Don't the stars look pretty up this close? - DSMP Space AU

A strange customer - That soon won't be a stranger anymore

Tommy sat on the cushioned seat behind the register, warm light illuminating the counter. He swayed his upper body a little, humming along to the quiet tune of classical and ambient music playing in the background.

However nice it was for his boss to give him such accommodations, it really didn't help preventing him from dozing off at the moment. Niki's bakery was pretty much always completely empty this late at night. Despite this, he still had about 30 minutes left for his shift, so he kept tapping his nails on the table in an unknown beat.

The streets of Pogtopia district, as seen through the shop's large windows, were dark and void of any movement. Like always, the deafening quiet in a big city such as L'manburg might've had a certain mystique or uneasiness to it, if Tommy didn't experience this every day of the week.

As he looked out of the store's glass front door, all he could see was the same familiar crossroad, just as still and empty as the bakery, with the still-unfixed, continuously flickering lamp post to his right. He sighed, turning to look at the 'workers only' rooms in the back.

This part of the city wasn't the wealthiest around, but Niki had told him she'd never put up shop in a "nicer" neighborhood. Cheering up the ones less fortunate had been what she wanted from the day she had started her small business.

He guessed he could admire her for that. Which was also precisely what had made Tommy question her choice of hiring him when they first came to the city - you'd think someone with people skills as good as hers would recognize him as having the complete opposite effect of comfort on people in general, let alone customers.

He regularly berated their food choices, sarcastically commented on their personal drama if they talked about it too close to his ears and told everyone blocking the line for too long to fuck off. The only thing he'd apologize for was the complaining about their choice of baked goods, because everything Niki made was heavenly. But seriously – what monster bites into a danish pastry right after eating a spicy cheese bun??

But oh well, the customer was king and she was the boss, so their word was ultimately gospel. Not that Tommy minded it coming from Niki too much he supposed. She was one of the kindest people he'd ever gotten to meet, and definitely much better than the assholes he'd had to work with in the past.

And surprisingly, he thinks he actually enjoys coming here. It doesn't pay a lot unfortunately, but that's entirely due to Niki wanting to make the goods she sells affordable to this part of town, not unfair or shady company practices. His environment is warm and the music provides for decent entertainment when there's not many customers around. The soft vibes aren't necessarily his cup of tea, but they're definitely Niki's. And apparently the couple hundred people visiting each day like them too.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he continued staring at the bakery's front door. Every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday he'd sit here and try to waste six hours on this night shift. It fucked up his sleep schedule a bit, but they didn't have an alternative with Edward being sick at the moment. Either way, at least it was a little bit relaxing and allowed him to wind down after a couple of stressful days.

Both he and Niki knew that usually nobody came in this late, so it was practically pointless being open at this hour in the first place. But she apparently also knew about the way Tommy tensed up whenever it got too crowded in a room, so maybe this was more for his personal sake than for profit. When he'd first realized it had almost made a smile slip onto his face, although he'd never admit it to her.

"Uh, hello?"
Tommy nearly jumped out of his seat at the stranger's voice.
He had almost managed to fall off his chair, grabbing onto the counter for dear life. It took him way too long to look up at the person and he tried to smoothly move his limbs into a more natural body position: "Shit-, What can I get for you, big man?"
He didn't exactly have a set phrase for welcoming customers for marketing's sake, for 'creative freedom' Niki had said, but at 11:45pm on a Saturday night he felt calling people 'big man' to greet them was a little bit strange.