Chapter 2: A Barista's Mojo
The bedroom door gently creaked open, a figure looming in the doorway, eyeing the girl who slept peacefully in the bed.
The figure was tall, bulky and powerfully built. Its coarse, thick skin was an icy blue - so icy, in fact, that the creature seemed to emanate a frosty aura from its body, with this energy being most apparent at the tips of the being's clawed hands. Those jagged, lethally sharp claws…
The monster took a quiet step forward into the gloom of the bedroom, its taloned feet pressing softly against the carpet. Its beady eyes never wavered from the sleeping form in the nearby bed, its shark-like teeth locked in a devious grin.
The girl in the bed opened one eye as the beast's shadow was cast over her, seeing the powerful creature at the foot of her bed, raising its clawed hands—
"Don't even think about it," she said calmly, completely unfazed by the monster's presence.
The blue beast ignored the girl's words, reaching over to casually pull the covers off of her, revealing the anthropomorphic bat's bright pink pyjamas, which were patterned with little cartoony images of megaphones.
"North!" the girl complained indignantly, rolling over onto her side, her bat wings poking out of appropriately-sized holes in the back of her pyjama top. She held up a hand that was coated in light brown fur, brandishing an accusing finger at the monster. "How many times do I have to tell you that nobody, nobody gets to see me in my pyjamas?! It's a matter of principle!"
The monster, North, just grunted in a decidedly feral manner, turning away from the bed and moving over to the window, opening the curtains and causing sunlight to flood the room, much to the bat girl's protest.
"Don't you know that bats are supposed to be nocturnal?" she grumbled, but she sat up in spite of herself, rubbing her still tired blue eyes and running a hand through her short, dyed hair of dark purple, the fringe of which hung down over one eye, dyed a reddish pink. She flexed her underdeveloped bat wings, which were too small to allow her to fly, stretched her arms upwards and yawned drowsily. "What time is it, anyway?"
North grunted again, gesturing to the digital clock on the bedside table, which read 11:15am. The bat's eyes widened at the sight.
"Eleven-fifteen?! Oh, man, I overslept!" she cried, hurriedly leaping out of bed and stepping into the white bunny slippers that awaited on the floor. In truth, the fact that she had overslept didn't necessarily mean much, given that she didn't have anywhere she needed to be today, but much like her modesty regarding her pyjamas, it was a matter of principle; her routine had been thrown off schedule and now she had to make up for lost time. "I gotta hit the shower, fix my hair… Oh, I'm way behind!" she declared, her obsessive-compulsive tendencies kicking in. North, on his part, rolled his eyes knowingly as his friend headed for the bathroom, having seen her panic irrationally like this before. It was best to just leave her to calm herself down; his attempts to intervene usually resulted in her screeching at him in misplaced hysteria, only for her to start crying and apologising profusely in a fit of guilt afterwards. She could be a handful, that girl…
Of course, it wasn't entirely surprising that the bat's nerves were a tad volatile, given all that she had been through in the past.
The literal past…
The bat stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, taking a moment to exhale deeply, calming herself down ever-so-slightly. She knew she was being irrational, but there was just something about breaking routine without a good cause that really drove her up the wall. It felt like she was losing control of the situation, of her life, and she'd struggled so hard to get where she was now, figuratively and literally fighting for a better life for herself and her frosty cohort. Now that she was finally in a relatively good place in terms of lifestyle, she was afraid that it might all be stripped away from her if she were to let her guard down.
"Okay," she breathed. "It's okay. I'm just a little behind schedule, that's all. I can adapt! That's what bats do in nature - they adapt. This is all a temporary setback!" She closed her eyes, took a deep breath in through the nose and let it out slowly. "I am in full control of my life. I am calm, safe and happy," she chanted in a whisper. "In full control. Calm. Safe. Happy." She opened her eyes. "Alright. Time to clean up my act," she declared, smirking at her cheesy pun as she started to undress, eyeing the shower cubicle, taking in its futuristic design, taking in the sight of the waterproof mechanical arms within. Her smirk faded, a faint feeling of apprehension stirring within her and she bit her lip with one of her canines. She was wary of those mechanical arms, and not without reason.
The bat stepped into the shower cubicle slowly, cautiously. As soon as both of her feet had pressed down on the cubicle's floor, a low, electronic hum began to whir gently in the background, the cubicle becoming outlined in a faint blue fluorescent light.
"Welcome, Miss Garnet, guest of Megumi," a cool female voice with a mechanical hint to it spoke calmly, seeming to emanate from all around the bat girl, Garnet. "Would you like to use the same shower settings as your previous session?"
Garnet swallowed nervously. "Um, y-yes," she stammered, her voice a little shaky, "But could you maybe be a little less vigorous with the underarm scrubbing? The... sensation was nearly unbearable last time," she went on, not really expecting the artificial intelligence, for as advanced as it was, to fully understand what she was asking or why.
"Understood. Settings for 'underarm scrubbing' have been adjusted. Also, to account for the discomfort present in your tone, I shall refrain from engaging the 'underarm scrubbing' procedure until you specifically request it. Are you okay with this change in your preferred settings?"
Garnet was surprised. She hadn't expected the shower system's AI to be so… accomodating, and she certainly hadn't expected it to pick up on her tone and act accordingly. She began to wonder if she had given the AI enough credit. "Yes!" she cried, relieved. "A-And thank you!"
"You are welcome, Miss Garnet. Please let me know if there are any other changes to your preferred shower settings that you would like to make. I can also save any such changes to my memory to improve the quality of future sessions. Now, are you ready to begin your shower session?"
"Yes," Garnet said, sounding more confident then she had upon first stepping into the cubicle.
"Understood. Engaging water spray. Please allow a moment for the water to reach your preferred temperature and pressure settings."
Cold water began to flow in a focused formation of string-like jets down into the centre of the cubicle, Garnet standing just outside of the spray's narrow radius. She put her hand into the water-flow, feeling it heat up over the course of several seconds, her light brown fur welcoming the warmth. She smiled, satisfied with the temperature, closing her eyes and stepping into the flow.
The warm water felt wonderful as it ran through her hair and down her body, quickly reaching every inch of her furry being. The water pressure was just intense enough to feel almost like a gentle massage, and it soothed Garnet greatly. Her apprehension gone, her shoulders released their tension and she just stood there for a long moment, her eyes remaining closed, a relaxed smile on her face. 'Oh, this is wonderful!' she thought. 'Just what I needed, for sure.'
"Your heart rate and breathing rate indicate that you are calm and relaxed, Miss Garnet. If you are ready, I shall now proceed with your automated shower regime in accordance with your preferences. If you feel discomfort at any time, let me know and I will do what I can to correct it."
"I am ready," Garnet stated confidently.
"Understood. Commencing 'shampoo and condition'."
A mechanical dispenser slowly lowered from somewhere overhead with a whirring sound, a round nozzle extending from it. The nozzle squirted a glob of pink, strawberry-scented shampoo onto Garnet's purple hair. The mechanical arms behind her began to move, reaching up to use their padded, prosthetic hands to spread the shampoo about, gently massaging it through the bat's neon locks. It felt so nice, the hands so remarkably tender, as though they knew not to hurt Garnet. She found herself relaxing into them, just letting the robotic appendages do their work, enjoying the feeling of their tender touch, enjoying the hearty lather they had formed throughout her hair. 'So nice…'
Just as Garnet had begun to really zone out, she suddenly felt a second pair of artificial hands gently take hold of her shoulders. She opened her eyes, not sure what to make of this; she hadn't requested anything else to happen while her hair was being washed. Any concerns she had were quickly dispelled, however, when the hands began to gently caress her fur-covered shoulders, the fingers seeming to vibrate ever-so-slightly. The shower AI was massaging her! It was simultaneously washing her hair and massaging her shoulders!
And it. Felt. Absolutely. AMAZING.
"Thank you," Garnet whispered, her words barely audible. The AI must've been programmed to make absolutely sure that her discomfort upon entering the cubicle - to say nothing of her discomfort during her previous shower session - was accounted for and corrected.
"…You are most welcome, Miss Garnet," the AI responded in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.
Soon, the pair of arms that had washed Garnet's hair had moved on to gently scrubbing her body with soft brushes tipped with foamy, lilac-scented soap, the second pair of hands remaining at her shoulders all the while, continuing to massage her. Garnet was in total bliss.
Well, almost total bliss. The AI had very clearly been avoiding one particular area of Garnet's body, as it had promised it would, and just as they finished gently scrubbing the bat's toes, the arms moved up towards Garnet's torso and then stopped, as though they were waiting expectantly. The second pair of arms retracted, ending Garnet's massage. The girl, knowing what the AI was waiting for, took a moment to steel herself. At last, she slowly raised her arms upward.
"Commence underarm scrubbing," she said, almost amazed that she was able to get the words out of her mouth.
The mechanical arms began to move, directing their brushes to the designated area of Garnet's body. She visibly tensed, closing her eyes. The brushes found her underarms, and then…
Garnet started to giggle softly, an involuntary smile forming on her furry visage. She couldn't help it; she was just so very ticklish under the arms. It was all she could do to keep herself still as she stood there, the brushes rotating against her fur-covered skin. They were much more gentle than they had been last time, rotating at a slower, less vigorous speed… but that still didn't stop them from tickling.
"Are you alright, Miss Garnet?" the AI enquired as it continued to scrub the girl's exposed underarms as carefully as it could. "Would you like me to end your 'underarm scrubbing' prematurely?"
"I… I'm alright," Garnet struggled to say between giggles. In fact, they were more like childish titters than giggles. "K-Keep going. I can… I can take it."
"…As you wish, Miss Garnet."
Garnet almost wanted to whimper. She could barely keep herself together. Oh, why did she have to be so ticklish under the arms? It was, far and away, her biggest weakness, and the thought of anyone exploiting it TERRIFIED her. Fortunately, mercifully, her torment ended thirty seconds later… though it felt like at least triple that amount of time. She exhaled deeply, feeling somewhat out-of-breath.
"Are you sure you're alright, Miss Garnet?" the shower AI asked once more.
"…I'll be fine," Garnet managed to respond after a brief moment, visibly relaxing now that the tickling sensation was gone. "I just… I'll be fine," she repeated.
"…Understood. This concludes your shower session for today," the AI said, the water-flow switching off as the cool female voice spoke. "I hope you found it to your satisfaction, and I look forward to assisting you in the future."
"W-Wait!" Garnet cried almost desperately. "Before you power down, could you…" She blushed slightly. "Could you save that shoulder massage you gave me to my preferred settings? Please?"
"As you wish, Miss Garnet. Shower session preferences updated and saved. Will there be anything else before I deactivate my systems?"
"No, I think that'll do it for now," Garnet said as she stepped out of the shower cubicle. "Thank you, though."
"You are most welcome, Miss Garnet." On that note, the electronic hum subsided and the blue light faded, the AI falling silent.
Garnet had soon dried herself off with a large, fluffy towel, having wrapped that towel around herself for momentary warmth as she approached the set of neatly folded clothes that rested atop the lid of the laundry hamper in the corner of the bathroom. She dressed herself in the lime green socks and undergarments, navy blue jeans and white t-shirt, the latter bearing a bright pink paw print insignia on the front. Finally, she slipped her favourite burgundy red bathrobe over her shoulders and turned to face the mirror over the bathroom sink, glancing at her reflection before letting her gaze wander to the jet black hair dryer that awaited on the sink, flanked by a can of styling foam and several little bottles of cosmetics.
'Time to get to work,' she thought.
In the apartment's kitchen, North looked up at the sound of the hair dryer whirring, the noise coming from behind the nearby wall. Quickly realising that it was nothing out of the ordinary, he turned his attention back to the coffee machine that was whirring and steaming on the bench as it poured hot water into a mug containing freshly ground coffee. The monster quickly moved the cup away from the flow before it was overfilled, but this resulted in the remaining water pouring into the grate of the coffee machine, which was still better than having it pour all over the counter, but North still grunted in alarm, quickly turning the valve to stop the water-flow. The powerful ice creature's limited intelligence meant that it hadn't occurred to him to turn off the water before moving the mug away. Regardless, he soldiered on, struggling to use his bulky, clawed hands to manage a teaspoon of sugar into the mug, grains of the white sweetener falling to the floor as he fought to maintain his grasp on the tiny utensil without breaking it. He then fetched a bottle of milk from the refrigerator, struggling with the lid for a moment before finally managing to unscrew it with two chunky fingers, pouring a little into the mug, sloshing a few drops onto the counter in the process. Finally, North stood back to admire his handiwork, his jagged teeth arranged in a proud smile, the beast pleased with himself. Sure, his skills were still far, far from perfect, but he had taken Garnet's teachings to heart and all things considered, he'd done pretty well this time. At least he hadn't knocked the coffee machine onto the floor… again.
As North clumsily went about cleaning up the slight mess he'd made, Garnet emerged from the bathroom, her short hair well-groomed, her furry face adorned with a thin layer of dark eyeliner and a light coating of pink lipstick. She felt much better after her shower - the tickling of her underarms notwithstanding - and was ready to face the day… even if it was already half over by this point. The aroma of roasted coffee beans reached her nostrils, her snout twitching in response to the scent. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, basking in the aroma, momentarily losing herself in both it and the Lo-Fi hip hop music that played softly in the background. 'This', she thought, 'Is paradise.'
North looked up as Garnet stepped into the kitchen, quickly turning and giving a respectful salute - an instinctive response driven into him by his former superiors. His ruthless, entitled superiors. Superiors that both he and Garnet were glad to be rid of.
"At ease, soldier," Garnet said half-jokingly. She surveyed the kitchen, seeing the one or two sugar and coffee grains that still peppered the wooden floor. She put her hands on her hips, but she was smiling. "I see you've been busy. Just make sure not to mess up Megumi's kitchen too badly, alright? We're only minding this place for her, after all."
North nodded, giving a grunt of understanding. Garnet found herself smiling wider; her cohort's haplessness and well-meaning personality was quite endearing in her eyes.
"Let's take it easy today, okay, big guy?" she said. North gave another nod, and she ran forward to give him an affectionate hug, which, after a brief moment of surprise, he returned, albeit very gently; his strong, muscular arms were more than capable of crushing her spine.
A short while later, North was relaxing on the couch, his arms resting behind his head as he watched TV, the large flat-screen with its state-of-the-art surround sound system the pride of the absent Megumi's apartment. Garnet, meanwhile, was seated at a desk in the corner of the room, her eyes glued to the screen of Megumi's laptop, which the bat's absent host had permitted her to use, provided that she did so responsibly - no deep web shenanigans or Bit-coin exchanges. She had earbuds in her triangular, animalistic ears, listening to the same Lo-Fi music that North had been playing earlier. The mug of coffee he had prepared for her rested on the edge of the desk, deliberately positioned so that if it was knocked over, it would be more likely to fall onto the floor than spill its contents all over the expensive computer that didn't belong to her. Garnet picked up the mug and took a cautious sip. She swished the hot and bitter liquid around inside her mouth before swallowing cautiously. She then smiled; North really was getting better. She set the cup down and returned to browsing the slew of images on-screen, each one depicting an ordinary cat that bore an absurd and hilarious facial expression, phrases such as 'You want it when?!' or 'I will find you, and I will kill you' written beneath them in bold text. Garnet chuckled softly at each one, putting a hand to her mouth to stifle her amusement so as not to bother North as he tried to watch the latest episode of his favourite nature documentary series in peace.
Knock, knock, knock.
Garnet gasped, North leaping to his feet at the sound of knuckles on the apartment's front door. The pair momentarily panicked, trying to work out what to do. Garnet wrenched the earbuds from her ears and scrambled out of her seat, glancing worriedly from the door to her frosty cohort.
"In my pocket! Now!" she hissed hastily, clicking her fingers. North suddenly vanished in a burst of green light, that light immediately fading to reveal a glowing green orb of pure energy hovering in midair. It floated gracefully over to Garnet's outstretched left hand and she immediately grabbed it, shoving it into the pocket of her jeans and out of sight. As she withdrew her hand, she looked down at her arm in time to see the tribal tattoo on her wrist shimmer, the black ink etched into her skin flashing a vibrant azure blue for a brief moment.
Another knock at the door rang out, and Garnet instinctively pulled down the sleeve of her robe to conceal the tattoo as she stared at the door. Swallowing nervously, she started forward, picking up Megumi's universal remote and switching off the TV as she went. Finally, she reached the entrance to the apartment, unlocked the door and pulled it open.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not doing my coffee service today," she said with forced calm. "Come again tomorrow, or… Oh." Her face fell as she stared at the small group of anthropomorphic individuals crowded around the doorway. Three of them appeared to be bandicoots with orange fur, two of them just shy of being teenagers, the third being an adult. The fourth member of the group was a bulky dingo with… a green, scaly crocodile's tail extending out from behind him?
It was the younger male of the group that really caught Garnet's attention, however, with his bare, furry chest, his blue shorts and... his brown, fingerless leather gloves.
Brown, fingerless leather gloves that covered a pair of hands that Garnet had seen in action before, in another time and space.
Hands that would curl into fists that punched with the same mystical, otherworldly power that allowed her to store North in her pocket.
The power… of the Mojo.
"Uh, hi," Tawna started, reaching up with her own gloved hand to give a polite wave, her expression fairly serious. "We were hoping you could tell us about a, um, lesser known coffee business in this… area." Her words faltered when she realised that the bat girl wasn't even looking at her, the winged mammal seemingly transfixed at the sight of Crash. Garnet reached forward, locking eyes with the young male bandicoot, gently taking hold of his gloved hand. Crash looked confused, if not a little worried, in response to the unexpected contact, but he decided to play along in spite of himself. After all, he had three companions ready to tackle this bat girl to the floor should she try anything funny.
Garnet carefully slid the glove off of Crash's right hand, gently turning his palm over to reveal the back of the appendage.
Nothing.
No tribal tattoo like her own.
Just… orange fur.
"You're… You're not him," Garnet realised aloud. "You're… another one. You're another Crash Bandicoot from this or some other timeline, aren't you? You're not the Crash Bandicoot I knew."
Crash, Coco, Tawna and Dingodile exchanged puzzled glances, the latter taking the opportunity to scratch his rear as he stood there, looking particularly perplexed.