Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sunlight blared through the cheap curtain and landed on his face, piercing his eyes where it carved through his eyelids. His alarm was blaring on his bedside table, he didn’t bother turning it off, instead ripping the cable straight out of the wall.

It was a Monday. His least favourite day. Yes, he still had to work the weekends, but not at a café, at his second job. Well, it’s more like his actual job, as it is his main source of income, but he always worked at the café first in the day, so to Tommy it made sense to call it his second job.

What is this “other job”, you may be asking? Well it's the best, most awesome, some may say poggers job to ever exist. Tommy Innes, local barista, was in fact, a hero.
And he’s not just saying this because he saved a cat from a tree when he was twelve, no, the biggest man ever, Tommy Innes, was THE number 5 hero, Theseus.

I know I know, don’t get your panties in a twist, he may be a hero but really, he hasn’t changed one bit. He’s still the same Coca-Cola loving and Minecraft obsessed boy he has always been, now just 1000% cooler and with many many more wives… really, women just LOVE him… hey! Don’t laugh! It’s true!..
…Maybe Tommy should stop talking to himself and actually get ready for the day… Or maybe, maybe he can have just five more minutes in bed, yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

It, in fact, was not a good idea. It was a terrible idea really, because now Tommy is going to be late, very very late to his OPENING shift! Yes, you heard him, he’s got the opening shift and he’s going to be late. Screw winter weather, Tommy is too hot to get cold, he does not need a jacket, what he does need is to leave this gosh darned apartment and leg it to work.
He lives over a district away from the café as well… Darn it, he’s so screwed.

Tommy would like it to be known that despite contrary beliefs, he is a rather punctual man. He is normally on time or even early to work, and has only 3 lates in his year of working at Clem’s Café. while that may not sound like a lot to you posh fuckers, it was amazing that Tommy has managed to be this good at staying on time. Considering that he lived in the 10th district, known by the locals as “Logstedshire”, and Clem’s café is in district 7, he thinks he’s doing a good job!

Today was no different, his feet may be aching from running as fast as possible through the districts, but it was worth it. He arrived at Clem’s with 10 minutes to set up, perfect timing. He quickly unlocks the door and slips on his apron, unlatching the counter door and moving to set up the coffee machines. As the espresso machine runs through it’s auto-cleaning process, Tommy plugs his phone into the speaker system and puts on his playlist, softly bopping his head as he continues preparing everything for the day.

He didn't get to be left to his devices for too long as the café bell rings gently, announcing his shift partner's arrival. If he remembers correctly, he should be partnered with his best friend in the whole world, the second biggest man after Tommy himself, Tubbo.

Tommy never used to believe in soulmates, but after meeting Tubbo he knows there must be such a thing, for when he met Tubbo, there was no awkward stage, they just clicked. They were instantly falling into a perfect dynamic, an unbeatable duo. Tommy and Tubbo, if you asked a stranger, have been friends their whole lives, and it certainly felt like they did, even though they both know they only met 5 months prior to this grim Monday.

Tommy set Tubbo’s regular death coffee (like, fucking hell, who needs THAT many espresso shots???) on the counter.

“Here ya go boss man, one death coffee for the tired goat!” He smirked as Tubbo let out a dramatic groan, ah one of these days it shall be then.

“How the fuck, are you so energetic already?” Tubbo mumbled, yawning halfway through.

“Pure spite.” He called back, with a mischievous grin.

Tubbo glared at him as he downed his coffee, “you are: the worst”.

He threw the towel he had just been using to wipe down the tables over his shoulder, looking over it to see Tubbo, “gee thanks big man, really fuelling my confidence, I see.” A mock frown tilted the edges of his lips down.

“Oh shush, your ego is big enough already idiot!” Tubbo light-heartedly slapped Tommy’s shoulder as he passed by to the backroom.

“Ye ye, whatever you say tubs.” Tutting softly under his breath as he went to unlock the front door and flip the sign, time to work.

Chapter Text

Tommy didn’t often remember the names of his customers, there are a few pleasant exceptions to this, and also some not so pleasant ones. Like Angelica, Prime did he hate Angelica. Not only did she order the most complex drinks, and use a thermometer to ensure it was made 100% accurately, she also was a Karen incarnate. Especially, as he had the displeasure of knowing, on the days that her husband wasn’t at work. Based on her bright red face and fast gait, Tommy knew he had his work cut out for him today. Oh Prime did he hate Mondays.

As soon as she reached the counter she went to reach for the bell, as always, to ring it repeatedly, despite Tommy already looking right at her. Tommy took a deep sigh before plastering his Customer Service Smile™ and opened his mouth, “Hello, welcome to Clem’s Café! How can-”

“Oh my goodness, why is it always the slowest people serving!!” Tommy’s mouth was left open, she does this everytime, but it still threw him off.

“Sorry ma’am, please tell me your-”
This time when she cut him off she had looked to see who was serving her, instead of death scrolling on instagram like she was before, “Oh, not you, it’s always you who takes forever!! I should speak with your manager at this point, hm? Get you fired for your clear incompetence of how to work!!”.

Now Tommy was typically a level-headed man, but this was the last straw on his long Monday, and he intended to ruin Angelica’s day for this in-con-venience.

“Ma’am please place an order, or leave, I don’t mind which you do, but do it quickly.”

Tommy would like it to be known that he was actually very mad… but he also loves working at Clem’s and if he got fired, Prime, he doesn't think he could survive a week without this place. “Ahem”, oh, he forgot she was still here.

“Young man! I do NOT expect to be treated with SUCH disrespect at an establishment that I am a PAYING CUSTOMER AT!!”

Tommy was yet again taken aback, he hadn’t been rude to her at all, and yet her temper was through the roof!!He was so distracted by her huffing and puffing to notice the bell above the door ringing. However, he did notice the tall man approaching the red-faced woman, who was still ranting about how awful Tommy was and how she could find a better place and would if he wasn’t fired.

The pink-haired man cleared his throat loudly, announcing his presence to both Tommy, who was slightly in shock from how buff this stranger was, and to the karen incarnate, Angelica.

“Ma’am, is there an issue here?" He said in a monotonous voice, booming in the silence of Clem’s Café.

“I don’t see how this conc- errrrrr…” She started directing her annoyance towards the jacked fellow behind her, only tuning around halfway through her sentence, paling drastically as she saw the behemoth man that was standing not even a foot away from her. She quickly rushed out of the Café, clutching her bag and glaring at the intrigued patrons.

“Are ya alright?” The stranger turns his attention to Tommy, who also turned, to look at the stranger, blinking slowly as he comes back to the world of the living. Gosh how he hated customer service, sucks that this is the only nice place that doesn’t follow the law of the minimum working age.

“Yea… I’m- I’m fine, damn, she was fucking mad man, but then you got here and just bam, put here in her place… I mean, I would've been able to handle it myself but you- you just got here first!” He stumbled over his words, still slightly in shock of the situation that just occurred, finally slipping back into his bubbly façade that was lost in his confusion.

“Sure ya would, kid.” Despite Tommy not looking at the massive guy’s eyes, he could feel them rolling. Instead of responding as he normally would, combating the ABSOLUTELY DEROGATORY WORD THIS STRANGER USED (kid), today, he just got straight back to business.

“Mhm, and how can I help you today, sir?” he replied, turning away to grab his cloth, before looking back towards where the man was standing, ‘was’ in the literal sense, as the man had now seated himself on one of the counter’s bar stools.

“Oh, I’ll have a caramel latte, with 2 shots of espresso and creamer, please.”

Tommy turned to the appropriate machine, leaning to the side to grab a to-go cup (they stopped using mugs ever, due to some rather… pleasant customers) before switching over to the espresso machine, calling over to the man as he worked, “name for the order?”

“Erm, I’m sitting right here, kid.” he replied, monotone as ever, with a slight twinge of confusion.

“Yeah, but I feel like I deserve to know the name of my hero, wouldn’t ya think?” Tommy turned to place the lidded cup on the counter, sharpie already un-capped and in his hand, poised to write with. The pinkette rolled his eyes before responding.

“The name’s Techno.”

Chapter Text

Techno arose with a banging headache, feeling like a nail was being hammered behind his eyes as he sat up, hand placed to his throbbing temples. He always hated this effect of his powers, the drawback, using it to the extent that he did last night leaves no room for arguing that it’s the cause of his current turmoil.

His head slowly panned to the door, where he could hear his father's soft voice, calling him for breakfast, filter through the gaps. Techno groaned slightly, willing the pain to ease, rising to his feet before pattering down to the kitchen, stretching to relieve his cramped muscles, a yawn parting his dry lips.

“Hi mate, you don’t look too hot, huh?” his father, Phil, commented gently as Techno drew himself a chair at the dining table.

“Ye, not my greatest look huh” He replied, chuckling softly at the end, which slowly turned into raspy coughs as his dehydrated throat didn’t react well to the use of his vocal folds.

“Oh gosh mate, let’s get you some water.” Phil gently placed the glass down in front of Techno, pressing the back of his hand to Techno’s forehead, checking for a fever, which luckily was not too high this time. “Damn, ye, definitely drawbacks, not as bad as last time, though this fight wasn’t half as long” Phil smiled as he went to grab a painkiller for Techno, keeping his voice low as he understood the pain his son would have in his head right now, drawbacks we’re no joke.

“Are you still feeling up to trying that Café we saw?” Phil called lightly from the kitchen, to which he had returned to finish plating their meal.

Techno hummed, still tired from his unfortunately short slumber, “yeh, what time we leavin’”, a small yawn escaping his mouth upon delivering his response.

Phil looked at his son thoughtfully before he spoke, noticing purple eye bags, heavier than the house they were sat in, resting on his face, “Hm, probably in a few hours mate, should give you enough time for a quick power nap, Lady Death knows you need it.”

And gosh was Phil right; after finishing his plate, Techno dragged himself back upstairs, already feeling that his headache has been eased by the medicine, and quickly stuffed himself under the myriad of faux pelt’s and blankets, he quickly fell into a cosy sleep.

The next time Techno awoke, it was to Phil knocking on his door, softly opening it before shaking his shoulders, letting him know that they were due to leave soon. Techno unintelligibly mumbled a reply, snuggling further under the fluffy mound, only for his father to pull the ULTIMATE betrayal, as he turned on the light, forcefully piercing Techno’s eyelids and dragging him from sleepy to awake instantaneously.

Techno grumbled again, squinting his face in displeasure, Phil only laughed and ruffled Techno’s hair, “Ten minutes, then downstairs piglet.” His father only received a muffled groan, as Techno yawned halfway through, pawing at his eyes to dislodge the sleep.

He showered shortly after, his long hair in a cap, as he did NOT have the time to style it properly. After freshening up, Techno quickly dressed, throwing on some baggy brown trousers, matched with a leather and gold decaled belt, tucking in a clean poet’s shirt, and adorning his outfit and pink hair with golden jewellery.

He went downstairs to find his father waiting by the door, staring intently at the watch on his wrist and counting under his breath. “Two… one… Ah! Techno! Perfect timing! Are you ready to go, mate?” Techno merely hummed and nodded slightly in response, still feeling a bit sleepy, despite showering and being awake for 10 minutes now. “Brilliant! Let’s get going then!”

They exited the house, locking it before heading down the drive, hopping into their car, taking off for a short drive into town. They were soon rounding onto the street with the café when Phil pulled over and turned to face Techno.

“Alright, I need to go talk with someone about my phone, I think it’s a bit broken, it won’t take photos anymore… so! I’ll meet you in the café once I’m done, don’t worry about ordering for me, mate!” Phil smiled softly and waved as Techno begrudgingly departed from the comfortably warm vehicle.

He walked over to the café, a pep in his step as he thought about the delicious liquid (coffee... Iced coffee) that is one of the sole reasons he is still on this dumb floating rock.

As he got closer to the entrance of Clem’s Café he could hear the screeching sound of a Karen floating through the frosted glass door. He sighed deeply. Just the nasally sound of this woman's voice was annoying him; he can’t imagine how awful this must be for the barista. So he picked up his pace slightly, and shortly entered the café.

“-PAYING CUSTOMER AT!!”

As Techno entered the cosy coloured café he instantly became aware of how close the Karen was to the barista, who looked confused and uncomfortable. Techno initially planned to just wait for the Karen to be dealt with, but as none of the other customers were seeming to help the situation, plus the fact that this child barista’s comfortability was decreasing more and more as more time passed, it was clear he had to step in.