Hazel set a heavy crate of Dust down in the back of the shop. His back was aching. It had been for most of the day, since he'd been hard at work the second that he'd come in and his boss hadn't come in for a personal reason. It didn't help that it was a slow day, a little too quiet for his tastes, all things considered. Having slept poorly the night before only added upon the strain that he was feeling.
But it gave him a chance to catch up on stocking in the back so he did that, only going up to the front of the shop when the little bell above the door rang to indicate that a customer had arrived.
Gretchen was supposed to be arriving back at Beacon that night, Hazel reminded himself as he stretched and walked to the front of the shop again, just to make it clear that someone was in fact there. Usually he wasn't left alone at the store, but it happened every so often.
So for a little bit he just stood there and checked some order statuses for the shop. There was a couple of people that were meant to be coming in to pick up some Dust later on in the day. He'd need to be there for them, and then if his boss didn't arrive he'd have to stay until close at the very least.
Hazel hoped that Gretchen wouldn't go to his apartment thinking that he would be there. After all, she was supposed to come and see him, and they were going to have dinner together. If he was stuck at work until close, then he wouldn't have the time to make something for them to eat. He could go up to Beacon to see her, but that wasn't exactly appropriate.
After some thought, Hazel sent a single message off to his sister, just to let her know that he was probably staying late.
She didn't answer him.
She hadn't answered him even hours later.
But she was on a mission, Hazel told himself. It was entirely likely that she just didn't have the time to answer messages.
But then hours later, Hazel was locking up the shop and on his way back to his apartment, with horrible worry stirring in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't just ignore. There was something wrong, and he didn't know what it was.
His sister was supposed to be home.
It was just a training mission, Hazel began to tell himself on repeat. There was a veteran huntsman with the team, they were fine. It was possible that they were just running behind schedule, but also…
What if that wasn't it? What if there was something going on, something that he was missing, something that he was dreading?
In the end, Hazel spent most of his night at the kitchen table that he'd salvaged from his father's home, nursing a mug of tea that he'd sweetened with the red syrup that Gretchen had brought him. It went cold after an hour, and Hazel never bothered to heat it back up, or pour himself another cup.
He was too sick to sleep. Too sick to eat, to do anything other than sit there and stare at his scroll.
But the morning came without him hearing anything, and Hazel forced himself through his day. He forced himself to go to work even though he was exhausted and hunger clawed at his stomach. He forced himself to carry box after box of Dust and to stock shelves, and when it was time for his break he could think of nothing to do but sit at the tiny plastic table in the back and read the little usage manual that came with every Dust shipment. He'd likely read it fifteen times over at that point, but it wasn't as though there was much else to do.
It was nearing the end of his shift when his boss came into the back room where Hazel was sweeping out some debris that had gathered over the day.
"Hazel." He said, his voice serious. "Someone is here to see you."
All at once, that cold dread settled into every fibre of Hazel's being once more. Worse than it had ever before, so bad that he could barely breathe all of a sudden. If it had been Gretchen, his boss would have told him.
But he leaned the broom against a shelf and dusted his hands off before he went to the front.
Professor Ozpin was standing there.
Hazel froze in the doorway.
No.
It couldn't be.
All at once Hazel
Just
Went
Numb.