The Puppet @oleander-for-dinner - Tumblr Blog

May 28

Restart, Retry, Rebirth

In which Kiana Alana gets a job at the local arcade after being kicked out by their oldest sister.

WARNING! This story contains mentions of blood, injuries, religious themes, intrusive thoughts, mentions of self-harm, and general family drama. The authors note is at the bottom, along with some art.

4.6k words

Like most things in Kiana’s life, it started with a blood bank. Her parents had met while donating blood. The restaurant they were heading to when they died had a blood donation truck parked beside it. Miriam had gone missing two hours after donating. Even ending up with a job happened because she was checking out a blood donation flier pinned to the community cork board in the laundry mat. Right beside it, was another flier, this one displaying the words “Help Wanted” in bold lettering. Maybe her life would've turned out better if she had just held out doing her laundry for another day.

They'd laid out their clothes for the day on their bed, grabbing jewelry from their dresser and putting it up to the dress to see how well it matched. Sliding into the cotton dress, Kiana smiled softly to themself. This would be the start of their new life, a lovely little restart. They stabbed the earrings into their earlobe, putting on their hearing aid. Music played from the radio on their window seal; they hummed along to the lyrics.

Stepping into their bathroom, they opened their only eyeshadow palette, dipped their middle finger into their signature blue and smeared it all over their lids. Kiana didn't even bother to wash the powder off–just grabbed their red lipstick and applied it. They smoothed out the wrinkles in the striped dress, chewing on the inside of their mouth. They looked at themself in the mirror, at their messy brown hair that desperately needed cutting and their rounded face. Sighing, they opened a drawer and pulled out a hair tie, keeping it on their wrist before making it out of the bathroom and back into their room.

They had managed to score the apartment cheap with the little money that had saved up from their last job at the diner. She didn't know why it was so cheap, only that it was. In truth, it probably had black mold or maybe there had been some sort of crime–that would explain the strange stains.

Kiana's dark eyes caught the shining metal of the Saint Dymphna necklace hanging from the statue of the Virgin Mary's shoulders atop of the wooden dresser. They hesitated in reaching for it, fingertips barely brushing it. Untangling it from the other necklaces was a hassle, but they did it anyway. The metal felt cool against their skin, like an ice pack on a stove.

They'd made it to the kitchen, admiring the pretty blue backsplash. Besides the cheap price, the kitchen was what drew her in. From the fridge, they grabbed the lunch they packed the night before–ten dumplings, a ham sandwich, and two cookies. For breakfast, Kiana opened the freezer for a nearly empty bag of dumplings. Setting it on the counter, they quickly went looking for a pot and a lid. The lid certainly didn't match, but that didn't matter. If it could stay on top then it'd work.

Soft fur brushed against her calves, a small face pushed against her blue tights. A smile stretched across her face, already crouching down to pet the cat.

“Oh, you're such a pretty kitty. You do smell a little gross though. I'll have to give you a bath after I get back.”

Leech had always been a small cat, even as a kitten. His dark fur was long, but taken care of–really he was the only thing she had been able to take care of for a few months after their grandmother passed. He stayed small and fluffy, even after the five years he had spent with Kiana.

“I'm going to head out for a few hours. You know, working hard to pay the bills. I'll see you when I get home.” She scratched behind his ears, raising back up to finish cooking. “I'll leave the radio on at a low volume for you.”

As they waited, they put their lunch into a bag along with a soda. Once the dumplings were finished, they put them onto a paper plate and doused them in soy sauce, eating them with their hands. She sweared softly to herself, noticing her chipping blue nail polish. Rolling their eyes, they just continued to eat, eyes following the blue tiles to the black-and-white painting of the Virgin Mary hanging above the stove. It had once belonged to her grandmother’s, but Malie didn't want it nor Kiana in the house.

Looking at the glowing time on the stove, she grabbed her lunch bag along with a large purse. Kiana locked her apartment door behind her, though not before kissing Leech goodbye with a wave. Walking through the old hallways of the apartment building, she made it down the stairs and out into the parking lot. The one amazing thing about the apartments was how close they were to the bus stop.

Climbing onto the bus, they quickly found their seat in the middle of it. The seats had the same crazy pattern that all buses have, though it seemed to have dulled with old age. Surely, the buses in the town had to be over twenty years old–minimum. With their head towards the window, they watched as the world passed them by. Sun half past the tree tips, illuminating the barely opaque leaves. The buildings from the city stretched out into the sky, mostly boring and concrete. Only when they managed to make it to Main Street did the buildings become older.

Kiana couldn't help but scowl whenever they passed the diner, crossing their arms. That place was the whole reason why she was kicked out in the first place. Its blue painted brick screamed at her, almost as if mocking them. The diner had paid slightly better, maybe that's what the worst part was.

Climbing off the bus, she walked into the parking lot. It was pretty much completely empty besides four cars–and one of them was simply the delivery car for the pizza place sharing the lot. The paint was sun bleached and chipping, making the parking lines almost impossible to see. She kicked a crushed, almost empty beer can. Within two steps past it, she turned on her heels and picked it up, brain making up some story about the environment. The sidewalk trashcan was almost full, but she tossed it in there anyway.

Opening the glass door, she was met with freezing air. The arcade machines sang in in a terrible orchestra while their lights gave off the impression that they were attempting hypnosis. The space themed carpet was surprisingly clear of any stains, or at least none that were too noticeable. Stepping deeper into the place, the air seemed to shift as if walking into some strange dream.

A tall, curly headed man came from the back–almost needing to duck underneath the door frame to make it past. He wore a button down shirt in butter yellow with a blue, patterned tie. His pants were straight cut and brown, and peaking out with every step was his colorful socks. He had a long, pointed nose and striking blue eyes that were almost disturbing. His ears were pierced with pale blue, gemstone studs. Overall, he looked like he would own an arcade. A closed-lipped smile adorned his freckled face, which quickly spread open to reveal his teeth.

He clasped two of his hands over one of theirs, pressing something into their palm as he spoke. “It's so nice to see you again, Kiana. I forgot to give this to you the last time we spoke.” He released their hands, leaving behind a name tag. Their dark eyebrows knitted together, head slightly tilted. He continued, “We thought that ‘Star’ would go nicely with Moon and I's names. It's best to stay on theme. Speaking of Moon, he should be in the break room as we speak. Why don't we say hi?”

So, she followed him past all the games and into the back which was noticeably warmer than the rest of the building and into the plain backroom. The floors were tiled instead of carpeted and the walls were this ugly yellow color that reminded them of the walls of their apartment. Only, this one didn't have that dizzying pattern to it. Taking slow sips from a cup of coffee, Moon barely looked at them. With his long, two-toned hair and general look, Kiana couldn't help but picture him with some of Miriam's old friends.

He gave her a lazy smile with a small wave. “Sorry I couldn't be there for the interview. I was busy.” When he spoke, he left an impression as if he didn't really care–like whatever he said never meant very much. He didn't move his mouth that much whenever he spoke.

“Yes, yes, very busy. But, anyhow, in five minutes come back to the main area so I can tell you what you're going to be doing before we open up this place.” Sun walked to the counter, picking up his own mug and walked out the room.

Moon sat up just a little bit more, pointing to the lockers on the other side of the room. “I put a sticky note with the combination for the lock on yours. Feel free to shove whatever you got in there.”

And just like he said, there was a blue sticky on a single one of the lockers. On closer inspection, there was a series of numbers and arrows written in shitty pencil. When Kiana tried the combination on the lock, it opened. With nothing inside, she shoved her bags into it.

She looked at the name tag in their hand, pinning it to their dress. No doubt that when they got home, and if they still had energy, that they would decorate it. Continuing on with doing what she was told, they made their way back into the actual arcade.

Sun stood there with his coffee mug, though he held it out far from his body as he used a rag to dust the console of a machine. His eyes flicked to hers, a smile once more growing on his face. “Oh, there you are! I was beginning to think we'd have to send a search party looking for you.”

“Sorry.”

“Don't be sorry! I was simply joking.” He hummed softly at the end. “Now, here's what you're going to do in the mornings,” He pointed to the arcade machines, “Make sure to dust the machines very gently after I finish checking to make sure they're working. If you see one that's not, just come get me. Then you can clean the windows and the prize counter. Speaking of the prize counter, restock whatever is getting low, the boxes of things should be in the back. Don't worry, they're labeled. Got that?”

“Yeah?”

“Lovely! I'm going to be in the back, if you can't find something you need or something happens, come get Moon or myself and we'll get it sorted.” He rested one of his hands on his hips, as if waiting for another response.

“Okay. Works with me.” They wandered around the building, finding various cleaning solutions and tucking them under their arms. Despite what Malie thought, Kiana had no problem with working. Some things were even enjoyable, a lovely little task that didn't require thinking–like cleaning the windows. The most bothersome thing she had to do was really pull her hair back. They did the tasks exactly as told: first dusting the arcade machines, then the windows, and then the prize counter.

Now, they sat on their knees, a box of supposed small toys in front of them and atop of the box was a box cutter. It was a stereotypical orange with a little black slider. It felt familiar in their hand, like a long lost friend. stop. It wouldn't even hav–stop. They licked their lips, light reflecting perfectly against the blade. God will forgive you.

Kiana sliced the tape. She pulled out a handful of little toys. Under her breath, she let out a prayer. Standing up, she set the blade down and made her way back to the prize counter. Maybe Malie was right. People hardly change. She slid open the acrylic and plopped the toys in their container. She let a long, steady breath through her teeth.

Their eyes slid all the way up to the arcade lights. They hummed with electricity in a way that told them it was safe. Chills crawled up their spine. Thoughts circled in their brain as they traced the edge of the disk charm on their necklace. One time. Then two. And then finally a third; a little protection ritual just for themself. Nothing bad could happen then. Safe. Safe. Safe.

Kiana stood up with a pop, eyes searching. There. They caught movement by the employee only section and suddenly Sun and Moon were coming out of it. Sun had this way of moving about him, as if he was something pretending to be human. It was oddly chipper and as he swung his keys, she couldn't help but watch him. He swung the little sign to face the other way.

“BOO!”

They screamed, snapping their whole body towards the noise. Instead of a ghost or some masked killer or whatever their brain had convinced them of, it was Moon. He had a shit eating grin on his face with his arms crossed against his chest.

“Moon! Remember your manners!”

He rolled his eyes, lowering his voice. “You really should be more careful. Might not be me sneaking up on you next time.”

They bit their tongue to ask who in the world would try in the first place if it wasn't just to bother them. Sure, their apartment was shit but it was shitty enough that most people wouldn't bother to rob it. They'd probably go into more debt from stealing from them anyway. Instead, they just stated, “I'll keep that in mind for later… I guess.”

“Good.” He squinted as he looked down at her, eyes barely going wider when his gaze reached one of her ears; he hadn't noticed it before, had he? It had been behind a curtain of her hair, but now that mess was tied into a pony tail. He opened his mouth, certainly about to ask a question they'd probably had before.

Sun interrupted him, leaning against the counter with his coffee. “What are we talking about? Hopefully something fun.”

“You could say that,” Kiana replied, pulling a curl out of the hair tie and playing with it. It was better than picking at their skin, which just about everyone she had ever met had told her to stop doing.

“Good. Good. Now, I think for your first day we give you a relatively easy day? What do you think of that, Moony?”

“Sounds good to me.” He circled the counter, standing close to his counterpart.

“The prize counter is probably the easiest thing here and rather self explanatory. When someone comes up, you count their tickets and then if they have enough, you simply give them what they ask for. If they don't, politely tell them so. Simple as pie!”

“You can't bake pie, Sun.”

“I'd imagine that it's not that hard.”

Kiana cut in, “Lemon meringue pie isn't that hard to make.”

“See, Moon, pie isn't that hard to make. I stand by that turn of phrase!”

Kiana forced down a smile. If this was what their life was going to be like till the end of time then surely, it couldn't be too bad? The two continued to bicker, though it was in a light way. No hard feelings would be had after it was over, something she could be thankful for. She didn't need to have her bosses to be perpetually angry, certainly not how Mr. Ridges was back at the diner.

Sun let out an exasperated groan. “Oh, whatever. Let's just get on with our day. It's the beginning of summer. There's sure to be a lot of kids in here pretty soon.” Whenever he moved, he moved quickly.

“Sun's right, you know. Summer is always the busiest time for us besides Spring and Winter break. Around three o'clock to about six is our big three hours. Hope you can keep your head.”

The place felt alive. It was abuzz with the sounds of people and machines and the music playing overhead. Screams of joy and laughter filled whatever beats should've been silent. There had to be at least twenty four children inside–about half of them teens–and maybe nine parents at a time. Of course, things died down about six o'clock, just like Moon said it would. Still, there were maybe twelve people still playing and all of them were teenagers.

They'd run up to Kiana's counter, pointing and asking for things in such a fast pace that she could hardly understand them as she counted their tickets. Her heart sounded against her rib cage, almost as if it was begging her. Maybe it wanted her to rest. She could rest. She had a job to do.

Her hands were getting clammy. She'd always thought that phrase was strange. Kiana had only had clams once or twice in her twenty six years of living, and they were slimy. Sweaty and cold hands did not feel slimy. Perhaps her hands were not clammy at all. Either way, she wiped them on her dress. The world seemed to tilt.

Kiana scanned the room once more, catching Sun talking to one of the parents. He seemed more human in the lighting and she could make up parts of their conversation despite everything.

“–couldn't find him anywhere!”

“Oh, goodness, how terrible! I wonder what his wife is feeling.”

“Probably thanking the Lord. I'll tell you what, he was mean. Rosa, Susie's mama, thinks that he ran off with the babysitter. But, and you can't tell anyone I'm telling you this, I heard that the police are suspecting something foul.”

“You don't think anyone from here could've done anything, Julie?”

“Of course! You never really know your neighbors.” The conversation almost immediately died out when the woman yelled something towards her teenage child, ushering them to come to her. Sun just walked off.

When every movement, their brain felt three steps behind their body. Still they crossed the mostly empty arcade floor and to Sun, somehow matching his quick pace.

“I'm going on my lunch break. Thought you would probably want to know,” they blurted.

His face twisted into one of confusion, stopping for a second. “Wait, it's six thirty, why haven't you taken it already?”

“I lost track of time.”

“Okay, okay. You go take your break, and I'm going to man the prize counter until you get back. You've got thirty minutes.” He turned sharply, jogging to the counter when he saw a small group of teens–six of them– begin to walk towards it.

The break room somehow felt cooler than the main area. They paid no mind to anything else but opening her grey locket and pulling out her lunch bag. She sat on the floor, opening her Tupperware and stabbing the dumplings with the fork. Her teeth scraped against the metal; she couldn't care less. She pulled out the cola soda from the bag, opening it with a smile. Finally, some time to relax, even just a little bit.

“You do know that we have two couches, right? And a counter. You're allowed to sit on the couches and eat.” Standing above her was Moon. His hair was tied up, sleeves rolled up and a red rag pressed to his hand. No, the rag had once been white but was now stained with blood.

“Well, maybe I like sitting on the floor and eating. Also what happened to your hand?” She took a bite of her sandwich.

“I was trying to open a box of paper. I was using my pocket knife. I think you can put two and two together to get four.”

“Do you want me to take a look at it? I was training to be a nurse for a while. I can at least tell you if you're gonna need stitches and maybe patch you up. Just give me a moment to finish eating.”

“You know what. Fine.” He plopped down on the couch, positioned in such a way to watch Kiana and to take up the entirety of the couch. On closer inspection, the yellow walls of the breakroom did intact have a pattern. It wasn't the same nauseating pattern that was on her apartment walls, but it was still maddening and stupid. “What are you eating?”

“Dumplings, a sandwich and two cookies. Oh and an off-brand Coca Cola.” She finished her lunch, well dinner, quickly reopening her locker and pulling out their large purse. Making their way over to the sink, they took off their bracelets and fingerless gloves and washed their hands. When they finally turned around, they were ready to help. “Move your legs.”

He followed her orders, though not before grumbling something quietly enough so that she couldn’t understand. Part of her guessed that he had wanted her to hear, but Kiana didn't bother in asking before she grabbed the small medical kit from her purse. “Give me your hand.” He lifted the crimson rag to reveal a still bleeding wound. It was deep, but straight, cutting from the lower quarter of his palm to the start of his wrist.

“Sorry to say this, but you're gonna need stitches.” She pointed to his thumb then the wrist joint, “That part of your hand has a lot of movement so even if it wasn't this deep, you'd need stitches anyway. But, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to bandage it, you're going to throw that rag away and then keep pressing gauze to the injury until Sun drives you to the hospital because you probably shouldn't be driving.”

“Isn't that just my luck?” He rested his head against the couch cushion, closing his eyes so as to not be blinded by the fluorescent ceiling lights. After a moment, he looked back down towards the rag he was holding before simply tossing it into the trashcan; it landed with a wet sound.

Kiana held his hand gently, using an alcohol wipe to clean the area around the wound. They made no mind in his reaction, instead pressed gauze to it and wrapped it in bandages. It would do well enough to catch some of the blood before he could get stitches, whenever that would be. “There you go. I think the bleeding should stop soon, but I wouldn't recommend touching anything. Blood is a biohazard afterall.” She pressed another gauze to his hand, grabbing his other one and making him press down on it.

“I'll try to keep that in mind.” He got off the couch, stretching out his long legs. “We're probably going to close this place up thirty minutes early–not even Sun can deny going to the ER.”

Suddenly, Kiana was alone again. God, she hated being alone. It was one of the worst things in all of existence. The lights buzzed and flickered in that annoying way that made the barely visual patterns of the wall paper dance. Wow. She really was going crazy.

Shoving everything into their bags, they took in deep breaths. They washed their hands once more, not watching to keep any of Moon's stray blood. They looked down at their own scabbing injuries, trying not to feel any shame. Malie would at least be proud that they were healing. They dried them, slipped on their gloves then bracelets before heading back into the arcade. It was calmer now, with most of the patrons having already left. Moon was talking with Sun, who seemed mildly alarmed. They were too far for them to understand any part of their conversation, but it was undoubtedly about going to the ER. How could it not be?

Sun waved them over with quick movements. Kiana, of course, complied. Their feet moved quickly under them, jogging to the counter where Sun was leaned over. He looked frazzled, like static electricity was making his hair stand up. His shirt had gotten progressively wrinkled through the day. He spoke in a hushed tone, almost as if he didn't want anyone else to hear him.

“How about you head home a little early? Moon and I will close this place up pretty soon anyway and you've been here along enough. M'kay?”

“I'll just go grab my stuff and then I'll head out.”

“Lovely! Have a good night.”

It didn't take long to gather her things and head out for the night. The air was humid and hit, the sun just barely peaking past the horizon bathing everything in beautiful blues and corals. Darkness covered only half of the sky as stars speckled it. Walking across the parking lot, they made it to their bus stop. They found a nice spot on the blue painted bench, crossing their legs. They watched as a vulture swooped down on the grassy, unfinished lot across from them. It landed and began to feed.

Kiana turned her head away, trying to focus on the beautiful world around her. Trying to focus on the trees and the flowers peaking through the cracks of the dried cement. It took about thirty minutes for the bus to roll up, stopping with a squeal. She allowed herself to climb on, find her seat and wait to be taken back to her apartment.

‘I wonder what Leech has been up to? Hopefully not getting into too much trouble.’

It took twenty minutes for her to be dropped off and by then, her legs felt like jello. Still, she climbed the stairs back up. The old lights of the building gave this sickly glow to everything. It was almost beautiful. Mrs. Franklin passed her while climbing up the stairs with her husband, both holding armfuls of groceries. Kiana let them pass. Finally making it to her apartment while her next door neighbor exited his.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Alana.”

“To you too, Mr.Nishihara.”

She entered the apartment, locking the door behind themself. She flicked on the lights, revealing Leech grooming himself on the couch. He continued on like normal, as if she hadn't been gone for more of the day. Kiana trekked into the kitchen, opened up one of her blue cabinets and pulled out a single can of cat food. With a spoon, she put the food into Leech’s bowl then set it to his usual feeding area. Going back to the kitchen, she looked at the phone resting on the counter and put in one of the only numbers she could remember by heart. And despite getting no answer, they still left a message.

“Hey, Malie, it's me.” She allowed herself to sit on the floor. Leech pressed his head against her thigh and purred. “I know you're really busy, so call me back whenever you can but, uh, I got a new job. Today was my first day and I honestly really liked it. I'm thinking that maybe in a year or two that I could go back to school for nursing? I don't know… But, anyway, I was wondering if I could take Eden to church this Sunday? Father Lawrence told me that he really missed seeing him around this Wednesday. He had also said that he really missed seeing me during mass a few weeks ago. I guess I'm saying thank you for not telling everyone about what happened. Um, anyway, I'm going to hang up now; I don't want this message to get too long. ‘Love you, bye.”

They hung up the phone, scratching behind Leech's ears once more and running their hands through his fur. “Do you think she misses me?”

This AU belongs to @wyervan

It's taken me like four or so days to write this! I've had these ideas since about April, but I've finally been able to write! I might revamp the whole series (I already have about two ideas for new oneshots). Anyhow, Kiana got a big redesign along with bits of their personality and family life.