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You loved your job, truly, you did.
You got to see many different sights, different people, got to witness new events. Course, some events happened repeatedly, but the way people reacted to them was always interesting, always new in some way.
I suppose more accurately though, you loved your boss. You loved working under him. He treated you fairly, even with the close connection the two of you shared, not treating the other employees differently due to it.
He was hard-headed, hard-skinned, yet a total softy. It was almost ironic, considering the type of monster that he was.
A tortoise.
Yet he always worked quickly. Perhaps a bit slow to emotions though.
… You probably considered him a father figure. Something he didn’t refute.
So yeah, you’d say you loved you job.
You pat the head of the client you were with, giving him an easy smile as you read over the files you had acquired.
Good. These were nicely done.
Time to head back!
You gave a glance out the window, seeing the setting sun with a start. Oh dear, if you were late then the cafe was going to have its rush! Oh how much you hated being in the middle of it.
You left the office without a glance at the client, leaving the door the way it was. You, stupidly, didn’t have your gloves with you, so why would you touch it?
Exactly, you wouldn’t.
You left the building just as you had come in, heading towards your boss’ building to drop off the report. You were lucky he wasn’t a chatter.
You walked into your favorite cafe with your noise cancelling headphones on. You sighed at the line with an internal ‘yep’. Of course it was busy, why wouldn’t it be. You thought ahead though.
You walked over to the side of the counter, you catching the eye of the barista and she smiled brightly. “Mocha! I was starting to worry you weren’t gonna get here!” She teased.
You stuck your tongue out at her, making the sign for drink. She understood instantly. “I knew that order was a bit familiar,” she mused, gesturing to your coffee order that was waiting patiently with the others. “Can never remember your actual name,” she sighed good naturedly and shooed you off with a smile. “We’ll chat more after the rush alright?” She didn’t wait for your response, which had been a thumbs up, and went back to catering to the hoard of un-caffeinated people.
You sat in your usual corner, sipping your coffee with a soft hum. You had found this coffee shop a few years ago and had been a regular ever since. The barista, who was actually the owner (though nobody really knew unless you complained), had a way with making a good cup of coffee.
You were fond of sweet items, yet you had such a craving for the caffeine, something you very much needed to get through the day. Marilyn, the barista, she had a delicate hand, and knew how to blend the flavors together where it was smooth and wasn’t sharp. The sweet tones that you preferred hid the bitter taste of the caffeine wonderfully.
You have a happy little sigh as you drank your coffee, watching Marilyn deal with the customers. God, she was great. You could never be able to keep up like she did, like she does.
You had a bit too much social anxiety for that.
People were terrifying and all.
Marilyn caught your eye and gave a sympathetic smile, more people entering the shop and hardly even leaving. You were surprised, you had never seen it this busy before. You waved her off with a small shake of your head. The two of you could catch up later, today was clearly not a good day for her.
You dropped a couple more bucks in the tip jar as consolation, giving her a one handed wave as you left the coffee shop, weaving through the crowds of people, finally breathing once you were outside.
You took another breath, trying to still your heart from so many people.
With a slightly stuttering sigh, you walked along the dimly lit path. The sun had just barely finished setting, just a sliver of sunlight left, yet still dark enough to count as evening, as night.
A lovely time for a walk.
The temperature wasn’t too terrible, it felt nicer as you sipped your coffee. You gave the usual stray cat you saw on your walks its head scratches, melting inside when it headbutt your hand.
God, cats were the saints of this world.
They could do no wrong.
… Well. They could do all the wrong and get away with it, that’s how adorable they were!
You giggled mutely to yourself as the cat began batting a paw at one of your hoodie strings. ‘Not today,’ you thought to yourself as you got up, gently pushing the cat away. You were overdue for a nap.
For as much as a kind boss that he was, he sure liked to put you to work.
Something you asked him to do to distract you from your own existence.
You made your way home, taking your time to enjoy the walk, feeling a bit more nostalgic than you typically would. It was strange. Has it really been that long since you started working for him?
.. Five years huh..
You shook your head to yourself as you opened your front door, taking the last sip of your coffee.
Many more were to come.
You took the step through your door and immediately fell onto your face with a pained hiss. Your senses were off, they felt dulled, blurred for a hot minute before they appeared to settle.
Except that didn’t seem quite right either, because as the pain and blur subsided, more noises popped up. Noises you didn’t recognize.
A groan left you, your headphones rubbing against your cheek from where they were resting around your neck. The noise ceased, yet still continued.
“.. hey buddy, maybe you shouldn’t-” You didn’t know that voice.
Your head shot up, you firmly ignoring the wave of nausea and pain that came from the movement, your empty coffee cup being chucked at whoever spoke out of instinct. Your vision cleared after a moment, hearing a snicker come from the intruder.
...
.. A skeleton.
Said skeleton looked amused. “really?” He looked down at the coffee cup that was just floating in front of him, encased in a blue tint.
Your mind flew with thoughts.
Fuck, this guy has magic. If he can keep a cup from hitting him, safe to say he can keep a human from running.
You gave a shrug, forcing it to be light-hearted. You gave a quick glance around your surroundings. You could have sworn you heard more voices while your senses were fucking up.
Regardless though... This was not where you lived.
You did not recognize your surroundings.
You looked up at the skeleton, who held a curious, although a bit cautious, expression himself.
“[Where?]” You signed in question.
He looked briefly surprised, dropping his hold on the coffee cup, shoving his hands in his pockets. “my basement,” he responded.
...
... Okay that gave you absolutely nothing.
Your look conveyed just that and he sighed. “you’re familiar with monsters, right?”
You raised an eyebrow, dead-pan. You made a ‘keep going’ gesture, holding in the urge to roll your eyes.
“.. okay, alright good. so you know the concept of magic then. what about-”
“oi nilla, quit hoggin’ them down there!” A different voice sounded, sounding exactly like the skeleton in front of you and your eyes narrowed.
The skeleton (Nilla?) in front of you groaned. “dammit red,” he muttered under his breath before looking back at you. “alright, short and sweet, you’re now in a new universe.”
.…
Your face screwed up, not quite disgust, a bit more confusion, and more years of exhaustion. A longer explanation would’ve been better. He chuckled at your expression. “it can be easier to explain upstairs, everyone’s there and waiting. knowing red, he already spilled everything.” He nodded towards the stairs out of the basement. “surprised nobody tried to barge their way down here,” he muttered to himself and you let out a snort.
He beamed at you and held a hand out to let you up. You grimaced, still not having your gloves on you before taking the hand, only grabbing parts of his sleeve covering his wrist though. He looked a tad confused by the choice, but didn’t say anything, remaining a stable figure as you steadied yourself on your feet.
You let go as quickly as you could, and he took the hint. “the name’s sans by the way,” he introduced. “sans the skeleton.”
Well that seemed annoying.
Sans began walking up the stairs, continuing to speak. “there are three other pairs that live here too, so, there’s seven other skeletons for you to meet, yay.” You could hear the sarcasm tinged at the end of the statement.
Oh god, seven skeletons.
Kill yourself now, immediately.
You very much wanted to perish.
You hoped they were deep sleepers.
You just simply nodded when he glanced back at you. He grinned cheerfully. “great! some of them can be a little rough around the edges, but you’ll be fineeeeee,” he waved a hand. “probably.”
Sir- Sir, that is not helpful-
The door to the basement opened and the two of you stepped out, your eyes immediately scanning your surroundings and taking note of any and all possible exits.
Two to the left, two to the right, stairs going up, typically more windows up high.
Noted.
You turned your attention to the skele- seven- there really were seven skeletons- You swallowed, trying to will away the fear that shook you to your core.
You really wanted out.
The skeletons took note of the two of you immediately, coming closer. You backed away, keeping note of how they were all standing, sitting, how they were all positioned.
It should be fine right?
A tall skeleton came up to you, skull joyful and hands stretched out to take yours.
Nope, nope, nope.
Time to ditch.
You took another step back. “Sleep.” You demanded, voice broken and hoarse.
It still had its effect though.
The skeletons dropped, slumping to the floor with soft clatters. You checked over them, making sure they were all asleep and moved through them, deciding to go out the back door. The entrance to the stairs and front door were blocked by sleeping bodies, and you’d rather not disturb them.
As soon as you were out of the house, you ran. Ran from the house, ran deeper into the woods, anxiety and adrenaline pushing you to run further.
You wanted to go home.
Where is home anymore?