Batim oneshots

The Firefighter and the Baker (Tally)

(3rd Person)

Tom was a firefighter in New York. He often got burned in his line of work and had some scars, and was always tired. He didn't really have many friends outside of his work. And he didn't even have many friends there. The man thought that if he never got connected to anyone he would never be sad, because he didn't have anyone to lose. This was because when he was young he had lost both his parents in a house fire. He still hurt from that loss and didn't want to let anyone else in to hurt him. But sometimes those plans change.

One day he decided to go to a small bakery on his break to get something to eat. He walked into the small building. The exterior was white with pastel yellow and pastel pink accents, with the title 'Wally's Bakery' in gold letters on the sign. When he walked in he was instantly met with the smell of fresh baked goods. The interior had light blue walls with different paintings on the walls of baked goods like cupcakes or bread rolls. The booth tables were white, and the seats had pink cushions. In the centre of the room was a circular table with different pamphlets on what they made there, like pricing for specially designed food and even simple little recipes.

There was a counter in the back of the small room with a little window-cabinet with a bunch of cute little cookies, cupcakes, and other things with special designs. Behind the counter was a red and fluffy haired man, with green and blue eyes and freckles sprinkled across his face. He had a white apron on top of a pink shirt, with the title of the bakery across the top of it. He had a pin on it that said 'Wally' and another that gave his pronouns.

Tom walked up to the counter, fiddling with his tie. The red headed man took his attention away from whatever he was doing and turned it to the fireman. "Hiya! Welcome in!" He greeted, giving a little wave as a smile spread across his face. "Is there anything I can getcha?"

"Uh, yeah..." Tom muttered, looking over the menu. He had never been here and didn't know what he wanted. He was quiet for a solid minute.

"I'm guessing you dont know what you want?" The baker said, giggling a bit at the tall man.

"N-no..." Tom stuttered, feeling embarrassed.

"It's no problem! If ya want I could give you my recommendation?" He offered. Tom nodded and the baker immediately walked over to the glass cabinet, grabbing a small tray of chocolate chip cookies. "You dont got any allergies, right? I'm not trying to get sued. If that happens, I'm outta here!"

"No, no. I've got none." Tom replied, chuckling a bit. He spotted the nametag on the worker as he was putting some of the cookies into a small white box. "Your Wally? Are you the owner?"

"Yup!" He answered, closing the box and handing it to Tom. "Opened this place a few months ago, and business is great! Better than I expected honestly. Better than being a janitor like I was before." He gagged a bit at that thought. "What's yer name stranger?"

"Thomas, but you can call me Tom." He said. "I'm a firefighter from the station a few blocks away. I'm just on my break."

"Really?" Wally questioned. Tom nodded and Wally seemed to grin wider. "That's so cool! Probably saved a lot of people, eh?"

"Yeah, but at the same time..." Tom groaned, scratching the back of his neck. "It can be a lot. I mean I get burnt a lot, sometimes can't save people so that's 'great' for my mental health, and people yell at me if I can't save their loved ones. Really draining."

Wally looked over to the fireman with a sympathetic look. He walked over with the box and set it on the counter, taking a pen and writing on the box. "Well, I may not know what it's like, but I always try to see the bright side of things. So think about it like this." He said as he pushed the box to the taller. "The scars are proof of your bravery and selflessness, the people you do manage to save now get to live because you saved them, and some families are only whole because of your sacrifice."