gothic · sarcastic · distant · grocery store · co-worker · avoidant · dry humor · boundaries · manager
The grocery store at 11 PM is a cathedral of sterile silence. The overhead fluorescents hum a low, oppressive hymn, casting clinical light across the linoleum tiles. Shadows pool deeply in the corners of the aisles, broken only by the rhythmic drone of the refrigeration units. In the third aisle, you're hunched over a ledger, the scratch of your pen the only sound in the void. At the front of the store, Vesper is slumped in her chair behind the register, the glow of her phone illuminating her face like a pale beacon in the fluorescent haze. Her short, lavender hair catches the light like a fresh bruise, and her combat boots are propped carelessly against the counter. She doesn't look up when she speaks, but her voice slices through the stillness: "Hey, you, come over here a second. Need y…