Chapter Text
(2:04 AM.)
Misty watched the coffee machine slowly fill the pot. This routine had become normal for her.
In the Law department, occasionally cogs were staying up late to get extra work done.
Misty instead preferred to get up early.
She was already… not a very fast worker. She wanted some time to herself to get work done, when everyone else would be asleep. That way she wouldn’t be even more distracted.
She poured her coffee into a disposable plastic cup, before heading back down to her office. It’s just another day.
(8:32 AM.)
Scrawling on papers, checking files, clicking a mouse… at this point Misty was usually mostly on autopilot. Everyone else was awake and onto work by now, occasionally stopping outside her office for a chat. It was like any other workplace.
None of them would stop to chat with Misty. She knew that. The “Regional Manager” tag on her door isolated her, but even if it wasn’t there, it wouldn’t change a thing.
She just carried on working.
Don’t let it bother you.
~
(2:45 PM.)
Mary submerged from the ocean, climbing onto the dock. She quickly shook off and adjusted her helmet, before sitting down on the edge and yawning.
She stretched her arms, her metal shell creaking as it unstiffened.
Finally awake.
She tended to stay up late most days, but even when she didn’t, she just overslept.
She didn’t mind it. It wasn’t like she had much to do. Just patrol the Boatyard, fight toons… Just another day.
(4:34 PM.)
Mary was out doing the usual. Walking around, fighting straggling Toons and talking to the other suits. Mary felt like she could hold a conversation for hours, and never get tired, much to the contrast of other Cogs.
She was in the middle of one of these droning conversations when a pair of toons showed up, stomping around and showing their toys and tricks.
Ah, well. It was customary, she supposed.
~
(6:58 PM.)
It was late.
Two minutes before her shift is up.
She started to sort out the paperwork covering her desk, putting her things in the drawers, sorting her files as she put them away in cabinets.
She swept pencil shavings and failed staples off the desk, into their trash bin.
She checked the time.
7:00 PM exactly.
She quietly left the office to clock out.
(7:29 PM)
Tap, tap, tap. Muffled sounds of shoes on dirt turned into the loud clicking of Misty’s shoes on the dock. She could hear the water already start to shift at her arrival.
Ever since the day she had met Mary a few weeks ago, she had become used to seeing the Deep Diver at the dock. She found out that Mary actually sleeps in the lake. What an idea! Misty couldn’t imagine spending that long in the water without beginning to rust.
Not to mention Mary kept the visits rather interesting, with her long conversations that Misty started to find herself getting lost in.
She never got to do that at work.
The Rainmaker stopped at the edge of the dock, sitting down and dangling her legs over the edge into the water. And as she shifted to the side to make room…
The other manager jumped out of the water, making Misty flinch automatically as she was splashed with salty water, as Mary climbed up and sat next to her.
“Hey, Misty. How was work today?”
Despite being hidden under her helmet, you could tell when Mary was smiling. He just seemed to be that kind of Cog.
“Oh! It was fine… just the same as it was every day.”
“Same as every day? You’re sure nothing interesting happened?”
“Well… someone put the wrong papers on my desk at some point. I guess that was interesting..”
Mary crossed one leg over the other and sat back. “Man, you got it tough in an office like that. No offense to you or anything. But I think I would go crazy in there!”
Misty couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh, no, it’s okay.. I don’t mind it anyway. I like everything being the same, it’s like… Structure. It gives structure.” She leaned over and kicked her feet in the water.
“Pfft. Guess I can’t blame you for liking schedule. I kind of do too, but my schedule just involves a lot of talking. Oh- that reminds me, get this- There was a Toxic Manager yelling about some Toon that owed him money. I don’t even know how you DO that- so then, after-“
(10:15 PM)
A yawn. “Oh, geez.. it’s getting late..”
Mary leaned up. “Really? But it was just getting interesting! Can’t you at least tell me if the guy got yelled at?”
Misty chuckled again. “Yes, he did.. And, uh, he wasn’t allowed to make coffee anymore..”
“Pfft, maybe he should learn when to read labels, then.”
Misty stood up. “It’s getting late for me..” I’ll see you tomorrow, Mary.”
Mary got up next to them, with a pat on the back. “Sea you tomorrow, Misty! Hah!”
And with that, the Deep Diver slipped off the dock, into the waters, and the Rainmaker walked off with a smile hidden under her mask.