Under The Moonlight

chapter 3

It had been a long shift for Cassey. She had started up much later than usual today, at 6pm, and her shift had lasted until 1am. After budget cuts, a bunch of her coworkers had been fired, everyone's shifts had been re-arranged for them to fit. One of the bad things of working at this place in particular is the long hours at night that they were open, especially since people still came at midnight.

Once Cassey got inside her appartement, she made sure not to make any noise. Haze would be asleep by now, ze didn't like to be awoken once ze had managed to fall asleep. Cassey managed to navigate through the apartment without falling nor bumping into anything even if it was dark. Something that Cassey found very interesting about herself was how well she could see in the dark. She wasn't sure if it was because she was a werewolf or because her vision was just good.

Finally, she got to her room. It wasn't big, neither was Haze's; the appartement itself was quite small, but at least the windows let loads of sunlight get in. She dropped her backpack on the floor and sat on her bed. She was exhausted. It'll take her a long time to get used to the night shift.

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Cas couldn't see anything, their eyes where still closed, but she knew that it was time for him to wake up. There was a ray of sun hitting her face; it must've been there for a while; his face was already warm. Cas groaned and stood up. They checked the watch that sat on top of the bedside table.

11:12 am.

It was definitively much later than he usually woke up, that's for sure. Haze would most surely be awake by now. Once Cas stretched themselves correctly, she opened the door to be greeted by the smell of food.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty! Did you enjoy the night shift?" Haze asked once he saw Cas. Haze and Cas where approximately the same height, although Haze was slimmer than her. Ze had dark brown skin, black hair, braided against zirs head in corn braids, along with hazel eyes. Ze was currently wearing a pair of blue pajamas underneath a white apron, which was slightly stained by some sort of dough.

"Are those pancakes?" Cas wondered, following the smell into the kitchen.

"Yes, yes they are. I know that they're your favorite. After your exhausting work from yesterday I thought you deserved a little treat."

"Aww thank you!" Cas exclaimed, hugging their friend, "I love you!"

"I love you too Cas, but right now I need my hands because I don't want the pancakes to burn," Haze replied, trying to keep an eye on the pan while ze returned the hug with only one arm, the one that wasn't holding the spatula.

"Sorry," Cas stepped away and sat down on one of the chairs.

"No worries," Haze flipped a few pancakes before grabbing a plate where ze had put the ones that were already done, "Here, you can start with these."

"Seriously, you're the best."

"I appreciate the compliment, it isn't something I get often," Haze smiled, "Anyway, tell me. How was the night? Too different from your schedule from before?"

"Nah, not that much. I mean- I didn't recognize anyone, although it did look as if they were usual customers here, ya know? It's a bit weird, but the routine is the same. The only main change is that when I left before the sun was 'till in the sky, and now all that I see is the moon."

"Well, I'm not that much of a fan of the moon, I'm more of a sun kinda person."

"Of course you are," Cas chuckled. Haze lifted zir eyebrow, looking at Cas with a wannabe serious face before ze smiled again, letting go a small chuckle. Haze was a fae, a dryad specifically, ze pretty much needed sunlight all the time. Ze woke up the moment the sun rose and went to sleep the second the sun set. Haze worked in a flower shop, so that way ze could be in closer contact with plants, which is what mostly kept zir alive and healthy. Even if ze had gone to the city to get some distance with zirs family, it was important to keep a connection with zirs mother tree, that being the reason why they had a Hazel bonsai on the window. It was the thing that ze loved most in the world.

"Anyway, anything else happened? Or was it just a simple boring day?"

"Well, now that you mention it..." Cassey started. They started to dig up on her memories, to make sure he didn't skip anything. One in special came to mind, which made his cheeks turn slightly brighter, "There was this one thing... Remember when I went to the hospital this last week?"

"Of course I remember, the new doctor said that there was nothing wrong," Haze left the spatula aside and leaned forward, "Was he wrong? Is there anything I should worry about?"

"No, no! Not at all. Ya know I'm strong and that nothing can hurt me," Cas hurried to say, "I'm talking about another thing. I told ya how I got lost, right?"

"Yeah. A cute gal helped you out, didn't she?" Haze asked, focusing zirs attention on the pancakes again, in this case on passing them to a plate.

"Well, guess who came by to order some coffee while I was on my shift?"

"No way!" Ze exclaimed, "She came?"

"Yas! I'm telling you, it's destiny! What other explanation do you see for us meeting not only once but twice?"

"Well, coincidence, but I bet that's not the answer you were looking for," Haze laughed. Cas frowned and threw a pancake to zirs face, which ze dodged, "Missed."

"Anyway, she's so cute, and I bet she's also queer."

"Is that so? How you so sure?"

"Well, she guessed I was genderfluid, that's a sign. She also just gave me vibes, so..."

"And what you plan on doing? Is this just a simple crush that'll wear out in a few days, or would you want something else?"

"Well, idk yet pal. I've only talked with her twice, and ya know I like to meet people a bit before asking them out."

"Kk," Haze finished with the pancakes and put some on zirs plate as well, "Not my area of expertise."

"Don't sweat it, it's alright," Cas took another bite before his sight fell on the clock from the wall, "Wait a minute- isn't it super late for you? Didn't you start work at 9?"

"Cas, it's Sunday, remember? I don't work today."

"Oh, true," Cas took a sip from her coffee, "Delicious. This time for real, if you ever get fired from the flower shop you should give cooking a try, you'd be an amazing cook. I bet you'll become famous in the city in just a matter of days."

"Come on, stop with the compliments! You know those are my only weakness!" Haze exclaimed, hitting Cas softly on the head.

"I'll stop complimenting when you stop being amazing!" Cas replied, laughing along with her friend.

Cas and Haze continued with their jokes, simply enjoying their breakfast. They've been roommates for years; nothing had changed thought that time. Cassey loved her and Haze's dynamic, it was even better than anything they could've ever hoped for. They were meant to be friends, as easy as that. From the second they met; it was obvious. Even if they didn't look similar at first glance, deep down, they had a lot in common. He loved it how two people with such different backgrounds could connect so easily. In fact, this was what made them start believing in destiny. If Haze and her were meant to be friends, they where sure that there'll be someone he was meant to fall in love with.