Chapter Text
It was Tuesday. For most people in town, Tuesday was just another day of the week. The day after Monday, one day closer to Friday. For Fenris, Tuesday was the day he opened shop. Normally, it was Zee who took the morning shift, but they had class Tuesday mornings; so naturally, the job went to him. Since the "co-owner" always slept till noon.
Fenris melted into the chair he sat in, his headphones were on, plugged into a well loved walkman. Mornings were slow, and he didn't expect any customers 'till 11. It being a weekday, business would be slow anyway. Fenris let his eyes close, feeling safe, perched behind the massive front desk.
He felt, rather than heard, a knock on the desk and was jolted back to reality. He winced at the garish red plaid assaulting his vision before he pulled his headphones off of one ear. "Er, welcome to 'Razikale's Library and Findings', can I help you?"
"Right, sorry to bother you; but might I use your phone? My truck...it's stalled out in the middle of the intersection there," Plaid Shirt thumbed behind him, "I'd really appreciate it." Fenris blinked, finally taking in the customer's appearance. He had a kind and hopeful expression on his rugged, bearded, face with one hand in the pocket of his jeans, fidgeting with his keys, and the other hanging at his side.
Fenris' eyebrows slowly arched up and he leaned over to look out the front window. What he saw made him snort, "you're not kidding…" It was an old, clunky, rust bucket of a truck with streaks of sun bleached red and caked on mud. He watched as traffic slowly maneuvered around the behemoth with it's blinking yellow eyes. When he looked back, the stranger was beaming back at him. Fenris let out an exasperated sigh and set his headphones down. "Yeah. It's in the back. I'll show you."
Fenris pushed himself up off of the chair and slid out from behind the counter with a nod towards the back. Plaid Shirt was quick to follow by the sounds of it. He heard a thump and the clatter of small stones as a display of painted animal figurines went tumbling. "Oh. Oh I am so sorry. I–"
"It's fine, I'll get it later…" Fenris responded, waving it off.
The shop catered to any matter of magical thing, full of odd trinkets and interesting smells. Asra liked to keep it well stocked with all the basics. There were dried herbs in jars on the shelves along the far wall, each jar labeled with it's contents. The rest of the floor was a maze of display cases, bookshelves, and colors. Almost everything was handmade by a friend or Asra himself. Though their practical use and benefits often went over Fenris' head, he had offered to work at the shop after Asra insisted it would help him when he had moved in a year ago. He figured, rearranging the animals later would give him something to do other than sit and stew in his own thoughts.
Fenris passed between the two bookshelves that separated the shop from the storage area. It was illuminated by a single incandescent bulb with a silly looking shade (Asra's work of course). Fenris made sure to point out a stray box before gesturing towards the telephone on the wall and let Plaid Shirt pass. He leaned against the bookshelf and crossed his arms, "phone book's right there if you need a number. Plaid Shirt thanked him and started to flip through the pages, humming idly. Fenris thought it was strange how calm this guy was despite having just stalled his truck out in a busy intersection. He simply turned pages and scanned the numbers with his kind blue eyes. Fenris felt his shoulders relax, and he shifted against the shelf to find a more comfortable stance. Until he heard the jingle of a bell. The front door creaked open and then shut.
"Ugh, it reeks in here, was there an alpha or something?"The voice was familiar at least, Zee. Small comforts. "Hey Fen, open a window or something!" Fenris' spine went rigid and his eyes locked onto Plaid Shirt, who waited for the other line to pick up. Their eyes met briefly and Fenris conveyed all of his thoughts into that one look.
"Don't even think about trying anything!"
There was a clatter from the front, and Fenris' ears twitched in interest; but he did not look. "He's still here Zee."
Plaid Shirt whispered another 'sorry' just as his call connected. "Yeah, hey, this is Garrett Hawke. My truck broke down and I can't get it to start–"
"That's pretty rad." Zee poked their head out from between two books. "Oh, sorry." Disappearing once again, they soon reappeared next to him holding an armful of clay animals. "He's so big…" Zee whispered, "is that his truck out there?"
"Yeah," Fenris' voice was practically a growl.
Zee tilted their head back and sighed, "Guess I'll go make some tea for you two lamos, hm?" They smirked and kicked Fenris' boot playfully before they turned and bounced away. Plaid Shirt hung up the phone.
"The tow truck should be here in a half an hour. Look, I'm really sorry if I'm causing you any–" Fenris held up his hand and shook his head.
"Don't, just don't. Go ahead and find a seat in the shop. Zee's making tea." Fenris shoved his headphones back onto his head and skulked past Plaid Shirt. They looked worried and had opened their mouth to say something else, but Fenris had already blocked them out. He slipped out the back door and shut it with a slam.
OOO
*"Why does it reek like alpha in here?"*
The words ate at Fenris though his music was turned up loud enough to drown out the world. He gripped his cassette player tighter and curled in on himself. His heart thrummed over top of the song's drums.
Why hadn't he known that the man had been an alpha?
Fenris knocked his head against the door behind him and sat there. It was a careless mistake, one that could have easily been worse had the man been a Searchdog. He'd been a fool to let himself get so comfortable here in this small town. This might be the South, but the Imperium still had its eyes and ears, they were everywhere.
Something dark lurked behind his thoughts; he dared not to bother it, so he simply sat there, white-knuckled.
If there had been an alpha, Fenris should have known.
He clicked the eject switch on his player, letting out a shaky breath. His fingers fumbled with the cassette tape to flip it over and put it back in quickly. He snapped it shut and dropped the player back into his lap.
OOO
Back in the shop, Zee was hard at work, trying to coax their little stove salamander to start a flame. "Please, just a little one! I'll give you another piece of charcoal if you do." They waggled a charred stick in front of the opening of a kettle warmer, "c'mon…" It was a finicky lizard. The salamander grumbled and puffed a cloud of smoke into Zee's face. They deflated and chucked the stick into the hole.
"Need some help?" Zee shot up and looked in the direction of the question. It'd been the guy with the truck. Zee pressed their lips together into a thin line and grabbed a couple more sticks from the kindling pile.
"Sure, I wouldn't mind." They smiled and handed over the sticks. Zee grabbed the copper tea kettle sitting beside the warmer and held it between their hands. There was a gurgle; and quickly, the kettle was filled with water. "My name's Razikale, by the way. But most people call me Zee." They plunked the kettle on top of the burner.
"Razikale, the dragon god of mystery?" Truck Alpha asked, and Zee beamed.
"The very same! It sounded pretty badass. Who wouldn't want to be a dragon?"
"I've been saying that my whole life, my brother does not agree; but he's the youngest, nobody listens to him. My name's Garrett, it's very nice to meet you–and your little salamander friend" Garrett couldn't help but grin as he scritched the small animal under the chin. It closed its eyes happily and spat sparks from its mouth. "Thank you again for letting me use your phone, I'm from out of town. That would have been a long walk home," Garrett mused and stood up, "your friend, I didn't mean to upset him, will he be alright?"
Zee was now busy twirling around the shop, smelling different teas. "Who, Fenris? Mm," they paused, "It's not anything you should take personally. He's got it out for just about any alpha he meets." Zee giggled and glanced over their shoulder at Garrett. "Even the good-looking ones."
Garrett fumbled the tea cup he'd been admiring. "What, me?? No, not interested. No, you've got to be what...15?"
Zee gave him an incredulous look before bursting out into laughter. "Please, I'm 19. I'm in college. You think I'm hitting on you?" Zee quirked an eyebrow as they dropped spoonfuls of tea leaves into a multicolored teapot, "why, what are you, like 30?"
"It's the beard...I'm only 25!" Garrett retorted as Zee handed him a cup.
"25, gross," they grinned as they took the kettle off the stove and poured the hot water in, "not bad for 25 though; and single, no omega!"
"Yeah...wait!" Zee quickly put a saucer over top of Garrett's teacup before he managed to spill it. They gestured at him to keep it on, like a lid and Garrett sighed and followed suit.
"Oh, nothing! Just...let that steep for 5 minutes before you try to drink it" Zee avoided the question and grabbed their own cup, plopping down onto one of the oversized cushions beside Garrett. They tapped their fingers against the teacup and tried to think of something to say, eventually giving up and slowly pulling a tray of sugar and flavored honeys and syrups from off a nearby stand. "Black currant is my favorite, would you like to try it?".
Garrett considered it before nodding. "Might as well, thank you." He took the spoon from them and scooped some of the syrup from the jar and into his cup of tea. It's taste was unique, it was warm, oddly nutty, but the currant added in a sweet, berry, flavor. "Different, but in a good way! Thank you, my compliments to the chef." Garrett held the cup in the air in a mock toast. Zee let out a snort from beside him.
Zee closed their eyes with their head held high,
"please, I am an artíste." They managed to hold an air of dignity before bursting out into laughter.