Selene tossed her coat onto the floor as she came into the house, not bothering to properly store it on the coat hook. Pulling the tie from her hair, she tossed it to the side as well and finally dropped onto the couch. "I smell like coffee and pity tips." She knew she was talking to herself, but who else would she talk to? She lived alone. Groaning and reaching behind her back, she untied her apron and let her arm hang off the side of the couch.
All day.
All. Damn. Day.
Bikers, in and out. Loud, obnoxious bikers. One guy was so huge, he had to be given a bowl of coffee instead. There was only one polite one, and it was only because he didn't talk. The noise of their glasses scraping against the wood of the tables was torment.
Why did she work there again?
Selene lifted her head and looked over to the dusty piano in the corner of her apartment.
Right. Schooling costs money.
She groaned and turned over on the couch, staring at the ceiling. She knew she needed sleep, but she had another shift in five hours. These back-to-backs were murdering her internally. Maybe she should use some of her sick and vacation days. "Nah...I need to save up. Now lets see. Sleep, or noodles."
Getting up off of the couch, Selene stretched and yawned as she headed to the kitchen. "Should eat, can't function if I don't eat. Can't focus at work if I don't eat." Prying open her stuck cabinets, she looked over the selection of dried noodle cups at her disposal. "Chicken, beef, shrimp...cheese...hm."
A text alert snapped her from the thoughts of delicious noodles.
Going back to the living room and digging through her backpack, Selene let out a groan at the preview of the message on her screen.
'Can you work a double tomorrow? Boss says you can get overtime for it.'
Her thumb ran over the edge of the screen, then she glanced at the clock.
It was one in the morning.
She had another shift in five hours. Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard on her phone before becoming a blur to respond to the text.
'Who would I be covering for, Luna?'
'Me? I wouldn't be asking if it was someone else'
'I didn't know-'
'S'okay, Selene. I'm asking because I've got some doctors appointments tomorrow and a slew of other errands'
Selene looked up from her phone again to gaze at the clock.
Damn it.
She knew she should say no, mostly for her own sanity and sleep, and even if she said yes, it wouldn't be just because Luna is a friend. She needed to save for schooling.
Another text alert.
'Selene? You okay?'
'Huh? Yeah. How long is your shift? I think I can swing it.'
'Well how long is yours? I know you work in like five hours.'
'I asked you first, Luna.'
'...Mine is like? Til close?'
Selene took a deep breath and expelled it harshly in a sigh when she read that.
'Alright. But I get your free drink for the day.'
'Deal. And I'll get you something in return.'
'Nononono, you don't have to-'
'Alright, I won't if you don't want me to. Thanks for covering for me. And maybe have something other than noodles for dinner. So salty. Bleh.'
'I run on salt and spite.'
'Sure you do. :P Gnight Selene!'
Selene yawned and locked her phone, heading back into the kitchen. "Maybe this nonsense with Garmadon will be over soon and the shop will be back to normal." She grabbed the cup of cheese flavored noodles and smacked it on the counter a couple times, walking past the microwave and going back to the couch in the living room. Glancing at the television, she shook her head.
Nothing on to watch with the Sons of Garmadon taking over the stations.
She peeled back the paper lid on the cup and stuck her hand in, tossing a handful of cheese dust covered raw noodles into her mouth. Blinking a couple times, she swallowed the bite and rubbed her eyes with the back of her sleeve.
They felt dry.
Probably from not sleeping right.
After eating half of the noodles, Selene stood up and put it in the fridge, heading to her bedroom. "Wonder if that silent biker will come back tomorrow." She yawned and dropped down on her bed, not bothering to change clothes for sleep. She could squeeze in a hot shower before her shift. "It's nice when customers are quiet." Selene lazily stared at the clock on her bedside table, eyes rolling back in her head as she nearly dozed off. "Gotta sleep. If I can...stupid..giant sentient rocks stomping through the city might wake me up later-" She was asleep within moments.
Hours later her alarm tore her from the dream she'd been having, though she couldn't make sense of it. Reaching over and slapping the off button on her alarm clock, Selene panted and tried to catch her breath as she stared at the bed. She felt sick. Her stomach burned as though she'd been cut open. Shakily placing her hand on her stomach, she felt along it as though she expected to find some wound.
The dream had been absolutely nonsense.
A dry desert land, and the vision had been blurred. Everything cut to black shortly before waking.
Taking a few breaths to try and calm herself, she peeled the blanket from her body and got out of bed. Heading into the bathroom, Selene looked at herself in the mirror and shivered.
What was that dream about? Whatever it was, it didn't feel like it had happened yet.
"What, am I having prophetic dreams now?" She shook her head, attempting to calm down. "Not a real thing. Not a real thing. Not-" Selene stopped and held her head, rubbing her eyes. She had rubbed a bit too hard, being temporarily blinded by the swirls of purple as her eyes readjusted. "Fuck. I gotta get ready for work."
Deciding that she looked presentable enough, she quickly brushed through her hair and tied it up. "Heyyy, who looks totally rested and can pull through two shifts today?" She gave herself awkward finger guns in the mirror, then groaned. "Oh, this is gonna go well."
Heading out, she nearly slammed the door. She wasn't angry, she was just exhausted and ready to get today over with. Selene made her way to the crosswalk, she softly smacked the button to trigger the signal. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she checked the time and noticed a text from Luna.
What the fuck?
Was her phone being garbage again and not chiming when she got notifications?
"I gotta get this replaced...maybe." Maybe she could make it stretch for another year. It had only been what, three years since she got this? Flipping open the message, she glanced at the crossing signal to make sure it hadn't changed to 'walk' yet.
It hadn't. Good.
'Did you make it to work?'
'Sorry Luna, yeah not yet, m'at the crosswalk right now. Y'know, ol' glitchy. Sorry I didn't see this til now. Swear my phone is ready to go to the great tech yard in the sky. Your shift is 4 til close yeah?'
'Yeah! Just make sure and uh, not die during this shift. I know you worked a double for me last week but u should still eat lunch and stuff. You're a great friend for covering for me but don't push yourself too hard!'
'Yeah, I'll try not to. Gotta get paid somehow.'
'You can't collect your paycheck if you're passed out.'
'Fair.'
Selene looked up when the light changed and crossed, turning the corner to enter the shop. She waved to Cascara, the droid that owned the place and grabbed her apron. "Really appreciate you implementing this 'make/bring your own apron' thing, Cascara."
The droid smiled and chuckled. "And I appreciate you using my name, unlike those-"
"The people who still call you-"
"Yes."
Selene shook her head. "Nah. I'll call you whatever you wanna be called. Oh, did Luna tell you that I'm covering for her today?"
Cascara frowned. "She did, but are you sure you can handle it?"
Selene seemed momentarily distracted, logging in to her profile on the community computer to report for work. "Huh? Yeah I can handle it. Why do you as-"
A loud screech suddenly echoed in her ears, causing everything to become muffled.
It sounded like a warning.
She blinked and turned to Cascara. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what? Are you sure you're alright?" She crossed her arms, trying to make sense of what Selene was talking about.
Selene listened for the sound again, sighing. "Right, maybe I'm getting tinnitus or hearing things from my garbage sleep schedule." She halfheartedly chuckled. Clasping her hands together when she finished signing in for work, she grinned. "Alright, let's get this day started! I'll be in the back prepping coffee and the pastries!"
Cascara shrugged as she watched Selene go to the back, beginning to set up the front for the day.
As the hours tick by, Selene stares intently at the chocolate filling for this pastry that just won't mix. "Listen, you. I don't like you, and you don't like me. But you need to get mixed so you can be a delicious pastry filling." She begins to mix it again, stopping when she hears the door to the kitchen open.
Cascara frowned when she saw the currently partially mixed filling. "Not that I wish to interrupt you from...whatever this is, but a customer wishes to know if he can get boba in one of our signature glass cups. Do we have any made? Or are we out of tapioca pearls like last week?"
Selene lifted her head and turned to look at the Hypnobrai that was mixing the milk tea together. "Strax, is that done? Think we can get a fresh cup?"
Strax lifted his head. "Of courssse. Plastic cup?" He held up a basic looking plastic cup and large straw.
"Nah. Customer wants the fancy glass." Selene frowned at her chocolate filling. "Do you think you can try and fix this for me? So I can prep the cup and bring it out to him?"
"Iss it not beyond repair?" He came over, peering into the bowl. "Ah. You're not wissking hard enough. I can fix thiss."
Selene shrugged and got up, going over to the sink and washing her hands before grabbing the cup. It took her a minute to find it, not many customers that came in had the time to sit and finish a whole cup of boba. "Busy busy busy…" She muttered to herself and sighed. "Isn't that the way everyone is these days? Listen to me, I sound like an old man." Pulling the glass down and making sure it was clean, she filled it with fresh boba and gave it a nice fruit garnish. Selene smiled at it, proud of how nice it looked. Carefully picking it up, she carried it out of the kitchen.
"Oh thanks babe, you have no idea what I've been through to get some nice boba."
"Oh please, it wasn't that bad. You're so dramatic."
"You know it, babe."
Those voices.
No.
No.
It couldn't be.
Was she asleep at work? Was she dreaming right now?
Maybe.
A clatter of dishes from the back unfortunately reminded her that she was in reality. Still, she could be...hallucinating, maybe? Her fingers tensed around the glass, she didn't want to lift her head to look at the customer, but she had to. Taking a breath and slowly lifting her head, she froze when she saw who it was.
The hallucination.
The dream people.
A man who looked as though he'd been fused with metal and skin.
A pale blonde droid with clouds etched into her skin.
No sound left Selene's mouth as it dropped open in shock and she lost her grip on the glass. She promptly passed out, dropping to the floor.