After surviving his first shift at Vera's, Nereus gets an unexpected invitation—late-night diner food with Kairos and Lyric. Over burnt coffee and questionable breakfast choices, the three of them settle into something that might become routine. Stories are traded. History is revealed. And at a rain-soaked crosswalk, three heartbeats find an accidental rhythm.

Sometimes belonging starts with someone holding the door open and expecting you to walk through.

Sometimes the worst first day of your life turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. Nereus just doesn't know it yet.

He stumbles into Vera's soaked, anxious, and certain he's made a terrible mistake. But inside, he finds something unexpected: a kitchen that moves like a symphony, a fox who treats chaos like performance art, and a chef whose calm somehow steadies the entire room.

Kairos runs the line with quiet precision. Lyric turns near-disasters into standing ovations. And Nereus? He just wants to survive the shift without breaking anything important.

But somewhere between the rush, the rain, and a late-night diner booth, three strangers start to fall into rhythm. A gravity they can't name. A pull they didn't plan.

This is where it begins.

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Content notes: Mild anxiety, found family themes, restaurant chaos