Chapter 1
Here he is again like clockwork for the third time this week. The guy, who looked like a cross between a surfer and an almost frat boy, was browsing through the fiction section of the bookstore. Specifically the thriller section; as he did every Wednesday for the last 3 years. The same number of years Robin had been working there. Though someone had told them that the blonde had been coming to the bookstore for years and his name was Rez. To Robin, he was the kind of person who was always smiling it seemed.
Today though, the bimbo that had followed him in two weeks ago was inching closer. Trying to start a conversation with him. Poor guy didn’t seem to notice her, or maybe he did and just didn’t seem to care who talked to him. Robin wasn’t sure why they cared who talked to him. Looking away for a moment to converse with a customer asking where children diet books were.
It took almost every ounce of willpower to not give the customer directions out of the store. Instead Robin, in their best customer service voice, told them they didn’t have any and that they should actually speak to a pediatrician. The customer scoffed, walking away with a roll of their eyes. They didn’t even have to turn around to hear the resounding slap from the aisle behind them. It seemed to echo throughout the building causing everyone to stop and turn their head towards the sound.
“I am not a- a whatever it is you called me!”
“A man trap,” Came Rez’s casual reply, quickly followed by another loud slap. A huffing sound followed the woman as Robin could feel her stomping past them as she left. The bookstore employees turned to look at tRez, idly rubbing his cheek a little as he looked back at the shelves. Robin walked over to him out of concern their best customer was gonna be angry at the workers for not doing anything. He didn’t look angry as they approached, more like he was indifferent to what had happened. Like it hadn’t even phased him in the slighest.
“I could get you some ice,” Robin offered.
Rez looked at them; the reddish-brown eyes meeting theirs. They were such a weird color of brown now that they were close enough to notice. Rez cantered his head to the side giving them a lopsided grin.
“Nah, I’m good. Just glad she didn’t turn out to be a salt eating creature,” He laughed. It was then they noticed there was a subtle unrecognizable accent when he had said creature. A slight more enunciation on the ‘e’ and the ‘a’. He pulled a hard backed sci-fi thriller called Parasite off the shelf. Robin stared at him trying to remember what that was from. Although, truth they’d only ever really seen Star Trek Voyager. Rez looked back at them after reading the inner cover panel with the synopsis.
“Star Trek, 1966, Season 1 episode 2. The creature turned out to be the last of it’s kind and was actually doing it’s best to just survive,” he smiled though to Robin it felt a little sad. Almost empathetic to the creature’s plight.
“Oh! That’s cool, I might actually have to watch that on hulu or something. I only ever got to see Voyager as a kid,” they smiled nervously at him. Sometimes there was just something about him that was both intriguing and unnerving all at once. It was like he lived in a bubble all of his own, separate from the world.
“That series wasn’t too bad. It kinda ended on a weird note but I hear Picard has some characters in it from there,” Rez nodded thoughtfully.
“Right. I’ll, um, be at the counter when you’re ready to checkout,” Robin nodded in return as they quickly retreated back to the register. The surfer-frat boy was actually super into pop culture and as interested as Robin was.. Even then Robin reminded themselves that they had a partner. Well… a “partner”. A person that shared their space and didn’t care about Robin’s interests. Robin drifted into one of those moments they just zeroed out the world.
“Hey Robin,” Rez greeted setting a stack of books on the counter. The thud, the voice and a little wave was all it took to snap Robin back to reality with a little jolt. If the man noticed it, he didn’t say anything to them. Which was nice, they didn’t want anyone to comment on that.
“Ready to check out?” Robin asked with a customer service friendly smile. Rez nodded and they started ringing up the items.
“I know this is probably kinda out of the blue but would you want to get coffee sometime? With me? Sorry to ask you at work but I actually would like to talk to you more. About Star Trek and other things that interest you. Sometimes it’s hard for me to interact with humans but you’re easy to approach.”
Robin stared at him for a long moment. They hadn’t interacted that much; as far as they could recall. How were they easy to approach? Was it the Star Trek talk? Is that it? Why was he paying them attention? Had reality just suddenly shifted? Were they daydreaming? Didn’t Rez buy American Gods four months ago? Wait... why did they remember that?
“152.30.” Robin replied in a monotone trying to wrap their head around what just happened. The blonde nodded and paid for his books. Robin also noticed today that Rez seemed to always buy hardcovers. Rez grabbed the books and headed towards the door. Robin shook their head, making the rare impulse decision. It was just coffee after all.
“Rez! I’d love to get coffee with you.”
