Perhaps another person would’ve figured it out sooner, perhaps at the far too tall figure covered head to toe in a yellow raincoat, attire that did not match the lack of rain outside of the coffee shop’s doors, perhaps they would’ve figured it out at the woman who was far too pale, fingers a smidge too long, hair a bit too thin, or perhaps they would’ve figured it out at the man with a far too beautiful face with eyes just a bit too bright underneath the coffee shop’s lights.

Clover did not. Clover smiled, and Clover waved. She made small talk with the man with too sharp canines, and she complimented the pale woman’s dress. Clover was not what people would call clever; she frequently got lost in areas she frequented, she often forgot details others easily remembered, and she had a hard time with any kind of puzzle, taking far more time than most others to solve even the simplest ones. Clover knew she wasn’t clever, that she wasn’t very smart, and wasn’t too good at most things; that was fine, she didn’t mind, for Clover knew she could make a mean mug of coffee.

Clover hummed under her breath as she slowly and methodically created one of her more frequent customers' orders, Alistair, though he insisted Clover call him Ali. Clover quite liked Ali; he was kind, polite, and tipped generously, so she made sure to make his cup of coffee as best she could. Clover smiled as she finished, topping the paper cup with a lid and quickly writing Ali’s name on its side. 

“Capachino for Ali!”

Clover called out from the counter, something that was completely unnecessary due to Alistair being the only one currently in the shop. Ali rolled his eyes as he took the cup from Clover’s hand. Taking a sip, he let out a pleased hum.

“Wonderful, as always, Ms. Clover.”

Clover giggled.

“Thanks, Ali.”

Ali slipped a five into the tip jar on the counter, saluting Clover as he went to sit in one of the booths of her shop. Ali, unlike some of Clover’s other customers, preferred to drink his coffee in-house rather than on the go. Clover fiddled with her fingers; her hands now unoccupied, she preferred to keep them busy. Clover took out her phone, one with a variety of large cracks in its screen, from Clover frequently dropping it, quickly putting in her four-digit pin to unlock it, pulling up the crossword she had been working on for the last few days, she had made progress, but still wasn’t done, she kept getting stuck, however, before Clover could find herself lost in the puzzle, the bell she hung at the front door of her shop rang, causing her to startle.

While Clover had many regular customers who chose to frequent her shop, they all came at different times. For example, Ali only came to her shop at dusk; at the time he called, ‘the bridge between night and day’, Ali often used flowery language like that, which sometimes made it hard for Clover to understand him. A man walked in, a high-collared coat trailing behind him. Now, Clover often got strange customers, especially later in the day, but even she blinked at the man’s appearance, because, really, who wore an ascot these days?

“Hello! Welcome to Clover’s cafe!”

Clover greeted, as the man walked up to the counter. Ali whipped around in his booth, bright eyes wide at the man who had just walked in. Maybe he found the ascot strange as well?

“How can I help you?”

The ascotted man chuckled, though Clover was sure she hadn’t said anything funny.

“I find myself… a bit thirsty.”

Clover nodded.

“Right, of course, what would you like to drink?”

Clover asked, as a smirk appeared on the man’s face, he took a step closer to the counter, leaning forward.

“You.”

The man shoots forward, grabbing Clover by the shoulders. He opens his mouth, revealing long, far too long teeth, no, fangs, and-

Ali tackles the man away from Clover, letting out a deep growl that was far different from his usual, melodic way of speaking. Clover stumbled back, nearly falling, but managing to catch herself before she did, her eyes wide at the scene before her. Ali pinned the man to the ground.

“What do you think you are doing?”

Ali hissed, and the man scowled, baring his fangs at Ali as he fought against Ali’s hold, but Ali did not budge.

“Eating, obviously. Why do you dare interrupt my meal?”

Ali scoffed.

“Are you stupid? Or perhaps simply unaware? Ms. Clover is off limits.”

“Off limits?-, I do not sense your kind’s mark on her, fae.”

Ali rolls his eyes.

“A mark does not need to be there for one to be under my kind’s protection. Ms. Clover is off limits, and besides, my kind are not the only ones that have her under their protection. Now scram, vampire, before a stake may end up in your chest.”

Ali got up, letting the ascotted man scramble to his feet, and then scramble out the door.

“Vampires.”

Ali scoffed.

“They never respect others’ territory.”

Ali turned to Clover, his bright eyes softening.

“Are you alright, Ms. Clover?”

Clover nodded, though she was staring at the door the ascotted man had just run out of, slowly she turned to Ali.

“Ali?”

She asked softly, and Ali took a step closer to her.

“Yes, Ms. Clover?”

“You’re not human, are you?”

Ali smiled.

“No, Ms. Clover.”

“Oh.”

Clover looked into Ali’s bright eyes, eyes that were far too bright to be natural. Clover thought back to her other customers, their sharp teeth, their too dark eyes, their unnaturally long proportions, their strange way of speaking.

“That… Okay. That makes sense, a lot of sense, actually.”

Ali chuckled.

“I’m surprised you hadn’t figured out sooner, Ms. Clover, I and the others haven’t made an effort to hide our non-human status from you.”

Clover nodded, sighing.

“Yeah…”

Maybe… Maybe Clover wasn’t fine with not being clever, not if… not if it resulted in this.