The Burn

Chapter 1- Accents are Hot

Vi

Have you ever had a day that just isn't your day? You know the kind. A stumble out of bed and stub your toe, trip over the cat and spill your coffee after you used up the last of the creamer, your favorite pen just exploded all over the inventory sheet but not before it leaked in the pocket of your work shirt kind of day. Because I was having one and frankly, I was already over it but I still had a shift to pull before I could call it a day. Or a night more accurately. Or maybe morning depending on what time I finished up and closed the bar. What is time, anyways? It starts to have no real meaning after a while.

I like to work at night. I am not a morning person in any way, shape or form so the later in the day the better, as far as I'm concerned. I consider mornings to be totally unnecessary and uncalled for. That's why bartending is perfect for me. The bulk of my day is actually at night. Work is my escape from life. I like what I do. I like my customers, both the tourists and the regulars. I like hearing their stories and getting to know them. Most of the folks that come to Morrisey's Pub and Inn are content to do all of the talking so I can stand back and listen and make sure that their drinks are always filled, their food is served hot, and their little basket of popcorn never runs out. I grew up there and have been working at the pub in one capacity or another since I was sixteen. Before that, I would sit in the corner booth next to the kitchen and color or work on homework. Almost all of my memories revolve around Morrisey's. It was my second home and one that I had always loved coming to. It had been in continuous operation in one form or another for over a hundred years and was always busy. Busy was good. Busy kept my mind occupied.

"All I'm saying is that you're wrong." My sister's high voice almost drowned out the sound of her footsteps on the basement stairs. The heavier tread of our brother's huge feet clomped right behind her as they made their way down. I had never seen a set of twins so different from each other.

I sighed and pressed my fingers to my temples. I had come down to the office in the basement to put in the liquor and supply orders before I opened so I could do it in peace but it looked like that wasn't going to happen now. I love my younger siblings but sometimes they can be a bit... much. And it was too early in the day for me to be putting up with them. We weren't even open yet and I'd only had one cup of coffee. I usually needed about a pot before I was ready for them. Or for anyone, really.

"Godzilla is not a kaiju," Ryatt rumbled as they reached the last step, the final wooden tread giving out its distinctive, tortured sounding squeak as someone put their weight on it. For as long as I can remember, that step has always squeaked. It was one of the things that I loved about Morrisey's. It never changed. "He's an alien."

"Godzilla is the very definition of a kaiju. Look it up," Sunshine said, snapping the ever-present piece of chewing gum in her mouth as they rounded the corner from the stairs and to the short hall that led to our father's office. "And he's a she." Their stomping feet sounded like a herd of horses coming down the hall before they filed through the open office door.

"Vi," Ryatt called. "Is Godzilla a kaiju or not?"

I looked up from the computer screen and focused on the twins. Sunshine's short cap of normally mousy brown curls had been a faded green the day before. Now it was a dark sultry purple, matching the long-sleeved velvet crop top she had on. A large amount of milky pale belly was exposed between it and the low slung, black skinny jeans she had on tucked into a pair of my old Docs. Lucky for her but unlucky for me we wore the same size. Ryatt's bleached platinum blonde hair gleamed almost white under the fluorescent lights shining down from the low ceiling. His natural color is the same as Sunshine's but anytime his twin did something with her hair, she tried to do it to him, too. He was in his usual uniform of T-shirt, faded jeans, and Vans. That day, his white, long-sleeved shirt was sporting a ridiculously large, round breasted anime person with neon green and blue hair throwing up a peace sign while they appeared to be in the middle of jumping and trying not to fall out of their tiny top. The twins both had the same indigo blue eyes but Sunshine's were outlined with black, winged eyeliner and thick, sable lashes that I had always been jealous of because they are totally natural. Sometimes life really isn't fair.