Work Text:
Allison was horribly, inconsolably bored. It was, in some ways, better to be spending her Friday afternoons helming a tiny little coffee shop that seemed almost adverse to actual customers. But despite how more people often made her want to shrink in on herself and hide – how much it made her not want to be perceived – the rush of the mornings ultimately made her feel far more fulfilled than pretty much anything else going on in her life.
Some might have called it sad for her to throw herself entirely into her work once Zaid dumped her, especially when that work was being a barista. Allison definitely agreed with them. But what else was she supposed to do? At least she was good at it. She’d never been good at much of anything in her life.
A chime, and Allison’s eyes shot to the front of the store. She stood up a little, pushing herself into customer service mode as… a devil walked into the shop.
Huh. That was certainly a little more than weird.
She was a blue imp with crazed eyes that hid behind enormous amber glasses. Standing at maybe four foot tall, though significantly taller with her horns, she still seemed to fill the entire doorway as she stepped inside.
The devil’s tail swished as she walked up to the counter and did not once glance at the menu. Instead she eyed Allison the entire time until she was standing before her. Her voice was a low rasp as she pulled a few gold coins from her pocket – Allison didn’t have change for those – and stared straight into her soul.
“I want a triple shot mocha with skim milk. Tha better not make a mess of it.”
And with that she turned around, and left Allison staring blankly after her. She smelled of smoke and ink and somehow looked so confident despite not knowing what the fuck she was doing. At least, that’s what Allison thought. Once the devil had found a seat, she pulled an enormous tome and a pen out of her coat and seemed to get to work, writing away.
Allison stared for a few seconds too long, enough for the devil to glance up at her with disdain. Allison shivered and decided to do her job. She prepared the mocha with the ridiculous amount of coffee in it and quickly brought it around.
“Here you go,” she said. She was going to remain professional. There was something about this devil that told Allison she was trying to mess with her. So she was going to remain professional.
The devil looked up at her, closing her book as she did so.
“Did tha make it correctly?”
Allison couldn’t help but glare. She was probably not going to be able to remain professional.
“Yes,” she said, far terser than she intended. She did her best to stop gritting her teeth as the devil’s lips split into a grin. She took a sip of her coffee and nodded.
“Maybe tha ain’t a miserly simperton after all. And fiery too. I like that.”
Allison paused. Took a deep breath. Turned around and walked back to the counter. She could feel the devil’s eyes on her as she went but she did not look back. Tried not to. She did not glance over her shoulder and see the devil giving her a look that once again sent shivers down her spine. She didn’t, she swears.
Reaching the counter, Allison retreated out the back and pressed her head against the wall. She wanted to go back to being bored.
The devil didn’t bother her again until closing time. Without being asked, right on close, she stood up and left the shop. With the ringing of the bell, Allison’s small personal hell was over.
--
Allison had almost forgotten about it. Ignoring the fact that she had never seen a devil far beyond the gate, a fairly rambunctious blue devil ordering a coffee wasn’t that strange. So it had slipped her mind until the following Friday afternoon. There were a few customers in line, and Allison was slowly making her way through their orders. Other than this, however, most of the day had yet again been quiet.
Quiet, that is, until the door slammed open. In the opening stood the same blue devil as the week before, this time not wearing an enormous red coat and instead wearing a set of green overalls over what seemed more cloud than shirt. She made it to the end of the line – which, Allison noted with a little bit of amusement, only had two other people in it – and stared impatiently at the person in front of her.
Allison found herself speeding through the other customers, ignoring the fact that she thought her day might have just gotten a little bit more interesting. Instead she focused in on the death stares this devil was giving the other customers, and Allison found herself worrying that the blue imp was going to start getting violent.
Eventually the line was gone and Allison gave a customer service smile to the devil.
“What made tha choose such a yawnsome trade Allison? I must know,” she said. Allison blinked.
“What?”
“Pah, forget it. Allison,” she said as she pointed a finger at the barista’s name badge. “I want one of thy iced cappuccinos. With the ice cubes separated.”
Allison blinked a few more times before tapping ‘iced cappuccino’ into the till.
“Do you have any human money this time, um, Ms…?”
“Cio Cioelle Estrella Von Maximus the Third.”
“Oh, um—”
“Call me Cio. I’m a fanfiction writer.”
Allison wished she had gotten a job that wasn’t customer facing. Cio seemed pleased with herself, in a dismissive sort of way that Allison worried would soon become familiar. Why was a devil here? Just to get coffee and write?
Write in a book at that, rather than use a laptop. Did devils have laptops? Allison shook her head slightly to clear her mind. Cio was still looking at her expectantly. She held out her hand and dropped more hellish currency onto the counter. Allison sighed.
“Take a seat and I’ll bring it right out Cio.”
Eventually all other customers – some of which seemed to have been driven out explicitly by Cio’s arrival – had left and Allison was bringing the iceless iced cappuccino and a small cup of ice cubes over to the devil’s table.
“Tha works here by choice?” Cio said as Allison placed the cups onto the table. She tried to sneak a peek at Cio’s book as she did so, but the devil was already quickly closing it. Allison shrugged.
“Does anyone work by choice? It’s just something I’m good at.”
Cio made a tutting noise and shook her head.
“Well I think tha would make a mighty heroine, if tha cares.”
Allison blushed and turned away. What the fuck was going on with her? She didn’t even know this devil. She had learned her name minutes ago. When she made it back to the counter and glanced back at Cio she saw her pouting, scribbling wildly into her enormous book.
She was admittedly very cute.
Allison couldn’t stop her eyes from widening. Nope, she was not going there. It was one thing to have fleeting thoughts about how attractive or unattractive a customer was. But Cio wasn’t even human. And Allison was pretty sure she wasn’t attracted to women!
She was pulled out of her thoughts by a horrible crunch. The store was still empty besides its last devilish patron, and Cio was plucking ice out of her cup with her claws before hurriedly tossing them into her mouth. She was taking her time grabbing the ice, but each time one entered her mouth it would disappear after being demolished by the sharpest teeth Allison had ever seen in her life.
Cio saw her looking and grinned wildly. She pushed her glasses up further, pulled another piece of ice from the cup, and munched away at it.
Allison sighed. She didn’t understand why she was walking over to Cio, but she was.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What are you doing?”
“Are thy eyes and ears fiddly? I’m eating the ice tha graciously provided me.”
Cio took another piece of ice, but Allison held up her hand to stop her.
“Why? And why are you eating it like that?”
“It soothes my throat. And putting thum in my mouth all normally only results in this.”
With that, Cio stuck her tongue out – which was far longer than any tongue Allison had ever seen – and dropped the piece of ice onto it. Almost immediately it began to melt, though Cio quickly closed her mouth to avoid spilling any water onto the table.
Small miracles.
“Weird. You’re weird,” Allison said, though she couldn’t stop a little laugh from escaping as she did so. There was something wrong with her.
“I promise tha, my behaviour’s not as strangely to tha as thy is to me.”
“Right,” Allison said, not really understanding. She turned away and started to make her way back to the counter.
“Nay, hold on,” Cio said. Something deep inside Allison stirred, and she turned back to look at the devil.
“Can I ask tha some questions? As research for my writing.”
Allison, against her better judgement, found herself nodding and taking a seat across from Cio. With pen in hand Cio looked down at her book and then back up at Allison.
“So, tha works in a coffee shop. Is tha educated?”
“I’ve been to college if that’s what you mean. Business major. Are all your questions going to be this condescending?”
Cio groaned.
“And romance? Thy college years full of passionate sex and torrid heartbreak?”
It was at that moment that Allison remembered that Cio wasn’t just a writer. She claimed to be a fanfiction writer. Her line of questioning wasn’t just weird – it was worrying. She really didn’t want to be giving anyone, let alone a devil, unneeded information about herself. That was dangerous right? Was it like making a deal?
She didn’t know.
“What writing are you doing that requires this kind of research? About me, even?”
Cio let out another groan. She looked down at her book for a moment before fixing her glasses.
“I’m studying tha world and tha culture. This place ain’t as foulsome as the rest of thy native lands. And thy braver than other serving girls.”
Allison looked down at the table.
“I’m not that brave.”
Cio shrugged.
“That’s tha opinion. Not mine. Now, tha answering or not?”
Allison thought about it for a moment. She was going to throw caution to the wind for this devil, wasn’t she? Worst case scenario she gave a cute girl some personal information and, what, Cio wrote it down in her ancient tome? Allison nodded.
“There hasn’t been a whole lot of romance in my life, no. No boyfriends. Besides Zaid, I guess.”
Cio’s eyes narrowed behind her glasses.
“Zaid? Boyfriend?”
It was Allison’s turn to shrug.
“Ex-boyfriend.”
Cio chewed on her pen a little before writing something down. She eventually looked up at Allison, a serious look etched across her face.
“Pah! Boys aren’t worth the time or coin. Tha is better off.”
“Why are you asking me about romance? Do devils not date?”
Cio looked down again.
“Aye, we do,” she said before looking up again. “Thy humans less than blackened hearts are far more interesting though.”
Allison didn’t push it. Cio pondered something for a moment before her demeanour changed back to her seemingly normal self – that is to say, faux-bored and self-obsessed.
“Back to questioning, us!”
It wasn’t until Cio had left and Allison was locking up that Allison realised how much fun she had had. Fun wasn’t something she usually associated with her workplace. It felt weird.
Not to mention that there must have been something wrong with her if she enjoyed spending time with Cio that much. Right?
--
Allison saw Cio several times over the next few weeks, but work got in the way so much that they rarely had time to talk. She could see Cio writing in the corner, but customers never stopped, so besides a few moments of chit chat they didn’t actually get to talk. It was surprising how much it disappointed Allison.
Then Cio stopped showing up. It was not until almost a month had passed since their initial question and answer session that Allison saw Cio again. It was another slow, Friday afternoon, and after serving a few young kids some donuts and watching them scuttle their way back out into the world, she was alone again.
She should have known it wouldn’t be for long.
At least this time Cio didn’t kick open the door. If it weren’t for the bell and the slight breeze that drifted in from outside, Allison would have been too caught up in her own thoughts to notice. She looked up to see Cio pick a seat along the wall of the café, far from windows, and collapse in on herself.
Allison could not stop her feet from taking her from behind the counter and in the devil’s direction. It was almost ridiculous, how intriguing Cio was to her. Allison had let the memory of her favourite – she shivered at the thought – customer fade over the last week, but now that she was here and seemingly upset Allison couldn’t stop herself from making contact.
She couldn’t even shrug it off as customer service.
Allison cleared her throat as she approached Cio’s table. Cio looked up at her with a fairly neutral, if clearly not happy, look on her face.
“Can I get you anything Cio?”
Cio gave her an odd look before shaking her head.
“Need us order for me to sit here?” she asked.
Allison was taken aback and found herself slipping back into her customer service façade.
“No, I guess not. Sorry for bothering you,” she said, once again finding herself turning away from Cio. And once again, she was stopped.
“Pah, arsehole,” Cio muttered under her breath. “Wait, Allison, I would like something. Tha should surprise me, if tha would.”
Allison nodded and hurried away. As she went, Cio seemed to relax a little, settling down and staring at her glasses which she held in her hand.
It wasn’t until she made it back to the counter that she felt a tiny, tiny amount of fear grip her heart. Allison was very good at making coffee, but she mostly just listened to her customers. She wasn’t very good at surprising people. Of course, Allison could just make any number of perfectly serviceable drinks, but she wanted to impress Cio.
She was going to ignore the implications of that thought.
Allison spent a few minutes whipping up an iced caramel cappuccino with lots of sugar, whipped cream and sprinkles. It was a lot, and Allison did her best to shrug off any worries that Cio might hate it. Sugar cheered her up when she was sad, and she hoped it was the same for devils. Or at least for Cio. She was soon returning to Cio’s table with a half-hearted smile.
“Here. It’s very sweet but it’s also on me so don’t hate it too much.”
Cio rolled her eyes, though Allison could see she was stifling a laugh. Her toothy grin was doing lots to frighten and excite Allison, another thought that Allison quickly ignored.
“Is everything alright?” Allison asked. Cio made a noise caught between a groan and a growl.
“Is it not better if tha leaves us alone? Can tha not read the room?” she said. Allison sighed.
“I’m trying to be friendly, Cio. You’re the one who usually comes in here and harasses me. I’m not the bitch in this situation.”
Cio glared at her, biting back some sort of remark as she did so. Allison was under two distinct impressions – Cio always had a comeback, and Cio was extremely good at holding her tongue. She wondered briefly what necessitated such a huge personality to go unexpressed.
She also wondered what made Cio stop herself from blowing up at her.
“Well, I am not thy friend Allison. Tha does not want that.”
“Who are you to say what I want?” Allison said, before she could stop herself. Cio glowered, but didn’t speak again, so Allison took that as a win.
“You disappeared for a while there Cio. Not writing anymore?”
Cio looked at her before putting her glasses back on and nodding at the seat opposite her. Allison took it. Cio then proceeded to pull a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and Allison had to rush to stop her.
“Oh. I forgot tha world has such odd rules,” she said in response. Allison snorted.
“If my world is strange to you I can’t imagine how strange yours would be to me.”
Cio thought about this for a moment.
“Does tha know where I’m from?”
Allison shook her head.
“Throne. That’s where I was, while tha was missing me. I returned to Throne for a little while. Blasted place,” Cio said.
“Missing you? I don’t think so,” Allison said. She thought for a moment. “You went home then? Giving up on your research project?”
That fact made her a little sad. Although, Cio was here, in her shop. So if she had given up, something had brought her back. Cio seemed distant for a moment before she answered.
“It was not by choice. Someone wanted me back, but I can’t live like that anymore. So I came back.”
“You were kidnapped?” Allison asked, shocked. Cio laughed.
“Tha knows little of us demons. Lucky tha lives on this world then, far from the gate.”
She shrugged.
“I went to an old foe to get some things. She’s a stoneyarse, but through her I got my books. And got caught.”
Allison opened her mouth to ask something, she wasn’t really sure what yet, but Cio shook her head.
“Lissen, I’d rather not talk about it.”
Allison nodded and deflated a little in her seat. She wanted to know what was going on, hoped that she might be able to do something, but it was ultimately futile. Cio was literally from another world. Still, that was not reason to let the conversation completely stop. She wasn’t lying when she said she wanted to be Cio’s friend.
Cio seemed to think the same thing as her sombre facial expression twisted into a devilish smirk.
“So, tha was missing me?”
Allison scowled.
“Yes Cio, my life is boring enough that you are interesting.”
“I can tell. Tha appears dull and overworked whenever I’m watching tha.”
Allison laughed.
“Is that what you do when you come in here? Watch me?”
“Not just tha, of course. I’m ‘people watching’,” Cio said, sticking her nose up at the insinuation. Allison glanced around the empty store.
“If you say so. You’re not giving up on your project then? I’ll be seeing you more often?”
Cio looked thoughtful for a moment before looking down at the closed book in front of her. She was smiling.
“Aye, I think so.”