Parking her small, cerulean blue moped in the employee parking space, Matina took off her helmet, using a free hand to shake her hair out, and later, pull it into a low bun before grabbing her apron and pulling it over her head. It was a pastel green with a simple white coffee mug on the front pocket, surrounded by a thin ring of smoke, which she though was pretty cute, one of the reasons she had applied for this job; the theme of the place was asthetically pleasing, which she enjoyed.

Hopping off of her bike, the night air was cool amd breezy as it had already been dark for some time now, considering that it was ten at night. The last of the emplyees from the previous shift were leaving as the young woman approached, giving them a cheerful wave and smile as they passed her, adding a little bounce to her step as she walked in, the door's bell ringing as she entered the brightly lit room, getting a pleasant whiff of cinnamon.

Immediately to her left, the cashier's counter stood, little muffins and other baked goods sat in the display counter underneath, while a newly updated menu sat as the focal point on the wall behind it. Round tables surrounded the area closer to the counter while the larger, rectangular tables basically outlined the further walls, though there was plenty of space between them. The building itself was made out of brick, though there were paintings and other pictures hanging up on the walls with small strings of LED lights shaped like light bulbs outlined the top of them.

Striding further into the room, Matina made her way behind the counter, stretching as she prepared herself for the night, though as she looked around for the others, she realized she was the first here.
"Ah, I'm first? Niiice," she leaned against the counter, feeling quite responsible now that she was actually on time. After a moment, she shook her head, and said to herself, " Those hooligans, always late, task task. I should really report them, I'm tired of doing their work. Yes, Mr. Manager? I'd like to report a crime. What's the crime you ask? Well, let me tell you-," she laughed at herself as she played out the fake conversation, but she was already growing increasingly bored, and those muffins were looking better and better the more she looked at them.

Shrugging, Matina bent down and grabbed one of the goods, not bothering to lookout for anyone else as she raised it to her mouth. "First come, first serve I suppose. I pay taxes, haha," she giggled to herself again.

The bus slid to a halt with a squeal of breaks as Fara stood and made her way forward towards the doors; stepping from the warm bus into the cooler night air, she shivered slightly, more as a reflex than anything else. Adjusting the collar of the slightly-to-large men’s long-sleeved shirt, she stuck her earbuds in for the walk from her bus stop to work.

Her hair back in a simple ponytail, a plain blue t-shirt under her long-sleeve, a pair of nearly thread bare jeans a battered messanger bag for an oversized purse and some very well worn Converse, Fara was pretty much the reference image of ‘Broke Collage Student’, not that such a thing really bothered her. Reaching work, she opened the door while singing to herself. ”Baptized in a firefight/Hot blood running cold as ice/Forty four minutes of target practice/All hell's breaking loose…” Nodding a greeting to the few remaining evening shift staff that were still leaving, she did her best not to roll her eyes as she spotted Matina helping herself to a muffin.

Leaving her co-worker to her ‘theft’, she stepped into the back to drop her stuff and put on her apron that she’d stuffed into her bag. She was still singing to herself, though this time without the music in her ears, as she came back into the front.”Standard police issue guns were just not enough/But SWAT arrived and settled the fight/Between AK-47 and AR-15.” Tying off her apron, she then redid her ponytail, taking a moment to scratch her head as she did so. ”Evening Matina,” She said finally. ”Have the muffins gotten any better?” As muffins went they weren’t all that great in her opinion.

---

Her bike skidded slightly on parking space as Billie pulled the breaks. Considering this is the best part of her day aside from working with the gang and earning her deserved pay, the nightly bike rides from her dorm to work are the best time for 'me time' which helps in her creative endeavours, contemplating on ideas while on the road. After hooking her bike on the parking rack, Billie made way to the door just a good couple of minutes after the last person came in.

The distinct bell sound rang meekly as the tall woman holding a binder in one hand and wearing washed out denim jacket over her work uniform, a yellow bucket hat, a leather knapsack, and a warm smile on her face as she greeted her co workers, and is also equally greeted by the familiar and homely aroma of coffee and pastries.

"So apparently I took a nap and got waay too into it-" she let out a guilty chuckle and put down her stuff in the lockers, taking off her jacket, hat, knapsack, and binder containing sketches from the new series she was working on hoping that she could do some work here in between.

Billie then put on her apron, tied her long silky hair into a rather messy bun, and took out a mop in the utility cabinet, as the floor always needed a good old moppin' before the customers come in. And also following her usual work routine.

Sheoverheard Fara's comment, "Well, unless we've finally put Mojito on the menu-" she chuckled, then paused her mopping, hand leaning on the handle as she eyed Fara, Ursula, and then Matina, as if somehow double checking if they started to legitimately serve booze muffins without her knowing.

April performed one last spin before pushing open the door to the quaint little coffee shop she and her rag tag band of co-workers spent their nights at.

"Hey guys!" April beamed while stuffing her earbuds into her bag. "Sorry, I'm late. Practice ran a little long." This wasn't super unusual for the aspiring ballerina. The instructor would make them repeat routines until everyone got them perfect before she would allow them to leave. A tad harsh if you were to ask most people, but this was entertainment biz and people demand perfection. If you want to be part of it, then you have to put in the time. At least, that's what her instructor would say.

Gracefully making her way to the back, April hung her belongings on a coat rack. She slipped on her apron and rejoined the team in the front. It made her happy to look at their matching green apparel. It gave her a sense of belonging.

"So, how is everyone this evening?" April asked as she made her way to a display of wrapped cookies on the counter. "I see we've already started the midnight snacking," She giggled as she fiddled with the array. It'd be a lie if she said she wasn't eyeing one of the big snicker doodle cookies before her.

Seeing the others begin to walk into the coffee shop, Matina tried to quickly eat the rest of her muffin before the others noticed, but it was too late. Fara, one of the only people she knew that could wear anything and make it look cool, had spotted her and mentioned it later as she came to the front counter.

Pausing mid-chew, for a good five seconds, she turned her head away and said, "Well I wouldn't know what you mean, since I haven't tried them lately," faking innocence. "I don't eat the muffins here, they're kinda gross."

Soon after, Ursula, the edgy but cool one, walked in, pulling out her large book after making some tea, which smelled pretty good to Matina. "Hi!" she greeted cheerfully, scooting in closer to peer over her shoulder and at her book curiously. "Watcha readin',?" she asked as Billie, the tall and kinda intimidating woman entered, as well as April, the pretty dancer. Matina waved a quick 'hello' to them, but she was still trying to read what was on the pages of Ursula's book, getting relatively close to read it.

"I also heard that we were getting a new coworker. Hopefully they're nice. And I don't know what you guys see, but no one's eating anything. And I tend to be pretty observant," she smiled.

”Not much,” Fara replied as Ursula made herself some tea and immediately opened her book. She thought that was a bit poor form for a workplace, but no-one else seemed to care so she kept it to herself. As Billie came through the door she gave a small wave, that quickly turned into a chuckle and a roll of the eyes. She repeated the same actions with April, though she omitted the eye roll, instead replying with a ”Eh, we all seem to ‘ve just got here ourselves.” The way April moved, that fluid dancer’s grace, did ‘things’ to Fara and brought up thoughts that she was very quickly to drown in oceans of mental cold water. Not the time brain…

Fortunately Matina provided her with a needed mental distraction. With a bit of a smirk she walked over to bubbly co-worker and flicked a few stray crumbs off of her apron. ”Really now?” She asked with an over-dramatic eyebrow raise, and a stern look. ”So the muffin I saw you wolfing down as I came in was dinner?” She could only maintain that for a few seconds, before laughing. ”Oh, hadn’t heard we were getting anyone new.”

The speculation on a new coworker didn't have to last long, as the boss of the last shift made his way over to the girls, an unfamiliar face following behind him. A girl, possibly younger then the rest of them but definitely the shorter then the rest of the night crew, it platinum blond hair falling freely to her shoulders, and ocean blue eyes that were studying the group as she approached. Her expression and posture all displayed that she was feeling rather nervous, with one of her hands fidgeting with the hem of her plain white t-shirt that she was wearing underneath the shop's apron.

"Alright, gather around everyone." The boss called out before waiting for Billie, Matina, Ursula, April, and Fara to approach. He glanced around a bit before letting out a sigh."I see Vinh and Jakob are late. Great, another phone call for me to make then. Regardless, starting today you'll be having a new co-working. This here is Amelia and she'll be working in the back, helping out with the baking. Matina, you're in charge of watching over her and making sure she get's the job down. The rest of you can help out if you want and you have some free time. Otherwise, feel free to get to know her and try not to scare her away. I'm looking at you Ursula.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to report on the boys. Oh and Matina, I hope you're going to pay for the muffin you took."

With that he left, with Amelia watching him leave before looking back at her new coworkers. She shifted from foot to foot nervously, glancing between each of them. She wasn't sure what to say at this point. Hell, unknown to them at this moment, she couldn't say anything even if she wanted to. So, she might as well leave the first move to them and see how things played out.

Pursing her lips, Matina stubbornly looked away once more, crossing her amrs and trying not to smile as Fara caught her in her "lie". "Hmm, I still don't know what you mean, I think those crumbs were deliberately placed there, yes? Yes," she nodded, trying to act confident, but not really succeeding at it.

"BUT anyway, haha-," she added on, shuffling over to the other side of Ursula, twirling a piece of hair in nervous laughter. "-that book sounds really cool! Did you, like, get it in some spooky alley or somethin'? 'Cause it looks like that's where you got it. Oh! Or maybe some creepy librarian dude in black was all like, 'here, take this, and make sure not to read it at midnight or else-," she said the last part in a scratchy voice, mimicking the 'creepy librarian dude's, giving herself shivers. Adding on, she said,"Ooo, that would be scary, but I would do it, cuz then, you could like, read it at midnight and the monsters would come to life and start eating people, which would be unfortunate for them, but then the monsters would eat your family and stuff, but then you would have some character development stuff happen and become super tough and badass, huntin' down monsters. Y'know?" she smiled as she explained this, which was basically just a horror YA novel.

After pausing to take a breath, Matina quickly turned back to Fara, seemingly all over the place. "Yeppers. I didn't know 'til just recently, but I kinda forgot to tell you guys earlier, but they should be coming soon-," and as she ended her sentence, the boss walked in with a small woman with platinum blonde hair, and a bit nervous stance. He called all of them over for a quick meet with her, Amelia, explaining that she and Matina were going to be baking.

"Ooo, yes, baking buddies!" she clapped her hands together excitedly, though she didn't really know how to bake, but a mischevious smile began to spread across her face as the thought of unlimited muffins crossed her mind, though it was quickly shut down as their boss called her out for eating one. She was half tempted to say, what muffin?, but she held her tongue and started to studiously analyze the menu board hanging up awkwardly, humming innocently.

As soon as the boss left, Matina mumbled, "Pay for it? Since when?" But then she just shook her head, gathering herself again and quickly maming her way toward Amelia, and once she was there, linking arms with her. "Hii! I'm Matina! Oh! And don't mind what the boss said, Ursula's actually really nice once you get to know her."

---

---

_snap

Snerk

Was the unceremonious sound Jules made when he suddenly jerked awake. Green eyes glared into his own brown as he began to rapidly blink away the sleep that tugged at his face. Hands that were so rudely snapping in his ears just moments before were now crossed and filled with annoyance as Dani, one of the evening shift workers at the cafe, continued glaring at him. "It's ten o' five," was all she said.

Jules' eyes drifted over to the counter from the table he'd been sitting at and indeed it looked like the night shift workers were already filing in. There was Matina, doing her nightly routine of "I totally didn't eat that pastry guys I don't know what you're talking about hey let's jump to this topic now" as per usual. Fara was ogling April as per usual. Ursula was reading her weird eldritch book as per usual. Billie had her harried and hurried look as per usual. The boss was being a hardass as per usual. The new girl though, wasn't usual.

Suddenly much more interested in what new things may be happening but no less awake, Jules turned back to Dani (who was still glaring) and attempted to say something smart and witty and snarky, something that would totally make her regret waking him up, something that would shame her, her ancestors, and her cow.

"You're a ten o' fiver." was what actually dribbled out of his mouth.

Dani rolled her eyes and shouldered her bag as walked out the door and skated off towards campus. He watched her for a second or two before he remembered for the second time why she had pointed out the time to him and why everyone at the crowded counter looked so familiar. The still sleepy student silently swore as he started shoving all of his study materials that he previously napping on into his bag and slid his way towards the front counter.

Lavender hair flowed through the small crowd, glowing under the gentle cafe light as Jules tied his hair back into a small pony tail and hurriedly tied on his apron, throwing his bag behind the counter once he was done. Billie was mopping, Matina was wrapped around the new girl, Fara was drilling Matina, and Ursala was... Ursala'ing. Did that mean he was on cash duty? He hated cash duty. Oh well. He gave a quick "Hey" and a little salute to all the employees gathered, deftly taking his position at the register and did the usual pre-check before turning towards the student who had just lined up and shining him with an easy smile.

Tall, cute, glasses were a plus, and ordered a "small aztec mocha for Freddy," Jules called out behind him, sending Freddy off with a wink and a thanks. With no one else waiting behind him, Jules turned around and flashed an equally easy smile to the new girl, trusting someone was assigned to drinks and extending a hand out to the small blonde. "Jules, late boy number 1, nice to meet you."

Jakob strolled in at 10:45 for his 11:00 Stage time. Honestly he could start and end whenever as long as he was there for 3-4 hours. As he passed his piano he set his 2 folders of music down, and took off his hat setting it on the piano. He nodded at the workers behind the counter and smiled to himself, This is the life. Turning to the piano he lifted and set the top of the case to the open position. After lifting the cover over the keys he hit middle C, no reason really for that... just a habit. It was now 10:50 a good time to start. He started with a slow melody in G minor. Soft and haunting. Yet unimposing.

(Sorry short post but I felt that I had to get something out)

Glossy lips curled into a smirk as April snickered at Matina getting called out for eating a muffin. April waited till their boss was out of eyesight before hurrying over to Amelia after her dark haired co-worker.

"Welcome to the team!" April cheered, grasping one of Amelia's hands in both of her's. "Its so nice to have a new face joining us, and Amelia is such a pretty name!" The ballerina gushed over the new girl, unaware of Fara's possible feelings on the matter. After all, she remained unaware of Fara's stares for this long, why would today be any different?

April giggled when Jules finally joined the party, "welcome to the land of the living, and waved to Jakob when he entered the cafe. She loved when he arrived. His music made her body sway on its own. During really slow parts of the night, the aspiring dancer wondered if she could request a song or two and practice her routine.

"Small aztec mocha for Freddy." Dark eyes widened when she heard the order called out. Oops, that was her cue.

"Brb," April called, dropping Amelia's hand, rushing behind the counter, and effectively making room for Jules to introduce himself to the newcomer. She slid to a stop in front of a stack of cups and whipped up the order, finishing the drink off by pouring the cream into an elegant leaf design. "Here's your small aztec mocha, Freddy," April said with a sweet smile, smoothly sliding the drink across the counter. "Please come again!"

As she was giving Matina a hard time about the muffin, Fara was busying herself with a bit of cleaning. Ducking below the counter to tidy some of the supplies she missed Boss Man coming over with the new hire, her head popping up over the counter however, when he called for all hands. She waited a bit for the more…enthusiastic members of the staff to inflict themselves on Amelia before she gave a short wave and a smile. ”I’m Fara, it’s nice to meet you.”

She was going to say more when some movement distracted her. Spotting Jules, who seemed to have been napping in a corner judging by the semi-stunned look on his face, Fara chuckled. ”The Dead have arisen and were seen by many!” She quipped, before returning her attention to Amelia. ”Despite what Matrina might say, the muffins for the store and not her personal consumption.” She added, teasingly. While some of the other chatted, and Jules and April saw to their shift’s first customer, she returned to her cleaning, grabbing a cloth and starting to wipe down the espresso machine.

”I swear, none of the other shift clean this damned thing…”

"Who're you playing? Or is this a Jakob original?"
(@GrayPayday)
Jakob looked up and smiled still playing the smooth tune he said, “ I’m just kind of improvising... Do you have any requests?”
He drew the Song to a close and a sort of peace came to his demeanor.
“ I’m afraid your name escapes my memory. You are?”
While speaking to Ursula he opened his folder of Sheets onto the piano. The folder was clearly past capacity, but the sheets Inside were mostly pristine. Some were clearly more loved than others. But Jakob clearly took care of his music.

"Ursula, have you got any video game music in there?"

Jakob Flashed Ursula one of his bright smiles,
“ Pleased to officially meet you Ursula! As for video game stuff let me see.... what kind of thing are you looking for?”
With that he turned to his foleder looking for a well planned out part of his folder.

Matina watched as Ursula made her way over to Jakob, who had begun to play the piano. "Yeah! You totally would! And I think I would make for an awesome sidekick, just think about it. Ursula and Matina: Monster Hunters!" she exclaimed, motioning the title by waving her arm through the air. "Here to kick Cthulhu's ass! You'd better watch out! We're dangerous!" she laughed.

Pulling away from Amelia, Matina made room for the others to meet her, as she tried to do many things at once. She was partially listening to Jakob play the piano, which she thought was awesome, she'd have to bring her ukulele sometime; she greeted Jules with an excited "Hiii!" Following with a quick wave, and then trying to respond to Fara before she left, saying, "Well, it's not my fault that there's not a sign saying, 'Matina do not touch,' so it's fair game in my book," she shrugged. Trying to do all of this kind of made her dizzy, but she was used to it by now.

April waved goodbye to the customer as he walked away from the counter, her cheerful smile becoming disrupted by the music stopping. Confused, she turned her attention to the duo at the piano and overheard the skilled musician ask what kind of game music her adorable bookworm co-worker wanted to hear.

"Ooh! Ooh!" April called, leaning over the counter and waving her hand in the air enthusiastically. She looked like a kid who desperately wanted to be picked to answer a question in class. "Do you know 'Simple and Clean' from Kingdom Hearts?" April didn't know much in the way of video games, but there had been a stint where her ballet team decided to combine a performance with a local high school orchestra. It wasn't shocking when the nerdy band kids took a vote and landed on video gamed themed music for the collaboration. While there were several songs they danced to in that set, the theme to the Disney based game had always been her favorite. There was just an energy about the song that always drew her in. She remembered the routine, or at least her body did. Muscle memory is a fascinating thing.