Non-Human Chemistry

AN: Hey there everyone! My name is Valamere and I would like to firstly thank you for taking the time to click on to my story. I have been an avid reader on this site for quite a while and finally, after a bit of trepidation, have decided to put pen to paper or fingers to keys if you will and write my own story for others to view. Without further ado I present to you, my distinguished reader, the first chapter of Non-Human Chemistry.

Chapter 1

A strong wind blew through the sparsely populated streets, snaking its way through every side road and alleyway. Guarding himself from the wind's advances, a solitary man making his way down the quiet street pulled his coat tighter around himself, his arms wrapped around him in a feeble attempt to retain even some of the lingering heat from his freshly ironed shirt. He cursed under his breath as he surveyed the grey, miserable morning. With the wind seemingly calmed down, only producing faint occasional whistles as it blew through the city, the man stopped to readjust himself. His sleek dark hair lay neatly on his head, a parting the only noticeable feature as it drew his hair to one side. Outwardly, the man looked slender and of average height, not terribly muscular which was accentuated by how his grey coat clung to him. He was dressed smart but comfortably, a white shirt, black trousers and a long grey coat made up his attire. One could quite easily infer a few things about the man, he seemed calm and quietly confident, each stride sure and steady, back straight and eyes forward. But if the bags under his eyes were anything to go off something was working the man down, nevertheless it did not seem to be affecting him in the slightest, his eyes glinting with a hint of excitement on his seemly content face. He continued making his way down the street to the source of his fatigue, as he drew closer to the familiar building his lips curled into a relaxed smile, the university chem labs, where he had spent countless hours, coming into view. If today went well then he would have all the data required to finish off his paper, with that in mind he quickened his pace as he walked through the door, If there was one man who couldn't say no to his work, it was this man, Darren Bishop.

-Time Skip-

Darren strolled out of the doors many hours later, a satisfied smile across his face as he stretched his arms, a bag full of books and notes dangling off his right shoulder. The grey clouds from earlier had dispersed leaving a pleasant, bright day before him. Under the mid-afternoon sun, his feet worked on their own as he unthinkingly walked the familiar route to one of his frequently visited spots, a small but quaint little café nestled on the corner of one of the quieter streets near to the local park which situated itself near the centre of the city. The walk was out of the way from his home but if you asked him, 'No day was complete without a good brew after some hard, satisfying work.' There may have been another reason he frequented that café, but clueless as he was, he wasn't aware of it. As he strolled up to the little café, he couldn't help but appreciate the sight. Deep burgundy coated the wooden panelling that made up the front of the café, large windows allowed a view of the denizens enjoying their drinks and company but also made use of the natural light of the sun to illuminate the room and the mood. To top it all off a small dark wooden sign hung from above the door, it read: 'Bird's Nest Café'.

Opening the door, the small chime of a bell signalled the entrance of Darren to the other occupants of the café. Surveying the inside Darren saw the few familiar faces that frequented the place, each turning to offer a greeting to another regular. Smiling in turn, Darren made his way through the jumble of furniture in the room to his spot in the corner. As he shuffled past the varying armchairs, stools and rocking chairs that made their home in the café, a female voice shouted from the back room behind the counter,

"I'll be with you in one moment."

Taking his seat and placing his bag on the chair next to him the young man could not help but bathe in the familiar feeling that the café gave out. The warmth the room seemed to generate through its homely aesthetic to the fragrant aromas of the herbal teas and coffee, the place seemed to induce a state of calm and comfort that unknowingly brought a smile to his face. Turning to his bag, Darren unzipped it and began to search for a certain document containing observations and data that he had gathered earlier in the day. While rummaging around he heard light hurried footsteps coming towards his table. Looking up, his gaze was met by the familiar sight of Amy Blake, attempting to stand composed after hurriedly making her way over to his table. Darren had first met Amy a couple of years ago, a few years after coming to the city, when he had mistakenly walked into the café after becoming lost in an area he had never been to before. Amy was the owner of the café and had happily helped him in his predicament and only asked that he sit down and have a cup of tea with her before he left. They had talked and talked, enjoying each other's company. Ever since then they had become good friends and Darren attempted to frequent the café more and more before becoming a regular about a year later. As per usual she stood before him, small and lithe in build, her slightly tight, white café uniform helping to draw the eye to her modest curves. Though, that was not the only thing that drew the observer's eye, her dazzlingly blue eyes stood out beautifully against her dark hair that was currently in a ponytail. She subtly took in a breath before she spoke in her gentle and melodic manner.

"Hello Darren, how were things today at the university?"

"Really good thanks, I managed to get everything I needed to do out of the way, so I can focus on my paper now," Darren replied enthusiastically, Amy had to repress a giggle, she always found that work enthused side of him uplifting, and a tiny bit cute though she would never admit that to anyone. "But what about you, everything been okay here so far?"

"Well, you know, not busy but not entirely quiet either," She smiled, "I'll go get your usual ready, okay?" With that, she turned and skilfully weaved between the tables as she made her way to the back room. Faintly, Darren could hear her voice say, "Lana, can you get the shortbreads from the top shelf please?"

"Oh, Darren is here? You should have said earlier." With a few heavy footsteps a large female figure appeared in the doorway and locked on to Darren sitting in his corner. The Oni, standing at just under two metres in height, broke in to a smile and waved enthusiastically at him. "Darren! Great to see you, Amy was worried you weren't going to be in today because of the work you had to do, but like I told her, who would dare miss out on seeing Amy's cute face?" Darren laughed as he heard Amy's panicked voice muttering something about, having no idea what she was talking about.

The sight of the Oni greeting him enthusiastically may have been a shocking sight two years ago when the Interspecies Exchange Bill had just been implemented in the UK, but by now the sight of liminals had become another aspect of everyday life. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland had been rather slow in its negotiations with the liminal ambassadors and had implemented their Interspecies Exchange Bill one year after the frontrunner in liminal diplomacy and integration, Japan, had implemented theirs. Unfortunately even after two years since the Bill's implementation in the UK there was still unfounded animosity towards liminals from a fraction of the populace with greater, more open discrimination shown towards 'non-cute' liminal species. The 'cute' liminal species had done wonders in helping ease the main human populace's fears of misconceived ideas about non-human liminal species, with many liminals becoming large figures in media and pop-culture, such as singers, models and writers. While most of the populace did not discriminate against non-human liminal species, some continue to be quietly sceptical with their integration, but thankfully more are happy to embrace it. While liminals were now a part of everyday life the number of liminal residents going through the Interspecies Homestay Program as per the Cultural Exchange Program Act were not rare but by no means common, but this was due to the rigorous compatibility testing that the UK government put forward with their amended version of the Cultural Exchange Program Act. The UK government seemingly treated the situation as highly important and did not wish to tarnish their reputation due to incidents with ambassadors of the liminal species.

The Oni in front of him had been Amy's homestay since he had first met her, she was one of the first liminals in the exchange program and had been one of few who had been members of a trial for liminal workers. Her successful integration and hard work had helped to pass the legislation which allowed liminals to apply for work passes. Lana, the Oni in question, was wearing a larger version of the café's uniform which contrasted nicely with her red skin. Her brown hair was long and straight down her back almost reaching her waist, her young face was always as lively as she was red, unquestionably. Currently, after making her way over to Darren, she was suffocating him in a full on hug which had, to his dismay and the amusement of the others in the café, had lifted him off his feet and into the bosom of the childish Oni.

"Lana, please put him down and help me collect those cups from over there, I'd rather not lose a customer and friend." Amy said, appearing from the back room only to pityingly watch as Darren attempted to tap out, his legs dangling frantically.

"Okay!" was her cheery reply as she carefully dropped Darren back on the ground who unceremoniously fell back into the comfort of his chair. She then proceeded to make her way through the room to the recently vacated table where the plates and cups needed cleaning up.

"I'd apologise, but you've gotten used to it, haven't you?" Amy laughed, bringing a tray in one hand over to Darren, before placing a freshly brewed cup of Earl Grey tea and three shortbreads on their own plate. "I still remember the first time that happened, your face was priceless."

Darren chuckled alongside her, recalling the distant but fond memory of his first introduction to Lana. "If I remember correctly your face was equally hilarious, the look of terror as you thought I might have died." he shot back watching in satisfaction as her face tinged red.

"It wasn't that funny," she said, now on the defensive. She quickly scanned the room seeing if anyone needed anything or was about to finish, judging it to be safe she pulled out a chair and joined Darren at the table. "But anyway, I'm happy that you've almost finished with your research, if everything goes well you should get your doctorate when you're done, right?"

Darren simply nodded yes, currently in the middle of taking a sip from the cup placed in front of him, savouring the taste.

"Dr. Bishop," she said out loud, testing it out on the tongue, "I like the sound of it, and you deserve it for how much effort you have put in, and by the looks of it you haven't slept a decent night in the last month." A hint of concern now apparent in her voice.

"I swear I'm fine, all the hard work is out of the way now I'll be taking the next few days off before I get down to the full write up. I'll come over tomorrow when you open, okay?"

"I'm sorry, but we aren't going to be open tomorrow, Lana and I have things that just came up and we can't avoid. Saturdays are our busiest day, I can't afford to just miss out on it but things don't work like that." Amy began her voice rife with annoyance, at Darren's confused look she continued, "We have Lana's Coordinator coming over for an inspection and analysis tomorrow, it was going to be on Wednesday of next week when the café was closed but apparently things came up and they needed to move it to tomorrow, the timings are so atrocious that there is no point even opening the café for the hours we would be able to serve. Normally it would be fine, but my other employee comes back from holiday on Monday, why is this so annoying?" She finished, feeling a bit better that she was able to talk about her problem.

"Then why don't I help tomorrow?" Darren said simply, taking another sip of his tea.

"I couldn't ask you to do that, you've just gotten over a massive hurdle in your research and you look shattered." She began attempting to dissuade the notion.

"Well you don't have to ask, I'm offering. You've got some spare uniforms right? I'll get here for seven-thirty in time for an eight o'clock start. I'll run things 'til you two are free, 'kay?" He replied calmly taking a final sip of tea before reaching for the shortbreads.

"No! Look at you, you're tired to your core, I couldn't do that to you. I'd rather keep the café closed than exploit you like that." She said, her voice becoming slightly raised as she frantically disagreed with the man across from her.

"It'll be fine, okay? I won't do any work this evening, have a good meal then get an early night, I'll even call you when I turn in, I promise I won't push myself beyond what I can do. So please, let me help." Darren said softly, placing his hand atop hers and looking at her seriously.

Amy began to say something, but faltered as she looked at her best friend. Her cheeks reddened as he reassuringly squeezed her hand, she sighed before giving up and replying simply, "Thanks."

Darren merely smiled across at her. Amy didn't move a muscle, unwilling to break the moment she was having with her friend, but all good things must come to and end as the bell chimed signalling another customer, Darren turned to look and give a small greeting along with the other cafégoers, as such he missed the disappointment on Amy's face as she stood up. Quickly shaking her head, she regained her charismatic smile and said a quick goodbye before moving over to attend to the new customer.

Darren turned back to his bag and shortly pulled out the document he had been searching for previously, if he wasn't going to do any work tonight then better get started now. With that thought in mind he pulled out a pen and calculator before turning back to the list of observations and numbers, putting pen to paper he began his work.

AN: Well if you got this far then first of all, thanks! It means a lot.
There are a couple of things on the agenda which I would like to put forward, so here goes nothing:

1. As a new writer, reviews and any comments on my style of writing would be extremely appreciated. I would love to see what readers feel I can do better at so I can make this story the best it can be.

2. Would you like to discuss something? Have an idea? Simply have a chat? Please drop me a PM and I would be happy to discuss/talk with you!

3. Hopefully future chapters should be longer as things get going but we will have to see.

With that all said I hope you can join me by the fireside once again when I recount the next chapter of what will hopefully be a story to remember.

-Valamere