The rain had started to fall on the rooftops across the East Coast once more as the town of Brickhedge battened down the hatches for yet another round of heavy precipitation and centralized thunderstorms. The weatherman couldn't repeat enough times that this was going to be a single day's worth of rain, maybe two tops in the worst-case scenario. The memories of early spring's record rainfall, still fresh on the minds of beasts all over New Hampshire, made forecasted showers groan-worthy.
The wolf sat in his favorite booth just beside the eastern wall, a two-seater that overlooked the three-way intersection that flowed into Main Street from the south part of town. It was his favorite for no more a reason than one might favor a particular chair at the dinner table or a passenger seat in someone else's car. If he were to come in one day and the booth occupied, it'd be a non-issue, and he would simply take up a chair somewhere else.
It'd been two weeks since the town hall meeting, and the town had been buzzing with a new energy that Advrik had yet to experience in his short time as a Brickhedge resident. Already, there was signage of all colors, covering what looked like every group under the LGBTQ+ banner at every corner and nearly every business.
When he had moved into town, Advrik would never have imagined that such a small backwoods town in America could have this level of spirit and support hiding within. Just another example of looks being deceiving, he'd guessed.
If the majority of the town was gay, lesbian, or whatever, then his chances of finding a mate here had plummeted dramatically.
But then, there was that purple fox.
Brigid Ashtear. The purple-furred, ink-dipped fox from the town meeting. She'd accidentally elbowed him in his nuts while desperately reaching for the last wild blueberry muffin on the tray, one that he wasn't totally sure now that she'd even gotten to eat thinking back. The conversation devolved into a slurry of apologies and "no problem, really". Before he knew it, they were standing at the far side of the gymnasium, sipping some lemonade and talking about the town.
Had he been a more foolish beast, he probably would have sworn there was an immediate spark (opposite of the explosion of testicular pain) between him and her. He'd felt it the moment he regained his vision, opening his eyes and accidentally making eye contact with her for a single blink.
In hindsight, he wondered on and off if she may have caught just the slightest glimpse of the monster that existed with him the same way he saw it whenever he looked himself in the eyes in a mirror. That horrible, disfigured, hulking mass that seemed to exist in an adjacent universe, hidden by naught but the thin veil conjured by the blink of an eye
"No, surely not," He'd repeated to himself. The only other time another beast had seen he who "lingers beyond the blink" was way back in the orphanage, shortly after he had figured out how to glimpse at the creature. He'd tested it on a hapless attendant who had quit later that day, to the surprise of the rest of the staff.
"He who lies beyond the blink," he repeated to himself, a little louder than he probably intended, as it had caught the attention of the waiter.
"'He who' what now?" The voice was harsh, high-pitched, and heavily tinted with an accent, likely from New Jersey. That or it was a pretty good imitation.
Advrik's ears perked up at the first voice he'd heard in over an hour that wasn't his inner monologue. "Huh?" He said, "Oh, I'm just repeating my thoughts out loud. Sorry, don't mind me." The wolf said, turning his attention back to his rapidly cooling coffee.
"Ahh no, you don't just go and say cool shit like that out loud and expect me just to ignore it, okay?" The source of the voice appeared from behind the counter: It was a mole of the star-nosed variety, the same one he'd talked to as he rummaged through his garbage last month. He'd been working here at the cafe for about a month now.
Sitting at the booth had its ups and downs. Not only could one overhear conversations from the office and counter, but one's voice traveled perfectly to the ears of anyone who might be listening as well.
The star-nosed mole's name was Desmond, but everyone just called him Des or Dessy. Neither of which he liked and had vulgarly stated multiple times, much to the wolf's amusement. He'd ignore regulars on several occasions who had tried to get his attention by using the town's appointed nicknames for him, only acknowledging them once they called for a "waiter" or used his full name. Toh, the owner of the coffee shop, had apologized profusely and even offered free drink tickets as a means of clearing the air after one of Desmond's outbursts. Still, the towns-beasts, as kind and accepting as they are, had declined the offer but accepted the apologies just the same.
The beasts here were really something else, and it seemed with every passing week Advrik had been given something new to appreciate them for.
"You're the only fucker here right now, so spill it. I wanna know what you're crazy enough to talk to yourself over." The mole's face tentacles were writhing like some eldritch horror, no doubt seeking some skull to pry open and scoop out the brains.
Advrik looked at the mole who had now taken up the seat opposite of him as the rain began to beat down on the window, accompanied by a flash of lightning bright enough to illuminate the daylight, followed by a window-rattling rumble of thunder-boom.
Careful not to make direct eye contact, the wolf peered at the bridge of the mole's snout, his eyes resting somewhere between the tentacles and the thick bottlecap spectacles the mole wore.
"If you really must know, Desmond," Advrik sighed, "I'm writing a short story and just trying to come up with cool-sounding names for monsters. 'The one which lingers beyond the blink' just happened to be something I liked, so I said it out loud, is all." He lied, of course, though repeating things out loud was an effective act of retaining certain things; this wasn't something he was willing to share with anyone, let alone the star-nosed mole barista at the local coffee shop.
"Ya know," Desmond started, "You've been the only customer all morning, and I've been watching you on and off..." The mole seemed to be struggling with something internally. He got the feeling that the mole wasn't used to just talking to other beasts in the manner that he was, let alone attempting to pry into their business.
Advrik cocked an eyebrow as the mole's face visibly contorted as he attempted to eke out the following sentence.
"You look like something is bothering you. I've-ah-I've seen you in here multiple times, and you've always seemed kind of annoying, happy-go-shitty and all that, so I was--"
Are you trying to ask me what's wrong?" Advrik said, astonished at the mole's attempt at friendly conversation. "I'm surprised, Desmond. Didn't know you had it in you." He said, smiling.
"Assuming we get no more customers, I'm gonna take a--" He leaned back to peer into the office, and then a voice rang out from inside, giving him the go-ahead. "Gonna take my break, so dump whatever steaming pile of shit you got going on onto the table.
"Desmond!" Toh yelled again from the office.
"Yeah, yeah!" The mole yelled back, untying his black apron and tossing it across the front counter. He returned a moment later with a iced drink of some sort. It could have been entirely creamer, from what Advrik could tell. The fat little mole took up the seat once more and then rested his claws on the table.
* * *
[ DESMOND ]
The mole took up the seat opposite the wolf and took a big swig of his drink, which he confirmed to Advrik to be just milk and coffee creamer. He annoyingly smacked his lips, splashing droplets of the mixed dairy products across the once-cleaned table. A few even landed in Advrik's coffee, which he had been assured he was no longer interested in.
"I've gotta ask first, Desmond," Advrik started, "Why do you work in a coffee shop if you don't like coffee?"
He took another big gulp of his drink and said: "Vicitim of circumcision. One could also ask the same question of why a person with little knowledge of powered lawn equipment works at a hardware store. I need some fucking gossip for my blog--"
Advrik leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest, bringing up his right leg and resting it across his left knee. "A blog, really? You aren't using names or descriptors, are you?"
"Of-fucking-course not; I'm not even using the actual town's or my name. Listen, if you tell me what's bothering you, I'll tell you more about my project, capiche?" He said, putting too much emphasis on the "-sh" sound, giving away the act he was putting on with the accent.
"I'm starting to understand now why you're working here. You're a bit too nosey for your own good, Desmond." Advrik laughed, "Pardon the pun, buddy."
The mole was not amused.
"All right, all right! This better be good. I don't often put my tentacles on the hook like this, "He said, waving a single pink veiny nose tentacle about like a little worm, "so this better not be about some girl," He paused for a second. "Or a guy, if you're into that."
Advrik smiled, flashing a canine, and said, "Boy, do I hate to disappoint you."
The wolf spoke, and an expression of regret slowly began to flood the beast's face. Even the tentacles had ceased their energetic wiggling about.
"It was pretty funny man, getting elbowed in the junk over a blueberry muffin. It was a good two minutes at least before my vision returned properly." The wolf said through a thin laugh.
"That is not actually even remotely funny, admittedly."
"But as I said, I'm not really, nor have I had the slightest inclination to look for a mate since I arrived here, but that fox, Brigid, she was stunning..." Advrik trailed off, his mood dampening again as the purple fox re-entered the conversation.
"That is wholly uninteresting. I can definitely use the nut-busting bit in a chapter." Desmond said, rapidly typing up a note on his phone. "So that leads me to my next question: Why in the fuck are you moping about here today?"
Advrik shifted in his seat. This was the part that bothered him the most every time he went over the night's events in his head. "Well, that's just it. The minute that huge grizzly bear took the stage, her attention left me immediately. Like, the middle of a sentence dropped, just like that. The two locked eyes from across the whole gymnasium; she toasted her cup, and the bear continued speaking. That beast had a good two feet on me at least and was built like a panzer. Would you want to be caught talking to another beast's partner who could rip your limbs out with ease?"
"Hah," Desmon laughed, "Like a Wookie." Advrik raised a brow. "Nevermind, proceed with the boring ass part of your problem.
"Well, I mean, that was essentially it. It was clear those two had been a pair, so I just kind of bolted before I garnered the attention of that hulking mass. The last thing I needed was trouble right now for hanging around another guy's partner."
The mole was quiet for a minute or two, the little ticks and taps coming off the phone of his screen as he quickly typed away. The evidence that he was really focused on was apparent the moment his little pink tongue popped out and held in place by his front teeth.
"All right, that should be enough. I can definitely make use of some of this, so I guess thank you for sharing. I gotta get back to work before I get hissed at again."
"Heard that," Toh said nonchalantly from the office.
"Uh-huh." Desmond shot back. "Listen, I'm not a herd beast in the slightest. I'm only working here because I have to, but having to sit here and listen to you spill your bullshit made me realize something."
Advrik awaited his revelation with a cocked eyebrow.
"It made me realize that, well, maybe I could use some connections here in town, and you seem like a decent enough beast to talk with, so..."
"Wait a minute. Are you applying to be my friend, Desmond?" Advrik smiled in amusement at the unexpected turn of events. "Don't even answer that. I accept."
"Fan-fucking-tastic." And with that, the mole turned to retrieve his apron. "Oh, and uh, thanks, I guess.
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