"No way! Fundy, are you joking?"
"No, Wilbur. I'm not." The brown haired boy, Floris, or as everyone called him at the cafe - Fundy giggled softly seeing his Wing look so surprised and excited. "We say Raccoon in Dutch as Wasbeer which if you translate it literally into English means laundry bear."
"It means laundry bear?" Wilbur's voice went really high as he gasped and cooed over the new fact that he just learned.
"Yeah. Do you like it?" Fundy was really amused. He did not expect such a reaction from his Wing, but it was pretty cute.
"Of course. Awwwww... It is so adorable." Wilbur liked it a lot and now he wanted to share this amazing fact with everyone! He immediately turned his head to the boys that stood behind his counter. "Bad!"
"Huh?" Green eyes that were hidden behind glasses immediately shot up, diverting attention from the book that Bad was reading towards Wilbur.
"Yes, what is it?" Bad asked softly, putting his book down on the counter and watching as Wilbur walked over and Fundy followed, chuckling quietly. Just a normal day at the cafe... Officially it was called Sky's Blues but everyone who worked here and a few regular customers, with one exception, called it The Muffin Place.
"Bad, do you know what Raccoon is in Dutch?" Wilbur said practically shivering with excitement.
"Uh... No?" Bad sounded confused. He did not understand why Wilbur was suddenly asking this. Bad glanced at the furry Gifted and raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't Fundy speak Dutch?"
"Yeah! That is why he just told me that in Dutch they call it Wasbeer which if you translate it to English literally means laundry bear! Isn't that the coolest and most adorable name ever?!" He started jumping in excitement and then suddenly stopped pressing his fingers to his head in concentration. "I must remember this!"
"Awww.. That's so cutee." Bad eyes sparkled, and he laughed joining in Wilbur's excited jumping.
Fundy giggled softly seeing now both of his friends, or if you think about his Wing and his Boss, could not hold back their excitement over a simple fact that he told Wilbur. These two are really wholesome in their own little ways and Fundy was happy he was able to brighten their day. He smiled softly again and then looked around, searching for his other co-worker.
"Huh? Where is Eret?" Fundy was confused because he could not find his co-worker anywhere. He kept looking around until something interesting that was not there before caught his eye.
Fundy walked up to the table, examining the neatly arranged cup tower.
"Is this Eret's doing?" Fundy looked curiously at the cup tower. His instincts were screaming at him to just knock it off the table, but he would get fired for breaking so many cups... or not. Bad is too nice. Either way Fundy could not help but want to tease Eret a bit, so he slowly looked around for any sign of its creator and... took apart the cup tower that Eret so carefully made but little did he know...
"Fundy, where did my tower go?" Said the deep voiced boy that was standing right behind Fundy.
"A-ahh?" Fundy immediately jumped and turned around to face the tower's creator, also desperately trying to hide remains of the cup tower... or rather just cups standing in a square.
Eret smirked, he clearly saw what exactly Fundy was hiding behind his back.... But a little teasing never hurt anyone. Especially with how the furry Gifted reacted to his low husky voice. "Where did my tower go, Fundy?"
"U-uh.. It is here?" Fundy shakingly pointed at the remains of the tower on the table with his left hand, fiddling with the cup that was on the top with his right.
"But when I left it a few moments ago, it was significantly taller than this. Where do you put the rest of it, Fundy?" Eret purred, leaning closer to his friend's face.
"Hey, hey! Don't bully my furry son!"
"I AM NOT A FURRY!"
"Shhh, Fundy, good furry! It is okay! I will protect you!"
"Don't scream in my cafe, you muffinheads!"
Suddenly someone opened the door and the bell above it rang as the customer came in.
"Oh! Welcome to the ca- George!!" Bad gasped in delight, immediately perking up happily when he saw his friend right in front of him. In a second he had launched himself at George and was giving him a big hug.
"Hiii, Bad!" George laughed, hugging back.
"You finally came to visit us! Bad literally wouldn't shut up and worry about you since you didn't show up at all last week." Wilbur laughed softly but George knew that he was also happy to see him.
"Yeah, George! Are you forgetting about all of us!" Bad hummed jokingly and affectionately nudged George before letting go with a small pout.
"Wow.. George is so mean." Eret said, smirking teasingly. Teasing his friends is his favourite hobby! After making cup towers, of course. Eret sighed and sadly started to put the cups back on the shelves. "Furry, please help."
"I AM NOT A FURRY!" Fundy screeched as he started to help. "One day. I will bite you. That will teach you."
"You are even speaking like Bad now!" Wilbur laughed leaning on the counter, his words making the fox Gifted gasp in pretence of horror.
"Oh my god. You guys are so silly." George laughed softly. He really loved them. They made the atmosphere in the cafe so homely and comfortable. "Oh course, I wouldn't forget you guys. Never."
George smiled softly and all of them knew that it was true. George used to work in this cafe, so they were practically family. And family never forget or leave each other.
"I'm sorry, it's just a lot of stuff happening in the office." George said, followed Bad to the counter.
"It's okay." Eret said, placing the final cup on the shelf. "And the tower was no more.... for today."
"Totally get it. Me and Wilbur also sometimes find it hard to balance the time between a part-time job here and work as Gifted-Wing partners." Fundy smiled at George, his tail wagging a little. He had put his apron back and was ready to get back to work!
Fundy worked as cashier while Eret and Wilbur worked as the waiters, and Wilbur occasionally sang. Bad was the owner of the cafe, the barista and the cook. Although he was training Eret to make drinks too. Either way, every morning before the cafe opened he got up early, not like he had a proper sleep schedule anyway, and prepared all the desserts and pastries like cake, muffins and cupcakes to be sold.
"Both of you do a great job, don't worry much." George said, sitting down at his usual spot. He always sat by the counter and watched as Bad made drinks, and they could still chat even when Bad was making drinks for other customers.
"That is great to he- oh!" Wilbur immediately snapped his attention towards the door when the bells hung above the door rang and a new guest entered the cafe. "Welcome to The Muffin Place!... I mean the Sky's Blues."
"So..." George switched his attention from watching new customers coming in, to Bad. "How was your week?" Bad said, passing Fundy to stand behind the counter and starting to prepare the ingredients for George's drink. "The usual?"
"Yeah. Thank you. Also I want to buy your homemade cookies too. We already ran out of them because Dream's not so baby little brother keeps stealing them when we don't keep eyes on him... Although I might have given them some." George sighed heavily, allowing himself a small fond smile. No matter wherever he goes, he can not stop thinking about the little troublemaker Wing that gives him such a horrible headache. George took a deep breath and decided to put all the Zak thoughts far far away. He can deal with him later. Now he wants to enjoy his relaxation time! "Also last week was great. It was absolutely amazing!"
"Oh yeah? What happened?" Bad smiled softly while making George hazelnut hot chocolate. It was his favourite; almond milk, and a small bag of very expensive cocoa powder and of course whipped cream on top! All made in the velvetizer. Bad cleaned it himself because Fundy almost broke it once... That thing was expensive! It is his baby! He would not let anything happen to it!
Bad always loves to listen to George's stories about his work life. Gifted and Wings were so interesting! Theoretically he knew all about Gifted and Wings since it was an important subject that everyone must study in school... Plus he might have taken an extra class on it. Bad loves to read in general and Gifted and Wing history is one of his favorite books to read. Especially all the beautiful legends about Guardian Angels that his friend had proven to be true! But still all of what he had learned was just theory. He never experienced it on his own, the feeling of having a partner to help and protect other people. And it might be too dangerous for him to try it... So hearing it from the leader of the Gifted and Wing Organization was an amazing experience.
"There are two new Guardian Angel bonds! Not only one! But two after just six months! I can't believe we have the 19th and the 20th Guardian Angel in the same week!" George seemed really excited about it. "I am so happy! Even though it really made me busy last week.... There are so many things I need to take care of. All the paperwork. All the appointments. All the meetings just for those contracts." George groaned remembering how much time he needed to spend taking care of all of the paperwork. How many appointments and meetings he needed to attend with Dream. Both of them might be just a little bit traumatized...
"Ahhh... So that's why you could not visit last week." Bad nodded, getting another quiet groan from George. "At least now you can have your break time here!"
Bad giggled softly, taking some cookies from a jar and putting them on the plate and sliding it towards George. "And here is your drink and cookies."
"Yeah I'm really glad that I decided to come by. Even though I can't stop worrying about Dream." George mumbled and opened his phone, checking if there are any calls or messages from Dream. He can't help but worry about his lover. "In all honesty, he kind of made me leave the office..."
"You're worrying too much, George. He will be fine. Just trust him." Bad said while standing in front of George with a cup of coffee for himself. He gave George a warm smile to calm him down. "You deserve to take a break and rest, at least once in a while, George. You did a great job already. All of us are really proud of you. You bring justice for all Wings. You have greatly decreased the number of death cases for humans and made life better for Wings! You are the leader of our Organization! You protect all of us. Everyone. Humans, Wing or Gifted. For you everyone is equal, and we are really grateful for that. Take care of yourself, you muffinhead okay?"
"Thank you... But... I just... I don't think that... what I have done is enough since..." George smiled sadly, staring at the cup of hot chocolate in front of him. He remembered the conversation he had with Zak. It still would not leave his mind. He sighed deeply, taking the cookies from the plate and dipping it into his hot chocolate.
"Since...? Is there anything wrong?" Bad looked at George worriedly.
"Nothing, just forget about it. It wasn't really important." George shook his head softly and ate the cookies, deciding it was time to change the subject. "Yummm! Your cookies always taste so good, Bad! This is amazing!"
Bad raised one of his eyebrows, but he decided to let it slide first. He needs time so Bad will give him just that. Bad did not want to force George into telling him if he is not ready.
"Thank you. If you want more just ask, okay? I will bring you some more." Bad started to make drinks for his other customers, completing the orders that Eret and Wilbur took.
"Okay. I will." George nodded softly, still lost in thought. He did not even notice Bad adding more marshmallows into his hot chocolate.
There was comfortable silence between them. Bad focused on drawing muffins on the espresso since it was the iconic thing of his cafe and customers really loved it. On the other side of the counter, George could not stop thinking about Zak. He could not believe Zak hid the fact that all of his Gifted Partners used their natural power to attack him. No matter what the reason is, they fucking hurt someone who he counted as family! George could not let him get hurt again!... but on the other hand, what could he possibly do?
"So... What is it?" Bad said, taking a sip of his coffee after finishing the drinks for his customers and giving them to WIlbur. Thankfully his own drink did not have time to get cold!
"Huh?" George got snapped back to reality from his daydream... or rather day nightmare. Daymare? "Uh... What?"
"Is there anything you want to talk about? Since you only do that when there is something really bothering you." Bad giggled softly, pointing at George's cookie that became wishy-washy inside his hot chocolate because he left it to soak in the drink for too long.
"Aaaaahhhh! Nooooo! The cookieess!!"
"You're such a muffinhead." Bad kept giggling and proceeded to give George a small teaspoon.
"Thank you, Bad." George took the spoon, hurrying to save the vanilla treat from the hot chocolate ocean.
"So...?" Bad trying to hint that it was time to have that conversation.
"Hmn??" George finished fishing the cookies out of his drink and went back to dipping new ones into it.... Without repeating the same mistake.
"Come on, Georgie. Stop changing the subject. I know there is something that is really bothering you. I might not be able to help, but I am here to listen... and to give advice if you want it." Bad sent George a warm smile, hoping it would convert his support and care.
"Fine.." George sighed in despair, dropping his head on the table. "It's... Dream's brother..."
"Uh-huh? What is up with him?" Bad said, taking one of his chocolate gluten-free muffins and starting to eat it. Bad already knew quite a bit about Dream's infamous little brother. George whined about his behaviour a lot... so Bad knew how much of a trouble maker the boy was... Complete opposite of him. Bad preferred to hide in the shadows so no one noticed him.
"He changed his Gifted again today." George groaned looking up at Bad.
"Again?" Bad's eyes widened in shock. "Didn't he just switch like... last month?"
"Yep. Exactly. He just changed last month and today he lost his... 13th Gifted."
"Thirteenth?!" Bad accidentally raised his voice too much and because of that he got stared at by his own customers. Very judgmentally if he must add! He coughed softly, trying to hide his embarrassment. "O-okay but why so many? How is that even possible? Do you know the reason for it?"
"I know one of the reasons.. He wants to be a free wing."
"Oh..." Bad stayed silent for a second. Something strange lingered in his eyes, but he decided to continue talking. "Why don't you let him be free then?"
"I can't, Bad. That's not how the rules work." George smiled sadly. "Two years... It's been two years since me and Dream has tried to... or well, started changing people's perception of Wings. Changed the rules. Gave Wings the same status as Gifted and Humans. No more caging them or treating them like..." George's eyes turned melancholic as he remembered the first time he met Zak and Dream. Both of them look so fragile, so lost and empty... so broken. "Slaves..."
There was silence between both of them. Bad still remembered how horribly Wings were treated just mere two years ago. He was lucky he was not born as a Wing. Because he could not imagine being taken away from his family as soon as he was born only to be placed in a shelter. He could not imagine being caged and trained for more than 18 years, only to serve some higher hierarchy beings. There was another way for Wings to survive back then... they had to hide their identity their entire life. Not a pretty life. An unfair and cruel life. But that is how it worked back then.
"I-I... I get it." Bad hummed softly while sipping his coffee again. "Have you ever tried to explain it to Dream's brother?"
"Of course, I have! But he doesn't want to hear me out. He used to be such a sweet boy... but now all he does is cause trouble. I also just found out today that instead of working with his Gifted partner he trolls them. Makes them pissed off so they quit on him. I know he really loves to cause discord and chaos whenever he goes but I never thought he would do that to his partners too... to all his partners." George shook his head in disapproval, even though Zak could not see him. "Anyway, that is one of the reasons why all of his Gifted partners don't want to work with him... and the other reason..."
"What is it?"
"He provokes his Gifted partners to use their natural power on him." George looked like he was about to cry but before Bad could hug him he just dropped his head on the table making the older wince at the noise. "They hurt him, Bad. They fucking hurt Dream's brother. They hurt my... my- I- It's my fault. I should have noticed this sooner."
Bad decided to let that bad language slip. Just this time. He could understand why George was so mad. Even though the Gifted would never admit it out loud, he really cared for Dream's brother. Probably because the little troublemaker has lived with him and Dream for almost two years now... that is when he did not have a partner. Bad could see the tears that George was trying to hold back glisten in the corners of his eyes, so he started gently petting his hair.
"It's not your fault, George... You already do your absolute best." George closed his eyes, he always felt so safe with Bad. Even though they are only a year apart in age but it always felt like Bad was much more mature than him. "Can't you take them to court and let them be punished? Didn't you make a rule so that Wings and Gifted can't hurt each other? Dream's brother won't get any punishments since trolling does not count as violence... right?"
"I can't... I don't have any proof. No evidence at all! Nothing! He keeps his wounds on his body only to threaten his Gifted but after that he immediately gets rid of them, just... heals the wounds with his ability. That is why me and Dream never knew about it. Until he showed it to me today. I-I know it was his choice but still I can't stop thinking that... I was also one of the factors that caused him to get hurt... If I just let him become a free Wing he would stop provoking people into hurting him. He would not get hurt anymore."
But of course both of them know that George cannot do that. He is the leader of the Gifted and Wing organization. If he makes a special exception for Dream's brother it would mean he would be abusing his power. George already worked so hard for the past two years to gain the respect of all the Gifted and to make sure they respect the Wings. He already did his best to change people's perception. He and Dream were not only public figures. They were the first Guardian Angel that appeared after thousands of years that Wings were treated as a slave. The symbol of peace and love between Gifted and Wings. If George were to make one simple mistake all of his hard work would go down the drain. It would all dissolve into nothing.
"I don't know what to do anymore, Bad. I really don't know. I can't talk about this to anyone except for you. You know what would happen if I told Dream that someone hurt his baby. He would freak out and go berserk."
Bad did not know Dream as well as George did. But he knew him well enough to know that George was a hundred percent correct. Dream's protectiveness over his little brother was a well-known fact.
"Bad, what should I do?" George sounded completely defeated and very lost.
"I-I..." Bad was speechless. He hated seeing George like this. Darryl always considered George as his own brother and seeing him so stressed made him upset, especially since... Bad could not do anything to help. He just felt so useless. He knew that George had no other choice. His only option was to keep assigning Zak with more Gifted partners which meant the Wing would keep his little game up and would keep getting hurt.
A memory flashed in Darryl's eyes, and he froze. He could, potentially... but then his life would change completely. Was it really worth it?
"George. I-" Bad sighed as chewed on his lips nervously; he was really doing this, ha? This was the point of no return. No going back now. "I think I know how to help.. Hear me out.."
~Word Count : 3681~
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter > w <) v
🐦
~Ruby Feynix & Sofyzin~