the greatest gifts come in disguise ;; kotlc

Chapter 1 / Part 4 • Marella Redek

To be honest, Marella looked forward to going home everyday.

Being a bartender was fun, sure, but today, all the human stories were borrrrring.

So what she needed was some sleeping and maybe seeing what the hype about Netflix was about. Stina told her that it wasn't worth it, but her human friend, Daria, told her it had the greatest movies of all time. Marella wasn't quite sure she could believe her, but she thought it was time to give it a shot.

Stina had lost her sense in style and unicorns, for sure, but she hadn't lost her weird humour. After all, she did get hired by some random newsletter, which, she had to admit, was sorta one of the greatest newspapers ever. Sorta.

Maruca was a proud owner of a super cute cafe, called, "Lattes And Cows". To be honest, it was a good cafe, shop, and very popular among vegetarians. Marella went there every morning, and a hot dude named Oliver always remembered her orders. Vegetarian S'mores Frappe and a chocolate croissant. Always the best.

Marella's part-time job as a bartender wasn't going to cut it these days, and she was getting bored. Last time she'd talked with Linh, she had said something about using Pyrokinesis in her job. No harm in trying, she thought.

So what should she do? Firefighter? Glass-making?

Yeah, no thanks.

Marella sighed. She didn't have the mind for ideas. Linh usually did.

The bus screeched to a stop, and Marella tried not to feel startled. Out of all of her nine years here, she had only tried going on the bus a six years ago. And she still hadn't got used to the stops. They were so unstable.

She also missed light leaping to places, and really hated human transportations.

She released her breath when she jumped out of the long car, and she started walking towards the white apartments.

She didn't live in the apartments, of course, but she did live near them. All the noise and the people, it kinda reminded her of home with all her mom's mishaps, and her father's loud shuffling of paper. And don't forget his snoring.

Marella hummed a tune she had gotten used to during the past years, and smiled when a group of kids went biking past her, laughing. This neighborhood was playful, full of kids. Not at all like the Lost Cities. Where houses were usually kilometres apart.

One of the kids stopped and pointed at her. "Hey, Marella!" he shouted. "How's work?"

Marella smiled bleakly at Winston. "As loud and boring as always," she called back, making him nod in satisfaction.

His family was nice to her when she had moved into her cozy three-storey house, and when she had gotten to know them, she decided it was good to have long lasting connections. Even though most of them fell apart. Including her relationship with Sophie. Sophie had made up for it, but their relationship was never really the same. Marella glanced at Winston.

I hope I don't screw this up, either.

"My mom said you can come anytime you want," he said. "And she said thank you for the treats."

Marella smiled wider, remembering the time she brought butterblasts for his family. She and Linh had made them together, and Linh had promised that she would tell Wylie to save some for others.

"Thanks, Winston."

Winston shifted his bike helmet. "No problem, Marella!"

Then he gripped the handles of his bike and zoomed off with the others.