Just Come and Visit {Steven Starphase X Reader}

The Good Kind of Stress

Five in the morning, the store opens at five in the morning.

Yet there is this man who showed up with the messiest dark hair knocking at the store's door thirty minutes before it's open. You watch him from behind the counter as he's peering through the glass checking to see if anyone was inside before waving at you. You sighed as you made your way around the counter and went to unlock the door. You opened it just enough to stick your head out.

"Hey sorry, is this a bad time?" He said with such a tired and raspy voice you couldn't tell if he had just woken up or hadn't gone to bed.

"Well, I..." You got a good look at him and couldn't help but notice the dark and heavy bags under his eyes. A man so tired it looked like he was ready to collapse. "Actually, I just opened. You can come in."

You opened the door fully for him and he slugishly walked inside taking one of the counter seats. Now that you could see him up close you noticed just how formal he was dressed. Was he an office worker who only just got off the job? His midnight blue button-down shirt and dark gray slacks made it seem so. However, the scar on his face and the tattoo that was branching up his neck made you think otherwise.

"Is there anything in particular that you would like today sir?" You asked him as you walked back behind the counter.

"Just a cup of coffee is okay." He hunched over the counter and let his head fall into the palm of his hand as he closed his eyes.

Even though the store had yet to open you at least had coffee ready to be made. As you were getting the coffee beans prepped to be ground you decided to make some small talk with the man, although it just consisted of what he wanted for his drink.

"Is there anything in particular you would like for your coffee?" you asked him. "Any milk? Sugar? Other flavors?"

"Oh no, just black coffee should be fine." Although you had your back turned, you could tell his eyes were still closed.

"What brings you here so early in the morning sir? I haven't heard of any office jobs that start before 6." You said in a half-joking way. You cleaned the machine and moved the ground coffee beans to the filter of the coffee machine as you waited for it to start brewing.

"Well, actually it's the opposite. I only just got off of work." You paused for a moment as you registered what he said.

"I had considered that as a possibility, but I didn't want to think it was true. If you don't mind me asking, what held you there for so long?" You let the pot slowly fill as you got his cup ready. You turned to face him now that you had a little extra time on your hands. He still kept his eyes closed, head tilted to the side as it continued to rest in his palm.

"There was a problem at work that kept me and the rest of my co-workers out of the building. Leaving it to someone else to fix it would have been easier, but there was another urgent matter that had to be taken care of and if left unattended it would mean the end of the city." The man let out a long desperate sigh. "Just thinking about it is giving me a migraine."

You grabbed one of the plates and made my way to the back. Although by all technicality the store wasn't open yet you still had everything ready thanks to your preparations yesterday. You placed the plate on the table and grabbed your oven mittens to get out the tray of freshly baked cookies. After carefully removing two cookies and putting them on the plate you brought them to the front. The coffee pot was now full enough for one cup and poured it out for the man before placing both the plate and cup in front of him. He finally opened his eyes and looked at the cookies confused.

"It's on the house," you began before he could. "Consider it as my attempt to get you here again and actually buy something," you said with a light laugh at the end.