latest storyline of whatever multi-banner had just been released.
It was a bit of a blur, his first week here. The confusion, finding himself in an unfamiliar apartment, the spherical little robot that chattered off the day's weather report before informing him of a job interview. It really felt like a dream. It was fun, at first, if a little strange. What kind of dream is so mundane, that he's applying for a job in some futuristic-looking city? He'd been amused, then, to find the special cat cafe. The familiar card game, that his sister would make him play when she was frustrated with losing against the programs in her phone. How silly, to dream about the cafe in his sister's game.
And then, a week had passed, and he got antsy. He's had some vivid dreams over the years, but nothing that lasted this long. Nothing that felt so clear. Then, one week turned to two, and-
His recollection is interrupted as his bare skin brushes the metal of another tray as he's setting it in the cooling rack, a quiet hiss leaving him as he pulls his hand back, annoyed. "Shit," slips from him, gaining his co-worker's attention. She tuts, politely pulling Lucian away from the rack, scolding him and waving him off to check on the cats.
Those little menaces. They freak him out a bit. They're cute, but also… so, so strange. "Evol cats" are a thing he is deeply disturbed by. Something he's determined not to think too deeply about. Even so, he goes by the tables, collecting the kitties from finished games, setting up the tables, and occasionally stopping to check in on the actual cats roaming around as well.
Even so, their table floats into his awareness, an ear prepped to listen no matter what corner of the cafe he's in. The dry teasing from Zayne as he wins their second game of the day, the pouting demands for a third round from an Emcee that's very determined to show him up. He scratches behind the ears of Oscar, a kitty that's very fond of him, trying not to focus on the two.
For all that Ari loved to talk his ears off about her game, he only ever halfheartedly listened. Complaints about the gacha system, fawning over voice lines and cards, getting his help with the mini-games…
In the month and a half that Lucian had been here, once he had sufficiently freaked out, he made the decision to stay far, far away from whatever bullshit is happening with the main character. Reincarnation? No thanks. Monsters that could tear him in two without an effort? No way. Five love interests that all have a metric ton of trauma, death counts, kidnapping… Yeah, no. He doesn't know how he got here, has been trying not to think about the implications of living in his sister's favorite mobile game, and he absolutely does not want to get swept up in whatever complicated and messy situations are happening here.
There's something relieving, when the two leave. He heads to their abandoned table, breathing a little easier as he gets to cleaning. Avoidance is easy for someone like him, thankfully, even as curiosity nips at the far corner of his mind. Sue him, but he's a little interested, knowing that under the surface of these two normal-ish people there is something far more messy.
The rest of the day passes as any does. The cafe work is monotonous and now familiar, leaving him tired by the end of his shift. He takes a handful of the complimentary treats given to workers, and then he's on his way home, idly nibbling at some cat themed muffin.
Another day gone by without issue.
…Aside from not belonging here, of course. It ends with him curling up in bed, scrolling some video streaming service, something slightly somber settling into his chest at the things that are all just to the left of his world. He falls asleep thinking of his sister, his friends, and his favorite books.