Chapter Text
“Ugh, this is such a disaster.”
Three figures emerge from a coffee shop, looking worse for wear. Their clothes are soaked in undecipherable liquids, eliciting a sickly sweet smell. One of them has their hair frazzled and coated in white foam, to which they frustratingly comb out with their hands.
“This is the 5th shop we’ve been run out of. I can’t believe finding a summer job could be this hectic.” She flicks the accumulated foam onto the sidewalk, unintentionally hitting one of the other figures.
He scowls, his clothes looking none the better and hair singed just as it got hit with the foam. Of the three, he seemingly avoided most of the carnage that occurred in the coffee shop.
“Maybe if Sierra didn’t horribly fuck up then we would have finally gotten things done.” he seethes with a tint of malice.
Sierra, the last of the three, giggles behind him. Wearing her still sizzling apron and scorched uniform, she grabs onto Noah and noogies him with vicious strength.
“Come onnnnnn, don’t tell me you actually thought about working there. You were pretty much foaming at the mouth when listening to that old grouch.”
Noah tries to swat Sierra’s arm away with force, but winces when she does not budge and merely empowers her hold on him. When all else fails, he licks his free hand and wipes it onto her arm, causing her to yelp and recoil, freeing him in the process.
“Because he does not know shit about actual chai, not to mention he cant even differentiate the origin of his drinks.”
Noah simply sighs at the memory, but he ducks just in time as Sierra tries to latch onto him once more. He has the mind to start bolting when he hears his other friend grunt.
“Still, that was our last shot in getting a job that is near to our area. I’m pretty sure he already heard about how we fucked up our previous tries.” Their frizzled hair friend whines in exasperation.
She continues to scoop out foam, yelping when she accidentally tugs a bit too hard on her hair. In a stroke of cosmic benevolence, Sierra decides she had enough of tormenting Noah and procures a comb from her pocket to help in the removal process.
“Hey, we were not that bad.” Her tone still as gleeful. “The first coffee shop fired us for bringing up too many questions, the 2nd for busting a hole in their roof, the third for setting fire to their fridge, and the last one for accidentally burning the boss’ associate!” She collects a substantial amount of foam and flicks the clump onto the ground before grabbing another lock of hair to thoroughly sift.
“Hey, we did not burn the guy. His apron just got singed after you decided to juggle the blowtorch.” Noah quips, the corners of his mouth lifting a bit into a smirk.
Sierra simply responds by flicking another clump of foam onto Noah, who indignantly squawks as he fails to evade the oncoming projectile. It hits him square on the face which elicits laughter from the two girls.
In a fit of fiery retribution, he scoops out the same foam and throw it back. Sierra squeals as she parries the projectile with her comb, flicking back an even larger scoop. Noah sidesteps the projectile and manages catch it to which he decides that if he is to beat Sierra, then he must play dirty. So with extra force, he flings it hard as he can in her general direction.
Only for it to land squarely on the face of their other friend as well.
Woops.
“Wha…. are you serious Noah!? I just got that part all cleaned up.” Sierra races to wipe of the offending foam but was beaten to it when its gets swiped off. “Or… maybe not. Sad to say, there goes your obituary Noah. I was hoping for a more creative death other than “Beaten to Death by Courtney” but we can be choosers.”
Cue to Courtney, shrieking , as she lunges at Noah with foam in her hands. He manages to duck, roll and run again from her. But, if you could notice his delirious panting then you would know that he horribly fails to do so and instead gets absolutely smushed with the offending substance.
“You little twerp! That foam you threw landed in both my eyes and they sting!” She rubs the foam on his face as he also shrieks.
Noah, suitably foamed, muffles behind it and starts spitting some out as he hurriedly wipes it off. “That wasn’t…. even supposed ..phlegh… to be for you! And my eyes hurt now as well asshole!”
“Ooh ooh! I want to join in the fun! FOAM BALL FIGHTTT!” Sierra lobs some foam from her comb at the two’s general direction, hitting Courtney in the process. With an indignant gasp, the latter directs her attention at the other and tries to hit her with leftover foam to no avail. Noah decides that he needs retribution and so tries to smush Courtney’s face with foam with little success (he gets smushed again with eyes stinging once more).
With the setting sun and the crisp afternoon wind, the three are locked in a friendly gone deadly battle of who could give up one-upping the other. Though, with no further context, they look like inane individuals who… scratch that they still look inane with context.
So maybe we should rewind a bit, to see what led these three into their current predicament
Noah slips into a teal-colored apron, highlighted by the soft sheen of gold brought by the coffee shop’s warm lighting. He combs his hair with a hand and checks the bathroom mirror one more time for any mishaps in his presentation. Their are quite a few, loose strands of unruly hair, dark eye bags growing ever so slightly, broken seams in his apron, and a name tag that spells his name irritatingly wrong.
Noah Maneesh is inscribed insultingly on the tag, which shines under the light.
Its Manish, his inner self berates. Though not wanting to start the day with another problem already (The shower heater broke on him, his favorite snack got snatched by a cat, Courtney and Sierra picked him up late), he takes a deep breath to calm himself. The boss or whoever wrote his name tag would have his karmic justice, whatever it may be.
So he brings his thoughts to something else, like practicing how to greet customers. That would surely help!
And so he tries three smiles and a few quips, to which he decides he feels even worse .
“Welcome to the Happy Living Shop, where we…. eugh too cheery”
“Welcome to the Happy Living Shop, the chilly weather’s got nothing on…. ok a bit to much”
His phone rings, but he ignores the annoying tone.
“
Welcome to the Happy …” Ok thats enough of that , Noah mutters and decides instead that a simple smile and greeting is enough to not use a horrible amount of effort that would only make him twitch in anger. So with another deep breath he exist the bathroom and into the shop proper.
In a flash, he is filled with the quiet tune of jazz, accompanied by the humming of the air-conditioner and the whirring of coffee machinery. The smell of fresh treats and drinks waft into the air, with a delectable taste to it that he can almost sink his teeth into it as well. Usually, this breezy afternoon shift would be filled with many people either going home from their day jobs wanting to have a snack or groups of teens who would be hanging out after their daily activities of loitering. However, only a few people are seated on the plush comforts of the shop.
An elderly woman sips on her coffee near the door, while beside her two coworkers chat in hushed tones over what seems to be papers of miscellaneous business deals. In the corner of the shop, a trio of young women chat louder this time, their cheerful tones illustrating a love affair gone awry. Everyone seems to be in their own little bubble that Noah takes a positive note of, at least its not as bad as some shops have it with their customers.
He then heads on to the main counter, where his other friends and their boss were currently looking over an espresso machine. His boss was the eclectic sorts in the looks departments. Medium orange hair paired with gray locks that twist and turn in a disheveled array. His face, always wrinkling in annoyance but expertly hidden behind blocky glasses. He sports a formal wear and with a dreary colored shawl draped suffocatingly on his frame.
Though, your attention would likely be directed to his menagerie of accessories, jewels, bracelets, necklaces, and anything under the sun adorn his form. Noah’s pretty much blinded by the amount of information he just has to see from said knick knacks, but he has his mouth shut on the accompanying quip about it lest he invites more problems.
Their boss currently has his hand on a large machine, the size of a refrigerator. “And if you press this button after following the 12-digit code and the five lever patterns, it should press the coffee grounds and release the liquid through here.”
The machine in question squeals, followed by a short yet deep bellow and the dripping sound of coffee onto a glass cup.
“Now, do you all have that in mind or do I have to fucking repeat myself for the 10th time” the boss seethes quietly as he could.
You see, what was not mentioned was why Noah was in the bathroom. After what was surely the 12th time the instructions were repeated (courtesy of Courtney’s desire for perfection and Sierra’s intent on seemingly annoying questions), Noah decides he had to excuse himself from seeing the boss. Not for the accounts that the latter had been annoyingly pretentious about making coffee with all his rules and gimmicks, but the murderous thoughts against him that Noah had been stewing in for the past couple of hours.
Even though they have arrived late (around 1 PM, they were supposed to arrive at 11 PM), they’ve spent barely doing next to nothing and have been circling around instruction after instruction for what seems like an eternity. Add into that information about coffee and tea that Noah has clocked to be false, he’s got no patience left.
So yes, maybe Noah wants less problems in his life at the moment. Though an inner portion of his self just wants to put more fuel into the flames that is this already disaster of a job.
Speaking of which, Sierra points again at the back portion of the machine with her mouth beginning to open. Noah thanks whatever deity is out there when he sees the frown in his boss deepen.
“Wait, so why do we then have to plug this distillator if the front part already filters the beans on its own? And why does the code have to be complicated if its pouring milk?”
Cue the boss’ face flushing into a maroon like shade, his enumerable wrinkles already starting to merge into one coalescing wave as he morphs into anger. Yuck.
“And may I ask for a repetition on the second rule? If rule 7 states that no two person should handle the same lever when blending the drink, then why must you need too people to rotate the lid into it simultaneously” Courtney points out, her hands busying themselves on a notepad and pencil.
If her slight grin was indicative of anything truly genuine, Noah would have laughed right then and there. He already spotted the tell-tale signs of Courtney becoming tired of the guy. So when he tries to elicit a chuckle, he was surprised when her head turns quickly at him and directs a steely gaze. Noah can only roll his eyes, it seems that Courtney still has some fight left in her.
Though the same cannot be said for the boss. In a momentous effort to maintain the shop’s atmosphere, he storms off with heavy feet into the nearby office room and slams the door to it open. Said action of course catches the attention of everyone for a few seconds before going back to their own world.
As the door also quickly closes, the trio can see him roughly jamming his hands into a pile of taking out file after file. When they hear the door click shut, the trio let out a sigh of relief.
“So. did it take him 10 or 12 times?” Noah mentions.
Sierra turns her back to him and faces the machine, diving her hands into its backside.
“12 times… just three more and we would hit our personal goal of making a boss repeat what they said” she giggles.
He laughs in response, and turns his head to Courtney to see that her once spiteful glare replaced with a disinterested eye role.
“So… Ms. “I’m super totally interested”, what do you say on our bet?”
“Ugh, I’m starting to think that maybe you two are not actually interested in finding a proper internship” She gazes on Sierra, arm deep in whatever wiring or component she got her hand into. “Plus the bet was always going to be a bust. I could smell from a mile away that the guy did not fully trust us in the first place”
Gauging her tone, she’s somewhat between annoyance and actual anger. So Noah treads on the line with as much grace as he can.
“Well, you could always back down from the be…”
He stops when Courtney shifts into an expression that is definitely boiling into fury. Oops!.Now that’s another problem for him in the books.
“Ok geez, but you gotta admit he was getting on your nerves as well. I’m sure this hipster vibe he’s been presenting has to be a front”
Courtney huffs. “I can’t deny that. Half the shit he says has gotta be from some unverified travel blog that he randomly found. I mean, you were already trembling when he started describing all the sources for his drinks”
“Because he is wrong for most of them!” He checks his surroundings when he clocks his tone becoming a tad bit loud. No looks were directed at him, so he continues. “I’ld assume he’d get the pronunciation of at least the common types correct but even he’s dogshit at those”
“I mean, it was all downhill when he presented a recipe labeled green chai tea ” Sierra quips, her arm still somehow diving deeper into the abyss.
Courtney chuckles slightly. but her grim expression remains. “Still though, I’m actually trying to keep things amenable with the guy. Despite his pretentiousness, he still is one of our best shots in getting a job that is close by.”
“Ok sure, but lets talk about longevity. Are you willing to work with that guy for a couple of months, heck until you get enough to save for your scholarship?”
Courtney grunts, resting herself by the counter. “Dude, its not even for the scholarship. I just want to take a break from my studies and all that.”
“Oh congrats, you and every other student we’ve practically met.” Noah says with rolling eyes.
Courtney gives him a light kick but they burst into slight giggles. When Courtney checks in to see if their boss has returned, who was still in his office, she looks at Noah with a sigh.
“I really hope he’s not that mad though. He’s the last shop that we could affordably travel to without any hiccups.”
Noah can already taste the worry that emanates Courtney, keeping another quip that would make her only bitch out more. Not that because he is also worried about keeping this job.
He still has a heart, shriveled like a raisin that is. So he leans on the same counter and gives his most sincere look.
“And that means shit if we end up hating the guy for the majority of our stay. Think about the possibility of adding shitty customers to the mix?”
Courtney gazes to the shop customers, the old woman has seemingly left her table with a clean plate and a small tip. She always looks back with challenge in her eyes.
“As if shitty coworkers don’t already make the list.”
“Hey! I’m tolerable at best and Sierra is your ray of sunshine in these dark and trying times.”
“You? Tolerable? Maybe not when every smart boy or girl starts entering your periphery that is.”
So what if Noah feels actually miffed, with an irritant glare not enough to even dissuade Courtney’s guffaw? Her worries slightly ebb and shoulders relax, a point he would consider in his book.
“Besides, we can mess with the boss as little. Not like we can legitimately fuck with his day no?” She nods to the office, the door slightly opening to reveal her boss carrying a slightly heavy box .
“If you say-”
CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
A terrifying shriek rings through the shop, and the two look back at the source. Sierra, with her ultimate finesse, manages to jam her whole right arm into the back of the machine machine. It rumbles in pain, gears and wires shrieking like a choir from the depths of hell. With maniacal glee, she rips her hand out to reveal a number of singes on her fingers and a broken piece of… something.
“I got the distillator! Pesky thing was jammed into some plugs that definitely should not have been there!”
Great. Congratulations. Give her the best award that anyone can possibly have to a IT Specialist.
Cue their boss, a blood vessel away from breaking into a massive breakdown, who could only stand agape at the shaking machine that has begun to already leak fluid and expand as he exited his office.
“What the fuck have you three done now?!?”
Noah and Courtney look at him, then back at each other. Sierra is still cheering like she discovered the cure for cancer.
Though before they could respond, the machine decides to do it for them.
In a fraction of a second, it burst outs with a horrible bang. Foam flings in every direction of the shopping, with no care for who would get hit. Both Noah and Courtney manage to swiftly duck under the counter for protection. Courtney ends up being in front of Noah and gets the brunt of the explosion, with the former still being blasted. Sierra and the boss get showered in horrible amounts, as if a snow blizzard decided to crash into the shop. Those who were not able to leave the shop where inevitably hit as well, and it didn’t take long before the whole shop was layered in white, steamy foam.
Once the whole debacle ends, the boss just points them out of the shop, and they were pretty sure he was sobbing as they exited.
“Good for him” Noah whispers to no one in particular, before being rightfully shoved by Courtney.
The three manage to reach a nearby bus stop, with a majority of the foam removed and left on the ground like soapy little suds. Although the event left them feeling bummed out and slightly infuriated, the mood was light and expressive.
Courtney giggles when Sierra relegates to her the other shocked expressions of the patrons who witnessed the aftermath, stunned yet relatively unharmed by the blast. Noah chides her on the fact that the machine did not luckily explode into fragments to which Sierra rebutted with no remorse. A one quick liner, and the three fall into a laughing fit.
Such was the nature of the trio, who’ve made a horrible pact to stick with one another like moths to a flame since first meeting in college. When Courtney was inevitably late for her first class, she luckily ran in Noah and Sierra who directed her to the fastest path that she can take to a room on the third floor.
Horrifyingly, that path went through the fire exit and into the escape window that was located by the room yet she managed to enter in time. In return, she helped both of them respectively when Noah had to find a replacement for his virus-ridden laptop (from hacking) and Sierra when she needed an impromptu interviewee for a project (from sleeping off her deadline five times)
Not that they didn’t have clash with one another. They often have their bouts of arguments that do end up with someone getting to the E.R (Noah would say that one time was because he didn’t notice the knife while chopping up a carrot. Both the girls still are apprehensive when talking to him about trash tv during dinner hangouts.
But with a world that salivates at the idea of everyone being at odds with each another, a little getting along won’t hurt anybody.
“Eugh, I’m glad we got all of that off. I’m heading back my apartment to go shower , how about you two?” Courtney sits on the bench of the bus stop, arms stretched as she stifles a yawn.
“I’m going back to the dorms since I’m expecting Owen to call tonight. Dude’s been eager to yap about how his summer job has been.” Noah takes a seat beside her and checks on his phone, noticing a missed message from the guy.
Sierra pipes up, discarding her apron on a nearby bin which immediately flickers and gets the other two’s attention. “I’m actually heading down the street to a friend of mine, I gotta get some stuff back from her. By the way. can I actually crash at your place tonight, Court? We have to catch up on the latest episode of Hades’ Kitchen!.”
Courtney simply nods, her eyelids starting to slip off as she fixes herself to prop herself on the post of the bus stop. With a quick bid of goodbye, Sierra runs off to a different direction which leaves the two.
Noah waves her off, and looks at his tired friend.
“So… got something on your mind?”
Courtney’s eyes remain closed, but she exhales a deep sigh when she opens it again.
“Just thinking about what happened a while ago.”
A beat of silence.
“Although a part of me thinks that he deserved that as comeuppance, the other is still mad that we could not even keep the job for a day.”
Her eye’s move to look at Noah. Disengaged yet intense, he looks the other way to the bin at which Sierra disposed her apron. A lingering smoke trails from its mouth, pertaining that an undeniable lick of flame still lingers about.
“It’s just…things got out of hand so quickly that I couldn’t help but mull over the fact that we got kicked out again by something that wasn’t even technically our fault. I mean, Sierra did what she was asked for so why should we carry the blame for his own machinations…”
Courtney sits up straight again, the tired etchings on her face becoming more apparent as the sun continues to set. She does not remove her gaze, looking at Noah as if he could bring out an answer for why fate decided to fuck them up out of all days.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about what occurred but sure, there are things that could have been done. But it’s all finished, and we couldn’t anything but move on, right?”
“Wow, that’s kinda optimistic coming from you. I thought your cynicism would have rolled us three into an early grave”
“Its called being realistic…” he flicks a finger to her ear for his amusement “and I would have gladly cannonballed into my grave if you didn’t always make me dig yours first.”
Courtney’s expression lightens for a bit but she still has an aura of melancholy. It takes a bit of effort for Noah due to how tired he is, but he gives her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.
“Look, I’m going back to the drawing board tonight to think of a plan. Unless I want to sleep dreaming about you pestering me again no?”
She snorts, but her pllayful shove gives him a sort of reprieve from both their exhaustion.
“Hey, if it gives you peace, ” he continues. “I got some contacts on the line. Probably got 10 on my belt, but they’re quite far and not as heavily reviewed as the ones we have already gone through.”
He does not add that most of the reviews complain how sketchy they were. He can still read the room, thank you very much.
She shifts uncomfortably on her seat, though contrasting the smile that perks up. Her response is cut short when both of their attentions were caught by a bus heading towards their direction. It flashes a harsh glow of yellow lights to indicate that the driver has seen them. The light also seemingly erases any of Courtney’s tired features.
“I expect that you would send those to our group chat tonight?” she mumbles.
Noah salutes, but not before rolling his eyes. “Yeah whatever boss, take care of yourself and message us once you got home.”
The bus stops by them and its doors open with a soft hiss. Courtney gives Noah a quick hug before she steps onto the bus.
She looks back at him for a moment. “Hey I’m serious about the contacts. We have to message them early ASAP!”
He simply rebutts with a disinterested glare. “Yeesh, I already said I was going to. God, get rolled over by the bus already.”
“You first though, I need someone to soften the blow for me. Your large forehead can serve as a good speed bump.”
He throws a middle finger for Courtney to only guffaw at. The door closes, and she is gone as the bus travels down the street.
In the tranquility of the bus stop, Noah silently stares as the bus as it disappears. He relishes on the whirs of its wheels and the rumbles of its engine. He imagines it delivering him from the heavy conversation between him and Courtney, but it remains etched into a part of his soul that cannot be removed.
Only did when the backlights of the bus turned into specks of red dots, he turned around and walked the opposite direction to his dorms. He takes in the refreshing air, hoping that it can cool his thoughts as the sun sets on him with a soft hue, welcoming him to another busy night.
The tranquility of the approaching night did not break when Noah entered his shared dorm. The room was essentially just as quiet the outside, with the whistling wind and chirping crickets replaced by shuffling feet and lingering breaths.
Proceeding to the kitchen, he decides on procuring a snack before taking a warm shower. The sticky feeling of foam was still bothersome, but exhaustion calls for a well needed refuel before he can do anythingfurther.
Taking a jar of jam from the fridge, he thinks about what to pair it with when he hears a shuffle of feet emanate from the bathroom followed by a flush.
“Oh, hey Noah! I didn’t expect you to come home early. Doesn’t your shift end at like nine-thirty or something?”
Trent approaches Noah with a questioning look, his hair still dripping wet onto his clothes from what appears to be a quick shower.
With his remaining patience, Noah tries to glare his way off to avoid answering. And in his stubbornness, does Trent silently persist at the question. When he does not relent, Noah utters another never ending sigh to avoid stirring a headache.
“The coffee shop was a bust. We got kicked out before the third hour even chimed in.”
A soft whistle. “Did Courtney lit up your boss again?”
“Nah, Sierra assaulted a coffee machine.” Noah decides would be the best answer. And when decides as well that a cup of water would also do wonders for his failing psyche, he procures a pitcher from the fridge. The accompanying silence however indicated that his roommate was not satisfied , and was proven when Noah turned to see his puzzled stare.
“That’s the gist of it. You’re not getting anything out of me more than that.”
A pause.
“But if I brew you a cup of coffee?”
“Hmm… make it 3 cups”
“Whole pot?”
“Deal”
Tempted by the deal of sweet, tasty coffee, Noah sits by their shared dining table eagerly while Trent turns on their coffee machine, whirring into life. As the machine does its work, Noah fills in Trent on the catastrophe that is their latest job.
“Huh, its a miracle he didn’t chase you guys for damages.”
“Beats me, you could thank Courtney for convincing him that we were not liable to the damages due to his equipment.”
“So…another string of luck?”
“Pretty much running out of those. For every mishap that we encountered, an omniscient being laughs at our mishap and decides that we deserve a prize for making it laugh.”
“Huh, that’s pretty heavy for what is essentially a freak accident.”
A soft chuckle comes from Noah. “Well, do you think us freaks deserve normal accidents?”
Trent laughs at that statement, his back slouched on a shared chair that they both found in a yard sale. Still, he looks at Noah with inquisitiveness that the latter does not seemingly mind (kinda).
“I mean, a normal accident would probably involve sharp bits of metal blasting to anyone the room. I’m glad everyone was still in one piece.”
“Heh… physically, sure, but emotionally? Doubtful.”
Trent’s eyes perk at the statement, just as the coffee machine dings. He leaves his question in the air as he proceeds to procure the coffee pot, two mugs and a small bowl from the shelf. Smelling the sweet taste of relief brings Noah to elicit a thankful nod to Trent, who gives him a mug of the caffeinated goodness.
“Courtney was bummed out the whole time after the explosion, not that I could blame her for it. She was pretty much the only one who was excited about the whole job, aside from Sierra of course. “ He takes a sip and relishes the bitterness of the drink, feeling much more energetic than before.
“The whole way back to bus stop she was just all gloom and doom, I mean its just the 5th shop. Its not the end of the world.” Trent nods, with a gentle sip of his coffee, sweetened with glorious artificial sugar. “I mean, you would be bummed out if you already have laid out a plan that went haywire due to one external factor.”
“A plan that already consisted of 256 steps. Considering that our first day of work was just step 15, I kinda dodged a bullet with this one.” Noah rebutts as he takes another sip.
They simmer in silence for a few minutes, Noah’s words lingering in the air like wisps of smoke when Trent looks at his own mug thoughtfully. Noah takes in this generously, knowing that the latter is not yet done with his interrogations.
“Well how about you? What are you thinking about this whole thing?”
Caring as always, Trent .
“Honestly? Not as affected as Courtney, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I wasn’t bummed out for her as well.” he mutters, focus on his hands that swirl the half-emptied content of his mug. “In summary, everything sucked.”
Trent could only chuckle and shake his head, already normalized to the bluntness of Noah’s reactions. He downs another chug, and relishes again on the silence that comes about.
Noah looks at Trent again and sees that the latter’s focus was now directed at the coffee mug, indicating that he was satisfied in his questioning. Not that Noah detests Trent’s meddling, but there comes a point when he would rather ignore the latter because he was just tired. Of course, that would mean punishing the guy for just caring about him, but he’ld rather keep things to himself.
Though maybe he should bargain to always make pot of coffee for Noah, and now that he can definitely tolerate.
A phone ring then disturbs their reflection, buzzing from Noah’s pocket. Surprised, Noah immediately grabs for it and notices a number of missed notifications.
7:40 PM
News:
- Bring it On!: The latest technological inventions from Kargaru Tec…
- The 5 Ts: Dr. Kaligiari’s secret to good wine from hi….
Mailer:
- Ms. CEO: Meeting @ 9! I got news from Sierra regarding that one shop at… (30 min ago)
- BigO’sKitchen*: 15 missed notifications (1 min ago)*
- Trentastic*: If you’re going to be late i got dinner on the fridg… (4 hours ago)*
- Noah’s Haters GC: FandomGremlin - Hey Noah! About the deets for that sho… (15 hours ago)
Others:
- Codelingo: 3 missed notifications
“Crap, big guy’s probably dying to call me already. Mind if I use the speakers for a while?”
“Sure, don’t forget dinner is on the 2nd layer if your feeling hungry.” Trent gives a thumbs up and proceeds to the couch where he busies himself with headphones that is connected a smaller device that produces music from the looks of things.
Racing to take a quick shower, his laptop from his room, and a reheated dinner (consisting of pasta and some chicken), Noah sends in a quick message to his friend indicating that he is now ready.
BigBrainAgenda : Hey, bud. Just got home and refreshed. Hit me up if you’re still there.
BigO’sKitchen : HI NOAH, HOLD ONNN.>> IM SEDING A NOTIFIGCARTION
Not a moment after, a notification pops up that invites him to a voice chat room to which he clicks on. Noah chuckles when he could hear his friend tripping on what is probably a messy room before a face pops on his screen.
“HEY LIL BUDDY! Sorry I’m late, the room I’m staying in has seemingly not seen any living being for a YEARSSS. Well, maybe for the spiders but they’re not giving me - any hand in cleaning.” He winks into the camera, as if Noah missed a joke. “Get it? Hand? Since they got 8 hands? Or was it legs, I think we can still call them hands no?”
Noah did not miss the joke, but he gladly watches his friend fumble for a bit before cutting him off with a chuckle.
“Ok ok Owen, I get the joke already. And they’re legs, they can’t really be hands if they don’t have fingers.”
Owen scratches his head with a flustered smile “Sorry, just got a bit excited there. I couldn’t wait to showcase this sweet pod that I got!”
“Sure, but keep it down a notch. I’m not in a particularly good mood today big guy.” When he notices that Owen’s demeanor falters a bit, he quickly adds in “I’ll explain later.”
“Oh, ok bud! So, what to start with?” Owen’s eyes look around his room, picking up what seems to be his phone, before pointing it to a an old and creaky looking bed. The wall beside it was plastered with various posters that Noah couldn’t read thanks to the shakiness of the camera.
“So this is where I sleep! Poor thing has probably seen better days but its pretty soft if you don’t mind the itchiness. Besides, I got this space all decked out with some spooky posters this goth chick gave me, like “Ghoulbergs: Twin Catastrophe” and “Little Shop of Jasons”, mostly horror related but I personally don’t mind them!”
Owen shifts his camera to the rest of the room, trying to slowly rotate it so that Noah could have a proper viewing. Its still shaky but Noah counts this as a blessing.
“Though, maybe it was a bad idea considering the room I got. I think it was supposed to be a guest room? Boss said that it was converted into a storage space for knick knacks and all that, but the three other beds here suggest other wise…”
The room indeed was filled with old boxes, some are open with junk poking out like creatures escaping from the abyss but most remain closed and tightly packed. By the corners of the room stand three beds with boxes also on top of them. The light from Owen’s camera casts a gloomy shadow on them, shaping figures that seemingly sit on said beds, just watching back with curiousity.
He turns the camera to his face, now etched with worry.
“Its not like I’ve heard anything actually spooky going on though. Well, maybe there’s a knock here and there on the window, and the floors creak horribly like a baby wailing…”
On que, a large knock rattles the room which startles Owen so much that he drops the phones with a yelp. Noah could only laughs at his struggling friend who scrambles to pick up the phone. After a few seconds of fiddling and swiping to see if there were any pranks, Owen looks at Noah like a wounded dog.
“Dudeee its not even funny! I’m starting to think that this summer job would make me end up in a body bag!”
“Speak for yourself, at least you got a job to be excited about.
After a split second of realization, Noah realizes that he might have spilt to much for Owen to take notice.
Fuck, and just when I thought I would get away with another questioning. He feels another headache coming up.
“Ah, the coffee shop was a bust no?”
Noah rolls his eyes, a pinch of fingers to his forehead as he tries to come up with a quick explanation of what happened.
“WELL, I mean if you’re not up to explaining it then that’s fine! Probably, something with Sierra and her knack for disasters?”
Ah, always saving my skin buddy . Noah lets out his exasperation with a huff, and grins. “Dead on dude, took out the whole shop and all”
Witnessing his friend’s jaw drop, he only laughs at the other’s stupor and relaxes once more.
“Well, I guess that’s a story for another day! That way we hang out more in your apartment once I’m finished here!” Owen blabbers, but he suddenly stills into silence with eyes wide open. Noah is genuinely startled when his friend stops talking.
“Hey buddy, you still there?” A second of no response.
“What the hell? TRENT! Did we pay the bills for…”
”I GOT AN IDEA!”
The two of them are stunned, but Owen quickly gains back his senses. “You guys just got kicked out right?”
As Noah tries to bring his heart rate back to a normal level, he nods his head in agreement.
“Which means, you’re all probably looking for another job?” Another nod.
A few seconds pass, before Owen’s eye glint with mischief. Yet there was joy in it that Noah could not pretend to have missed.
“I think I got a plan! ”That does not involve me dying?”
“Totally! Unless you count one dying from fun!”
Courtney sits idly in her single apartment, the tick of an alarm clock accompanying the soft murmurs of trashy television shows. Although not quite as cold as the outside, the coolness of the room pushes her to wear a heavy quilt around her frame. She sits expectantly on her couch, eyes moving with the characters that are jovially shouting curses at one another in the screen.
An episode of Hades’ Kitchen plays with a guy trying to carry a plate of unknown food, where he trips just before reaching the judge’s table. It was a disaster, with the plate shattering into a million pieces and the food flying all over the place like shrapnel. One hits the judge square in the face, and the camera cuts to the shocked faces of every person in the room with threatening music.
Courtney only snorts, her eyes now focusing to the phone beside her. She checks for any new notifications regarding either Noah’s contacts or Sierra’s appearance.
Where is that girl, I’ve already gone two episodes without her, Courtney ponders. Her phone simply shows the background of her lock screen. A picture of them three, posing in a photobooth with Noah getting smushed into the corner by a drunk Sierra, and her with feathered sunglasses and a wine bottle on one hand.
She huffs and thinks about changing the show to Racing in Drag when her phone chimes in. A new notification from Noah blinks into existence which reads:
ForeheadKing: About those contacts I mentioned at the bus stop? Forget about it, I just probably hit us the jackpot… :)