Dust on the Bottle & [Juxie]
It was only Vixey’s second day at the Moon Market, but she already knew that it was the right decision for her at this point in time. Jun was quiet, good company in the early morning. The work was simple, but good work. She liked shelving things and helping with organizing. Checking people out at the register was probably her least favourite, considering everyone was surprised to see her and she’d had to explain no less than ten times her last shift why she was back. (Though, skirting around the truth as much as possible.)
The mornings were usually calm and she enjoyed trading off shifts with Tae and the triplets when they came in from school. It was shocking seeing how much Tae had grown and the girls too. They’d all been so little the last time she’d spent any significant time with them. And, despite herself, she quite liked getting to know them, now, as little adults.
Jun too. They didn’t talk much if it wasn’t about work, but Vixey was used to that. She had a feeling Jun was too. When you worked at a hospital, it was your entire life. She wondered, sometimes, if he felt as lost as she did.
Of course, she wasn’t going to ask him. Especially not right off the bat. Maybe that would wait for the second week of work. (Kidding.) For the moment, she was just glad to have found a place that felt...nice. That made her feel like perhaps this exile wouldn’t be so bad after all.
She was thinking this, as she wiggled around the computer mouse on the ancient computer attached to the register, waiting for it to wake up. They’d been open for about half an hour, but Vixey had been running about, making sure she remembered to do everything for opening and had forgotten...possibly the most important part. It had just been her luck no one had come in yet. (Though, people usually did not grocery shoppe at 8:00am.)
The bell above the door rang and Vixey jumped to attention from where she’d been slouching, chin in hand, looking toward the door.
“Uncle Waldo!” Vixey barked in both--surprise and delight when she recognized the man who had just come in. He had been around even when Vixey was a child, of course.
“Hullo, m’dear!” Uncle Waldo said with a little hiccup, then a wave, and then, quite promptly: he crumpled to the floor.
For just one second, Vixey blinked. Then, like a jolt of electricity down her spine, her training kicked in and she ran towards him, dropping towards her knees and putting her hand beneath his nose.
“Jun!” she called, her voice calm but measured with alarm.
Her fingers moved to Uncle Waldo’s wrist. His pulse was steady and then--he made a horrible, wretched noise and Vixey blinked again.
“Oh, you’re just roaring drunk, aren’t you?” she sighed, removing her hand from his wrist to touch his shoulder gently and roll him onto his side.