"You've gotta stop drinking so much on weeknights." Tania scolded, handing me Dustynol and coffee as usual. "You might end up snapping at a child."

"Tyler's nowhere in sight though," I joked, which got a small smile from the woman. "Seriously though, despite the hangover, I think I'll be fine for today. This one isn't too bad."

"Wine and Dine?" Tania queried. Thankfully, Tyler was not here to listen in.

"Yes, there was wine." I nodded. "There was definitely some dining, too."

"Ooh, did ya get her screaming?" She leaned on her register as she asked.

"She wasn't a screamer, so no." I answered.

"Or your cunnilingus game is weak." She remarked.

"I can prove that wrong." I retorted.

"I wouldn't mind." Tania said.

"Wouldn't your boyfriend?"

"Don't have one."

"Fancy that."

"…"

"…"

"When are you off?"

"Six-thirty, you?"

"Same."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I have high standards, you know."

"You won't be disappointed, Tania."

She smirked at me just as the clock struck at 7:00 AM, and the morning rush began.

. . . . .

She was tall, blonde, and had been walking around the store for the past ten minutes without really picking out anything. I was stuck alone on-shift on a Tuesday afternoon. This girl wasn't buying anything and I was getting a little irritated. The only reason why I wasn't yelling at her was because she was on a call on her Scroll. There were also the two large metal gauntlets loaded with shotgun shells on her arms; a clear sigh not to bother her.

"Can I help you, miss?" I called out to the girl. She finally turned her attention away from her Scroll and approached me.

"Well, I was told your store had robbed recently?" She had a bored tone. "Specifically of Neapolitan ice cream?"

"Nothing that I've heard of," I answered truthfully. "I was off for most of last week, so I've no knowledge of any incidents."

"Alright, sorry for wasting your time." She said. "It's just that, all of the local grocery stores have been suffering from the same crime, and Beacon students have been going around helping the authorities with this issue and uh, yeah."

"Yeah?" I repeated.

"No leads," She answered. "So if you see or hear anything, let the authorities know as soon as possible."

"Right, of course." I mentally rolled my eyes at the degree of security they were going for this ice cream raid. It's just ice cream. With that, the blonde Beacon student left the store. With her gone, I pulled out my Scroll and messaged Neo.

Me: Have you heard about the recent grocery store robbings?

Neo: Maybe

Me: Are you the one behind it?

Neo: A little bit…?

Me: You do know you could always keep coming here. You already get discounts and a few freebies.

Neo: Fine. How'd this come up anyway?

Me: Some blonde Beacon chick came down and asked about the recent robbery.

Neo: I can deal with her if you want.

Deal with her? I mouthed as I read it. I hope she didn't mean it in the violent way. In order to defuse a bomb that wasn't even timing down yet, I quickly responded. Although, the thought of having Neo on call for personally violent emergencies was tempting.

Me: Nah, no need.

Neo: Alright, if your so sure

Me: You're*

Neo: … You're lucky you're cute.

. . . . .

"Sir, I'm sorry I'm gonna need you to slow down, please." Tyler was doing his best to understand his current customer, from what I could hear from the staff room. Whoever he was dealing was quite troublesome, apparently.

I couldn't make much out of the customer's demands, most of it was a rambling, garbled mess. You see that clock? The one on the wall across the table from me? You see how the second hasn't reached the new hour yet? Exactly. Not my shift yet, so let's see how the newbie handles it. If Tania were here today, she would've been out there in a flash to help the boy, but our adopted son's gotta learn how to do some things on his own.

"Sir! You can't go in there! Ple—" Tyler's call was cut off by the door to the staff door opening to reveal a very lean, bespectacled man with wild green hair. I stood up to meet any sort of physical challenge, but something about this man told me not to meet him I any sort of confrontation.

"Yoursubordinateisinefficientinfindingsomethingsotrivialsuchascoffeemygoodman." He paused as if to gauge my reaction. This mystery man spoke in a crazed frenzy that I could never hope to match. It was almost comical, were it not for his very serious gaze. "NowareyoucompetentenoughtohelpmeorareyouustgoingtostandthereandallowmetorampgageoverthisentireshopuntilIfindmycoffee?" The only thing I understood was the last word: coffee.

I sighed and walked out of the staff room and walked to the snacks aisle. Opposite of the chocolate chip cookies and crackers was a multitude of tea and coffee products. The green-haired man eventually joined me and asked or a specific brand, which I reached far in the back of one shelf for and managed to get him two bags of the brand.

"Thankyoumygoodman." I managed to barely hear the man's parting statement as he dumped the exact amount of Lien owed on Tyler's station and left with an incredible speed. With him finally gone, I looked to Tyler with a withered look of irritation; I didn't want to be bothered before my shift started and I had specifically told him to make sure it didn't happen.

"So uh," Tyler attempted to change the atmosphere. "You and Tania, huh?"

"If I'm bothered again before my shift," I threatened. "I will make sure you pull extra hours with me tonight."

"Got it, boss." Tyler sighed, defeatedly.

"Damn straight." I said, walking back into the staff room and slamming the door. What I could use to have a night with Ember or Neo right now. I had a feeling the rest of this week wouldn't be an easy one.

A/N: BleachCadelina here with a quick update for this story. It's gaining a few followers, so I might as well try to work on this as well. Hope you liked the Yang and Oobleck meetings. Do you have any requests are to WHAT/WHO you want to see encounter these civilians? Put your suggestions down in the reviews/comments.

See ya next update!