Tweetie

9

Hazel hadn't seen Archie for hours since the phone call. Not that it was completely out of the ordinary, but usually she would at least know where he was. This time, he just wasn't there. The typical habit of going home after they had parted through the day and seeing him in her living room either working or drinking coffee and silently greeting each other never happened. Maybe he turned up later, but by that point, she had collapsed and napped on and off for the rest of the night, so much so that she was in too much of a daze to trust that what she was seeing was either dream or reality.

She still hadn't seen him by the morning when she left, but she at least pushed a note through his apartment door.

'Archibald, if you're dead, call me.'

So far, it seemed he was still alive.

"Hi, Robin!"

She was stuck in her thought riddled head, walking into the cafe alone and with a distant gaze when Stewart called out to her. He Immediately notified her with just a name that there were customers present.

"Hi, Stewart!" she returned, replicating his greeting in the same cheery tone he had used.

Despite knowing there were customers, she still felt the need to glance around just to double-check. And unsurprisingly, she found them within seconds, looking to the first table she expected to find people at. Blonde hair, purple hair, and a baseball cap. Those boys were back.

The cafe was a little more soothing than it was the previous days. It was raining, which meant there was an atmosphere that surrounded everything caused by the simple change of pattering white noise against the many windows. The sky was dark, making the lights seem a little brighter and everything felt warm compared to the chill of the world outside.

"Looks like it's going to be another quiet day," Stewart said, glancing towards a window as he seemed to let a frown form, his smile from only seconds earlier faded and instead he sighed before he continued. "It's usually quiet when the weather's bad. Do you have something you can do? I doubt there will be much action here today."

She nodded, knowing that he knew that she had too much to do. Too much for one girl. Hopefully, Archie was able to do more from home... Or wherever he was.

"Always busy," he said with a tongue that faded far from the enthusiasm he had only moments ago. He shifted so fast it was like a car changing gear in a race.

He moved drearily, his hands slowly wiping the rim of a white mug already clean. But he didn't stop, he just kept his hands busy and his mind far from him in thought. He breathed softly, but every so often, he would let a deep sigh escape his filled lungs. His eyes fell from the mug to his hands, getting easily distracted and the bags beneath his dull green eyes were heavy, made more prominent by the warm glow of lights above them.

Hazel approached, deciding to speak as she pulled her apron over her head and tied it around her waist with a bow.

"Are you alright, Stewart?"

"Hm?" he turned, barely catching her words. But as he thought back to what he thought he heard, he caught on. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just got some things going on, a little stressed, that's all."

"Well, let me know if there's anything I can do."

"Or me," Joel chimed in from across the counter, catching them both by surprise as Hazel quickly stepped back, shocked he was so easily able to sneak up on her again.

She was used to standing in dark rooms, using nothing but the sounds around her to determine if there was anybody present. If she was lucky, there wasn't. But, it made her hearing just a little sharper and to be able to get past that even in a bright room, felt unnatural.