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“Hey!” I scoffed, landing a light punch on his hard-as-rock pectoral. “I’ll have you know I’m a very trustworthy sort of person! That was just a slightly embarrassing blip!”
I yanked my hand away, realizing I’d just fucking punched a soldier genetically modified to be fantastic at killing whatever crossed his path. But the tight pull of his snout hadn’t faded, and I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that, for the second time today, he wasn’t about to murder me.
X didn’t say anything else, and the silence began to stretch a little too long. I was also becoming way too aware of his bulk in front of me, so close to me, in the darkness.
“Well, um, should we turn the lights on?”
X breathed in sharply, as if my words had shaken him from some deep thought.
“Yes. Of course. Here’s the switch.”
He clicked a claw against the wall by the door, and suddenly the space was flooded with warm, golden light. I grinned as I turned in place, taking everything in.
This area, right by the door/takeout window, was quite narrow. Just enough space for X and me. On one side of us was an impressive espresso machine, its metal surface shining as if polished by a very steady, very meticulous hand. My eyes fell automatically to X’s hands, but I forced them away immediately to keep taking note of everything around me. The espresso machine rested on a glorious mahogany countertop, stained with a rich finish, and below it was a small refrigerator. Set into the counter was a deep sink, and jugs for hot water were empty beside it, waiting to be filled tomorrow. On the wall, above and beside the espresso machine, were shelves with cups of varying sizes, most of them takeout-style. Small takeout bags rested on one shelf as well, looking like they were made of Terratribe 1 grindle tree mesh.
I turned to look at the other side of the small space, noticing X shift slightly so that I’d have a better view.
This side of the coffee shop took my breath away. The wall was floor-to-ceiling shelves, laden with jars containing substances of every colour and texture imaginable. The coffee beans were easy to spot, and I recognized a few of the herbal tea mixtures, but there were things I didn’t recognize, too. Things that looked like crushed red shells, and what looked to be bundles of sticks. One jar even had white shapes that looked to be the bones of some sort of small animal. I moved closer, admiring everything, noticing with some relief that each jar was neatly labelled. That would definitely help a newbie like me when there would clearly be a lot to learn.
But that was OK. I’d always been a quick learner. And I’d always won over my bosses and coworkers in the manufacturing district, no matter how grumpy they were. And X was definitely the grumpy sort. I cast another glance his way to find his eyes trained relentlessly on me.
I gulped, turning back to the jars.
OK, it wasn’t just grumpiness. There was something else there. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I focused back on my task of trying to learn the details of everything in front of me. I noticed one shelf among all the jars was devoted to a small selection of baked goods, most of them looking human in origin, but at least a couple that I wasn’t sure I recognized.
“The majority of our menu is made up of traditional human drinks,” X said beside me as I kept my face firmly forward and away from him. The deep growl of his voice wasn’t sitting quite right. It was slipping down my spine in such a strong sort of way that I found myself rolling my shoulders and neck against the sensation.
He continued.
“Most of the drinks we sell in a given day are coffee-based. Espresso. Cappuccinos. Lattes. You get the picture. But teas also do well, and this time of year we have seasonal drinks – white mochas, eggnog lattes, peppermint hot chocolates. You get the idea.”
I nodded, finally turning back to him. I did get the idea. And the idea sounded fucking great. It sounded so sweet and festive and cozy. And it seemed impossible that words like eggnog latte and peppermint hot chocolate were coming out of the mouth of somebody as big and intense as X. But there he was, saying those words anyway. And there I was, soaking them all up, even as they tumbled from the mouth of the most irrefutably lethal man on this whole station.
“We do have a fair number of non-human drinks on the menu, too,” X added, “but it’s not very common that I have to make them. Most everyone coming here this time of year, whether human or alien, is looking for that authentic old-Earth Christmas experience. So they order the human stuff.”
“That makes sense,” I said, nodding again. If I were going to travel to some glittering alien station, I’d definitely want to try the local specialties of the species who lived there. Heck, even here, I was dying to check out some of the alien cultural shops, like Feathers and Salt. So I understood why everyone would be coming here for that sugary, caffeinated human goodness.
“Ah, sorry,” X said suddenly, rubbing a massive hand against the bottom of his wide snout. The movement made his pec and bicep on that side bulge, and I couldn’t help myself from scoping those parts out, just a little. Just in a scholarly sort of way, of course! He was an alien species, after all.
But then again, I’d never been much of a scholar.
“Why are you apologizing?” I asked, tearing my gaze from the seam I was sure was about to bust on his inner arm.
“I don’t mean to be training you before your contract actually starts. I thought you might want to see the inside of the place before your workday starts tomorrow, but I also don’t mean to be monopolizing your unpaid hours.”
“Oh, shoot,” I said, just realizing the same was true for him. His shift, probably a long one, was over. And yet here he was, sticking around his workplace just to let me have a look around. “I should be saying the same thing to you. I assume you’re off the clock.”
He waved a grey hand in the air between us dismissively.
“It’s fine. I wanted to show you around. And these days I don’t do much of anything I don’t want to do.”
For some reason, his words made me flush.
OK, he may be grumpy, but maybe he’s actually an OK guy under all fangs and the horns and the gruffness.
“Well, what else you got?” I finally squeaked, turning to look at the rest of the space. I felt X step up behind me and I tensed.
