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“magellanic penguins mate for life, you know.” it’s something of a knowing glance cast towards his audience of one as they pause in front of the habitat and floyd, subtle as ever, has the shining eyes of someone that thinks they’ve just snuck a cookie out of the jar and gotten away with it. “me, personally –– i think if i had to choose, i’d say i relate more to emperor penguins. serial monogamists, you know. a little more my style.”
dakota is more than late. she’s well aware of it as soon as she wakes up and sees how bright it is outside, and checking her phone only confirms the dread she had begun to feel. it’s the fastest she’s ever gotten ready and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t pretty damn proud of it. but that’s not the point. the point is that she’s now speeding down the road, praying that today isn’t the one day her boss decides to actually show up, that she can open a few hours off schedule and play it off successfully. it was a poor excuse of a record shop, but it was her record shop, her pride and joy despite it not actually being hers. she loves her job and she’s definitely not in the mood to get fired today. or ever, really.
she’s feeling more than lucky when her boss’ car is nowhere in sight, even cracking a smile as she parks. but her victorious mood is cut short as soon as she hears the person walk up behind her, waiting for her to unlock the store about two hours late. “listen, shit happens to all of us. just give me five minutes to set up the register and i’ll be good to go.” it’s safe to say that kota doesn’t have the most customer-friendly personality.
“So it’s Sunday right. Well, I got woken up at 6 AM with a call from my boss demanding me that I get his morning coffee and I was like ‘it’s the weekend, dude. I don’t have to work.’ And he says ‘next time I hear attitude from you, I’m docking your pay. Doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, if I need something I’m calling you.’ So I drug my ass out of bed just to get him some damned coffee and the first thing out of his mouth when he sees me is that I’m not dressed in work appropriate attire,” Marley complained, looking down at what she was wearing, a pair of ratty black jeans and an old Rush tee-shirt. “Anyway, I haven’t had enough coffee today to deal with today.” She didn’t even know who she was talking to, just the general people in the area at whatever coffee shop she’d landed in this morning.
📲 UNLISTED
FLOYD: i have the best news exclamation mark.
FLOYD: yule never guess what's happened exclamation mark exclamation mark exclamation mark.
“––––– it’s a taco bell parking lot, right, i’m just trying to eat my crunchwrap in peace. minding my own business. 88.1 has got an hour of commercial-free sweet summer jams going, sting’s telling me about roxanne. next thing i know, this fuckin’ jeep cherokee comes blastin’ through a red light into the lot like a bat outta hell, clips the back of my bumper. crunchwrap’s everywhere. tell me ––– how the fuck does someone hit a parked car? i just wanna know.”
“i’m gonna be upfront with you.” her tone has taken on an uncharacteristically serious note, pale hands clasped in front of her cherried kiss of a mouth. silence hangs over them like a shroud, heavy and unwelcome, and then, finally, “you’re gonna have to be the banker. i’m a terrible cheat and monopoly never goes my way.”
hesitation has made itself at home in his posture; the slope of his shoulders sinking beneath the weight of well-worn denim on the heels of a breath that gives the game away to anyone paying close enough attention –– this is information he would rather not disclose. information that feels to max like a concession. “there wasn’t a pentagram burned into the floor or anything but i’m sure there’s still something there. it’s not always gonna be, like, paranormal activity and shit, you know? sometimes it’s just ––– one of those movies where nothing actually happens but it’s real fucking creepy vibes.”
throwing another two boxes of cereal into her cart, gillian proudly crosses out yet another item on her checklist. her cart is already filled to the brim, cereal boxes barely hanging on at the very top as she continues through the aisle. it’s her biweekly trip to the store for the bed and breakfast, and not to brag, but she’s basically got the whole execution of the plan down by now. running a business for this long does that to a person. really the only difficulty she has is her lack of height, and the issue that creates when it comes to reaching some of the higher shelves. it’s more than pathetic trying to see her reach anything on her tiptoes, and inevitably, it always ends with her asking someone for help. looking up at the flour on the top shelf, she realizes that this time is going to be no different. “listen, i hate to be this person, but do you mind helping a vertically challenged stranger for two seconds? i’m going to die if i don’t have flour when i leave this store. seriously.”
