Teshalu was moving so fast that Reraik was stumbling over his feet, tripping and losing his balance every other step as he was dragged through the gardens that separated the residential area from Station Road. The five eyed man made eye contact with Rosemary, the tiny cat tilting her head as she watched the former struggle keeping up. The cat swished her little tail in what Reraik could only determine to be amusement.

Teshalu took a sharp right as they got to Station Road, making Reraik wince as he was abruptly pulled in a new direction, nearly falling as his hair was pulled a bit harder. Though  the five-eyed man’s suffering ended just a few moments later. Reraik grunted, rubbing his tender scalp.

“Y’know Tesh,” The five eyed man started, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly, “You can get people to follow you without the whole hair pulling thing.”

Rosemary glanced back at Reraik while Teshalu focused on fishing their keys out of their oversized pockets. The jester shrugged.

“You walk too slow.” Teshalu stated simply, “I wouldn’t have to pull your hair if you were able to keep a decent pace.”

Reraik rolled his eyes, continuing to rub his scalp while Teshalu continued to fiddle with the diner door lock. The five-eyed young man looked up at the building, his eyes softening slightly. The diner wasn't anything special. It was old, with very few renovations made over the years minus the basics. The paint on the wood paneling above the stone base was peeling a bit, the diner sign was a little crooked and partially discolored from the years of monsoon seasons that it had endured through, and the windows were a little funky, but its gritty old charm made it feel like it was always supposed to be there. Nothing could replace the diner, the memories made and the history it held. So it stayed just like how it was, minus the occasional repaint here and there.

The jester finally got the door to cooperate with them, and pushed it open, motioning for Reraik to step inside first. The five eyed man rolled his eyes, striding in.

“Wow, such a gentleman,” he breathed, “From unneeded hair pulling for half an hour to holding doors open for me…”

Teshalu let out a snort, shutting the door behind the two of them. Rosemary promptly hopped off of their shoulder as the jester moved near the main counter, trotting over to a cat tree near the corner. The inside of the diner was just about as old and familiar as its exterior, with worn red vinyl seats in booths with wood tables, cream and grey checkered tile floors, warm wood paneling for the walls… not to mention the classic black vinyl and silver metal bar stools lined up along the counter. The lights were off, but thankfully plenty of natural light filtered through the windows with the rising sun. Teshalu turned around, hands on their hips.

“Same thing that we usually do.” The jester said, “Breakfast til 10, then we make lunch until we close at 4 using the seasonal menu.” They narrowed their eyes, “Got any questions?

Reraik mulled over the prompt as he followed Teshalu into the kitchen, standing off to the side as the latter began to go over inventory. There were at least 20 questions that came to mind- most of them just dumb, silly things that Reraik could ask later. But just as the five eyed man thought about the silly questions, one actual question popped up. Reraik glanced over at Teshalu as they pulled out several dozen eggs.

“I’ll scramble these and serve them with the rainbow perch I prepped last night. Morning special.” The jester said, setting the eggs down on the counter with one hand and grabbing two aprons with the other- one apron a light green, the other being lilac and white stripes. Reraik looked up at them.

“Why not use the perch for lunch?” Reraik asked, putting on the light green apron and a hair net. Teshalu glanced at him as they tied back their own apron.

“Because Beeboh gave me a bunch of chicken ribs from last slaughter and I want to use them for the special.” They said bluntly, “We don’t do barbecue that often, but it’d go good with the rest of the seasonal menu we have for the next few months.” 

Reraik tilted his head as he began to pull out various pots and cooking utensils from the shelves for Teshalu, “How many chicken ribs did you get?”

Teshalu paused as they set a large container of flayed rainbow perch on the counter, taking a moment to seemingly count in their head before responding.

“At least a seasons worth. This season’s shipment was huge, even Eggie got overwhelmed when she had to take stuff up to the tower. But the chicken’s all down in the cellar, except for… oh, 20lbs of it that’s thawed out in the fridge.”

The five eyed man hummed, nodding once before returning to the task at hand, “So… what else do you have planned for the morning rush?”

Teshalu shrugged, “You know the menu. Pancakes, eggs, toast, `the fish of course, and hashbrowns. Don’t worry about the last one, I already prepped those last night, as usual.”

Reraik nodded again, setting his utensils down on the counter and switching to prepping stove top with cooking spray. Teshalu turned on a radio in the back, tuning it to some indie station before continuing to help Reraik prep the kitchen.

Reraik, as usual, was on front counter duty after setting the various pies and desserts that Teshalu had made in the display case- various pies, cakes, and muffins nestled all in neat rows. The five eyed man rested his elbows on the counter, interlacing his fingers to create a bridge for his chin to rest on. Rosemary lay next to him in her little bed, her tail lazily thumping onto it. The five eyed man glanced down at the little kitten, and earned a single eye glance in return alongside a little “mrrp”. Reraik sighed, looking up at the clock.

“15 minutes down Rose.” He mumbled, “7 hours and 45 minutes to go.”

“mrrp?” Rosemary went, not opening her eyes. Reraik rolled his eyes.

“I'm not saying it's a bad thing-”

Reraik was interrupted by the front door of the diner opening, the familiar jingling of bells grabbing his attention immediately. A man wearing a dark green military styled jacket strode in, his brown cargo pants neatly pressed and cuffed above the tops of his hiking boots. Under his jacket was a black turtleneck shirt, and he had a brown satchel bag with the Woeridge mail symbol on it. Though the most interesting aspect of the man wasn't his attire- but the fact that his head was an envelope. The man strode up to the counter fishing out a small notepad from his breast pocket.

“Good Morning, Reraik.” The man greeted, carefully reading his notepad.

“Mornin’ Post.” Reraik said, yawning a little, his fangs glinting in the morning sun, “The usual, I assume?”

Post shook his head, “Surprisingly no. I am needing to pick up an additional two drinks and two extra breakfast sandwiches.”

Reraik raised a brow, getting his own notepad and pen, “For…?”

“Ms. Lottie and Dr. Lishani.” The envelope headed man stated simply, “Lottie desires a black coffee with two sugars and creamer, while Dr. Lishani has requested for a Latte with an additional three shots of espresso.”

The five eyed young man paused at the mention of his mother, his eyes narrowing as he took in her order. He glanced up at Post, as if expecting it to be a joke. When the other man simply stared at him, Reraik let out a confused, yet amused sound as he jotted the order down.

“My mother wanted a coffee?” Reraik asked, still in shock.

Post nodded, “She  seemed rather drained when I spoke with her this morning. Though I'm sure it's just because it is just the time change.”

Reraik nodded slowly, “Yeah… the time change. That's it, probably…” he cleared his throat, “And the rest of your order?”

Post hummed, “Azizi wishes for his usual peppermint mocha with two shots of espresso and several extra pumps of chocolate. I myself would like my usual red eye.”

The five eyed man quickly jotted it down, “Anything else?”

Post shook his head, “That will be all, Reraik. Thank you.”

Most interactions throughout the day were similar to the one Reraik had with Post. People would trickle in, order a plate either for sitting in or for to-go. The mornings were mostly people who were from Woeridge or had stayed overnight at the nearby motel, or campers coming down the mountain. Reraik took orders and Teshalu dished them out with high efficiency, just like always. The two had a comfortable rhythm in place. Even Rosemary had her own little place in it (Which was usually just sitting in her bed and meowing when orders were ready). 

Breakfast went by smoothly like always, but around lunch is when it really began to pick up. The midday train came around 10:30, which was just after the diner finished serving breakfast and had lunch up and ready. The train would only stay in town until about 12:00, then it would head up north to the town of Winter and eventually to Nimbus. Then the second midday train coming down from Nimbus would arrive just after the first left, and would stay until 2:00. Giving plenty of time for the hungry riders plenty of time to explore Woeridge and to get a bite to eat. Everyone was respectful. Mostly.

“… Anything else, sirs?” Reraik asked, looking up at the three men. A tall man in a flannel, a green eyed man a little shorter than the former in a leather jacket with a gold necklace, and a blue eyed man in a suit and tan trench coat. The green eyed man shook his head.

“Nah that’ll be all. Thanks man.” The green eyed man said, exchanging his money for a order ticket.

Reraik watched as the group went to sit down, chatting among each other about Woeridge’s hunting season and their plans. He never participated in hunting- it was an activity that he had no interest in. That and his mother had deterred him from participating in the activity as a child, despite her herself being a hunter. She had always said that the invasive species (which were the only things that were allowed to be hunted) weren’t something that he’d wanted to look at.

Reraik found himself lost in thought, zoning out so much he didn’t register the next customer coming up to the counter. It took the customer snapping several times in his face for the five eyed man to jolt and snap out of his state. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the newcomer. It was a man in a suit, his head a pocket watch with Roman numerals. His clock arms ticking in annoyance. A business man from one of the southern towns, no doubt. Probably on his way to Nimbus for work.

"Excuse me, boy." The man snapped, his voice gruff, "But aren't you supposed to be working and taking my damn order instead of being in Lala land?"

Reraik looked taken aback, giving the man a dumbfounded look. Even Rosemary, who was still in her cat tree not too far away in the corner, bristled at the man's tone.

"Excuse me?" Reraik asked, tilting his head.

"You heard me, boy. Now I'd like a black coffee with three sugars, a fruit salad, and a club sandwich."

Reraik gave the man a look, knitting his brows at the sheer audacity of the man's behavior. It was common for business men to stop by the diner on their way to the northern city of Nimbus, but rarely did any of them have such rude behavior. It was baffling to the five eyed man to say the very least.

"I..." Reraik trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Don't tell me you're out of-" the business man started.

"Well now, I'm sure my friend here didn't expect to come here to help me out at the diner just to be treated like that."

The two men turned their attention to Teshalu as the Jester emerged from the kitchen, wiping their hands with a hand towel from one of their apron pockets.

"You know, good manners don't cost a damn thing here. Or anywhere for that matter." The jester said, crossing their arms (or rather lack thereof) as they stood beside Reraik and glared at the business man.

The business man stood rigid, "he wasn't paying attention to me for a solid minute when I was looking at the menu and trying to order!"

Teshalu turned to Reraik, brow raised, then back at the business man, "It takes at least a minute to go through the menu. That doesn't give you the right to snap at him like he's a dog to get his attention."

"He-"

"He is just fine. You on the other hand can leave. We don't serve no one who acts a fool here and thinks it's okay."

The business man's clock arms ticked straight up, the white slowly morphing into a purplish red in anger. The man huffed and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. The other patrons who had watched the interaction began to mumble among themselves. Teshalu turned their gaze to Reraik, looking the younger man up and down.

"You need a second to process that?” Teshalu asked, tilting their head as they set their hands on their hips. 

Reraik opened and closed his mouth dumbly, then nodded slowly. Teshalu sighed.

“Go focus on cooking. I’ll take orders.” The jester said, ushering Reraik into the back as they took over the front counter.

Reraik nodded again, stumbling back into the kitchen without complaint.