The Night Shift
By Cybra
To Tako: Thanks for the super-cool drawing!
Disclaimer: Codename: Kids Next Door belongs to this one guy named Tom Warburton.
Numbuh 86 always hated working the "night" shift on Moon Base. It was always so quiet, so boring during the hours of 2100 to 0600 EST. However, she was required to take a turn on the night shift every once in a while. Sometimes she even volunteered for it in order to get some of her work done.
That, of course, did not mean that she had to like the night shift, of course.
She yawned, covering her mouth with her right hand. What she needed was some hot chocolate, heavy on the chocolate. The late hour and quiet were conspiring against her.
She rose from her desk and wandered out of her office towards the cafeteria. Moon Base—though not deserted—was always hushed during this shift. The operatives rushing about seemed to be exceptionally careful not to disturb the silence, their steps as soft yet hurried as possible.
The cafeteria was filled with kids eating dinner—or breakfast, in some cases. Yet few words were spoken, giving the illusion that the cafeteria was actually inhabited by ghosts of operatives from long ago.
The head of decommissioning retrieved her hot chocolate and sat down at a corner table, sipping the hot drink and waiting for the sugar and caffeine to hit her system.
A gentle cough drew her attention upwards.
"Can I join you?" Numbuh 274 asked softly.
She glared at him. The last thing she wanted was the company of a boy. Oh, sure, she respected Numbuh 274—who didn't?—but he was still a boy.
He seemed to have taken her glare as acquiescence to his request for he sat down in front of her. In his hand, he also held a mug of the kids' substitute for coffee.
Despite his sitting down, he did not say anything to her. That was fine. She really did not want to say anything to him either.
They sipped their hot chocolate in silence. She vaguely wondered why he had chosen to sit with her but did not ask. If he wanted to sit at that particular table, that was his business.
She finished her hot chocolate. "I need to go back to work."
She did not know why she said that. There was no reason to explain that to him. Maybe it was because he had chosen to be her companion for that brief break during the long night.
He nodded and rose from his chair as well. "I better go, too."
They parted ways.
The next night, she found herself walking up to the hot chocolate machine. After retrieving the hot drink, she settled down at the same table as the previous night.
She had not been seated for a minute when the gentle cough of before caught her attention.
"Can I join you?" Numbuh 274 asked.
Eighty-Six glared at him, just as she had done before, but he again seemed to take this as an invitation to sit down. She sighed to herself and focused on her hot chocolate.
Why did he insist on sitting with her?
Once again, they passed the time bent over their respective drinks in silence. And just like the night before, she told him when she was leaving, and he left at the exact same time.
She returned to her desk, ready to tackle the rest of the night. She only paused for a moment to ponder again why 274 had stopped by her table before pushing him from her mind.
Numbuh 86 had landed herself the night shift for the entire week. At around the same time every night, she would begin to become drowsy and make her way to the cafeteria. Once there, she would retrieve her hot chocolate and make her way to her favorite corner table.
And somehow he would always be there within a minute of her, a cup of hot chocolate of his own in his hand. He would ask her if he could join her, she would glare, and he would sit down. They would drink their drinks in silence and then leave at the same time.
The nightly ritual puzzled Eighty-Six. Why would Numbuh 274 go out of his way to take a break when she did? Why would he sit at her table? She was not exactly the most well-liked operative in the Kids Next Door.
As she arrived at her office on the last night of her turn for the night shift, she saw a package on her desk. She cautiously approached it. One never knew if the Kids Next Door had been compromised and an enemy agent had targeted you.
Numbuh 86 felt silly as she realized the package contained only a harmless—and sealed—tin of hot chocolate. She picked it up and broke the seal, allowing the powder's rich aroma to fill her nostrils.
Also inside the package was a note. She picked it up.
"I enjoyed our little hot chocolate breaks. Maybe we can do it again sometime.—274"
Maybe the night shift was not so bad after all.