Chapter Text
James sighed, leaning against the counter and playing with the dog tags dangling around his neck. A glance at the clock confirmed what he already knew--it was that time of day, when nobody came around. Too late for the morning rush for coffee, too early for casual customers. Except for one regular, who should be coming in soon...
As if on cue, the bell over the door rang and James perked up. At the door was the only regular James actually recognised as such, though he was pretty hard to miss either way. He was tall, almost obscenely so, with a pronounced slouch and a little paunch belly that he actually hid pretty well. He always had a hat on his head and aviators perched on his crooked nose, and when he approached the counter he gave James a crooked little smile that pulled at the tiny scar across his cheek and showed he had lightly yellowing teeth that were oddly sharp and crooked.
He always ordered the same black coffee, giving the name "Lawrence."
Really, with the way James looked at him every day, he shouldn't have been surprised to find the phone number scribbled on his coffee cup.