That morning...
While Ember delved into her future unlike ever before over at Aquatecture, Wade sat on his own over at the Elementopia-City Building Inspection Division. He much preferred the more playful abbreviation of E.B.I.D, however. He claims that it 'rolls off the tongue' better.
Alas, nothing would be rolling off of his tongue at that moment. Instead, he laid on a couch in the staff quarters, mindlessly scrolling through his waterphone mere moments before his second ever shift there were to start.
In this state of borderline laziness, he came across a rather unsettling video on his Elementstagram feed of an elderly water lady falling over. As she fell, she turned into a puddle, some onlookers chuckling inappropriately.
Mildly disturbed by the inherent lack of care for the lady, Wade exhibited a cross face. He read through the comments, coming across a needlessly scathing one almost instantly.
"Ha! Old lady tumbling like a wave. Classic!" it read.
His bubbles flowed a bit faster as an air of standoffishness grew within him. He picked up his phone with both hands, angrily thwapping his fingers as he replied.
"Hey! That's not nice. She might've been having a bad day, for all you know." he replied.
Without much time passing, he received a reply from the top commentor.
"What are you, the water police? Go have a cry and flood the place, man! XD"
Instantly, a couple tears began to streak down Wade's face. He childishly threw his phone into his satchel.
"Ripple." a voice said in close proximity.
Little did he know that for the last half a minute, his big boss, Mr. Groucho, stood right beside him at the foot of the couch. Wade leaped up and straightened his posture in fright.
"AGH- yes, sir?!" Wade panicked.
Mr. Groucho provided him the most stern stare he could possibly muster at the bumbling droplet.
"You're on shift now." Mr. Groucho advised.
Wade's eyes widened.
"Oh!" he sounded.
He pulled a fake smile at his superior, leaping up and dusting himself off.
"Sorry." Wade apologized.
Mr. Groucho persisted in staring at his poor subordinate.
"Go to the brief room. There's a job waiting for you." he told.
He walked off in a slow and brooding manner. Wade stood in his spot, wiping away a wad of sweat and any tears present. He took a breath, composing himself as he made his way toward the briefing room.
He gradually opened the door in attempt to enter as subtly as he could. Unluckily for him, his briefer, Mr. Mutrick, and three of his coworkers - Earthmen named Dusty, Rocky and Boulder respectively - looked over with passive-aggression written all over their faces.
"Wadey! Took you long enough." Rocky quipped passive-agressively, yet with an air of playfulness.
Wade held his satchel to his side as he walked in.
"Sorry. Didn't realise I was on shift." he excused.
His three co-workers laughed at what to them was a blatant excuse.
"Doesn't cut it. You've been working in this industry for years." Mr. Mutrick advised.
Wade looked down as a result of the flurry of disapproval headed his way. Mr. Mutrick could only shake his head.
"Alright, focus up." he announced.
The four employees all looked his way - Wade, with an aloof stare. He went to go sit in a vacant seat as Mr. Mutrick began. Before he realised, Dusty whipped the chair from the spot. The move sent Wade to the ground, landing bottom first relatively hard. The three coworkers cackled as he impacted - a dirty frown on his face.
"Hey- watch it! Kid's delicate." Mr. Mutrick advised.
Wade slowly rose to his feet in silence, rubbing his buttock in frustration.
"I'm 22, you know." he replied.
Suddenly, his coworkers cackled even harder, sending a light chuckle out of Mr. Mutrick's mouth. The moment he realized he was being unprofessional, he snapped back into a domineering demeaour.
"Alright- be quiet!" Mr. Mutrick disciplined.
The four shut their mouths in tandem, staring his way, eyes wide.
"Right. Lean in and listen close." Mr. Mutrick told.
They did as he told, gently leaning in with ears close.
"We got a bar chain in town who're suspected to be running under suspicious conditions." Mr. Mutrick began.
Wade's three associates leaned back in their seats, folding their arms.
"What's the name?" Rocky asked.
"Bar Elementus." Mr. Mutrick answered.
The four employee's eyes shot open in surprise, looking among each other.
"Bar Elementus?" Wade thought.
"Bro, that's where I had my first time!" Dusty exclaimed.
"Yo, me too!" Rocky remarked.
The two bumped fists, chuckling in pride. Wade looked to them wearing a curious expression.
"First what?" Wade queried.
The two coworkers slowly looked to him with flat stares, borderline aggressive.
"Like you need to know," Rocky retorted.
Wade raised an eyelid, ignoring his passive aggression. He looked back to Mr. Mutrick in query.
"You said suspicious conditions. How bad?" Wade asked.
"You know; like your home." Dusty remarked.
His two coworkers cackled as he sat cockily, high fiving him hard. Wade momentarily gave them a look, scowling.
"Meaning poor working conditions, liquid brain." Mr. Mutrick answered unprofessionally.
Wade's scowl fell flat as the needless insult hurled his way. His coworkers began to laugh at him once more.
"Oh! Liquid brain!" Rocky laughed.
"That's so sticking." Boulder interjected.
They began to laugh even harder, slapping their knees. An air of serious agitation arose in Wade, becoming defensive.
"Can we be civilized?" Wade retorted.
Within a flash, his coworkers lost their laughs. They began to exhibit unenthused frowns. Dusty went so far as to jump off his seat, squaring up with Wade.
"You wanna take this outside, dewdrop?" he scowled.
Wade ground his teeth inside his waterfall of a mouth. If only Ember could see him now.
Alas, Mr. Mutrick gestured a hand for them to sit before it could get too heated.
"As much as that'd be a joy to watch, you lot have work to do." Mr. Mutrick advised.
He promptly began to assign his employees their duties for the day, handing them each a clipboard.
"Rocky!" Mr. Mutrick exclaimed.
Rocky looked up to him instantly, straightening his posture out of intimidation.
"You've got the Coral Isle bar." Mr. Mutrick assigned.
He promptly looked over to Dusty, facing his way blankly.
"Zephyrville." he assigned.
He looked over to an aloof Boulder, twiddling his rock thumbs about in nerves.
"Boulder." he addressed.
Boulder gently looked up at him, nodding.
"You got Pebblebrook." Mr. Mutrick assigned.
He looked down to his clipboard, searching through some pages. As he came across something striking, he let out a slight chuckle in admiration.
"Liquid brain!" he exclaimed.
Wade sharply looked up at him in subordination, whilst the other three laughed. Mutrick waved his hand profusely at them to hush.
"You got Ashenwood." Mr. Mutrick assigned.
Wade let out an awful sigh, hunching over in disappointment.
"Ashenwood? But that's-" Wade began.
"A dangerous part of town? You bet!" Dusty interjected.
"Ah- shh!" Mr. Mutrick disciplined.
Wade looked down at his clipboard in worry, sweating and with lip quivering.
"Man, he's already sweating." Rocky observed.
"You sure he's gonna make it back in one drop?" Dusty queried to him.
"Doubt it." Boulder quipped in interjection.
Mr. Mutrick slammed his clipboard on the desk out of frustration, frazzling his employees.
"You three! Be quiet and get a move on!" Mr. Mutrick barked.
They all scrambled off their chairs, racing out of the room in an instant. All except a stunned Wade, stood in his spot.
"That means you too, Liquid brain." Mr. Mutrick insulted.
Holding back a large wave of agitation within him, Wade nodded in compliance. He took his satchel and clipboard, promptly exiting.
Now firmly on the job, Wade strolled down the halls, making his way toward the underground car park. Luckily for him, E.B.I.D housed a few company cars for employees to use while on the job - royalty treatment compared to the Element City division.
He took the elevator down to the underground park floor, gently holding his satchel. As he exited the elevator, he was heartbroken to realise that the remaining company cars had all been taken. He held his satchel, racing up as the present company cars began departing.
"Hey! Wait!" he barked.
Luckily for him, they came to a halt at the toll exit, allowing him to run right up to them. As he arrived next to one, he held his knees. He was devastated to find that, as the window of the first vehicle wound down, an indifferent Dusty sat. Without a glimour of empathy, Dusty raced off out of the toll gates and onto the road. Wade grimaced as the second of three came up to the toll gate.
"Sorry, droplet. Too slow." Rocky teased.
Wade's impending anger reared it's head out of his mouth at that moment. He grumpily walked in front of Rocky - and as a result, Boulder in the third car.
"What the drop are you doing, liquid brain?!" Rocky barked.
"My stop is on the way to yours. Be grounded and help a wave out." Wade requested.
Rocky calmed a wore a mischeivous smile, revving his engine.
"Nah." Rocky exclaimed.
He put pedal to the metal, racing at Wade. Frightened, Wade leaped out of the way as the cars came screaming out of the toll gates.
"Later, liquid brain!" Boulder yelled in passing.
Wade watched, arms by his side with a scowl as they drove off. He took a deep breath, storming out of the parking lot onto the sidewalk.
He stood in perplexion as he looked about - unknowing of just how bustling the location of Elementopia Central really was. Cars flew down streets in a flurry as thousands of pedestrians stormed past. In fact, a few bumped into an aloof Wade, shoving him about. On the verge of tears, he walked past the quad-elemental sidewalk to the curb. He frantically waved his hand high in the air in hopes to hail a taxi.
One came rushing up to his side, to his relief. The moment he stepped forward, it whizzed past him at the last second. He shook his head in disappoint, throwing his hand back up. Another came rushing once more, only for it to be apparent that he was just erratically overtaking traffic. Wade threw his hand down in frustration, grimacing.
Finally, a third came rushing to the curb before him, coming to a sharp halt. Before he could expect another sharp denial of service, the back door swung wide open.
"In, dewdrop." the driver exclaimed.
Exhaling in relief, Wade sloshed into the rear passenger seated, slinging his satchel aside.
"Alright. Ashenwood. Step on it!" he told.
The taxi driver slowly leaned over the headrest of his seat, a scowl abroad his face.
"Breaking speed limit costs extra." the taxi driver advised.
Wade shook his head in disbelief, holding it.
"Fine. Lightly touch on it." he settled.
The taxi driver could only chuckle at Wade's inferiority.
"You got it, dewdrop." the driver said.
Wade slowly turned his head toward the window, wearing a thoroughly disgusted face.
Following a rough hour of travel - and at the point of nearly sleeping on the job - Wade got jolted awake by the sharp stopping of the taxi. He hit his head on the seat in front, drenching it.
"Hey! Watch the water." the taxi driver barked.
"Sorry!" Wade apologized.
He shook his head to recompose himself, looking out the window. To his detriment, it looked like his cohort was right. Ashenwood looked rough, to say the least. Without getting too involved into judging the place, he looked over to the taxi driver.
"Thanks. How much?" Wade asked.
"300 shells." the driver answered.
"300?!" Wade exclaimed.
"I went over the speed limit a few times." the driver quipped.
"Guh!" he grimaced angrily.
He angrily scrouched around his satchel for correct change. Following roughly a minute of it, he dug up all he had; roughly 50. His eyes widened, looking up to the cab driver with a fake smile.
"Hey... you wouldn't happen to have an extra 250 on you?" he quipped.
The taxi driver immediately fell into a flat expression, huffing loudly. Wade began to sweat in his spot, forcing his fake smile even harder.
. . .
THWACK!
The driver shoved Wade out of the car as hard as he could, driving off angrily. Slamming onto the ground in a puddle, Wade trickled back together, waving a fist at the taxi driver. He dusted himself off, grimacing.
"Agh! What the drop is with the world today?!" he exclaimed.
He slowly began to walk down the street, looking side to side. If the shadiness of Ashenwood didn't alarm him before, it certainly did at that moment. As it's name would suggest, it was completely inhabited by fire folk. But unlike Firetown over in Element City, Ashenwood was far less well off. Homelessness ran rampant, to Wade's displeasure. Buildings and architecture abroad were in poor upkeep. Multiple biker-style bars populated a majority of the street, all with aggressive staring shooting right Wade's way.
This didn't look good at all. He cleared his throat in growing anxiety, beginning to sweat.
He approached the Ashenwood location of Bar Elementus, standing a few feet to the side. He looked down at his phone to double check his briefing from Mr. Mutrick.
"Bar Elementus, Ashenwood. This is the right place." he murmured.
He looked back up at the building, knees slightly weak. A large red neon sign sat on top of the place - barely. It slid side to side on its hinges. Wade took a deep, long breath, looking dead ahead. He whipped out his notebook, beginning the process of citation.
"Whew. Here goes nothing." he said to himself.