Mocha's Cafe

Later, when they decided to visit the property they just so recently bought, it was turning out to be a bright sunny day. They stood on this small hill, that overlooked a part of the city. A tree being the only shade provided on this warm day, along with the small breeze, it seemed an ideal place to put a building. But one was already there. Though old, weather worn, and falling apart, the small abandoned building resting at this hill used to be a successful snack bar before the industrialization of the city. For reasons unknown, it was abandoned and been on the market since.

She knew they had their work cut out for them, if they wanted to make it cozy and appealing to customers. She glanced warily at her boyfriend, who was already sweating a little under the heat of the sun. She glanced quickly to his charm necklace that she made for him, “You alright?” She asked him softly, placing her hoof on his side.

He drew her in close, giving her a quick hug before exhaling the heat from his body, “Yeah, just, I think it’s fading a little.” He poked at the jewel about his neck. “I’ll be fine though.” He smiled at her, to reassure her. It did little to that effect, and she kept staring at him with concern, and decided later that she’d re-enchant it at home.

Instead she brought him under the shade of the tree, both gazing at the old building as they cuddled in the cooler grass. “Are you sure you want to work on it today? It is a little hot.” She mentioned. He shook his head, making his curls bounce with the movement, “It’s a nice day. I’d rather work on it now than on a day that threatens rain.”

She was about to protest, say that a cloudy day was safer than a sunny one, but decided against it. There was no changing his mind on something he set his heart out to do. After a few minutes, her ear flicks as she hears his horn spark to life with the usual sound of magic in use. She gazed up to his horn, seeing the pale red magic aura surround it, and then looks to where he’s looking, and notices that he’s simply bringing the tools they brought over to them.

He checks through the bag to make sure they have everything, and then opens a side pocket of the bag and pulls out a box of nails. He moves the leg she was resting on slightly, and she gets up at the sign. Getting up soon after her, he starts toward the small building, tool bag in tow. Chuckling a bit at his perseverance, she soon follows to help him. Despite knowing he could probably do it all by himself.

As it turns out, she was put on cleaning duty as he renovated. She cleaned the main lobby, which was a big space when it wasn’t filled with tables and other things she pictured putting in. Thankfully, neither of them spotted mold, surprisingly. The place was also just trashed, stoners obviously used this place to hang out. Beer cans, soda cans, a stain on the corner that connects the floor to the wall that smelled of urine. It made the pegasus shiver in disgust.

Her unicorn partner seemed to handle it a lot better than she, but mostly, he was deadpanning everything. Just getting his work done, she supposed. Seeing him work so hard motivated her to do so as well, managing to clean the nasty stains of bodily fluids. Having wings helped a lot with cleaning the walls and ceiling. The ceiling looked as if it had water damage in a few areas, but it was mostly dirty by cobwebs. Making her cautious in case she sees a spider anywhere. Or any bug for that matter. The abandoned building was already putting her on edge.

After cleaning the built-in bar, and removing the glass shards from one of the broken display windows, she headed in back where the kitchen and storage space was. The kitchen was very nasty and rusted with grime. Virtually every appliance she saw would need to be replaced, which was fine with her. She wasn’t about to cook her chocolate and sweets in these disgusting things. She didn’t think her boyfriend would mind the replacement costs too much.

Regardless, she started cleaning what she could, being a slightly cramped space, with the basic fast-food-like area, she assumed this place used to double as a diner in its day. She was fantasizing about what this place must’ve been like, when she heard a ‘ding’ noise. She perked her ears, to strain to listen, at first just thinking it was her partner.

“Spicey?” She called to the sudden silence in the room that was now too loud. The noise from the work he was doing in the lobby still didn’t stop, meaning he hadn’t heard her. Meaning he never even left that area. She was now glancing around the dusty room, struggling to see through the sunlight pierced darkness. Trying to catch any sort of movement to pin the noise she heard to.
She felt as if she was being watched now, and she didn’t like the feeling at all. “Spicey,” She called his name a little louder this time, feeling scared being alone, but too frozen to go to him. His loud work paused for a minute, to listen. He heard her that time, or he at least thought he had.

She opened her mouth to call his name again when something atop the stained fridge fell and crashed onto the floor, making a loud bang from metal hitting tile. She instead screamed his name and was scrambling to her hooves when she saw movement where the metal bowl used to rest. When he ran in, he instantly found her and quickly made his way over to her.

“What? What happened?” His voice was panicked, checking her for any cuts or bruises. As obviously he heard the crash as well, and thought she had hurt herself. With a shaking voice and hoof, she pointed to the fridge, “Th-There’s something on top of the fridge..”

Of course, when he turned to look there wasn’t anything there. Just dust falling to resettle on the surface. He gave his attention back to her, and nuzzled her to comfort her. “Why don’t you stay with me out there?”

His nuzzling felt a little uncomfortable with his headphones resting around his neck, used to block out the noise of the tools he used. Regardless, she tried to nuzzle back but ended up just clinging to him. “C’mon,” He cooed, “You’re safe. We’ll do this back here together, okay?” All she could do was nod in response as he led her back into the lobby. Where the sun lit up every inch of the room with its big windows.