#Oh y'know sometimes the shadows form into monsters

[puppetmaster13u]

Back on my Gotham is DC's version of Silent Hill Au/Prompt thing. Just make sure to follow the Bats and Birds- don't trust the lanterns by the roads, those won't stay working for long.

[fallenrepublick]

Y'know, I see a lot of Maul inserts where the reader is sweet and generally a pure angel and I love that, but I'm also completely enamoured by the idea of Maul falling hard and fast for someone ruthless, cunning and deadly all wrapped up with a pretty face à la the song A Little Wicked by Valerie Broussard, who's just as into him. Have you ever considered writing a drabble like that?? Love your stuff to the ends of the earth!!!

YES YES YES

Oh my god, anon, you are my HERO

I’ve been DYING to write something like that, because that kind of M/C is ACTUALLY my DEFAULT but I figured it would be too much?? Thank you SO MUCH for saying this

Honestly, I’m kinda hoping someone might want more of this, because dAmN

Warnings: Murder in detail

City lights, the kind that carve a hazy glow into the air as you step past, creating their own unique atmosphere in the air around them, a whole world encompassed within the orb that surrounded them. Still, there lay a darkness that couldn’t be denied, even by the soft effervescence of life that drummed on and above the planet’s surface.

The cool breeze of nighttime brushed across Maul’s robes as he walked, his silence a rarity amongst throngs of people otherwise preoccupied with their lives to pay notice to a Sith stepping mere inches from their feet. He was hunting, and even those with the keenest of senses would barely have been able to spot it. The instructions from his master had been clear, and knowing a terrible fate would befall him if he were discovered, he hugged the sides of buildings, the edges and corners draping a natural shadow over him that concealed him from prying eyes.

He searched through the crowds, watching, waiting, golden eyes illuminated under his hood the only piece of him that stood out against the emptiness. But something struck him, an aura not unlike his own, that gave him pause, his task being overtaken by the sudden tug at his senses.

Lifting himself from where he leaned, he followed his urge as far as it would take him, winding through streets and turning corners until he came upon an alley. The walls were old, rust climbing the edges and lining the seams, old pages and posters soft from the rain and mist still clinging to the metal were now unreadable, the ink spreading and becoming diluted from the water that dripped from saturated clouds.

And then there was you. A knife clutched in your hand, figure standing over a trembling victim who’d been kicked to his knees, a blade pressed up against his throat. You were smiling, beautiful, terrible.

“I told you not to try it,” you hissed, voice breathy, warning against moments already passed. Maul’s hearts had found a tempo that beat with every word you spoke. “What, pray tell, were you expecting to happen?”

The man on his knees, dark grey pants marked with asphalt, shook harder, his pleas becoming more and more difficult to choke out. “I-I’m s-sorry.” He closed his eyes. “I th-thought you were-”

“Thought I was what?” you challenged, each syllable harder than the last. “You thought I was easy, didn’t you? You thought you could get something out of me. Unfortunately for you, I have some time on my hands.” You were laughing now, bitter and cold, the sound wrapping icy metallic wire around Maul’s chest, pulling him ever towards you. Oh, how he wished to see you work.

But you looked up, instincts perking once you took notice of him. Be it force sensitivity or the best situational awareness he’d ever seen, Maul couldn’t tell, but he was enamored nonetheless.

“What?” you said defensively, holding tighter to the poor soul who surely wouldn’t make it out of this encounter alive. Regardless, you clearly knew Maul was no authority figure, so you could afford to be brash.

He crossed his arms, angling his head as he watched you. “No, please,” he gestured down for a moment at the still terrified man. “Continue.”

“Ugh,” you huffed, pursing your lips and looking back down. “An audience kills the mood, don’tcha think?” With a single swift movement, you dragged the knife across the man’s throat, and as he fell to the ground completely, your clothes and skin were peppered with a spray of his blood. You wiped the knife on your pants and slipped it into the sheath on your belt, stepping towards Maul.

It was curious to him. Someone so radiant in form could be so deadly, one would never even imagine that you were capable of such atrocities. Yet here you were, standing right before him, and even more curious, he found his breath catching the closer you came.

“What was it,” he said finally, eyes scanning you, tracking even the slightest movement. “That subjected him to your anger?”

A laugh echoed in your chest as you returned his gaze, pressing down the extremely annoying feeling that was beating inside of you. “He wanted a date. He wouldn’t go away, and even tried to force it. It’s not the first time, but trust me, I’ve done a lot worse for a lot less.”

“Surely.”

“So,” you sighed, leaning on the wall to your left. “What’s a Sith doing in the most pathetic part of town? You don’t have somewhere important you gotta be?”

No. “How-”

“You really think anyone around here dresses like that? I may be a lowlife, but I’m not stupid, unlike most of these degenerates.” You thought a moment, chewing on the inside of your cheek. “I know you got some rules or whatever about people finding out about you, but don’t bother. I don’t give a shit, and it’s not like I got anyone to tell.”

He was silent, deliberation taking up his mind. Yes, his master was clear, no one could know. And yet…

“You do this a lot, don’t you?” he asked, deciding maybe, just once, he could bend the rules.

“What, kill people?” You smiled at the question, mildly incredulous, but seemingly finding it funny. You lit up, and Maul watched you in wonder. “I mean, I guess. Trust me, it’s not like any of these people are gonna be missed, and sometimes I gotta break a few necks to make my life easier.”

Realizing how much he didn’t want you to leave, he tread over, leaning on the same wall, positioned right beside you. Every so often, his eyes would drift to you, memorizing you as you breathed, smirk still tugging at your lips. He saw the ruthlessness within you, concealed behind soft features, your advantage against those who sought you out clear as day. A monster behind the facade of the innocent, using the precedent of other, truly innocent people, who came before you. But when your head turned and you looked up, there was something else. Something that came from elsewhere.

You were too close. He could feel your presence beside him, warmth bypassing his clothes and practically devouring him. But he had to keep his head. To remain silent would be to lose an opportunity.

“And you would do it again? Willingly?” It was a stupid question, he realized, but he could think of little else to ask.

“Did that look unwilling to you?” you said, eyebrows raised. “If it did, I gotta work on my form. But… yeah. We’re all gonna die someday, right? Just some sooner than others.”

Gods, take him now.

Sliding closer to him, your shoulders collided, and Maul’s hearts stopped. He froze in place, unsure of what to do. Gradually, you lay your head on his shoulder, motions lazy, but face amused.

“I think,” you began, voice quieter now, ensuring no passerby would hear. “It’s only fair that now you know what I can do, I should see what you can do.”

[inkedmyths]

Evening Breeze

Here it is!! After so long! More Feral!

This one's pretty soft ngl

---

Night had long since settled. The skies were clear, giving Twilight a perfect view of the stars. It was fascinating, really. He didn’t think he recognized any of the constellations. Was this Hyrule the same one he’d walked across, just countless years in the future? Or was it some sort of parallel plane of existence? He had no idea, and perhaps was putting too much thought into it. Did it really matter, in the end?

Wild had drifted off to sleep moments before. He wasn’t sure exactly how comfortable the boy was in the position he’d fallen asleep in, legs tucked close and body curled at an odd angle, but he wasn’t about to question it as it seemed it worked well enough for the younger Hero. Perhaps, he decided, the less he questioned about Wild, the better.

He couldn't see Feral nearby, and glanced around momentarily. Had he wandered off somewhere? He was still concerned about the outcome of the earlier conversation. A quiet sound met his ears, and he whipped his head towards the source in surprise.

Feral was leaning against a tree nearby. That wasn't necessarily odd, but Twilight was surprised to see he had a ukulele in his hands and was quietly strumming it. With a glance at Wild's sleeping form, he pushed himself to his feet and quietly made his way to where the shadow was sitting.

He paused midstrum, looking up. "What's up?"

"Nothing, really," Twilight said, shrugging. "Came to see what you were doing. Where'd you get the ukulele?"

"I carry it around." That answered exactly nothing, but Twilight decided it wasn't important. Though it did raise the question of if Feral had his own storage. He obviously didn't have his own slate, so…

He shook the thought away. Not important, and he suspected the answer would give him a headache. "Didn't think you were the musical type," he said instead, sitting beside him.

Feral shrugged. "Fair enough, but I'm far more musical than Blondie Bumble-fingers over there," he said, nodding at Wild's sleeping form.

"That so?"

"Oh yeah. He couldn't play three notes in tune if his life depended on it." He strummed a chord. "Not a bad singer, though. It's pretty funny actually. Can sing, can dance, but hand him an ocarina and you're treated to the most offkey playing of a nursery rhyme you've ever heard."

Twilight snorted. "But you can?"

"Sure thing." Feral grinned. "I've used this here instrument to annoy the hell out of many an enemy. The banana fuckers give the best reactions, but it's fun to lead lynels on a wild chase while improvising a song on exactly how ugly they are."

"So it's a tool of chaos?"

"Of course!" Feral paused a moment. "Well, part of the time, anyway. I do actually play. Like, real songs, I mean."

Twilight nodded thoughtfully. They sat in silence for a moment before he spoke again. "So… how'd you pick it up in the first place?"

Another pause. "It's been a while. But… it was the first time we visited Lurelin Village. It's a little place on the coast, a fishing town. Nice place, good people. We go down there when we're in the area, sometimes take a raft out to sea and hang out, look for treasure."

An image flashed to Twilight's mind of another Hero, younger than them, with a freckled face kissed by the island sun, hair swept by the ocean breeze, and sea green eyes. Wind would love Wild when they met, he was sure of it. "Sounds nice."

"It is. So, anyway, one day we were wandering around, doing our normal thing. And we passed by this dude with a group of kids at his feet, and he had a ukulele and was strumming a song and singing with them." Feral strummed the instrument in his lap, replaying the chords in his mind. He was silent again.

"What song?" Twilight asked after a moment.

"Well, I think he played a few. The one I really remember…" He played a few chords, and a familiar tune stood out, and now Twilight was reminded of a different Hero.

"Zelda's Lullaby," he said, reminded of a quiet night where the eldest Hero had taken first watch, playing the tune on his beloved ocarina.

Feral nodded. "You know, I'm not sure why I stopped. It's not like I had any reason to when there were other things to do. I guess I was curious about it, so I stayed and listened for a little while." He fingered the strings, more fidgety than actually playing. "The guy, Cloyne, noticed me, and beckoned me over. Asked me if I knew any songs or knew how to play. I said no, of course. Asked if I wanted to learn how to play something. I said sure. Maybe it's just another quirk of mine or something, but I caught onto the simple chords pretty quickly. It was actually pretty fun, and I liked it, so I stuck around a little while."

It was an odd mental image, Feral among ordinary Hylians, singing and playing a song, but perhaps not an overly outlandish one. If you didn't pick up on his too-bright eyes and cold skin, it was easy to pass the shadow off as one of the Sheikah. Perhaps that's what they did. He'd have to ask about that at some point.

"Of course I left a little later with Link, but before we left the village path, he stopped me and asked about the playing. I shrugged and said it was just kind of something that happened on a whim. Link being the way he is pressed further, asking if I enjoyed it and had fun. I said sure, because it was, and then…" Feral smiled down at the instrument, shaking his head. "That blond idiot ran all the way back to the village to run around and ask anyone if they had an extra he could buy."

Twilight laughed. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, he did, and ran around from building to building until he found someone with one they were willing to sell. Proudly marched back up the path and presented it to me, telling me to learn how to play whatever I wanted. So here I am, playing whatever I feel like."

"That's a little ridiculous, but from what I've seen of Wild, completely believable."

"Yeah," Feral laughed. "He's a dork like that. It wasn't the first or the last time he did something like that, too."

"Some sort of compulsive gift giver?"

"A little, yeah. It's more like he goes out of his way to help people and show them he cares, y'know?"

Twilight hummed, smiling. Yeah, he could easily picture that being a trait of the younger Hero. All of the Heroes had something like that, in a sense. A drive to help others. An inherent kindness. He himself traveled cross-continent to help others.

They said nothing for a while, the only sounds being the faint rustling of leaves and the soft plinks of the strings as Feral brushed his fingers across them. Twilight found himself beginning to grow tired, the day's traveling and the incident with the Lynel catching up with him. He rubbed his face in an attempt to stay present.

"You can sleep, you know." Twilight glanced over as Feral spoke. "It's been a long day. I can keep watch."

"You sure?"

"Of course. Besides, I'll probably do a better job of it than you." The shadow grinned. "Perks of being nonmortal: I don't need to sleep."

That was certainly a perk. "Can't argue with that. Wake me up if there's trouble, though?"

Feral shrugged. "No worries. If anything worth knowing immediately happens, expect a face full of Energizing Elixir."

Twilight made a face. "On second thought, I'll stay awake."

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Feral snickered.

He frowned. After the frog incident, he wasn't so sure. Though, speaking about nonmortal… "Are you doing alright? After earlier, I mean. I know it was… a lot."

Feral quieted. "Yeah, I'm okay. Like, it doesn't surprise me, I mean. I told you before, I'm well aware I'm the exception to the rule." There was a weight to his words, something being implied there, though Twilight couldn't be sure what. "I guess I'm just… on edge."

"How so?"

The shadow looked him in the eye, growing unusually serious. "Look, I may not know everything about what's happening, but I do know this: other things like me out there? Things that have ill intent? That are completely unchecked, unbound, with no thought to anyone else's well being? That's bad. Really bad."

His throat tightened. "It is."

"I don't like that situation with the Lynel. If what you said is true, and there are more monsters out there that are affected like that, then that puts a lot of people in danger." He glanced towards where Wild lay sleeping. "People here are just beginning to get out and explore, see the world, rest easy. If they get hurt or worse by this…"

"I know. Believe me, I know." Twilight thought of Ordon village, surrounded by forest. Forest that could all too easily hide infected monsters. "That's why we're here. Why we're looking. It's a Hero's job to protect people, and that's what we're going to do."

"Of course. I'll be there too." His signature grin returned to his face. "I want to find out what it's like to punch another shadow in the nose."

Twilight snorted. "Maybe you'll just pass through each other."

"Or maybe his face will explode."

Groaning, he covered his eyes. "That is not a mental image I needed. Now I'm more tired than before."

Laughing, Feral waved him off. "Go to sleep then, Frog Foot. I'll let you know if I punch anything."

Rolling his eyes, Twilight stood up and returned to where he'd set out his stuff for the night. He glanced at Wild, who was still fast asleep, and now in a somehow more uncomfortable looking position. What a pair these two were. He settled down, giving the tree where Feral was sitting one last look before he closed his eyes.

Just in case, though, he slept face down.

[ask-the-undercast-blog]

When do Ember and Alegrya meet?

(Alegreya’s P.O.V)

I walk into Grillby’s with my bag heavy on my shoulder. I’d never worked the night shift before, though I’ve only been working a few weeks. Regardless, I brought energy drinks. LOTS of energy drinks. I’m not the type that stays awake easily.

“You’re early,” Grillby points out, lifting his head slightly as I walk through the door.

“Thought I’d get here before I fell asleep,” I answer, dropping my bag on the floor and yanking out my uniform in one movement; something I’d perfected in my month of working here. I wrap the two pieces of clothing around my arms and walk into the back room.

I strip quickly, nervous as usual that Sans would be at the counter when I walked out, observing my… let’s just say, revealing uniform. I’d made him cross his SOUL that he’d never enter the doors of Grillby’s while I had a shift. He’d promised, but, let’s be honest. He’s never one to keep promises.

I step out into the diner, which is mostly empty in the late hours. Though I do see someone sitting at one of the booths. She seems to be a cat, black with teal-ish hair. A medium length skirt falls down the front of the seat, and she has a spaghetti-strap shirt on. One of her eyes is covered by her hair.

She leans her head back down, after looking at me for a few seconds, and seems to be inspecting the wood pattern on the table. Or she’s just feeling down. One way or the other, she’s a customer, and I walk up to her, feeling conscious, as always, about the length of the skirt I’m wearing.

“Hello, welcome to Grillby’s. Can I get you anything?” I ask the cat.

She turns her head up to look at me.“Yeah, just some fries, thanks,” she answers, looking back down as she says it. Despite wanting to ask what’s up- I’ve always been the curious, prodding type- I walk to the counter to relay the order to Grillby. He nods, not answering, and moves swiftly to the back room.

I sit at the bar for a little bit before Grillby comes back with a basket of fries. I thank him, as usual, and walk back to the cat with the order in my hands. I set down the food in front of her and back up, ready to leave.

“Thanks,” she says, and pulls the basket slightly towards her.

Finally, I give in and sit down across from her. No one else is here right now, so what’s a little chat if there’s no more orders?

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

Her eyes land on mine, cold as stone. She gives me a look as if I’m some sort of weirdo. I don’t know her, after all, I guess. Finally, her gaze- while still hard against her soft appearance- shifts a little.

“Have you ever just… been hit so hard?” she asks, casting a glance downwards, slightly baring her teeth. “Like, someone says something real nasty about you?”

I remember back when I was younger, some of the kids that I ran into while trying to, well, survive, were… less than empathetic of my situation. They’d made fun of my messy clothes, my chattering teeth, my empty, tired eyes. I fight to keep tears from forming.

“Yeah…” I answer her, leaning an arm on the table. She recoils the smallest bit.

“Sorry,” she apologizes, seeing that I’ve noticed her movement. “I’m, uh, kinda germaphobic.”

“No, it’s fine. Everyone’s got their own things.” I’m usually not one to judge.

“Anyhow, I was walkin’ around Waterfall, and I was training. Just in the trash dump, throwing useless garbage in the air to hit. And these assholes come along, I think they were from the Capital or something. They were super snobby, just plain dicks, y'know? Long story short, they were judging me left, right, and sideways. My technique, my weapon, my ‘target of choice’.” She adds air quotations around the last few words, emphasizing the sarcasm the monsters must have used. “They left, and I came here. Just needed to cool down. I can be… destructive when I’m angry.”

“Wish I could say the same, but I couldn’t hit a tree in the Snowdin woods if I wanted to. I haven’t trained a single day in my life; I don’t even know what type of magic I use.” The words seem to spill out before I know it. Even I, who never went to school a day in my life, know not to reveal if you’re weak. Anyone could be an enemy.

But the cat just smiles. “Maybe I could give you some tips sometime.” She winks at me- or maybe she just closes her eyes; it’s hard to tell with that hair in her face- and lifts her head a little more. “My name’s Orbitron. I would shake your hand, but, y'know,” she finishes awkwardly.

“Yeah, I get it,” I say smiling back at her. “My name’s Alegreya.”

“I already knew that,” Orbitron replies.

I recoil a bit. “Uh, how?” I ask, confused and shocked.

Orbitron points at my chest. “Name tag,” she answers.

“Oh, right,” I mutter, scratching the back of my neck. I hear the chime of the door opening and turn to see a dark figure fly across the floor and land in one of the bar stools.

“I’ve gotta take care of that customer.” I stand up, jabbing a thumb at the visitor behind us. Orbitron grins at me.

“Alright,” she answers. I turn to leave. “Oh, and, Alegreya?” she calls out. I turn around to meet her gaze. “Thanks.”

I just nod my head and smile at her, before continuing over to the new customer.

“Hello, welcome to-”

“It’s okay, Alegreya, I’ve got her.”

I look up to see Grillby, at the back door, looking back. I feel awkward. “A-alright,” I call back, and plop down in one of the bar stools near the visitor. She looks over timidly at me.

“Hi,” I greet her, trying to break the silence between us.

Now that I’m closer I can see that she’s some sort of Shadow Creature, with holes for her mouth and eyes. She’s very small, no taller than 4 feet, and no legs protrude from the bottom of the split fabric of her dress. She looks nervously at me, her head moving up and down as she inspects me.

“D-do you… work here?” she asks, her voice small. When her mouth opens to speak, a sort of whispy gust accompanies her voice, like someone speaking into the wind. Her voice is very high-pitched, something like the product of a helium balloon.

Realizing I haven’t answered her question, I scramble for the words. “Oh, yeah! I’ve been here for about a month now.”

“I… haven’t seen you… do y-you usually work the night shift?” she asks, stumbling over her words a little less this time.

“No, this is my first time, why?”

“I come here every day. But… not during the day. I’m, u-um, allergic to sunlight.” She peers down at her lap, as if embarrassed to share with me.

“Oh, well, that makes sense. You’re a shadow, right?”

“Something like that. It simplifies things to call me that, but I’m really just a sort of mist, something between a solid and a gas. B-but, not liquid. I-it’s hard to explain…” she mumbles, shrugging a bit and looking at the ceiling.

I don’t really understand, since I’d been too poor to go to school, but the way she explains it helps me a little bit. Was she able to tell that I don’t have an education, or was she just simple-minded?

“My name’s Alegreya,” I stick my arm out, hoping that she hasn’t read my name tag too.

“Charna,” she sticks her arm out reluctantly. I notice some dark substance fly towards her hand, making it slightly darker.

Before I can ask what it is, the back door opens, and Grillby walks through with a tray in his hands. On it are two baskets of fries and a little ball of fire. It moves and I see that it has a face. Who is this? A work helper?

“Charna,” the little fireball squeals, launching herself towards the bar. She’s no bigger than Charna’s chest, and she nuzzles into her arm affectionately.

“Hi Ember,” Charna chirps. and I see her face turn a little bit red.

'Can raw matter blush?’ I ask myself, watching the two new figures hug.

“Grillby, who is this?” I ask, gesturing towards Ember, as Charna called her.

“My daughter,” Grillby answers, and I imagine he’d be smiling- if he had a mouth.

“Who’s the…” I stop myself from asking. Charna and Ember can’t be any older than 13.

“Ember was made by Alphys, in attempts to inject DETERMINATION into more types of non-human/monster matter. She wasn’t able to keep the DETERMINATION inside Ember, but it created a SOUL inside of her, and I took her in.”

How have I never met Ember before? If she lives here, I should have run into her. But then again, I hadn’t met Orbitron and Charna until tonight either, so maybe they knew each other, and only came out during the night, like Charna.

Suddenly, Charna starts coughing, which is even higher pitched than her talking. My gaze follows a trail of smoke back to Orbitron, who has something in her mouth. In front of her, the basket of fries is empty. The smoke is making a long trail towards us, sneaking towards the back room, and up to the roof, where the smoke detector is. The annoying smoke detector.

I rush over to her. “Orbitron, you can’t smoke in here! And you shouldn’t smoke at all! How old even are you?” I ask, panicked.

“Relax,” Orbitron sighs, taking the object out of her mouth with two… fingers? (Do cats even have fingers?) “It’s just catnip.”

“That’s a drug! Especially for a cat like you!” I reach over to grab at the stack of catnip in her hand.

“Let me have this,” she growls at me, standing up and hunching over, looking ready to pounce. “Don’t take my things.” Then she straightens her back, and her expression softens. “I’ll leave the diner. I understand if there’s rules.” She turns to leave, and as she opens the door, she waves at me over her shoulder. “Maybe I’ll see you around,” she calls as the door shuts with a ding!

When I turn back to the bar to grab a towel to wave away the smoke with, and I see Charna and Ember giggling with each other, Charna’s cheeks a full red now.

I get to the back room and grab a towel, turning to Grillby as I do. “Are they…?” I jerk my head towards the door, indicating the two girls outside.

“Oh, yes. They’re in a relationship at the moment.”

“Really?” I ask, looking back at the doorway. I have to admit, seeing two young, shy girls together… It was pretty cute. “Well, that’s nice,” I finish, heading out the door with the towel.

When I walk out of the back room, the smoke is almost all gone. “Wha-?” I ask, and peer over at the girls at the counter. The smoke is spiraling down from the roof and connecting with Charna. She becomes darker and darker until she’s almost pure black. She then flies to the door and pushes it open, and the smoke expels from her. She becomes light gray once again, and flies back- this time flying through the door- and sits back down next to Ember.

“What was that?” I ask Charna, my eyes wide as I approach the little shadow.

“Oh, I can increase and decrease my density by absorbing gases and shadows around me to make certain parts of me thicker. Like this,” she says, and puts up her hand, gathering the rest of the smoke. Her had becomes black, while the rest of her stays her regular colour, as if she’d dipped her hand in oil. Then, she places her hand on my arm, and it settles there, like a regular hand would. Then, the smoke shoots out of her again, and she presses her hand to my arm again. But, this time, it fazes through my sleeve, and seemingly disappears.

“I can choose to touch things. Easy for getting through crowds, though I don’t run into many of those.” Ember giggles at her, and she blushes again, smiling a little.

“You can fly. Why don’t you just fly over crowds?” I ask.

“Well, I mean,” Charna says, her face turning pink, “this is still a dress.” She gestures to her legs, which have seemingly grown out of her dress. I’m assuming that if she can change her density, she can change her form too.

I nod in understanding. “Makes sense,” I reply.

I stand awkwardly for a few seconds before leaving them to themselves. For the rest of the night, I watch the door, waiting for someone to come in, sipping at my energy drinks. Nothing else happens until Charna leaves, Ember goes to the back room, and I’m told my shift is over.