How had the line in front of the register ended up so long? The number of people working at Peace Café had doubled, and yet their ability to get orders out had taken a nose dive.

Ocean sat around twenty feet away at the front counter, watching the three new girls run around frantically to keep up with the rush. They came so close to bumping into each other, it would only be a matter of time before someone’s order ended up all over the floor.

He laughed to himself. If the dropped order involved coffee, then they all might be in store for one of Sebastian’s legendary freak outs, and he had front row seats to see it.

“Ugh,” Liliana groaned, slamming her hands on the counter next to him. “I still can’t believe you didn’t even confess to her.”

“What are you talking about?” Ocean asked, keeping his eyes on the impending disaster.

“What do you mean ‘what am I talking about’?” Liliana poked him in the side. “That Fae girl! You never confessed to her.”

“You’re still hung up on that?” Ocean reluctantly turned his attention toward her, making sure to exaggerate his annoyance. “What does it matter anyway?”

“You liked her,” Liliana said plainly. “A lot.”

Ocean waited a few moments before answering, letting the sound of other people talking nearby fill the silence. Still no sounds of smashed dishware.

“Yeah,” Ocean finally spoke, drinking the last of the coffee out of his cup. “I guess.”

“You guess?” Liliana asked, mocking his tone of voice. “That’s all you have to say?”

“What? It’s not like I really knew that much about her anyway,” Ocean said. “When I finally had the chance to talk with her one on one, I realized it didn’t make any sense for me to tell her something like that.”

In all honesty, he probably just liked the idea of her. He put her on a pedestal. It was only now that he understood how unfair it was to do that to someone. Explaining that to Liliana seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

“Besides, that wasn’t even on my mind,” Ocean lied. “I was more focused on getting out of there without getting caught on camera.”

“Everything was shut down for miles!”

“Okay,” Ocean sighed. “But I obviously didn’t know that at the time.”

Liliana didn’t let up. “You could have done it real quick.”

“Yeah, because it was really the perfect moment, wasn’t it?” Ocean said. “A crowded room filled with frozen people and a dead body just screams ‘romantic’.”

“So lame,” Liliana picked up her coffee cup. “Just forget it.”

Ocean let out a long sigh. “Why are you bringing this up anyway?”

“Because,” Liliana stamped her feet. “How are you going to get shot down by her if you don’t even try?”

It took Ocean a moment to understand what she was saying. “Wait, what?”

“I said, how are you going to get shot down if…”

“I heard what you said,” Ocean cut her off. “I’m asking why you think I’d get turned down.”

“That’s obvious,” Liliana smiled. “She’s all electric and super strong and stuff, right? Right?”

“Well, yeah,” Ocean admitted. After all, she was the one that helped him get away, jumping from roof to roof with him under her arm.

“Think about it, Giant Isopod,” Liliana put up her finger like she was bestowing some kind of sage-like knowledge on him. “She probably only dates guys with magic powers. Your only power is that you can survive the pressure of the deep sea.”

Wait, what the hell was a giant isopod? He decided he would deal with that mystery another time.

“I might not have powers, but I have this watch, don’t I?” Ocean held up his wrist in front of her. “That’s gotta be… pretty attractive.”

He suddenly realized that he was coming across as more invested in this conversation than he wanted to sound. According to him, watches were ‘attractive’, apparently.

“So? I’ve got the same thing,” Liliana put her watch up as well. “You think I have a chance with her too?”

“Alright, you’ve made you point,” Ocean sighed, turning his eyes away from her. “I’d get turned down. It doesn’t really matter to me anyway. Like I said, I didn’t know her that well.”

He wasn’t lying. He had no idea what Fae was mixed up in. She hadn’t even been to school since that day they met in the convention center. For all he knew, she could be halfway around the world.

“So you’ve accepted your fate?” Liliana asked, straightening back up in her seat.

“Yes,” Ocean’s eyes met hers. “I’d… rather have things like this.”

“G-Good,” Liliana stammered. She picked up her coffee cup again, shakily bringing it to her lips. Before she took a sip, she spoke again. “B-Besides, there’s an even bigger reason…” Her voice trailed off. “Why you could never date her, I mean.”

“And what’s that?” He already knew the answer, but he asked anyway. It wasn’t often that he got to see her lose her confident exterior like this.

“Because…” she rose her voice to a point where she was practically yelling. “You already have a girlfriend. N-Not everyone can say they’re d-d-dating the girl that single handedly stopped the time stop killer.”

She was right, that was a pretty big reason. That said, he wasn’t going to let her last comment slide without a fight.

“Single handedly?” Ocean scoffed. “Frozen or not, I think Quinn deserves most the credit there.”

“I mean, I guess she helped or whatever,” Liliana went on, her usual bounciness slowly returning to her voice. “But come on, you don’t give the hero’s sword all the credit for slaying a dragon.” She put her hands on her hips. “You can apologize to me now.”

“Next time I see Quinn, I’ll be sure to let her know that you think she’s just a sword,” Ocean said, reaching into his pocket. “In fact, I could text her right now.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Try it,” Liliana glared. “Knowing her, she’ll probably agree with me. She’ll be all,” Liliana changed her tone to a serious one. “‘My role that day was that of your sword. That… was my part to play’. You know she’d totally say something like that.”

Ocean couldn’t deny that it was a pretty good impression.

Just then, something shattered. Ocean turned his head toward the other side of the counter.

“You’re lucky that cup was empty!” Sebastian yelled. “Stop being so clumsy. Every time you have a cup of coffee in your hands, you’re playing with life and death!”

“I-I’m sorry!” one of the girls apologized. Her voice was a little deeper than Ocean expected it to be. “I’ll clean it up!”

On cue, Manami held out a broom and dustpan for her. After the girl took them, Manami flashed a smile in Ocean’s direction.

“Jeez,” Liliana said. “Who knew coffee was such serious business.”

“You heard Sebastian,” Ocean turned back to her. “It’s life and death.”

Liliana’s phone buzzed on the countertop. She snatched it up, flicking open the home screen.

“I gotta go,” she looked up. “Pietro’s here. We’re picking my uncle up from the airport.”

“Already?” Ocean asked. “I thought he was supposed to be in Italy for at least a few more months.”

“That was the plan,” Liliana stood up. “But I think he got homesick.”

“Homesick? You mean… he missed Portland?”

“He won’t admit it, of course, but it’s pretty obvious,” Liliana said, a smirk forming on her face. “I’m gonna give him a hard time about it.”

“He probably just wants to visit Cory now that he’s starting to talk again,” Ocean narrowed his eyes. “I’m pretty sure he hates this place.”

“That’s just what he wants people to think. He loves this place now,” Liliana giggled. “Anyway, do you wanna come?”

“I think I’ll pass this time,” Ocean said. “Your uncle… doesn’t exactly bring the best luck with him.”

“He’s quit all that bad stuff,” Liliana smiled. “He said that he finally learned his lesson.”

“I’m… glad to hear that,” Ocean tried to smile back. After seeing the effect he had on Liliana firsthand, he just hoped Luca would keep his word this time.

“Alright, well I’m out of here then,” Liliana said. “Don’t have too much fun without me!” She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Text me later!”

“Okay,” Ocean said, trying to keep himself from sounding flustered. “Tell everyone I said hi.”

“I’ll tell them you’re adjusting to the surface world quite nicely,” Liliana said. “Bye!” With that, she hurried past the line of people and out of the automated glass doors.

Ocean took a deep breath, looking down into his empty cup. Those first few days of April seemed so far away from him now, and yet he couldn’t go a day without being reminded of them.

Of course, he was glad they were over. The killer was dead, and there hadn’t been a time stop incident since. The city was finally starting to settle into something resembling ‘normal’ again. Still, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Not because he was worried it could happen again, but because he still felt like he couldn’t shake off the things John Doe had said that day.

He let out another sigh. Maybe it didn’t matter.

“You look like someone that could use another cup of coffee,” someone said, standing just across from him at the counter. He looked up to see Sebastian staring back at him. “How about one on the house?”

“Yeah,” Ocean choked out. “Another cup of coffee… would be nice.”

In one fluid motion, Sebastian grabbed Ocean’s cup and plate. “One minute. I’ll be right back.”

Ocean was totally caught off guard. Was this Sebastian trying to be friendly? If so, was coffee the only way he knew how to do it?

A moment later, Sebastian returned with a new cup. He placed it in front of him, and the steam from it traveled up to Ocean’s nose. Surprisingly, the scent was pretty relaxing.

“Thanks,” Ocean said. He picked the cup up and blew on it.

“Knock that off,” Sebastian snapped at him. “You’re supposed to drink it hot.”

Of course this would be his reaction. This was coffee, and this was Sebastian he was talking to. Why would he expect anything different?

“Alright,” Ocean sighed, taking a sip. It was so hot that it immediately scalded the tip of his tongue. He quickly set the cup back down, but Sebastian didn’t budge from his spot. Was he waiting for a comment on the flavor?

Sebastian picked up a nearby cloth in one hand and a wet cup in another. As he started to use the cloth to dry it, he finally spoke again. “So what’s bothering you?”

“What?” Ocean asked, wrinkling his brow. “Nothing’s bothering me. I’m just… a little tired.”

“I see hundreds of tired people come in here every day,” Sebastian’s deep voice didn’t waver. “That’s an issue that coffee can fix. You’ve already had a cup, and your face hasn’t changed. It’s pretty obvious that you’re dealing with more than a lack of sleep.”

“Is this… some kind of new counseling service you guys are offering?” Ocean asked. “I know you guys just reopened, but I think you should probably just stick to the whole ‘being a café’ thing.”

“I’m on break,” Sebastian motioned to the long line of customers. “I just happen to choose to spend my downtime talking to my customers. Now are you going to reciprocate or what?”

First watches that stopped time, now this. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised with anything anymore.

“Alright, you got me,” Ocean said, leaning back in his seat. “I’ve just been… thinking a lot about a question lately.”

“Shoot.”

“Just a heads up, it’s a pretty stupid one.”

“Don’t worry,” Sebastian set down the cup and picked up another one. “I’m not expecting much from you.”

Ocean decided to ignore that little jab.

“Anyway, the question is…” Ocean paused. “Are we the main characters of our lives? Like, obviously our lives aren’t stories or whatever, but…”

“Hmm,” Sebastian stopped drying for a second, looking up at the ceiling. “It depends.”

“Okay,” he was a little surprised that Sebastian was taking his question so seriously. “Depends on what?”

“It depends on the person.”

Ocean waited for a moment, by Sebastian didn’t continue. “So…”

“What do you think the answer is?” Sebastian asked.

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be thinking about it.”

Sebastian grabbed another glass. “Well you must have some thoughts on it at least,” he said, obviously on the verge of yelling.

“I guess… I feel like the whole idea is kind of childish,” Ocean said. “I mean, it’s not that far off from thinking the world revolves around you. Or at least… that you’re different from other people or something. Maybe it’s a Portland thing.”

“Everyone wants to be special, no matter where you go,” Sebastian twisted his back in an attempt to crack it. “Like you said, people think it’s immature, but that doesn’t change anything. Everyone wants to feel like their life matters.”

“I mean, I guess so.”

“Most people have gotten good at hiding that they want to be different than everyone else,” he went on. “Some are so good that they even fool themselves.”

“Huh…” Ocean wasn’t sure what else to say. He certainly didn’t leave the house today thinking he would have this conversation with someone, let alone this coffee maniac.

“As for what I think,” Sebastian said. “I’d say you’re the main character if you want to be.”

“If I want to be, huh?” Ocean repeated the words back as he picked up his cup of coffee. He took a few large gulps and set it back down. “Is that all it takes?”

“There’s a rule I live by,” Sebastian continued cleaning, not even bothering to glance up. “There’s nothing you can’t do, only things that you won’t. If you’re not the main character of your life, then you made that decision yourself.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Ocean started. “But you might actually be a pretty cool guy, Sebastian.”

Sebastian paused, setting the last of his cups down. “Neat,” he turned away, then yelled over toward the register. “Manami, I’m off break!” He walked away, leaving Ocean sitting there.

“I take it all back,” Ocean said under his breath. “You’re still a total asshole.” He put his cup back down, and turned in his seat to look out the windows lining the walls of the café.

Outside, he could see hundreds of people as they came to and from the train station. In the crowd, he spotted a woman with long blue hair holding hands with a gangly man. He couldn’t quite place it, but something about him seemed familiar. Did they meet somewhere before?

Ocean turned forward again and took the last few sips of his coffee. Maybe no one was the main character. Maybe they were all just supporting characters in someone else’s story. Maybe, in some way, he was connected to everyone in the city.

“Are you finished with your cup?” someone asked. It was the same girl that dropped the dishes earlier. She was dressed in the same uniform as Manami, but instead of pants, she had a black pleated skirt. Her nametag read ‘Ella’. Even with her slightly deep voice, she appeared to be a girl after all.

“Oh,” he glanced back down at his cup. “Yeah, I’m all finished.”

Ella picked up the cup and saucer, obviously putting a lot of care into not dropping it. Just as she turned to leave, Ocean decided to speak to her.

“Don’t worry about Sebastian,” he said. “If he treats you badly, Manami will set him straight.”

“Thanks.”

“So,” Ocean studied her face. “Do you go to school around here?”

“How do you know I’m a student?” Ella asked.

“Well, I don’t know, I just figured…”

“For all you know,” she gave him a bright smile. “I could be some kind of magic overseer or something.”

“…Right.”

Ocean let out another sigh. He had almost forgotten how weird the people in this city were.

Worst of all, he remembered he was one of them.