Oh No!

The sun was finally out, albeit still a little cold. That didn’t stop Tobi from enjoying the blue skies on his cycle to work. He was convinced he was a flower in his past life. Something that needed sunlight to survive otherwise everything was grey and boring. Maybe he was a rose, pretty to look at but you can’t touch without getting spiked. With sunshine came a flock of customers to the Coffee Bean, including the cute ones with tight tops. They were his favourite type of customer, but it was always a disappointment when he found out they didn’t bat for his team. Most of them ended up being straight, which was usually glaringly obvious but Tobi chose to ignore it.

He did his usual thing as it was approaching his break. Lingering by the coffee machine, pretending to clean something so he didn’t get stuck with a customer's order. A line out the door and Tobi was dusting off coffee cups. There were enough of them behind the counter to keep things ticking out. As soon as his break hit he darted out of the store to enjoy the sun. Like a flower.

He picked up his lunch from the Grill before making his way over to the park. Always woke up too late to make his own food, even when he didn’t start until later. Just like a normal young kid, despite the fact he was nearing forty. Massive thank you to his young brother for halting the ageing process and sending him over to the other side for twenty years.

He’d already finished his wrap by the time he reached the park. Far too hungry to wait, despite picking at muffins and cakes all day. Tobi threw himself down on the nearest bench, digging his hands into his bag of fries and pushing a few into his mouth. He closed his eyes for a few minutes, titling resting his head on the back of the park bench, tilting his head towards the sun.

There was no such thing as the weather on the other side. Obviously, he could see it was sunny in the real world because he couldn’t feel the warmth on his skin. This only made him happy in the winter. Snow on the ground, yet he felt nothing. Even when he tried touching the snow, his hand went straight through. The first winter back in the land of the living he ran outside and threw himself in the snow. Regret set in a few minutes later when he remembered how fucking cold it could be. Once he’d done that, he was over the snow. It could go away.

The summer, however. That could stay as long as it wanted. Maybe Tobi was designed to live in a hot country somewhere. On a beach whilst hot waiters bring him drinks.

He felt a presence beside him. Someone had decided to sit with him even though there were probably a million other free benches in the park. He kept his eyes closed. Maybe if the person thought he was asleep they’d leave (or try and rob him). But no, they spoke. Great.

Tobi opened his eyes, bringing his head upright as the female said something weird. “I mean… that sounds like character development to me” He glanced over at the strange, “Are you like confessing a murder to me? Because I only have a forty-minute lunch break” In simple terms, he didn’t have time to listen to a stranger’s confession. His fries would go cold.

Before he could speak her hand was moving out to have some of his food, “Oh please help you yourself” There was a sarcastic undertone in his voice as he turned the bag of fries towards her.


RAVEN - raven be like "social cue? i don't know her"

Tobi knew better than to get involved in other people’s lives or maybe he just didn’t care enough. He tried his best to keep out of his siblings' lives, even going as far as trying to keep out the coven. He had no choice but to remain in the coven now though, namely because there was only the Parker family left and also he had to show he was forever grateful to them for bringing him back from the dead. Of course, he was grateful but he didn’t like the idea of spending every day for the rest of his life showing that. According to his dad, the least he could do is show an interest in magic. He was interested in the magic, but only for his own personal gain. He didn’t want to stand around a campfire chanting spells and incantations. That was bizarre.

“Um…” Tobi swallowed his fries before shaking his head, “I don’t think so. Sounds like you’ve found someone or something to care about though and maybe you’re latching on to that” He had no idea. He wasn’t a therapist, he was barely a good barista. His brother had swayed the opposite way. He had gone from loving his family to loathing them to the point of killing them. He raised his eyebrows as he looked down at her bloody hands. Okay, he’d attracted some kind of psychopath Nonetheless, he carried on chewing on his fries, his eyes back on the woman. “Ah yes. You tried to kill someone but it failed” He said with a mouthful of fries, before swallowing them again. “My brother killed me a few decades ago y’know Me and some of my siblings, but he couldn’t quite finish the job with the others” The woman obviously had a few screws loose, so no harm in entertaining her with his story.

He titled the fries back towards himself, taking another small handful. “That doesn’t sound like a bad thing though. Like, you wanna enjoy your food” Was this stranger unravelling at the seams the same way Kai did? He spotted it almost immediately with Kai, but as always Samuel was quick to dismiss his concerns that their older brother was going to snap one day. “Tobi. You?”


RAVEN

Maybe the woman was lucky that she had chosen to sit down next to Tobi and unload her ‘problems’, which all sounded like psychopathic talk to him. Most would have run away screaming, calling the cops that this woman had actual blood on her hands, but the truth was the woman provided a better conversation than the locals in Coffee Bean. They would speak about the weather, their upcoming vacation or the absolute worst is when they spoke about their kids. Sometimes they’d have the audacity to pull out a picture for Tobi to look at and he couldn't even be rude about the Shrek baby that was staring back at him. He had to pretend he gave a shit.

He was about to make a joke that the woman should kill the person she was so attached to, but there was a chance she would literally do that. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing though… she’s bringing out the best in you and there is nothing wrong with that.” At least in the normal world, where he lived, but he had no idea what was going inside this woman’s head.

Shame Kai wasn’t in the mood to kill his family that fateful day. The lucky unnamed man lived to see another day.

He shuffled his shoulder away as she poked him, “Ghosts don’t eat fries.” He pointed out. All the basic human needs were void on the other side. Still, it didn’t stop him from missing the taste of food. A juicy burger or a pizza covered in lots of different cheeses. The taste of an ice cold beer or that sensation of relaxation you get after you smoke. He didn’t expect the other side to be so bland. “I am a barista at Coffee Bean.” He retorted, knowing full well that wasn’t what she meant.

Their parents had spent their entire life trying to keep the coven hidden from the world, but Tobi was open with it all, to some extent. Everyone knew there was a chance witches and warlocks existed, but he never went as far as showing them his magic. There was still a small chance someone would burn him at the stake. “What do you mean becoming human?” He exclaimed, shoving more fries into his mouth as he looked over at her. Was she now trying to wind him up? Her hand was back in the fries as she introduced herself. “Nice to meet you.” Well, he wasn’t too sure on the nice part with their conversation taking a sharp turn every few seconds.


RAVEN

Tobi almost choked his fries when she mentioned demons. He coughed furiously, unlodging the potato wedge from his throat before swallowing again. “Wait… demons are real?” What the fuck? Yes, he’d read about them and heard about them but he thought they were made up. Either that or they stayed downstairs, “Why aren’t you in hell? Isn’t that where you guys belong?” Why the hell was she up here roaming the earth with everyone else. “By feeling things you mean you feel bad about killing people?” All this was slowly threading together in Tobi’s mind. A demon with no soul was obviously going to kill people. Maybe he should have been thankful she was sparing his life. Maybe it was because he shared his fries with her, though not by choice.

She wasn’t buying his line about working at Coffee Bean. “Okay, but I do actually work at Coffee Bean.” He pointed down at the polo shirt that was clinging to his skinny frame that had a little Coffee Bean logo in the right corner. “My parents did some crazy spell to bring me back from the dead… I come from a long line of witches and warlocks.” He chomped down on his fries, watching other members of the public walk past them, none of them paying any attention to their conversation, “I’m a warlock.” He added, for clarity.

“Woah… you’re not a piece of scum Raven.” Okay he’d known that woman all of five seconds but she didn’t give off that vibe. Upfront and forward maybe. “Sometimes you just gotta roll with the vibes and see where you end up.” He nodded confidently.

“You too, demon.” He retorted, eyes still trained on those walking past the pair as he titled his fries towards Raven as an offering.

RAVEN