Dames and Dragons: Coffee shop AU

Into the Coffee Shop

Falen's POV:

Falen decides it had been a monumentally hard day at work. It is always a hard day when working at Torva's Starbucks, but today felt particularly brutal. His sister hadn't been able to come into work (something about waiting for her nails to dry), so his father-- the ever-present owner of the shop Torva-- had made him work double shifts.

The Starbucks is popular by design. In the city of Avelis, it is ranked above every other store around. People coming in and out praise how unique this Starbucks is. How fancy all the golden decorations are. How cheap the coffee is. It makes Falen sick to his stomach.

It doesn't help that his father had grown more secretive in the last weeks. Falen knows he is working on something-- something big-- to permanently distinguish Torva's Starbucks from all the others. But no matter how Falen tries to pry, his father isn't giving any hints as to what it is.

He might have gotten more information if it weren't for "the contract". Torva has an extremely specific contract that he makes all employees sign before working at his Starbucks. It prevents his employees from questioning anything and giving anything away to competitors. Falen hadn't known any better when he signed the thing at 16 and again at 18. And now, he is stuck in a work environment he wishes he could escape from.

Falen takes off his apron and hangs it in its signature place beside his father's. Each apron is meticulously made with purple and black fabric with white trimmings along the edges. His father's has "Torva the Conqueror" embroidered with golden letters on it. Falen's has "Falen the Betrayer". The surnames, according to Falen's father, are for flare. "It will make the common folk look upon our shop with not eyes scarred by all the other Starbucks, but with eyes ready to see a new entity... a new empire." 

Of course, his and his father's aprons aren't the only ones hanging on these hooks. Three others have golden names. The first looks like it has been shredded by a knife. The name "Millava" is stitched on the front. It has an empty space next to her name where her title would've been put if she had earned it.

The next apron is infinitely neater. It even has a rose embroidered next to the golden name: "Loreia the Slayer". The owner of the apron had always reminded Falen of a spoiled child even as she grew older. She had her own ambitions, separate from their father's.

After that is the apron whose use is only second to Torva's and Falen's. "Orestes the Pillager" has been named employee of the month since Falen can remember. His only sibling who shares a mother with him, Orestes loves working at the Starbucks. Falen doesn't know if he even has a life away from it.

The last apron looks like it hasn't seen use since the day it was made. The name that was stitched onto it has long since been taken off, but Falen's father still spends long nights trying to strategize how to lure the owner of the apron back into his shop. Falen hopes his third sister will never come back.

Falen walks out of the employee area and through the bustling crowd of people in the massive Starbucks. It is, by far, the most populated place on the block. Countless customers mill in and out every day, trying to satiate their desire for all things sweet. Falen isn't sure if the place can still be considered a coffee shop: his dad had made it uniquely his. 

Falen travels past the many customers and employees, most of whom wave to him as he passes. His bronze-colored skin, jet-black hair, and chiseled form had made him many friendships. All of which his father is eager to exploit. Falen cringes as he recalls the countless businesses that had gone bankrupt all because his father had used his connections to his advantage.

Falen exits the shop as quickly as he is able, eager to leave the hustle and bustle in favor of the much smaller shop across the street. 

The Guardian Coffee Shop (formally known as Estra's Coffee House) is a small shop founded by his father's ex-wife Kai. In her early days, she was known as "The Goddess" to the townsfolk because of her infinite beauty and kindness. Her little shop was known by everyone for miles and was even visited by many a pilgrim across the globe.

People used to get their drinks from her shop and drink it in the nearby Estran Park. It was full of beautiful flowers that no other part of the city had. When Torva arrived, he was unable to compete with her popularity. When his attempts to join forces with Kai failed, he bulldozed the park to expand his Starbucks Empire. The number of people who visited Kai's restaurant was halved that day. 

Eighteen years ago, Kai died giving birth to her only child, Maeri. The shop closed, unable to sustain itself without its founder. In that time, Torva's control only grew more powerful. 

Until Maeri inherited the shop.

The small bell on the door rings a familiar, comforting tune as Falen opens the door to the shop. The walls are covered with white and grey designs that swirl around each other in clouds of intrigue. They are contrasted by pitch-black tables and chairs bordered with a hot pink edge. They line the walls and fill up the center. At the center of each table is a centerpiece: a wolf, a crow, or a deer. Depending on which place you sat, you would get a different style of service. Before Torva, the townsfolk had their own "clans" centered around these centerpieces. Each clan would engage in friendly competitions and activities in the park.

Unlike the old times, there are only three employees present in the shop. Fra'Nika (or Fran as she preferred to be called) is leaning against the counter, looking idly at her phone. Her hair is its signature bright blue, a fluff of chaos on her head. She wears a grey and pink apron with a deer embroidered on it. According to her, her foster parent Alonia had worked for Kai way back when. Needing a job in college, Fran took on the legacy. Not with fervor, exactly, but she did seem to enjoy working here.

Corbin, on the other hand, had been instructed his whole life by his foster parent Demora in the ways of coffee making. Even now, he is concocting a strange-smelling experiment for a stammering and confused patient. Eighty percent of the time, his concoctions taste like dirt and worms. But that rare twenty percent is so delicious, it is impossible to stop drinking them. His dark hair is a mess atop his head. Falen even notes two black feathers sticking out from behind one ear. His apron is black and pink with a crow embroidered on it and a heart-shaped hole cut just below his neck.

The final employee Slake had the misfortune of being cast into this strange stew later than the others. The previous employee, Laika, moved away a few months ago, and the newbie is acting as an intern until they have the same skills as the other two. Or, so they say. From Falen's point of view, Slake works harder than the other two ever did. They are much taller and brawnier, making it easier for them to handle grueling tasks like taking boxes in and out, mopping and polishing the floors, and getting items off of tall shelves. They have dark green, spikey hair and wear a hastily put-together purple and pink apron with a beautiful beetle embroidered on the front. Maeri's work, no doubt.

At the thought, Falen turns his attention to the final person in the store. Maeri is a nervous-looking girl who stands in the corner overseeing everything. She has dark skin and curly black hair with hints of gold in it. Her hands are moving quickly as she signs in ASL to Fran, Corbin, and Slake. From the pictures Falen has seen, she is almost a perfect replica of her mother Kai in appearance. In personality, she is apparently much different. Unlike her mother, she had disbanded the clans, expanded the shop into the surrounding buildings, and let her employees make their own changes to the look and feel of the shop. Her friends lovingly call her "Crazy Maeri" because of it.

When Falen first met Fran, Laika, Corbin, and Maeri, he didn't think that they would be much of an obstacle to his father's rise in power. And, in his situation, who would? He had met them sneaking into his father's shop to learn about their competitor. Falen had caught them, turned off the alarm they had triggered, and told them off. Since he didn't tell his father, the four-- contrary to his warnings against it-- started to believe he was on their side. Infectious as their belief was, he started to believe it too. Before he knew it, he had become one of their most loyal customers.