Tharntype fic- Compounding factors

Chapter 17: Memento mori (Thorn's PoV)

January 13th

A month has passed since I met Aer and I can't get her out of my head. I have been going back to the coffee shop everyday, and I can't believe that she is still talking with me! Maybe she is just being polite because she's at work. But, now that I think about it she's never actually all that polite.

I wonder what Aer is doing right now. Maybe she is begging another patron to give her their coffee, or yelling at a malfunctioning cappuccino maker. Or maybe she is standing in the corner sneaking a glance at her phone. I can picture her smiling down at the screen. I like her smile, because, even at a distance, I can see how she bites her lips to hold back a laugh. She always tries so hard not to laugh at everything.

I tell myself that I'm just glad to have a place to escape to when I need to get out of the house. Sometimes I believe it.

Things at home have been a little tough lately, and I do need an escape. And, I've got to admit, it's been kind of nice to have someone to talk with. I can't really go to San with ...emotional problems. He's the guy that you bring to a party, or a business meeting. But we don't really talk about personal problems. And when we do so, if we do so, he always tries to fix everything and control everything. Anyway, I just really need to see Aer today.

Tharn came back home last Sunday after a night out with Type, and an argument. I catch him sometimes when he thinks he's alone, he sits there staring out into space with these sad eyes, and I know that there is more going on than just a fight with Type. I'm worried. I am basically always worried about my siblings wellbeing, but this is different. Tharn is closing himself off; he's not talking to any of us, or going to school. And now he's back home.

I know that the accident has made it hard for him to play his music or hang out with friends, or just do normal daily tasks. I can see that. I can understand where he is coming from. But still, somehow it drains me. Its just hard for me to sit there, and see him suffering and know that there isn't anything that I can do to help him.

So I head to the coffee shop...again.

I push the door inwards and I wonder why the cafe is so empty. The service is never so bad that patrons have to flee (except when the barista drinks customer's coffee but even then, it is usually in exchange for low cost therapy). Then, before I can take another step, a wild haired Aer runs up to me and pushes me backwards, her hands land on my chest. Heat runs through my body and I freeze.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! We're closed!"

"How can you be closed? It's 11 AM!" I say, hoping that she can't feel how fast my heart is beating under her hand.

Aer huffs and aims a kick at the door behind me, it slams shut with a bang. Then she whirls around and grabs a broom from where she had dropped it in the middle of the floor. "If you want coffee, the coffee machine is over there, on that back wall." She looks at me defiantly and then she points at me "I need to find Rufus. And don't you dare of move from where you are, cause if you hurt him, I'll kill you"

"Who's Rufus... and how can I get my coffee without moving? "

Aer is desperately calling Rufus from behind the bar's counter, so she basically ignores me.She crouches down and looks in every corner. I don't know If I should offer to help her find what she is looking for, or If I should just wait here until she tells me to move. I am considering my options when I see something moving near my feet. I look down at the floor.

Oh! I bend down to catch... Rufus? Then I smile.

"I think I found Rufus?".

Aer turns around to face me and her smile gets so big and happy that I am suddenly ecstatic to be holding a tiny squirming rodent. His inky black eyes stare up at me plaintively, as though he is begging for me to let him go so he can resume his adventuring around the cafe's floor. His back is a soft downy brown and his tummy is fluffy and white. I'm not a huge fan of rodents, but this particular one is not that bad.