Drops of Dew in Our Glass (Tales of Zestiria fanfiction)

The Day After

"Thanks, Mayvin," he said, looking up at the man.

Mayvin was a tall man, broad and muscled from years of labor. If it wasn't for his stark gray hair, you'd have never guessed that he was even a day over 40. Armed with a ladle and a decently-sized pot, he cut quite the imposing figure. Or at least, he would have. If he hadn't been wearing a hideous mustard-colored apron with the crooked lettering of "#1 World's Best Explorer" (the 's' in 'Best' backwards, to boot) and fuzzy house slippers.

The apron itself was bought from a department store some years ago, whereas the letters on it were sewn by the hand of a 6 year-old Sorey. They'd both thought it to be quite good at the time, but now Sorey couldn't help but wish that Mayvin would just give the poor apron a rest already.

"Anytime, I would say. But I do this every time, Sorey. Maybe we need to start putting more alarm clocks in your room." Mayvin said, ruffling Sorey's bedhead. "Breakfast's waiting, come to the kitchen before it gets cold. We've got a bit to do for the shop today." With that, he left and headed into the hall.

Sorey yawned, body still protesting from the whole incident. Oh well, there was no getting out of it. Today was Sunday, and Mayvin sure wasn't going to waste an extra pair of hands for the antique shop downstairs.

He headed to the bathroom and went through his morning routine.

Shower. Brush teeth. Don't think about that boy you met last night and will probably never see again despite the fact that he stole your hear--

Sorey spit the toothpaste out of his mouth and into the sink. This wasn't the best time to be thinking about that. Heck, he didn't even get his name! He could've been from Marlind, he could've been staying there temporarily for the festival, he could've been anything, Sorey thought as he gargled.

He finished up in the bathroom and headed to the kitchen, yawning as he walked in and took in the smell of fresh bacon. Yum.

Mayvin was at the counter, whistling while his hand flipped a golden pancake onto a plate. "Taken care of your beauty routine, Sorey?" he asked, setting out plates laden with fresh food at the table.

Sorey just laughed. "Sure did, Mayvin." He took a seat at the table, and Mayvin did the same. They dug in, and Sorey slathered his pancakes with syrup, making a noise of satisfaction as the soft buttery goodness practically melted in his mouth.

Mayvin took a gulp of his orange juice, and began to brief Sorey on their agenda for today. "It's a Sunday." he said, "Most people probably went to the festival at Marlind yesterday, so we shouldn't get that many customers. You'll be manning the register as usual, but try to sweep the floors and polish. Make everything look nice. I'll be working through the shop's paperwork in the back. Sound good?"

Sorey nodded. The shop was more or less their main source of income, and he was happy to do anything he could to help out.

Breakfast went on like usual, filled with the scraping of silverware against plates and mundane chatter. Mayvin went to his office at the end of the hall once they were finished eating. Sorey washed the dishes with a hum, focusing his thoughts on the slow day ahead. There definitely wasn't any need to worry about homework. All of the work he had been assigned (because there were teachers that cruel, yep) had been painstakingly worked through on Friday night.

Actually, speaking of school... Sorey swung by his room to swipe his phone off his nightstand before going downstairs. He opened the door that connected to the back of the shop located behind the counter.

A solid tick greeted him, followed by a tock. He looked over to where their good ol' 1977 Ridgeway grandfather clock was ticking away at the time, pendulum swinging back and forth. The hands on the clock informed him that it was only a quarter past ten, over half an hour 'till the shop opened.