𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕟

“ i know it’s strange, but it’s always worked for me. “ maya offers a gentle shrug of her shoulders, she has never known anyone the way she has with joey – their entire lives and she has always appreciated them. “ it really works, being nice to someone after they have been mean to you. it really shocks them. and your moral compass i shall be. “

joey made a mental note to try and be nicer to people while taking off their apron and slinging over a hook on the wall. “well, we shall see what happens.” joey smirked. “now, what should we do? my shift is over and as much as i love coffee, i’m getting sick of the smell. to be honest, i probably smell like coffee.” 

“ it’s okay.“ is what maya mouths back, the redhead gives a smile as she turns to her best friend. an offers a small shrug of her shoulders. “ i just treat people the way i wish to be treated, it’s kind of always worked for me.“

Joey had known Maya their entire lives, and she still managed to take them by surprise. “What a concept.” They meant it genuinely, but it still came across as sarcastic. “I’ve never thought about it that way, but then again, people usually aren’t nice to me, so I feel like I shouldn’t be nice to them. Thank god I have you to be my moral compass.” 

Billie had tugged her earbud from her ear just as Joey moved to address the other customers in line. One customer stood between Billie and the cash register.  As the state of the espresso machine became public knowledge the customer in front of her let out an entirely unnecessary exasperated sigh and stepped out of line, heading towards the exit. “Okay then,” she muttered to herself before stepping forward. “Can I have a large black coffee? Nothing fancy. And it seems like you might need this,” Billie added a crisp $5 bill to the tip jar with an apologetic smile. She couldn’t make customers suck less, but she could tip twice the cost of her coffee. 

The current customer’s reaction didn’t surprise Joey one bit, but the girl afterwards caught her off guard. They weren’t used to people being so generous. “Oh, uh, thanks. One large coffee coming right up.” Joey made their way over to the pot of fresh coffee and poured it into a large cup. “Any cream or sugar?” They questioned over their shoulder.

Benji needed caffeine. Actually he lived off caffeine. He had some time in his 12 hour shift to get some. So he watched, anxiously as the barista hit the machine. “No..” he groaned, hopefully this person had some magic touch that would deliver him his double espresso latte. Nope, they made his day-ruining announcement to the rest of the customers. He wouldn’t normally be rude, but c’mon, he could barely keep his bloodshot eyes open and he still had 6 more hours to go treating patients. Walking timidly up to the counter, he tried to put his most polite smile on despite his brewing anxiety. “Are you sure nothing can be done about the machine” -he sighed “I mean, you hardly even tried to fix it”

It wasn’t even thirty seconds before some “Karen” walked up to the front and made a statement. Do you work here? Do you know how these machines work? These questions immediately flashed in the front of their brain, but instead Joey took a breath and spoke as calmly as possible. “I’m sorry sir, but I have been working here for a long time, and this isn’t the first time the espresso machine has broken. I personally don’t know how to fix it, but I’ve already called someone and they’re coming in as soon as they can to fix it.” Although Joey meant for the words to be nicer, they were still laced with sarcasm and pure annoyance. 

maya shoots joey a smile, glad she’d been there when people clearly where displeased about the expresso machine. “ there’s another coffee shop not far from here, has expresso too.“  the redhead suggests to those unhappy faces she sees. just trying to make things better, as she always did.

Leave it to Maya to know how to properly interact with people. Joey had too much sarcasm in their veins to do the same. Faking a smile to those who walked out of the shop, Joey mouthed a very dry “Sorry” before turning back towards their best friend. “How do you do it? How are you so nice to everyone?” 

it was at the sound of hey, did the redhead spin around, and try to see who was talking to her. it wasn’t often she was approached and didn’t hear her name called. “ hi, i wondered if i’d see you again. never did get your name.“  it’s with that of a bright smile. “ so hello again. “

She was happy to see him, or at least that’s what her smile seemed to say. Seeing her smile made Seth smile, which he couldn’t stop now that he was supposed to respond. “Seth.” He chuckled. “My name is Seth. It’s nice to actually meet you.” 

Marcus was a bit surprised, but pleasantly so, to find Athena by his side. He felt that he was handling things quite nicely by himself, but the ticket booth boy’s face said otherwise. Marcus gazed up at the marquee listing the various films and their showtimes. The names were meaningless to him. Perhaps he should have done some research prior to stepping out for the day. “I do not know.” He turned his full attention to Athena, wondering if it was known to the powers that be (meaning Aro) that she was out and about. “Will you be joining me for the picture? If so, you should pick.”

There was something about the way he was carrying himself now that Athena was here, that let her know her being there was a pleasant experience. She wouldn’t say happy, but then again, she could never really tell if Marcus was ever happy. He just seemed content, always content. “Well, I was coming here to see the photograph, but there is a delightful little movie about talking creatures that I wouldn’t mind seeing once again.” Her words hummed, a singsongy quality to them. “Of course, we could also see something on the horror route if that’s what you prefer. I’ve heard good things about Fantasy Island.” 

this wasn’t something that esme particularly fancied, but it was so nice seeing her son so happy and energetic through all the darkness around their town. she cheered emmett on as he jumped up, a bright smile growing on her features with every line of the song. the happiness and charm that radiated from emmett was infectious, and she loved seeing him mess around. watching him come back, esme clapped and grinned. “ignore them darling, that was wonderful! truly, you could rival johnny cash.” she laughed. 

His mother always knew what to say. She was a breath of fresh air in any room, and even though he missed his real mother terribly, Emmett wouldn’t trade his new mother for anything in the world. “Thanks, Ma.” He smiled, pecking her cheek. “But, Johnny Cash was a legend. I would be lucky to have even half his talent.” Emmett could tell that she wasn’t as comfortable as he was in this setting, so he made a small motion with his head towards the door. “You wanna get out of here? Maybe go for a walk?” 

“oh-” it was almost definitely SIDNEY’S fault. they had an awful habit of getting a little too caught up in what they were doing, and that often led to such incidents as THIS ; walking right into an innocent bystander, almost clearing them both out of it. their phone clattered to the ground ( oof ), they would have focused more on grabbing that, had it NOT been for…- the eyes. they blinked up at him, slowly, features unreadable, mouth opening slowly before- “what’s with everybody and red contacts, lately? is there a tiktok trend i’m not in on?” 

The immediate panic that spread throughout his body made him stutter through his words. “Y-yes. C-contacts. That’s e-exactly what they are.” He grounded himself, pushing his feet into the ground in order to give off the idea that he was put together. However, even if he seemed to be standing tall, Liam couldn’t help but furrow his brows and tilt his head to the right in question. “What is tiktok?”