Work Text:
Ding ding ding..
The sound of an alarm blaring filled the room as Vine Staff shuffled under her sheets in annoyance, slowly turning to the side where her phone rested on a nightstand beside her bed, lazily trying to press the snooze button as she groaned.
She groaned more as she shifted her body in discomfort, everything seemed to ache as she turned to lay on her back, facing the ceiling.
It had seemed to be another gruling Monday, meaning; work at the café.
She couldn't help but dread it, even if it was routine, it didn't make it any less harder to get up and do it.
Cracking her eyes open slowly, her vision focused on her ceiling, taking a deep breath in, seeming to prepare to get up, only for her to toss to the side adjacent to the one she was laying on, or rather the side that Scythe had once rested on.
It had been well, weeks since she had last stayed at Vine's place—Seeming to have disappeared after their last night together, she probably went back to Lost Temple but none the less, Vine Staff still missed her.
As she stared blankly at the empty space beside her, she couldn't help but imagine Scythe there—laying as she grinned at Vine Staff, her gray, curly hair sticking to her face as her eyes glistened from the sunlight over head, her scent, her soft breathing, and the way she would look at Vine Staff like she was the most important thing in her world.
Gosh, she missed her so bad.
It'd only been around one, or two weeks since she had been there, and yet with the way Vine yearned for her presence it'd seem like she had died. She stayed there for a bit, just staring, before her ears were met with that familiar ringing of her alarm.. Again.
She groaned dramatically as she finally got upright on her bed, taking a deep breath before stretching, which only seemed to make her body ache more.
She turned her legs to the side, pushing the sheets off of her, feeling the cold morning breeze on her legs as she stood up and grabbed her phone, clicking dismiss as she made her way to the bathroom to get ready for work.
She opened the front door of the café, signaled by the chime of bells as she made her way to the front counter to get to the back.
The back door creaked open as she made her way in, being greeted gleefully by Slingshot preparing the stove and other cooking necessities for the day.
"Morning', Sling.. Wheres Shuriken?" Vine Staff questioned, yawning, upon noticing the absence of her other sibling.
"I assume he's going to be late, he spent the night over at Coil's house." Sling said in reply, the slightest bit of annoyance swept through his words, though, trying his best to keep his resolve since the day had just started.
Vine Staff looked away in response, setting down her stuff at the counter near the back door—hearing that made her think of Scythe, again. Swords, she couldn't get her out of her brain—Nothing in that exchange had anything that would even relate to her, yet she had thought of a hypothetical situation where it'd be her and Scythe being scolded under that exchange.
"Oh, right, before I forget to mention it, you're on cashier duty today." Sling added on as he continued preparing bowls and ingredients for the first batch of pastries to start the day.
Fuck.
In order to spread out work more easily, Sling had decided to change who was serving and who was helping at the back every week or so, It'd been quite a busy month for the café, meaning Sling could use extra help in the back pumping out pasteries. Much to the dismay of Vine.
She had never been the social type, it was hard for her to speak up and understand social cues a lot of the time, in addition, it certainly didn’t help that she was so awkward.
Her time at the clan proved that claim long before. Even so, Sling insisted that it would also help her communicate better.. or something like that.
She knew she could do nothing to protest. She understood why they had this schedule in the first place and some of the benefits that came with it, didn't change the fact that she still didn't enjoy doing it though.
Dread couldn't help but seep into the healer, sighing and nodding her head in understanding, she went over to the rack where their aprons sat and took one and tied it around her waist.
She made her way to the front counter and breathed in, trying her best to calm her nerves as she set up the cashier, counting the change inside of it and taking note of them, before going on to fix the screen where orders were taken.
It was almost time to open before Shuriken finally made it in—late, as expected.
Giving a quick greeting to Vine as he rushed over to the back, being met with a scolding from Sling upon entering, Vine couldn't help but giggle a bit as she stared at the time.
Soon, the clock had finally hit opening time, as Vine got up, taking a deep breath in as she flipped the sign that had once said closed into one that said open, preparing herself for another long day.
It wasn't long before a customer came in, Vine took their order and and served their food shortly after. This would be the routine for the rest of the day until closing time..
As the hours ticked by, more and more customers came in.
Each inphernals faces seemed to blend in with one another as she practically functioned on auto-pilot the whole day, well, aside from the short conversations she had with regulars. Like Boombox, Skateboard, and Coil, though it was mostly him teasing Sling.
Even so, it was appreciated due to how mundane the past hours had been.
The hours going by in a blur—Vine had barely noticed it was nearing closing time. As she finished up what she thought was the last customer, a hooded inphernal made their way in.
She had hardly even noticed they came in, their footsteps light and their figure almost invisible, like another person to forget in a crowd.
Vine looked up at the inphernal, their face concealed by a mask, the shadow from their hood hiding the details of their eyes, or rather, eye?
"Welcome to Thieves' Rest, what could I get you started on?" Vine Staff went on with her usual spiel, just trying to get it over with.
The hooded inphernal stood silent for a second, seeming to observe the menu overhead before speaking.
"Y'know, I think I'll take one pretty lady to go."
The hooded inphernal spoke, a thick country accent followed each syllable of their sentence.
Vine stared at the order screen blankly, trying to process the feeling of deja vú as her ears perked up, hearing that country accent she had grown to be so familiar with, snapping her head up at the inphernal infront of her.
Before she could say anything, the hooded inphernal's prosthetic hooked onto their mask, bringing it down to reveal their true identity.
"Evenin', Flowers."
Scythe greeted Vine as she pushed down her hood, the light overhead finally revealing her face in full glory.
Her scope gleaming under the florescent lights in the café as she smirked at Vine staff.
Vine's eyes widened in a mix of excitement and shock, her mouth opening a bit before closing shut as she stared.
"Mind if I steal ya' for a bit?" Scythe grinned as she stared at Vine Staff.
Vine could only nod her head in agreement as she smiled and bit her lip, making her way out of the counter and outside where Scythe followed.
Both went to an alleyway just beside the café, where Scythe leaned in and hugged Vine Staff, catching the floral scent of the perfume she wore, she couldn't help but breathe it in as her hands held onto Vine's waist greedily.
Vine hugged back, her arms wrapping around Scythes entire figure, leaning into the gentle touch of her woman.
She nuzzled her face into the crevice of Scythes neck, taking in the warmth that radiated from her body.
Scythe pushed back slowly, breaking their embrace, though her hands still laid on Vine's waist whilst stared into her eyes.
"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in Lost Temple." Vine questioned Scythe, sure she was happy to see her, but she was also a little confused as to why she was here.
"Y'know, I missed you." Scythe replied back, smiling as her eye narrowed looking at Vine Staff's face.
Vine's face flushed as she giggled a bit, looking up at Scythes face before being met with sensation of Scythe’s hand cupping her chin before kissing her on the lips.
Vine immediately leaned into the kiss, pressing her lips against Scythes, feeling her worries wash away as her hands wander around the hitwoman's body.
She hadn't even noticed her lipstick had smudged from the contact, she was just happy to be in Scythe’s arms again.
They kissed for a bit before Scythe broke away slowly, taking in the close-up view of Vine Staff's face before being met with a quick peck from Vine.
She leaned backwards, taking in a better view of Vines's face, tucking in the loose strands that stuck to her face with her prosthetic.
As they stared at eachother for a bit, Vine had noticed her lipstick had caught on to Scythes lip leaving a pink smudge on her face, she couldn't help but giggle as she broke the grasp she had on Scythes figure to rub off the leftover pigment with her human hand.
"Think yer' free tonite?" The cow girl asked, smiling as she leaned into the warmth of Vine's hand on her face.
"Of course.." Vine giggled in response, biting her lip—her way of flirting.
"Perfect. I'll be here, waitin'." Scythe smiled in response, breaking the grip her hands had on Vine's waist.
That was Vine's qeue to take her leave.
As she pushed open the café doors, smiling, and still looking back at Scythe, she turned her head to see Shuriken standing behind the front counter.
"Where did you go?" Shuriken questioned, suspiciously, as he learned forward, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowing.
"Nowhere, I just wanted some fresh air." Vine Staff stammered out, freezing in place as she tried her best not to seem guilty as she glared back at Shuriken.
".. Right, what about the customer?" Shuriken questioned again, trying to grab some sort of answer from Vine Staff, he didn't fully trust her words.
With how shes been acting for the last few weeks, Shuriken had reason to suspect something was up.
"..What customer?"
Fuck, that was the only response she could think of.
It was dumb, but she really had no other excuse than to just try and gaslight her way out of here.
It didn't help that she also felt pressured, she wanted to clock out already for obvious reasons.
Shuriken tilted his head in confusion, stammering as he tried to explain that there was a customer at the front and that Vine had just been talking to them.
In response, she could only keep lying. Telling him over and over again that there was no one, otherwise, she wouldn't have gone out.
The two bickered for a bit before Shuriken ultimately gave up, simply blaming it on "work stress." as he walked back into the kitchen to grab his stuff..
Vine watched as Shuriken returned to the kitchen, sighing in relief before following behind to do the same.
Her and her siblings had a little chat, laughing and making jokes about the events that had happened during their time at work, though as Vine laughed, her mind seemed to be elsewhere.
Vine hurriedly untied her apron and grabbed her stuff, though, still trying to hold up conversation as to not arouse suspicion, bidding a quick farewell as she made her way out the front door.
Scythe had a cigar in her mouth, leaning against the wall as she waited in said alleyway, her ears perking as she heard the sounds of rushed footsteps.
Quickly fixing her posture and dropping the cigarette before stomping on it as she turned her head to face the healer infront of her.
"Ready to go?" Scythe questioned, enthusiasm seeped through her along with excitement.
".. Let's go home." Vine replied with the same amount of enthusiasm.
The two began their journey to Vine's apartment, the two talking about nothing and everything, basking in eachothers presence as they chattered.
The streetlights highlighting their path as the soft night breeze brushed against their faces, both had seemed to be content with one another as they spoke.
They'd go on to spend their night together, and the morning after.