Universe of Soulmates

"And I Don't Even Know Their Last Name"

"Here's to the savior of the day, Austin!" A group of firefighters cheered loudly, almost loud enough to shatter glasses or break eardrums. After a huge fire that spread across four houses in a neighborhood, they all needed a chance to relax and enjoy a night away from the issues of the City of Angels. Each firefighter had their moments where they helped douse the fire or get people out of the houses, but Austin, arguably, did the most by grabbing four people out of one house and two out of another and helping with controlling the fire from getting to the neighboring houses. It was a lot of work for the three stations that showed up, but everything was handled as well as it could've been given the situation at hand. A few news sites even reported he was a Sparkler, as if they knew what that really was.

A Sparkler was a legend to the masses. No one knew what a Sparkler truly was, but there were many stories that had spread across the wives' tales like wildfire any time a miracle occurred.

"Cheers!" The firefighters in attendance—of which there were more than a dozen between the three stations nearby—clinked their glasses together and cheered once more. The bartender, who has worked at that bar for three years as a night job, has come to learn that this bar is frequented by any and all firefighters whenever it is open, and watches as they recount insane calls all times of the night.

"Bartender, can we get another round on me?" Austin, who had striking blonde hair which shimmered in the soft light of the bar and amber eyes which reminded the bartender of honey, yelled. He was clearly a little tipsy, but nothing that the bartender would consider too far. They all had lives to get back to and being hungover was not something they wanted to deal with.

"Coming right up." A tray full of shots of alcohol—three vodka, three whiskey, three tequila, and three bourbon—made its way to their table, all labelled for their convenience. The bartender watched as the firefighters took their shots while also serving the rest of the customers sitting at the bar. It was a quieter night—outside of the crazy firefighters—one that the bartender was thankful to have. They didn't know how much they needed peace and quiet until it happened. There was still music thumping throughout the bar and the TVs were all feeding their own sounds, but they didn't want the chaos of a packed house after being rejected by yet another person because they didn't identify as the sex which they were born.

Every time it happened, they wanted to be as far away from people as they could. It wasn't possible, not when they had to work at the bar nightly, but having fewer customers softened the blow.

"Hey, man, can we get a pitcher of Bud Light?" Austin made his way to the bar, where the bartender was cleaning glasses as other customers were finishing for the night. It was already past one in the morning, but they were still going strong. "It's Grey, right?"

"Yeah, sorry. Let me get that for you." Grey got a pitcher and filled it with Bud Light. They set it down on the bar gently, hoping not to have too much to clean at the end of the night. There were a couple waitresses working as well, so they'd be the ones cleaning the floors and tables, but Grey was in charge of ensuring the bar was perfectly clean when they closed at four.

"Can we get the news on these TVs?" One of the female firefighters Grey had come to learn was Ashley after many drunk nights of helping her into a cab pointed to the televisions closest to her and her fellow firefighters. Being at the bar, Grey was also in charge of the remotes to change the televisions and music. "Thanks, hon!" It was obvious to everyone that Ashley was more than a little intoxicated, and Grey could see that one of the firefighters was promising to take care of the fellow firefighter.

Three long hours of serving drinks and watching as the news played and replayed and replayed all over again the same five things. There were even a few mentions of Sparklers, not that anyone truly knew what that was or what it meant. Grey's thankful that everyone's out of the bar at the time of closing without too many issues. No one was eager to start a bar fight or argue about the time, things that usually happen on the daily.