Alexandria leaned against the counter and groaned. Between juggling school, work, and time with her uncle, she was dead on her feet. She heard a clatter next to her and rolled over to see Cocijo standing next to her with his arms folded across his chest. He had placed a small gourd on the counter with a strange metal straw sticking out of it. A light steam drifted lazily off the warm tea.

Cocijo's muscles bulged when he crossed his arms like that, giving him the appearance of a gladiator—or a steroid-addicted biker. It didn't help that he was covered with tattoos and piercings. A lot of people mistook him for Native American, but Cocijo and his family were Mayan. They all had round, flat faces and beautiful, straight black hair. Both Cocijo and his brother wore their hair long but tied it back when they worked at the café.

"What's that?" Alexandria asked, head still pressed against her forearms. She squinted.

"Hangover cure," Cocijo replied with a straight face.

"But I'm not hungover. I told you I was out late working."

"Don't lie to me, little girl. Cocijo has been around long enough to know how you college students spend your time."

Alex managed to get an arm out from under her and put her hand around the gourd cup.

"But really, what is it?"

"Yerba maté, a strong drink to rejuvenate the body. You will feel much better after."

"Actually, I was thinking about making myself a shot of espresso," Alex said, sniffing the gourd. The aroma wasn't promising.

Alex studied herbs and natural remedies as a hobby, but she had a lot to learn about South American herbs. She was passionate about holistic medicines and had a host of her own homemade teas at home, but whatever Cocijo had put in front of her wasn't nearly as pleasant smelling as peppermint or chamomile. Besides, what she really wanted was an espresso, maybe a warm soy latté...

"Right now, coffee is the last thing you need. It takes you up, only to have you come crashing down. You want good tips today? You'll get your smile back with that drink."

"Okay, I'll give it a try," Alex sighed, straightening up.

"Good, now you can keep your job." Cocijo smiled, his gold tooth shining.

"Oh, ha ha." Alex attempted to push him away. "How many times have you threatened to fire me? And you haven't done it yet..."

"Hey, you see any other whit chica's working in Cocijo's coffee shop? I don't think so. They don't last long. We only keep you around because Ek Chuah likes you," he said with a straight face, pointing to the silhouette of the Mayan god on the shop door.

Ek Chuah was the Mayan god of merchants and the name of the café. He had a large beak-like nose, big lips, and a black silhouette around his eyes. He had the same fierceness that most Mayan gods shared, and was the patron god of Cocijo's home and business.

"Ek Chuah may like me, but you're the one who hired me," Alex pointed out.

"Maybe I was loco that day. Who knows? But we're stuck with you now. You be good to yourself, girl. Get some sleep, you hear? Now drink that tea before you insult Ek Chuah and he decides he don't like you no more."

"Ok," she agreed.

Alex had hoped he would take her word for it, but Cocijo continued to tower over her, waiting for her to taste it. Alex brought the silver straw to her lips and took a small sip. She tried not to gag. It tasted like plant root.

"You see, you feel much better." Cocijo patted her on the back and pushed back the curtain to the kitchen.

Alex wanted to spit it out, but dared not. Cocijo could still be watching. She did however risk some brown sugar. She grabbed one of the shakers from the service counter, shook it into the gourd, and stirred quickly with the strange straw.

"You better not let Cocijo see you doing that," came a voice from the other side of the counter.

"Derek! Shh!" Alex exclaimed before they both broke into laughter. Alex almost spilled her drink.

"Hey, I'm just trying to warn you. What is that anyway?"

"It's a gourd."

"A what?" Derek took off his shoulder bag and climbed onto one of the stools in front of the counter.

"A gourd. You know, like a dried out squash."

"Whatever. Hey, what's a guy gotta do to get an espresso around here? I've been here a whole minute and my hand is still empty."

"Okay, okay, I'm on it." Alex smiled at her roommate.

Derek dug around in his bag while she tamped down espresso into a filter basket. She attached the small metal basket to the espresso machine, locked it into place, and turned the dial.

While the machine hissed and buzzed, Alex took a moment to enjoy the bright morning. The shop had south-facing windows that allowed sunlight to filter in all day, but this morning was particularly beautiful. The streets gleamed with moisture from the light dusting of snow they'd had last night. It melted with the rising sun, leaving behind a glossy city.

Alex loved working here and was glad they had hired her. Not only did they have the best chocolate and desserts around, but she got free tea and coffee all day.

The shop itself was beautiful. The walls were a burnt orange with a fascinating gold Mayan design for the trim. There were paintings and photos of South America, as well as a collection of pottery and statues that rested on bookshelves and tables throughout the store.

The shop also had three coffee trees growing in colorful clay pots. They periodically collected and roasted the beans fresh. It cost a little extra, but boy was it delicious. They were small for trees, closer to shrubs in size, and Alex was impressed with how cared for they were.

She once asked Cocijo where coffee trees came from and he explained that they came from the Middle East, but Ek Chuah had liked them so much that he decided to adopt the coffee tree. Being the god of merchants and especially cocoa, he enjoyed new and interesting things. Alex always liked how Cocijo made it sound like he had a constant open dialog with Ek Chuah. It amused her.

Derek said something and Alex looked at him. "What?"

He tried again, but she still didn't hear him. Only then did she realize he was just mouthing words at her and not really saying anything. She hit him with a wet cloth.

The machine finished, so she shut it off. She grabbed a carton of creamer to top it up and added a shot of hazelnut, just how he liked it.

"Thank you, my love."

"No problem." Alex started wiping the machine off and dumped out the filter basket.

"So," she said, "someone didn't come home last night." She eyed him suspiciously. Derek's normally well-groomed appearance now consisted of a wrinkled polo shirt, untidy short blond hair, and bags under his eyes.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. You would hardly know. You're never home anymore."

"Don't guilt trip me. Even if I was home, you'd be out at the clubs, and I'd be eating bonbons by myself on the couch."

"Like you'd eat bonbons. Do you even know what those are? Anyway, I was out at that club, Wine and Dionysus."

"Oh? How was it?"

"Fantastic, thank you for asking. That's good," he said, sipping his espresso. "It's an amazing club," he continued. "We should go sometime. The music's incredible and the bartender's a Minotaur."

"Get out! I had no idea. I thought there was just that one from mythology. I didn't realize there was a whole race of minotaurs." Alex sipped her tea, which was much better now that it was sweetened. She'd have to look up the medicinal properties and write it into her herbal grimoire when she got home.

"Apparently, though there aren't as many of them as there are other types of otherkin. Anyway, I met up with some people and we ended up staying out late."

"Some people or someone in particular?"

"Oh, you'd love to know, wouldn't you? No one special, though, sorry to say. I was hoping to find myself a Greek god in there, but maybe another night. How was your evening?"

"Actually, it was incredible."

"Well, that's about all the time I have—" Derek began, pretending to take his espresso and leave.

"Oh, quit that. You know you want to hear about it."

"Actually, I do. Okay, continue."

Alex gave him a breakdown of the evening, from the gift she had gotten her uncle to the incredible experience with the gremlins.

"And this Daniel, how tall was he? Young, old?"

"Quit that. I didn't like him, so unfortunately you most likely would, but I don't have many nice things to say about him. I mean, he built a hangar on their home."

"Yeah, but he didn't know that at the time."

"Regardless, he was rude to Bron, and he had a wicked temper."

"Ooo, the angry type. I like him already."

"I thought it made him look foolish, but my uncle straightened him out. It was amazing. You should have seen him at work! We were all panicking, didn't know what to do, but he knew exactly what to do."

"You see, you say that, but really it sounded like he was more concerned about his watch than with the gremlins."

"It only appeared that way. I know he knew what he was doing all along. He has this way about him. A gentle guidance I think would be the best way to describe it."

"It sounds like he's cracked to me."

"No way! As soon as he started talking about his watch, Bron appeared. All of the gremlins came out to see it. The Detective was explaining to me later how fascinated with technology gremlins are because they're so closely linked to the earth. Something about how all the different metals respond to their magick."

"Fascinating. Are you coming to the circle tonight?"

"Shhh." Alex looked around, making sure the gentleman reading the paper by the wall hadn't heard.

"Oh please, he didn't hear anything. What do you have to be afraid of anyway?"

"I know, I know. I just don't want a lot of people to know."

"Whatever." Derek rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we'll be getting together tonight. It's the full moon."

"I know." Alex stared out the window a moment before replying. "I wish I could go, but I'm going to see my uncle again tonight."

"Are you sure? You haven't been in a while. Roisin really misses you."

"I know, but this is important to me too. I want to get to know my uncle better. I'm heading over to his office after my last class this afternoon. I'll come next month."

"Suit yourself. I'm going to eat your moon cakes."

She smiled at him. "I would expect nothing less." 

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***Fanart of Alexandria by PinkPigtails on Instagram***

Published by Raven's Hollow Art and Publishing

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