𝙈𝙀𝙇𝙊𝘿𝙍𝘼𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙄𝘾 𝙈𝙊𝙉𝙊𝙂𝘼𝙈𝙔 | karlnapity

Plot ;)

Quackity loves closing time at the cafe. It's when all the best customers are still around—the mums that talk in quiet voices because they don't want to wake their sleeping children by moving, or the young couple on a first date that had so much chemistry they didn't even realise so much time had passed—he can hear the buzz of central-city from outside, but it's simply background noise to the soft pop songs playing from Niki's speaker as she sweeps.

It's relaxing, a kind of familiar warmth he hasn't felt somewhere in a long time, and the perfect place to get his assignments done.

He used to help Niki clean up, but when she found out how behind he is in school she banned him and sentenced him to time-out on the table in the corner to work. He complained at first, but now he doesn't mind as much, he would much rather be explaining the intricacies of legal drafting than getting back-ache from sweeping under the counters.

What he also loves about closing-shifts though, is it's when he gets to see Puffy.

She seems to be in a good mood today, if her colourful outfit and wide-smile are anything to go by, and she sweeps in through the doors of the cafe with the confidence of a CEO. Which, he supposes, she isn't far off considering she owns the cafe business. She shoos the remaining customers out the door with friendly self-assurance, then turns to them both with a flamboyant smile.

"Hello my loves!" She beams as she sees the two of them, going to Niki first to wrap her in a hug. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"It's only been a week." Quackity smiles back when she looks at him, and she detangles herself from Niki to come over and hug him too. "It's been far too long." She corrects.

Quackity lets himself relax in her soft embrace, pressing his grin into her fluffy hair with a contented sigh. He owes Puffy a lot, considering her bright energy was what gave him the motivation to turn his life around all those years ago, but also how she's stuck all this time to keep helping him when he needs her.

She was the one who let him work here despite his lack of experience, and kept him around despite how he constantly messed up in the first few months. She convinced him to go to law school when he said it was his dream to be a lawyer, and gave him the confidence to start talking to the other employees. She's the reason he has so many friends that care about him now.

Puffy's also the only one of his friends who doesn't tease him about the whole one-night-stand thing, she just said she was proud of him but she doesn't want to hear any more about the subject of his intimate life.

He's eternally grateful to the beta, and yet all she wants in return is a hug every week when she comes to visit them in the closing shift, and a promise that he'll look after himself when life starts to feel like the end of the world again. Though it's not always a task he can follow through on.

When she pulls back slightly and studies his expression, Quackity knows he's screwed by the way her eyes narrow at him. "You look tired." She says bluntly, rubbing her thumb across his eye-bags. "Are you sleeping okay? Have you been getting night-terrors again?"

"No." He denies truthfully, pulling away from her slightly. "No, I'm fine. School's just been kicking my ass, you know how it is."

He found out quickly that he couldn't lie to Puffy, she has the power to see through every one of his tales. So he now uses a different strategy when he doesn't want to worry her; avoiding the object of concern. Everything he says is true, it's just not what she probably wants to hear. Though even that doesn't always work.

She narrows her eyes at him, "is that the only thing?"

He opens his mouth but nothing comes out, and he tries his best at another reassuring smile. "You know I would tell you anything that was a big-deal."