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That night, like every night, I dreamt of fire. Fire, ravaging a strange, mystical city the likes of which I'd never seen. I dreamt of a dark man with golden eyes, a woman with a black, spidery-headress. And I see a rainbow bridge.
And like always, before I could piece it all together, I woke up.
I awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, opening my eyes and pushing myself up. My bed was against the wall opposite the window, so the light of the rising run slanted through the window directly into my face. I raised a hand to shield against it, looking to my right. Mae was slipping on her uniform and tying back her short black bob into a tiny ponytail, and Gale was sitting atop the desk, sipping at their cup of coffee. Our small, rented-out motel room always seemed the smallest in the mornings.
"Morning," Gale waved as I came to my surroundings.
"Is it that time already?" I groaned, slinking out of bed to pour myself a cup of coffee.
I took it black, something Gale, a fellow coffee nut, often made fun of me for, but I ignored them because I liked the bitterness of it. I took in a deep breath of it, letting the warm aroma consume me.
"Another long night?" Mae asked, her cheery voice a little too cheery so bright and early in the morning.
"Uh huh," I nodded my head, taking a sip of coffee before continuing, "And another one tonight. They called me in for another night shift."
"Seriously? How many people come in at midnight anyways?" Gale asked.
"I'm usually too tired to count, but if I did, I'd only have to use my one hand," I responded sleepily.
"They're taking advantage of you, you know that? They know you're young and you need work, so they're using that to get you to work the shifts no one else wants," Gale continued, setting down their emptied coffee mug and sliding off the desk, making their way over to the mirror to tease their closely cropped brown hair.
"Your hair looks fine," I said, "Not that you've got enough of it to actually style in the first place."
Mae snorted, and Gale swatted a hand at us, shaking their head.
"All I'm saying is that you really need to find work somewhere else. You're always gonna be working meaningless jobs that you hate and that take advantage of you unless you pursue something you really love."
"Says the cook at White Castle," I pointed out.
"For your information, Ali, I love to cook," Gale said. They were the only one who ever called me Ali. To everyone else I was Alivia.
"Well how do you know I don't like gas stations? Filling tanks could be my life's aspiration."
"The only people who actually like gasoline are the junkies that sniff it," Gale said with a chortle, "You're an artist, hon, why not try to find a job at an art store? Or a museum?"
"A museum isn't going to take someone like me. And New York is like a hub for aspiring artists, and they flock to art store jobs. I'd have better luck trying to become rich and famous off of my own art," I said.
"Well you are very talented," said Mae sweetly, "Just promise me that when you do become a billionaire artist, you don't forget about your two best friends."
I laughed, "How could I forget you, you two certainly leave a lasting impression."
"I will choose to take that as a compliment," Mae said with a smile, turning to open the door, "See you later."
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Fanfiction"You are unimaginably precious when you're flustered, my dear," he said lowly, "And I can assure you that while I often find you distracting, you are much more than just a distraction to me. Why do you think I haven't killed you yet?" "Because you'd...
