Work Text:
A coffee shop was among the worst places for a werewolf to work. Not for the reasons one would think; Emma could control her hunger and her instincts just fine. The real issue was the way her heightened senses enhanced the world around her. She was constantly surrounded by too many smells, too many lights, too many sounds, too many people, too much movement—too much of everything, really.
Some days were more manageable than others, but today was not one of those days. The fluorescent lights were too bright, the coffee smelled too strong, and there were people everywhere. The line was no less than fifteen customers long, not to mention the many patrons sitting at tables with their drinks and pastries. Everything was so much. If she wasn’t so stubborn, Emma would have quit this job a long time ago. But it would take far too much time for her to find something better, and that was time she simply didn’t have right now.
A man in a brown coat and red scarf was rattling off an order Emma was barely paying attention to. He was speaking so fast that understanding him would be a struggle for her on its own, but the overwhelming sensations around her were not helping.
The door opened at the edge of Emma’s vision, and she felt the slightest bit lighter as she saw Paul stepping in and joining the line He met her eye and gave her one of his signature dorky grins. For the first time since she clocked in, Emma smiled, albeit tiredly.
“Swift,” barked another voice—Zoey, to Emma’s shock. This caught the attention of the rambling man in front of her, who she had forgotten was there. “Over here. I got it.” The customer shuffled over to her, looking annoyed that he had to start over. The other barista gave Emma a look that said ‘You owe me later.’ She acknowledged this with a nod.
Emma continued to work, trying to ignore the pounding in her head. All she wanted to do was curl up in a corner with her eyes shut and her hands over her ears, shut out the world for even a little while. But that wasn’t an option. She had a job to do.
Finally, it was Paul’s turn to approach the counter.
“Hi, Emma. Got an easy one for you.” She got started on his black coffee without needing him to say anything else. He handed her a ten-dollar bill, which she pocketed with a weary smile. Because it didn’t go in the jar, Emma didn't have to share it or sing for it, a loophole Paul had come up with for both of their benefit. He didn’t have to watch a performance, and she didn’t have to put one on.
“Thanks, Paul.”
He examined her face. “Are you okay? Do you need to take a break?”
“I fucking wish. We’re too busy right now, Nora would kill me.” She pressed the heel of hand to her temple, trying to relieve the ache in her head. It didn’t do much.
“Overstimulated?”
Emma nodded as she handed over his coffee. “It’s one of those days.”
“I’m sorry. Hey, I’ll tell you what. When you get home, I’ll make you some tea, and that chicken you like with the mushrooms and the peppers, and then you and me and Richie can play Stardew after dinner.”
“Sounds good to me.” It sounded perfect, actually. The only downside to his offer was how long it would be until her shift ended. So far, the day had been crawling by at a snail’s pace.
Paul took a sip of his drink. “This is a good batch. Not burnt to Hell this time.”
Emma couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s all up to the machine, really. It’s a coin flip whether it comes out burnt or not.”
“I think you’re the only person who can make the coffee this good.”
She snorted. “Please. It’s never good. It can only ever be bad and worse.”
“Well, it’s never ‘worse’ when you make it.” Emma just laughed.
“Jesus Christ,” came Zoey’s voice again. “If you’re going to keep ogling him, just take your fucking break already.” Emma considered snapping back that she was perfectly allowed to ogle at her boyfriend, thank you very much, but she didn’t have nearly enough energy for that.
“Yeah, I think I will,” she responded instead. Fuck Nora, she thought. If I don’t take a break right now, I’ll fucking die. Besides, she had permission to go now. Zoey was her manager, even though she was ten years younger than Emma.
“Wanna go outside?” Paul asked her.
“Yeah.”
Emma stepped out from behind the counter. Paul’s hand slipped into hers almost immediately, and he led her outside to a small table. She sat in one of the chairs, not letting go of his hand as he made no effort to leave her side.
“Your coworker seems like she… knows about you,” remarked Paul. “She looked like she noticed how overwhelmed you were. And she kept looking at you like she knew something was up.”
“Huh. Yeah, I didn’t really think about that. You might be onto somethin’.”
“Do you think that’ll be a problem?” he asked.
She huffed. “I hope not. If she wanted to make it an issue, she would have done it by now. She tends to do that.”
“Maybe you should talk to her about it.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Emma wasn’t sure if she would. She and Zoey weren’t exactly the best of friends. Besides, there was a non-zero chance that Paul could be reading the situation incorrectly, and Emma would be exposing her secret to someone she didn’t want to know about it. “I’ll have to think about it.”
He nodded, then stopped abruptly, as if remembering something.
“Oh!” Paul placed a paper bag on the table, and Emma realised he had brought his lunch along with him. He opened it and removed a plastic bag containing a chicken and cheese sandwich. “You left your lunch at home.”
Emma snapped her fingers “I knew I forgot something today.” Her stomach growled, and she only now processed how hungry she was. “Thanks, Paul.” He handed her the sandwich.
It was a simple gesture, him bringing her the food she’d forgotten, but it meant the world to Emma. Before she had Paul, forgetting her lunch meant she didn’t eat that day.
“You’re welcome.” Paul moved to sit across from her, taking out his own lunch so they could eat together.
They fell into a comfortable silence for a little while. Being outside of Beanie’s was a nice change of pace. The mid-autumn air was neither too warm nor too cold. People came and went, but they didn’t linger, and they didn’t bother the couple either. It was less suffocating out here, more peaceful. Emma couldn’t ask Paul to do this with her every day, but maybe she could take more of her breaks out here, even just by herself.
“I know what it feels like to be overwhelmed by everything around you,” said Paul after a few minutes. “I don’t have your wolf-senses, but, y’know, I get it.”
Emma nodded. A person didn’t have to be a werewolf to be sensitive to their surroundings. “It’s the fucking worst, right? Like, everything is happening all at once, and it’s all turned up to eleven.”
“Right. It’s too loud, there’s too many smells, the lights are too bright, and you can’t make any of it stop.”
“Exactly. God, I wish I could just turn off my senses sometimes.”
“Yeah, me too. I’m sorry. But hey, at least I’m here. And if I’m not, you can call me, and I’ll be right there. My boss doesn’t care. And I don’t care if he does. You’re more important, Emma.”
His expression was soft but serious. He meant that, and Emma believed it. He would drop everything for her the moment she asked. How in Hell did I manage to find someone like this?
“Okay,” she responded finally. “Thank you, Paul. God, I don’t know how I got through the day before you.” Emma laughed lightly. She had done so fine before, but only just. The respite he provided always made her arduous shifts worth it, and that went double this time around.
“You managed,” he said. “You’re really strong for that.” He reached over and brushed a few stray strands of hair away from Emma’s face. “You’re the strongest person I know.”
As hard as she tried to, Emma couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. Somehow, the things Paul said to her seemed meticulously crafted to chip away at the fortified walls she had built around her heart. Over time, he had managed to carve out a passage for himself, one few others knew how to access.
“You must not know many people, then,” she replied. Paul laughed, shaking his head.
“I know plenty of people. You’re still the strongest one.”
Emma rolled her eyes at him. An outsider would think she was annoyed, but she knew Paul understood that it was meant with nothing but fondness.
“Yeah, whatever.”
The couple stayed outside for half an hour, chatting as they ate. Emma had no idea how they had never thought to do this before, to spend their breaks together. They were fine being away from each other, but she had come to realise how important time spent with Paul was to her.
Unfortunately, that time could only last so long. Emma stood, huffing out a sigh.
“I should get back to work. See you tonight, Paul.”
Paul got out of his seat as well. “I’ll see you then.” Before he could leave, Emma caught his hand in her own.
“Hey. I love you. I… I know I don’t say it enough. But I do.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to say it all the time. I feel it. And I love you too.”
She squeezed back. “Go back to work, Paul.”
“I will. ‘Bye, Em.”
“‘Bye, Paul.”
Emma let his hand go and turned toward the door. She heard his footsteps getting farther and farther away.
Only a handful of hours left to go. Ugh.
I got this, she reminded herself as she pushed the door open.
I’m the strongest person I know.