It was a nice, calm Sunday evening at the little on-campus diner. Asriel and his roommate (another monster like him), Norma where talking with each other as they waited for their server.
"Did you see the work Professor Babaril gave us for the break?" Norma complained. "Six page research paper with at least ten listed citations!"
"We were given a month to work out the details." Asriel interjected. "What were you doing this entire time?"
"Sunflower," Norma then said, leaning close to the goat monster, "There are better things I'd like to do with my life than spend it on a pointless research paper."
"A pointless research paper that's worth 25% of your final grade."
Norma gave Asriel an indifferent roll of their scaly shoulder before taking the attention elsewhere. That elsewhere so happened to be the door for the kitchen, and the waitress that came out of said door.
"Don't look now," Norma then said, "But they're giving us the cute one today."
Confused, Asriel looked to where Norma was looking anyway. He immediately looked away again- it was the cute one alright, with her tiny frame and crystalline blue eyes that haunted you in your dreams. Orenda Sera was her name, and she had those little quirks that could make her endearing one day and creepily mystifying on another. Asriel knew her -more than he would ever admit to anyone- and she was by far the best waitress at the diner.
"When you are going to start wearing skates like everyone else?" Norma snorted when Orenda approached their table.
"When I no longer have human feet." she replied with a gentle laughter.
"You still don't like wearing shoes?" Norma then teased, looking down at Orenda's slippers. Taking a moment to realize what the monster was talking about, Orenda looked down at her feet before looking up at them with a gentle smile.
"I'm still trying to protest going barefoot." the young woman admitted. "I mean, these slippers are close, but it's not the same. Monsters are able to do it, so why can't I?"
"Because you might get sick." Asriel reminded her.
"But I'm a big girl, and you're not my mother, Asriel." came the sweet answer, causing the goat monster to blush a little. Orenda gave a small giggle this time. She then said to the both of them, "The usual then?"
"You got it Moonflower." Norma agreed with a wink. Writing everything down, Orenda gave a smile and nod before going back to the kitchen.
"You know," Norma then mused, leaning back on the booth seat, "She may not like shoes, but Orenda sure can move just as fast as those waiters with roller skates. Maybe even faster. What do you think Sunflower? Or were you too busy looking at her butt?"
"Grow up." Asriel hissed, giving his friend a playful shove. Norma shrugged it off and laughed at Asriel's expense.
"You two would be so cute together." Norma whined- almost a bit too loud. "Her super creepy blue eyes, and your-"
"Super scary horns?"
"What? No! Your ability to make everyone (well, almost everyone) smile. You'd really bring out another side of Moonflower no one's seen before, you know? 'Cause, if you haven't noticed, she really doesn't talk as much to anyone like she does with us."
"That's because we're regulars."
"Sure, whatever. No man, it's because she likes you. Like, super likes you. You need to ask her out before some other dude does."
"And that would be awful." Asriel bemoaned in a very insincere tone that Norma caught on to.
"Sunflower, I'm telling you-" Norma continued to argue. Asriel tuned them out with a light smile. The goat monster stared out the window while the two waited for their food to come out. It was a nice day outside; same that the diner didn't have an outdoor seating area. But then again, if it did, he wouldn't be able to see Orenda work inside…
After Norma and Asriel finished dinner, the two were discussing the bill.
"I'll do it." Asriel offered, not that Norma was going to jump in anytime soon.
"Hey now," the other monster mused, "I brought enough to cover mine!" and with that pulled out just enough to cover the cost of their meal. Asriel looked over the money before looking back at Norma with a teasing grin.
"You're five dollars short- you got dessert today, remember?"
Norma let out a fake scoff to feign surprise. "We agreed that you would pay for dessert Dreemur!"
"Funny," came the cheeky answer, "I don't remember that."
Norma did not look amused as Asriel laughed at their expense, going ahead with paying for the rest of the meal anyway. Norma, still pretending to be annoyed, gave another scoff to look away from Asriel for a few moments before looking back.
"I swear that every time you deal with the tip, you give Moonflower more and more." Norma noted as Asriel placed down a 20 for the tip. The monster looked up at his roommate, giving a wide, mischievous smirk before saying, "Are you compensating for something Sunflower?"
"Grow up." Asriel hissed, not at all amused by whatever idea Norma was trying to hint at. The goat monster then hesitated for a moment before quickly placing a quarter next to the 20 as Orenda started to come back over. Norma couldn't help but snort in amusement.
"Just ask her out, Sunflower."
Asriel refused to answer, instead giving a small smile to himself that gave away to Norma that there was something he wasn't telling them. And Norma hated it.
. . .
Orenda preferred to stay late at the diner. The empty diner's kitchen, with only a single, swinging light above her as she washed dishes, was like the calm after the storm- it was a wonderful time to just get lost in her own thoughts and forget the world outside the diner for a little while. Sometimes she'd hum to herself to further help time pass, other times she'd play a CD from the dusty CD player that sat on a shelf by the freezer. Tonight, she felt like doing a little bit of both.
You know, my darling, I can't stand to sleep alone;
No sweetheart in the dark to call my own.
You're my own, you're my own, I can sing it, I can groan;
But the darkness is a stranger and I'm lonely, lonely, lonely, low…
Little did the human woman realize that someone had entered the diner from the back entrance (that was always unlocked until the last person left, which tonight meant her). They quietly crept their way through the diner to the kitchen door. From there, they seemed to linger to watch her continue to be caught up in her own world. The stranger looked at her with the same puppy-like admiration one would have for their sweetheart, and dared not to break her out of her happy trance.
Lonely, lonely, lonely, 'cause my mama told me;
The dream of love is a two hearted dream!
"Isn't the diner closed now, miss?"
Thoroughly shocked, Orenda let out a scream as she whipped her body around to see who had spoken. When she saw who it was, she immediately let out a sigh of relief.
"Asriel," she sighed, "Don't scare me like that."
"Sorry..." the goat monster immediately apologized, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "But the last time I came in, I tried to give you a hug and you gave me a broken jaw."
Orenda gave a knowing smirk. "Well, if you didn't insist on seeing me so late, or at least warned me when you were going to visit, then I wouldn't have panic attacks and you wouldn't be physically attacked."
Asriel gave a nervous chuckle before walking over to her, so they could be closer for a more intimate conversation.
"Norma wanted me to ask you out again." he told her, more as if he were speaking a thought.
"Oh did they?" Orenda hummed as she took up a new dish to scrub. "You should tell them that I'm already seeing someone."
Asriel gave a snort as he started to wrap his arms around the human's tiny frame. The goat monster was always so afraid of hugging her too tight, in fear that she may snap in two if held too tightly.
"I think I prefer us this way instead." he mumbled while burying his head into her neck. "No judgments, no one spying on us, and no moms to force you to church when you kiss one girl in some stupid game you didn't even want to be a part of..."
"Speaking of mothers," Orenda then teased as she spun around to be face to face with Asriel, "I heard you were going back home for the holiday?"
Perhaps in knowing what was coming, Asriel took a step back from Orenda. "Yeah, I am." Feeling guilty, he looked away from her to add, "I'm still not ready for you to meet them yet. Especially Mom..."
"If the way you make her out to be is any indication, I don't think I want to either."
"She really isn't that bad..." Asriel tried to cover up, despite both of them knowing he had already made his point. "I think that if anyone wouldn't like you, it would be Kris, but that's because we're real close. But once Kris gets to know you, I'm sure you two would be friends."
Orenda gave a small smile at the idea. Asriel talked about Kris a lot; a trouble maker, practically the antithesis of their older brother, and -above all else- Kris was…
The vessel has been created.
Without warning, Orenda let out a shrill, earsplitting scream that nearly gave Asriel a heart attack. The human continued to scream as she grabbed her head as if it were in a fit to burst, and she fell to the ground in a crumbled heap of pain.
"Orenda!" Asriel immediately reacted, trying to catch her and mostly failing. She hit the ground softly, at least, but that did not stop her from screaming like someone was murdering her.
We have been connected.
Sleep Alone (c) Bat for Lashes (Natasha Kahn), The Echo Label, and Parlophone Records Limited
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