The Quiet Ever After

Fourth String - 4

Nina had no stakes in the Thursday Night Football game since the player she did have on one of the teams was not performing well of late and, to maintain a fair standing for making the playoffs, Nina couldn't spare any points or risk yet another poor performance.

Everyone was wrapping up their lineups throughout the day at the shop. Nina, on top of that and work, kept an eagle eye out for any disturbances of a mischievous variety. It didn't stop her from making sure that she adjusted her lineup ahead of time on Sunday, to try and intimidate the implacable Trish.

Thankfully, nobody even bothered to remember that there was something up with the box of chocolate chips or that the system had been buggy. Plus, thus far, Sarzo had allowed everyone to go ahead with their plans for the Thursday game—at least, those involved. In all likelihood, since Nina wasn't making a big fuss of it, Sarzo wasn't going to either.

She did walk about the floor more than normal on that day, leaving Yaya and Mikayla to pick up some more of the actual coffee making. Ciara wasn't on the drive-thru anymore, she was handling the baking. Raquel was still making coffee, of course. They'd never risk putting anyone back there. Stephanie worked the back, which she enjoyed. It let her blast through her audiobooks. Veronica had the day off, one Claire was happy to bestow upon her.

Nina cleaned, routinely, and continued to inspect every nook and cranny, putting out feelers with her magic for any signs of Sarzo. She had her ball of energy practically blaring, like bright glowing bait, to let him know where she was. He would probably be too hasty and attack her. If so? Well, it'd be one hell of an explanation of why there was something from the Starlit Plane at their shop.

She considered having more patience. Deb still hadn't come up with a good way of trapping him. If Sarzo attacked she was likely not even going to be able to do anything about it. Deb had taught her the spell for anchoring him to Earth, but that would only be enough to allow her to beat the hell out of him. While that would be cathartic in its own way, it went against...

Everything. And that frustrated her to no end. Her response, unlike what it was in her youth, had to be more thoughtful, and had to be safer for those around her.

Nina didn't want to be dealing with Phantoms in her little life on Earth with Axel, but if she had to, it couldn't be resolved by leveling houses and casting light arrows all around, zipping around looking like a badass.

She already did that. She died. She came back. She kicked more ass. Now, she was over it.

At the end of the working day, everyone gathered into their cars and headed down to one of the bars just down the street. Most customers often called it the male equivalent of the coffee shop as if the coffee shop was all for the ladies and didn't have a pretty respectable number of male clientele.

Nina and the others were regulars, and their orders were practically put in by the time they'd all found themselves at the large table in the corner. Fitting the eleven of them in a booth wasn't easy, but fitting them around the massive table reserved for large families coming in to catch the game was simple enough.

As they spoke, as they ate, as they simply vibed in one another's presence, Nina forgot entirely about what was going on not only with Sarzo but the world outside. She studied and sank into everyone's words, gestures, and smiles. They're stories that were mundane or fantastical without context but meant so much to each person for their ability to share it.

Her mind reached into its recesses to those long days spent in council chambers or in boring rooms where suitors came in to talk with her. She wore lavish dresses, her hair having been put in place meticulously for hours, and she had to recite the same things over and over again.