Work Text:
Sunlight violently poured through the wide open window, what? With a groan William sat up, immediately overstimulated by everything. After settling enough to re-open his eyes, he looks to the window to find the blinds he normally keeps closed are now gone, on the floor beneath the window, somewhere blinds shouldn't be if you intend for them to be used correctly, given now they were NOT shielding his poor tired eyes.
Glancing around his room, nothing seemed to be in the right spot except his mattress. To be fair he didn't have much, so it wouldn't be an issue to fix his room again, but he was certainly confused by Lila's apparent need to redecorate. He pushed himself up out of bed, momentarily stumbling as the blanket wrapped around his ankle and he kicked it off with a frustrated noise, then continuing to stumble his way to the living room. Everything was moved around here as well, and the addition of a large painting of an angel had been added to a wall. What? He wouldn't criticize Lila's decorating choices, it was nice. Just... expensive looking. And not really the kind of thing he would decorate with. Or have expected Lila to decorate with.
Shaking his head and running a hand through his curls, he took a deep, shaky breath; he realizes now how gross his hair is, and how his flowing pink night gown was nastily sticking to his skin with sweat. (Since when did they have a nightgown this fancy? It certainly wasn't his style, he actually felt the urgent need to get it off his body now that he noticed it, though he wouldn't get upset with Lila for dressing how she wanted obviously. What had Lila been up to, how much of their money had she spent on this stuff? How long was he gone?)
Taking another deep breath, he swiftly made his way back to his room, grabbing a t-shirt, underwear, and some sweatpants, then headed to the shower. He pointedly ignored the SEVERAL new pieces of feminine clothing in his wardrobe that looked far too expensive for them to own, and that skirt was familiar- the cold water startled a yelp from him and brought him firmly back to the present, adjusting the temperature of the water.
His room and the living room were fixed now (besides the blinds since he lacked the tools to reinstall them, how did Lila take them down in the first place, and why?), he was clean, and in more comfortable clothes, so he decided the next thing to do was find their journal and see what he missed, why it seemed like Lila had robbed someone, why she took the blinds down, and how long he was gone.
He pulled his face into a frown for practice as he struggled to find the journal. It wasn't like there was a ton of places it could be, and he had checked pretty much everywhere in the small apartment, yet it didn't turn up anywhere. Will ignored the feeling of wrongness this gave him- they both relied on that journal to not be totally lost, and to communicate during times where they couldn't be co-conscious, it just being gone was deeply unsettling; months of rants, check ins, detailed descriptions of events, just lost. He had found his phone on the counter, and decided that was the next best thing for now, choosing to continue the search for the journal later. Opening his texts, the most recent one was from a contact "Liam" that was NOT in his phone before.
Liam
Hello, this is Liam at the Sunshine Cafe, reaching out about the application you submitted yesterday. We would be interested in having you back for an interview, you can call this number and ask for me to set something up! Also, there was no Email listed on the application, while not necessary it would be helpful if you could provide us with one. -Liam, Hiring and General Manager
Call: Lasted 6 Min. 37 Sec.
Liam
We look forward to having you on the team! There's a bit of paperwork we're gonna need you to fill out, and I will also be sending the employee handbook.
links attached
William
Hey sooooooo i can't use links on my phone, it's kinda like old and stuf, oops :/
Liam
Alright, you can come in any time tomorrow between 9:00am and 3:00pm, I will get all of it printed out for you if you can just come back to sign it?
William
SOUNDS GOOD THXXXXXXXXX :)
William re-read the texts a few times, dumbfounded at Lila's unprofessional responses. He looked at the dates on the texts- that was yesterday, which means he has to go in today to fill out stuff for a job they're getting? Lila consulting him about this would've been nice before turning in an application, but oh well. He groaned loudly a few times and covered his face with his hands until he felt his irritation and confusion was properly expressed, checking the time on his phone- 1:24PM, so he had to go NOW, great.
He debated changing into something nicer, but figured if this Liam guy was fine with the way Lila texted, his standards couldn't be too high. Throwing on his usual coat, he made sure he had his phone, keys, and a pen, then made the short walk to the bus stop, where it only took a few minutes for the bus to pull up.
Allowing himself a moment to settle, he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing as the bus started driving, everything was moving way too fast and his brain still felt a bit foggy, but there was no Lila there to get him caught up. Having grounded himself slightly, he opened his phone and went to the second most recent text chain; there seemed to be about two weeks of normal texts between Lila and Tanya before he got to the most recent ones, taking place the day before yesterday;
Tanya
I'm thinking of having another girls night tonight, Martha and Ellie already confirmed they can come, you down?
William
ooooo sounds good! what time should i get there? gotta figure out which bus to take -L
Tanya
Around 8 roughly? And don't worry about that, Ellie said she'll pick you up on her way over
William
k cool cool :) :) :) -L
The bus stopped for an elderly couple to get on, his eyes drifted around a bit- he didn't like looking at his phone too long when he was in public, it made him paranoid. There was a time skip in the texts to the next morning- yesterday morning.
Tanya
Lila. LILA. LILA WHAT THE FUCK
WHAT THE FUCK LILA
DID YOU FUCKIN G
STEAL A TON IF MY SHIT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND LEAVE?!
you aren't here, you weren't here when Martha woke up and she was up first, and a ton of my stuff is missing. LILA!
ONE OF MY PAINTINGS IS GONE DID YOU TAKE A BIG ASS PAINTING ONTO A PUBLIC BUS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?!
please text me back, seriously. you're being weird and we're worried, Martha thinks you're having some mental break or something and i'm not convinced you aren't
There were more texts from Martha, Ellie, and Mike, all seeming to be mixed of worry, disbelief, and confusion.
... That was a lot to process, but at least he had an explanation for the new items in their apartment now. He started typing, then realized the bus had stopped and he had to get off here. As he stood and got off he quickly sent a message before focusing back on getting to his new workplace.
William
Hello, holy heck, sorry? We very much do certainly have your stuff but also i'm out currently and can't keep typing now I'll be able to talk more soon. 0-0 -W
He almost walked into a light pole as he sent the text, but stopped walking in time to avoid it. He took a deep breath- he had been doing that a lot today- and slid his phone in his pocket, then shook his hands out. He looked around; it was an area he was fairly familiar with, he'd gone to the Sunshine Cafe a few times, so he started walking again, trying to focus solely on getting there, ignoring the phone buzz in his pocket because he'd be sure to give themself a heart attack if he thought about that whole situation any more right now.
The light sound of a bell jingled as Will stepped through the door, and a young man with long black hair and tan skin greeted him after finishing up with a customer.
"Hey William! I've got all the forms printed out in back as well as a physical copy of the handbook here, I'll take you back to the office and you can get started on that stuff." Liam- he was assuming this was Liam- had a fairly soft voice and seemed easy going, calming his nerves slightly as he followed the young man into a small back office.
"Cool, cool, cool. You can just call me Will." His voice sounded strange to himself, but he supposed he was just getting used to talking again. He sat in a chair Liam offered with a little desk in front of it, all the necessary papers being placed on it. He fidgeted nervously with the pen he brought, eyes scanning over them quickly; some basic tax stuff, liability, policies, all the basic stuff.
"... You uh, feeling okay man?" Will was startled slightly by the voice and he looked up, realizing Liam had not left yet like he thought, but was hovering in the doorway with a worried expression.
"... Yes?"
"... Yea? You're just- you seem less energetic than- never mind."
"I'm just a little tired is all, no need to worry!" He put on what he hoped was a convincing smile.
"... Alright then, I'll leave you to it!" Lewis awkwardly shot finger guns at him and left, the chime of the doors bell causing him to speed up slightly to the counter.
Filling out the paperwork was a bit of a blur. He was able to focus enough to do it right at least- yes he put his social security number down right, yes that's his bank account, yes that's his phone number, yes he understands he can't sue them- what he assumed was the usual stuff. This was usually the kind of thing Lila handled as she was typically far better at being the "adult" of the body, yet her recent actions leave him questioning that title. Walking to the front, Lewis finished up with a customer and Will handed over the papers, Lewis told him he'd get a call for when his training would start once it was all processed.
The crisp air was soothing and he filled his lungs, briskly walking back to the bus stop and sitting on the bench- the next one was in half an hour. Another buzz came from his pocket making him wince slightly- it had gone off a few times as he was writing, and he had done his best ignoring it, but he figured he might as well confront it now.
Tanya
Hi Will. So... I'm getting my stuff back, right? And a very good explanation? :/
Because seriously what the hell
Martha
Oh woah, group chat about the Incident :0 also are you doing okay Will we're worried
Mike
If you don't have a good explanation I'm beating your ass and I don't care if you're a girl while I do it
Ellie
Mike!!! ):<
Mike
Not actually! I'm not actually gonna hit them, and yes, I'm worried as well, yada yada
I just also very much don't appreciate them stealing from my girlfriend, and being woken up at 3 in the morning with frantic texts about Lila being missing along with a ton of stuff apparently. Is this a normal occurrence for the average "girl's night"??????
William
Hi, so, I don't know what happened, Lila isn't here right now, yes our apartment has all your stuff, yes I think I'm mentally stable, no I'm not confident that Lila is, so in turn no, I guess i'm not confident I'm mentally stable, yes I'm sorry, no I am not home right now but I will be in a bit and I can get you all your stuff, and yes I'm going to discuss this with Lila as soon as possible.
Mike
Where r you right now?
Ellie
DON'T FIGHT HIM?!
Martha
Ellie i don't think he was going to, and i think we all would like to know where he is right now
Mike
What she said, relax, I'm in my car right now and was gonna go get him :/
William
I'm at the bus stop near the Sunshine Cafe because apparently we're going to work there now. Tanya you aren't responding, I'm sorry.
Tanya
Lot's of feelings right now. You're fine, just give me a bit
Mike
OMW
Will groaned and buried his head in his hands- that was his go to for these situations, he was getting pretty good at it. This situation was really weird, his brain was really weird, everything was foggy, but at least his friends don't seem to be mad at him? Maybe a little mad at Lila, but it mostly seemed to be worry he was pretty sure? He sucked at reading people's tone already, and it was even harder over text.
He focused on the warmth as he pulled his coat a little tighter around himself, deciding to just wait for Mike to get here and deal with getting all this stuff back to Tanya, and going from there. This was an... interesting way to start his first day back in reality.