“So? Have we seen him yet?” Gavven asked excitedly, bursting through the door of Demon King Coffee House.

“Not yet,” Minaz, one of the baristas, chuckled, “Want your regular?”

“Yes, please!” Gavven grinned, eyes glued to the front show windows as e went to the counter, “But it’s exciting, isn’t it? A human opening a demon flower shop!” e giggled, “It’s such a riot!”

“I don’t see what’s so exciting about it,” Vajur – one of Minaz’s partners and a shop regular – huffed as he sipped a hazelnut and cream coffee, “He’s just some human.”

Gavven knew the man was a spy thriller writer – his first book had met with modest success, though Gavven had found it a bit… well, slow and dry. But that was fine! Not everyone shared eir taste in books, and clearly, plenty of people liked Vajur’s attention to accuracy, even if it made the pacing a bit slower and more cerebral than his contemporaries.

“I was mostly surprised to learn it was a demon flower shop,” Hujur, Minaz and Vajur’s third, chuckled from his seat beside the man. Hujur was a manager at the County Records Office and busily typing away at a spreadsheet, his black coffee all but forgotten and likely only half-drunk.

“One butterscotch latte,” Minaz said, handing the drink over and accepting Gavven’s payment. She had worked at Demon King’s for a long time – though in her free time, she captained the Waste Hounds rugby team. With their three income sources, she liked having a job that gave her the flexibility she needed.

“Thank you!” Gavven beamed, sparing the barista a glance to deliver the sentiment properly before returning to eir watching.

“Well, he’s in there,” Demarri, the new part-time barista, sighed in her usual monotone, “My friend Gaele took a part-time job there – they should be opening in like… twenty minutes, I think.”

Gavven hadn’t learned much about Demarri yet – e loved meeting new people and making new friends, but she was a tough nut to crack! Still, e was determined to figure her out eventually – marking that this was the third romance novel e had seen the young woman reading at work. So, there was one thing e knew!

“Jurao plans to take a welcome gift over when they do open,” Minaz chuckled, side-eyeing the book reading, “He went to get something from Bountiful Treeking and found out from Adhi that the human – his name is Braelin – would probably like demon food more, so he’s taking over a pastry box instead.”

“But isn’t demon food bad for humans?” Gavven asked, sipping eir latte.

“No more than anyone else,” Minaz shrugged, “Jurao asked Kloy about it last time the doc was in – so long as it’s not habitual, it should be fine.”

“I suppose a human that opens a demon flower show would like demon food!” Gavven giggled, “Do we know anything else about him?” 

“You know the actor, Malson Ealdwine?” Vajur asked.

“I do!” Gavven nodded.

Malson Ealdwine was an action star known for doing his own stunts, which included learning trick gunplay and sword work for previous roles. While he’d yet to star in anything himself, he was often typecast as a violence-happy sidekick or minion – and by all accounts, those were the roles he enjoyed since they let him show off his skills.

Admittedly, Gavven had only started following his career after e had learned he was the stepson of one of eir favorite actresses, Eweylona Ealdwine, a frost elf woman known for playing regal queen-type roles. The two were due to star in their first film together in a few months, though not many details were known about the project. It was rumored a third Ealdwine would be making their debut in the film, but only rumored.

Gavven couldn’t even get eir very best friend Gnori – a much smaller time actor, usually cast for background brute characters – to share the details, and he was finally in a film with his crush! E was honestly impressed he could keep the details to himself, considering how excited he was to see Malson at work in person.

“They’re brothers,” Vajur said.

“No!” Gavven said in delight, trotting to the window, “How fun!”

Demarri made a noise of disgust, “Great – now we’ll probably get flooded with people hoping to see a real celebrity.”

“And then you’ll actually have to work for your pay,” Minaz agreed, rolling her eyes – but without real bite.

“It’s a tragedy,” Demarri agreed with a sigh, though it was hard to tell if she was being genuine or sarcastic.

“Oh! Oh, it’s opening!” Gavven declared.

Indeed, the door to the new flower shop was pushed open – revealing a heavyset human man with long, wavy brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard dressed in an apron decorated with sunflowers. He propped the door open and set out a chalkboard A-frame decorated with flowers advertising that they were open. Lights were turned on inside, the plants in the wide windows seeming to watch the human as he finished opening and went back inside.

“Exhilarating,” Vajur deadpanned.

“I’m surprised he didn’t do a grand opening event,” Hujur mused.

“Gaele said he didn’t want to overwhelm the plants with a lot of people or something,” Demarri snorted, “He sounds like a weird guy.”

Minaz shook her head but called out, “Jurao! It’s open!” 

There was a sound of shuffling from the back, and then the owner of the shop appeared from his office, “Thank you, Minaz.”

“Mm-hm,” Minaz hummed, then chuckled, “I think Gavven wants to go with you.”

“Yes, please!” Gavven grinned, skipping over, “Oh, I just adore meeting new people!”

“That’s fine,” Jurao nodded, using tongs to select three pastries for his welcome gift and boxing them, “I’m sure the owner will appreciate more friendly faces.”

“And no one has a friendlier face than Gavven,” Minaz chuckled.

“Thank you!” e beamed. Really, Gavven was sure Minaz wanted em to go with Jurao because many were put off by the man’s large, imposing figure and stoicism, even if he was really such a dear at heart. Having Gavven near could soften that first impression, and e was happy to be a help – the only thing e might enjoy more than making new friends eirself was helping others do so! 

Jurao led the way over, Gavven skipping on eir hooves as e followed, excited to get eir first look inside the new shop.

Demon plants filled the shelves, of course – but oddly, none were behind protective cases or bars like a typical demon flower shop. It made em a little nervous, but the plants didn’t seem like they were ready to strike.

“Welcome to the Flower Shop,” Braelin greeted, voice softer than e would have expected.

Gavven giggled, “Oh, sorry, I just… I didn’t expect such a literal name!”

The human smiled, “It’s a marketing strategy – no one will forget it.”

The way the man was smiling, Gavven knew he was joking, so giggled again, “True!”

“Good afternoon,” Jurao said, holding out the pastry box, “I’m Jurao – I own Demon King’s Coffee House across the street. Welcome to Hope Street Shops.”

I wonder if he practiced that, Gavven thought – it sounded a bit practiced, but the man’s monotone was more than a match for Demarri’s bored drawl (though his did not convey the same sentiment). 

“Thank you,” Braelin said, accepting the box – then shifting it to hold out a hand, “Braelin Struud.”

“Oh, it’s not Ealdwine?” Gavven asked, then held up a hand, “Sorry! I heard Malson Ealdwine was your brother, but maybe I heard wrong!”

E doubted it – Vajur was very good at finding information – but his sources were… questionable, sometimes. 

Braelin blinked, then snorted in amusement, “He is my older brother, yes – but we had different mothers. I kept my mother’s surname; he has our father’s.”

“Ah, I see!” Gavven beamed, “And how rude of me! I’m Gavven; my best friend is actually one of the actors in your brother’s upcoming film!” 

“Really?” Braelin asked, setting the pastry box on the counter to open it – smiling at the contents.

“His name is Gnori,” Gavven nodded, “He only has a small part, but he really admires Malson’s work, so he’s excited to be on the project!”

“Ah, the one that has a crush on him,” Braelin replied, taking an experimental bite of one of the pastries.

Gavven squealed in delight, “He knows?”

“No,” Braelin chuckled, looking pleased with the treat, “Sorry, a moment – Gaele.”

A young deer beastly demon emerged from further back – untangling fos-self from what looked to be Hangman Willow leaf tendrils as fos called, “Uh, y-yes, Braelin?”

“Come have a pastry,” Braelin replied with a chuckle, “Our neighbors from across the street were kind enough to bring them as a welcome present.”

“From Demon King’s?” Gaele asked – then yelped as fos nearly tripped, righted by the very leaves that had caused the stumble. They patted fos’s head, finally releasing the young demon.

“Yes,” Jurao replied, “Demarri mentioned you had gotten a job here.”

“Ah, g-good afternoon, Jurao,” Gaele said, bowing fos head – the poor dear had greatly admired Jurao’s former career as an athlete, and even now was a little star-struck by him.

Jurao nodded in reply.

“Sorry, no, Malson isn’t aware of Gnori’s crush,” Braelin went on, “But Eweylona and Aya certainly are – and his wife, Jaevve. Though she more enjoys teasing him for having a crush on Gnori.” 

Gavven squealed again, “It’s mutual? How cute!”

“Aya,” Jurao said.

“Our sister,” Braelin explained, then flinched, “Ah, but – I forgot not to mention her…”

“So another Ealdwine is debuting?” Gavven asked eagerly, then put two hands up, “I won’t tell, promise! Oh, this is so exciting!” 

“I think it’s better I don’t say more,” Braelin smiled, “In case I reveal more secrets by mistake.”

“You have no interest in acting,” Jurao stated – though perhaps he’d meant it as a question? He had trouble intoning them. Gavven thought to intervene, but…

“No,” Braelin chuckled, clearly understanding the intent, “I have terrible stage fright, you see.”

“Ah,” Jurao nodded, “An acting career would be difficult in that case.” 

Gaele – pastry of fos own in hand – awkwardly shifted fos weight from hoof to hoof.

Braelin noticed the motion and reached up to clasp the young demon’s shoulder, “You’ll get there – just keep practicing with the plants. They already like your acting.”

Gaele’s face darkened with a pleased blush, tail swishing behind fos. Fos was in college, major still undecided – but that seemed to stem more from fos father suggesting a business career, while Gaele wished to pursue acting and was too afraid to say so when fos couldn’t even perform on stage without getting too nervous.

“The plants seem very docile for a flower shop,” Jurao observed – reaching out to find a stalk of snapblooms leaning forward to be pet.

“Ah,” Braelin said, “Probably because I don’t force them to give up their flowers or leaves.”