Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS.
Please do read my slightly oversized author's note at the end. It kind of explains things. And I want you to. So just do it, kay? Kay. Read on:
Behind the front counter of Pet Logic, there is a small room in which encased is a smaller table, a portable microwave, some magazines, the necessities to pursue the art of coffee making, and other pointless items. Upon the door to this room lies an 'Employees Only' sign, two of which were inside now.
"So..." a geeky appearing young man began towards his new coworker. "What exactly inspired you to work at a pet store? I mean, obviously, it's not all that great." He motioned around the bleak room, nodding his head with disdain.
The girl sipped her black coffee, scrunching her nose a little at the bitterness of it. She turned to him, expression devoid of emotion, and answered with a simple, "Let's just say that it's not exactly out of love for animals." She smirked a little to herself at the irony of that statement as she walked away, moving to the counter where two teenage boys were giggling like school girls.
"Dude..." one of them managed to hiccup as she approached them.
"What is up with your hair?" the other quickly finished before breaking into hysterics again. The girl simply rolled her eyes, rationally assuming that they were referring to the fact that her wavy locks were violet.
"Are you here to buy something for your mother, or merely to taunt someone who makes more money than you?" she replied with dripping bitter sarcasm; being an empath definitely did work to her advantage sometimes.
The young men abruptly halted their snickering, positions stiffening to glare at her, then finally stalked out of the store without another word. As they left, the door's small canary bell jingled loudly, somehow lightening the atmosphere.
"Whoa." her nerdy aquaintance sauntered up behind her. "Impressive... very." His face resembled that of a text emoticon; he would never have had the guts to stand up against those goons.
The young woman smirked knowingly and nodded a thanks, returning to her busy work in the barron pet store.
: :
"You know, I never even got your name." Walter, the 'four-eyed' employee, and his violet-haired working peer were lounging in the small back room after closing time.
"Rachel. Rachel Roth." She turned and placed a small teacup, filled to the brim with tap water, in the microwave.
"...You never answered me, either."
"What?" Rachel asked monotonously, glancing at him as she carefully removed her cup.
"Why you're working here. You never really told me." Walter responded, fiddling with his work keys, dangling nonchalantely on a golden metal ring.
"...Well, not that it's any of your business, but..." Rachel glared at him, then relaxed, sighing heavily. "My friend wanted me to work here; to say that he loved animals would be a spectacular understatement."
"Loved?" Walter interrogated. "Soooo... What? You're not friends anymore or something...?"
Rachel rolled her head back to look towards the ceiling, thinking. "Um, well, I guess you could say that we're still friends..." Rachel replied, squinting confusedly. She gently grazed the surface of the steaming water with her pinky finger, then, unsatisfied, stuck it back in the microwave and continued to let it heat for another minute.
"...I don't underst-" Walter began, but was interrupted by a rather loud, exaggerated sigh from Rachel.
"Me working with animals was practically his dying wish, okay?" She finally blurted out. She watched as Walter's eyes immediately widened, then he frantically started apologizing.
"Oh my... crap, I'm, uh... My gosh. I am so sorry." he attempted.
"Seriously, it's-" *Beep!* Rachel grabbed the cup from the microwave and popped the tiny door back shut. "-okay." she quickly finished before gathering her stuff and briskly walking away.
: :
Walter had already gone promptly after Rachel had told him the truth, and she was now locking up for the night. She turned away from the store's front doors to meet the darkness of the night, a brisk wind suddenly slicing through the atmosphere and racking her petite form with an unexpected shiver. The only light provided were the dimly illuminated street lamps, and a few flickering neon signs of nearby shops, parlors and diners.
Rachel heard a small clinking sound near her, and turned slightly to the left to see the silhouettes of two guys leaning against the glaring display window. Squinting, she could tell that they were the lanky boys who had made fun of her hair earlier.
Deciding that they were nothing to panic about, she casually leaned on the door sideways, against her left shoulder. "What do you want?" She asked in her usual monotone.
"Don't be like that, baby. You know it's nothin' you don't want." one of them replied, winking as he walked towards her.
"Uhm, first of all, ew." Rachel responded, contorting her face in a disgusted fashion. "Secondly, I'm warning you. Stay away from me."
The two men snickered. "Oh yeah?" the second one said cooly. "Or else what?"
"You don't want to know." Rachel replied, glaring harshly. Though she knew- or rather told herself- that she wasn't in danger, her heart pounded in her chest; Something didn't feel right. Nevertheless, she kept up her leniant facade. The other man stepped around Rachel and slammed his fist on the plexiglass; they were now on either side of her.
"You're in no position to bargain, little lady." he said.
Rachel lazily raised an eyebrow at the lameness of his slight attempt at western slander. "Really? Movie quotes? Ooh, I'm petrified." she replied sarcastically, rolling her deep purple eyes.
The men seething, this comment apparently having pissed them off, Rachel's hands suddenly began to glow with dark magic. She absorbed the guy to her right in a black aura and flung him to the left, sending him flying into a lamp post.
She was about to turn around and dispose of the other man as well, when she felt the chill of cold metal press against the small of her back. After lightly shuddering, she slowly turned around, the magic at her fingertips dissapating while her hands remained raised in front of her shoulders. Now, held just below the bottom of her chest, was the thin barrel of a shotgun.
"It'll be a lot easier if you don't scream." The homly man recited with a maniacal, crooked smile. Rachel closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact of a thick bullet soaring through her ribcage.
"Hey, leave 'er alone!"
DUN DUN... DUNNNN. I know, it's a cliff-y, but I do so love to tease. It gives me a sense of power, and I need to abuse something. But I swear I won't keep you waiting for too long. Pinky-promise.
This... this I have been working on forever. But the old one was just a big piece of poo, and I've re-written it like 3 times, and... well, voila, I guess. I'd like to apologize for a) To anyone who read this before, I dropped it like a bad habit. But I fix it, so you love me, yes? x] &b) Any grammar issues; long story short, Microsoft Word hates me, so until I talk to some guy (more than likely in India), I'm forced to use WordPad- which doesn't have spell check. Stupid, right? So, anyways, my apologies for any typos or anything. I'm too lazy to go read back through it and look for them. Maybe, some day, when I feel more love from other people to this story, I will. (:
On a not-really-brighter note, DUDE. When is the last time I was on here, nevertheless posted anything? Omigawd. It's just... wow. I just feel so bad. I basically just disappeared off the face of fanfiction for, like, a year. Sheesh. Not to mention all my other (coughunfinished) stories are crap. Just... just no. Guh. Anyways.
Now, while you're reviewing, which of course you'll be doing, I mean, who doesn't? Amiright?
Please feel free to leave any questions, comments, suggestions, ANYTHING. Seriously, I'm desperate. And it motivates me. Anywho, two, maybe three days tops before I update this. Or if you're really nice and leave said reviews, I might even update tomorrow. :o
So satisfy my review-whoreism, and we'll be on good terms, okay? Okay. Thanks. (:
Much thanks for actually reading this if you did (and if you didn't, YOU SUCK). - Sadly, said people that suck will never see that. BECAUSE YOU SUCK.
YA'LL COME BACK NOW, Y'HEAR? 3