Characters: Marnie and Emma (played by orie)
Content Warnings: None
Location: A Café
Marnie has just been employed through a group chat and she's deciding to check out her brand new, seemingly disastrous work place. Emma has been working there in its human and magical fronts for a while now and is dreading seeing her best friend again after disappearing and magically changing into someone else.
Marnie inspects her new workplace and determines it needs a little bit of work. She also realizes she's not really huge on Emma's whole...personality.
Emma waved goodbye the final customer, who luckily didn’t stay there welcome was closing time had been reached.
Of course, they weren’t completely closed for the night, the cafe’s self proclaimed Magi Hours were still coming up. It wouldn’t be for a few hours though, both to avoid any overlap between normal and magi customers, and just to allow time to clean up and prepare their other services.
Now, Emma was just cleaning up around the sitting area, wiping down counters and tables and the like. Normal cafe stuff.
Marnie’s arrival was…tactical. She’d noticed the cafe carried both normal hours and hours for their weird group (which…couldn’t be legal if they had the same workers, could it?) Either way, her goal was to run into neither of those crowds and hopefully get to investigate the place which she’d soon be working at.
So, despite the closed sign, the door opens. Marnie, on her phone and looking like she just got off a shift somewhere else, walks inside.
“Hi!” Her voice is cheerful, if not slightly plain. “Uh…I’m looking fooor……are you guys called Magis? Is that it?”
Emma visibly jumps and recoils a bit at the sound of Marnie entering the cafe. She was currently faced away from the door since that was where she had currently been facing. Emma pauses.
Mari was here.
…No, Marnie was here. She can’t afford to slip up.
The powers that be must not be very kind to her if this was happening right now. And so soon. If she had had time before this to prepare herself maybe, but…
Shoot she’s been turned around for slightly longer than socially necessary. Emma does what little she can to calm her nerves before turning around with that same sheepish smile she was has.
“Hi! Um, technically yes…?” She remembers the half attempt the group chat made at talking about magi things and such.
“Are you… Marnie? From the group chat?”
She hates the way she has to make the name sound unfamiliar.
Ah…Marnie visibly grimaces once the girl turns around. For a second, she hoped to meet a normal employee of a normal coffee shop–and it’s not like the girl looked the part of…the larger-than-life feats the people in the group chat seem to talk about.
Still, the grimace is quickly concealed with a smile, as she waves her phone in the girl’s direction, her many bracelets jingling with her wrist.
“I am!~” Now that that’s confirmed, she takes the liberty to walk right up to the counter, taking a seat on it. Her legs dangle and knock gently against the base below her.
“And youuuu aree….” she pauses. There’s not much she can go off of to determine who this person is, so her brain takes a moment to rake through both the people she saw worked at the cafe, their names, the way they talked, and how much they talked in the group chat. “Emma, right? Miller?”
As Marnie waves with her phone, Emma reflexively does a very small wave back. She still has all those bracelets.
As Marnie plops a set on the counter, Emma parts her mouth ever so slighty to say something, but stops. Her service worker instinct almost wants to ask her to get off, but she pushes it down. That’s just how Mari- Marnie, was.
When Marnie gets her name “right”, it takes a fraction of a second for it to register, like always. The fact that she remembered was a rare instance. It might have even made her happy if it was anyone else saying it.
“Um, yes! That’s me! Is there uh… anything I can help you with since you stopped by?”
Emma would love to do normal small talk, she really would. But she can feel her heart in her ears everytime she hears her speak, and if Marnie ended up fully taking the job, she’d need time to recover before they met again.
Even with the question, Marnie goes quiet. Her lips–painted strawberry pink as always–purse together. Thinking.
“Are you actually one of those….magical…people?” She still doesn’t quite see how any of that could be real, but even then, Emma doesn’t strike her as the type to do LARPing. She can’t help but wonder how she actually got into all that.
But…eh, it doesn’t matter all that much. She shakes her head.
“Nevermind, I don’t really care. Sorry.” There’s a sheepish smile. “I honestly just wanted to scope out the place, since…I somehow got hired. I’m not quitting my day job, though, so I guess I’ll just become one of those people that works all the time…..ew.”
It was always pink with her. And it was great because pink and red go together so well and…
Not the place to think about that. Upon being asked the ‘magical people’, she squirms a bit trying to find a suitable answer. Her speaking skills were already not the greatest, and she’s already pretty tense, and-
Emma is relieved when Marnie dismisses her own question.
And now she needs to respond again.
“Oh! I’m… sorry that you’ll end up working all the time, but I’m glad you’d like to work here!”
Emma is… less than stellar about having to see Marnie here on the regular. At the very least, Gojo would be proud of her bringing in new workers…?
The smile on Marnie’s face grows visibly a little bit more strained. Jeez, what’s wrong with this girl? She’s looked so on edge ever since Marnie walked in…is she always like this?
“You got like, anxiety or something? Bad with crowds? You strike me as like….an office job type gal, y’know?” Ah…wait. She looks down at her knees, swinging her feet a little bit more.
“Shit, right, it’s probably so weird that I just showed up and started interrogating you. I wanted to investigate on my own without any prep time ’cuz that just brings the most genuine out of people, y’know??? My mom–she’s American–she does a lot of union work and stuff, sooo…I’ve grown up to be pretty obsessed. Boring, right?”
…Emma’s making her uncomfortable. Shoot. Did it really show on her face that much?
“I- I mean not, not really I don’t-” she stammers somewhat quietly before Marnie speaks up again.
God bless Mari- Marnie , and her self-answering tendencies. As she listens, she remembers the time Marnie first told her about her heritage. That was probably one of the things that really let them bond.
She takes a deep breath before speaking.
“Oh no worries, I understand! And no no! I think that’s cool! Union things are really important!”
Was she really going to go through with this? Is starting over really an option?
“My mom’s American too actually.” she adds on.
“Oh my god! Really?” It’s weird. Up until then, Marnie wouldn’t have pegged Emma as a foreigner, but now that she mentioned it, it’s clear she’s not entirely from Japan. She’s usually good at picking up when people are foreigners, but……huh.
Her eyes linger on Emma’s a little too long before she moves on.
“That’s so cool! I love meeting other foreigners! Sometimes it feels so hard to bond with people that’re fully Japanese, y’know? It’s different when we’re specifically American, though.” She looks at the writing on the cafe’s walls, swinging her legs. “Feels like a weird thing to bond about, what with our global reputation and all. My best friend, she’s al–she was also American, actually! We kind of always stick together, huh?”
She nods as if to say, ‘yes, really!’. Emma smiles, though it starts to turn awkward as Marnie keeps looking at her.
Emma chimes in about being American in Japan. “Right right!” She smiles again.
It takes all of her might not to shudder as Marnie switches to past tense.
Should she ask? Would a normal person ask about it? If she moved past it, would it come off as rude? Fuck, what does she do here? Marnie seemed to just immediately go past it
Emma can’t hide the flicker of dread that breezes past her face (she has to get better at that if she’s gonna see her daily) before settling back into another sheepish smile.
“…Yeah! It seems so!” she tries to laugh a little bit. She should probably say something else. Make it awkward, she thinks. She lightly grips the end of her apron as she tries to get the words out, looking away slightly from Marnie’s gaze.
“And um… I’m… sorry about whatever happened to your friend…?”
God.
Marnie, at the very least, seems unfazed by this specific part of Emma’s awkwardness. It makes sense, at the end of the day, that she wouldn’t know how to respond to that in a casual conversation.
It always catches her off guard too.
“Oh, no, yeah, you’re totally fine! I hate making a big deal out of it, I’ve just been trying to force myself to like, get over it, y’know? I read somewhere that changing tenses when you talk about the person can help with that, sooo…been trying to do that! Though I’m wondering if I should just say ex best friend and pretend we just like….had a fight or something so people don’t pry.” Evidently, that last part was not meant for Emma to hear! She looks back at her with a smile.
“But you’re totally okay! I’m not talking about you, obviously, although you feel like the type of person who’d have like, a grim fascination with missing people to make up for your current stage of life. I’d totally peg you for a stalker type.” Wink! How is that a wink, Marnie? Whatever.
She is right there. She is right there. Emma wants to say so many things. ‘I’m sorry I left’, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t remember you when it mattered most’, ‘I’m sorry for the hell you must have gone through all this time’.
But. She can’t say any of those things. Not now, not ever. She feels like crying.
Emma just smiles and laughs a bit, acknowledging the comment as a joke. She doesn’t have the heart to joke back.
They’ve been standing here a while. Maybe she should get her feet moving to avoid ffeling like she’s sinking into the ground.
“Oh! I just realized, do you want anything to drink while you’re here? It’s on the house since you’ll be working here anyways.” She’s already making her way behind the counter.
…maybe Emma doesn’t like talking about grim stuff. She’ll keep that in mind for the future.
At the prospect of a free drink, Marnie perks up. Her eyes widen, and her glossy pink smile finally reaches the corners of her eyes.
“Oh my god! Really? Hell fucking yeah I want something to drink!” She looks behind her at the menu, before fully making a rotation to continue looking at Emma as she makes her way through the counter.
“Wait, actually! I want you to make me something–and don’t tell me what it is! I wanna see what type of drink person you peg me as!”
If Emma were not having the most excruciating time of her life at the moment, she’d love to banter. Actually, could she even banter any more? Would she just stumble over her words and miss the landing?
Whatever, now that she had successfully moved the topic of conversation onto something less painful, maybe she could relax abit. Just… like a normal day a work. Normal customer.
“You’ve got it!”
A little part of her was hoping shed stay facing front so she could let her face rest from all the forced expressions she was having to make, but she could work like this.
Marnie liked simple things, she remembered. It’d only take a few ingredients to put together. Maybe she could afford to be a bit on the nose here. Chalk it up to experience as a barista and lucky guesses if she asked? Yeah. That could work.
Emma quickly prepares a strawberry latte with a less than average milk content. In usual barista fashion, she does the cute latte art with those little interspersed heart things. She places it on the counter a couple inches away from Marnie.
“Order up!”
Marnie patiently waits as Emma prepares her drink, browsing her phone in the meantime. Her nails click against the screen–a steady reminder that Emma is not alone in the otherwise empty cafe.
And then her order’s done! She claps her hands excitedly.
“Yay, you made it so cute! Wait, hang on, let me take a picture of it.” She lifts up her phone, narrowing her eyes until she’s satisfied with her performance. Once that’s done, she finally tries the drink.
Her eyes widen in surprise.
“–woah, holy shit! Wait, this tastes so close to what I usually get! I didn’t expect you to actually get it, oh my god! You’re actually good at this!” She laughs, taking another sip. “The only difference is that I’m not huge on normal milk. I’m a weirdo that likes coconut milk instead.”
…Even if drink making was innocuous, maybe she shouldn’t be too close. She shouldn’t really get close at all she thinks, but here she was anyways. Swap the coconut for normal, close enough to be good, but not too good.
Emma smiles fondly as she watches Marnie take the picture.
“Ah, thank you!! Glad my experience is worth something!” She smiles sheepishly again.
She nods with a face of understanding, as if taking the information in for the first time, when Marnie tells her she prefers coconut milk.
“Ah I see, I’ll remember that for next time then! And preferring coconut milk makes sense, a lot of people like how coconut combines with fruit flavors!”
Marnie nods, wincing at the feeling of the hot coffee hitting her throat. Ah, right…heat exists. Ow.
“Huh..I guess so. But usually you only see coconut milk for baking and stuff, right? I just really love the flavour in general. Plus..it probably helps that regular milk gives me the ick.”
That’s enough of Marnie, though! She leans in, looking at Emma intently. Up close, she can probably notice her coloured contacts making her eyes clearer than they would be otherwise.
“What about you, though? What kinda drinks do you like?”
Ah right, the natural flow of conversation dictates that she now talk about herself. Something she absolutely hates doing.
“Oh! Uh,” she tosses her head back and forth slightly to insinuate thinking. She can feel the way her brain pulls her toward certain options. She hates it.
“Ironically despite being a barista, I don’t actually drink coffee that often? Or I mean, I do, but not daily. I… usually just get a vanilla latte though, maybe with caramel if I’m in the mood for it.”
She gives a shrug of self-awareness. Something simple from a simply gall she supposed.
Before, she had always been a tea or cocoa person, also typically getting fruit flavors or something bright and away from anything bitter.
Her orders were always a bit more complex than Marnie’s, never to an annoying level, but enough for it to be unique.
Now though, she finds the taste of coffee slightly more palatable. For better or for worse.
Ahh! Marnie nods wisely. Even though she loves excess, simple really is best sometimes.
“Good call. Coffee is so much better when you can actually taste it. My friend always washed out the taste way too much. One time I tried her drink…never again. Though she never liked my stuff, either. Never one for bitter things.”
Her smile fades slightly. Her knee juts up. Marnie places a manicured hand on it to settle it.
“Sorry! Didn’t mean to bring her up again! I’ve been going out on those rental girlfriend services for some spare cash, so I think I’m not used to hanging out with people my own age again. And I have such a big mouth, I’m literally such an awful secret keeper. If I knew where she was I bet the whole world would know by now.” Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell her. But it’s not like it matters much anyway. Marnie would much rather believe her to be dead.
Emma grips her apron hard, nearly to the point of tearing it.
“I-It’s no problem!” She smiles. She smiles and she hates that she has to, but does it anyways.
Think, Emma. What do you say here?
“It’s… clear that you care about her, she’d… probably appreciate it if she were here…?”
Up speak. Candy sound too sure of herself. Awkwardness barrier. She can’t get too close.
If only she’d told her how she was doing. Maybe they wouldn’t be in this mess.
Marnie finishes the last of her coffee. She laughs–a loud, almost mocking laugh.
“You’re so bad at this! What, have you never even seen movies where people open up to others? Jeez!”
Maybe she’s being a little too mean. But she can sense that Emma is stressed and something about it is making her stressed out as well because she just can’t figure out why.
“She’d fucking hate it, probably. I’d hate it. Sometimes my whole life revolved around her, because I was just so lazy before she….yeah. Realising I had no one to actually suggest things for us to do made me realise that..shit. I did next to nothing on my own. Which I guess is part of the reason why I’m even putting up talking to you.”
The way she looks back at Emma now is both slightly amused and slightly hostile, simultaneously.
Her throat closes. What else could she say? Oh, ‘sorry that my brain physically compels me to make the most boring answers possible so I avoid talking about myself at all costs’? ‘Sorry that I keep trying to keep my distance with you because this conversation is killing me twice over’? That she’s ’so, so, so sorry for what she did and craves everyday for the ability to take it back?
No. She can’t say any of those things. Keep it together Emma.
When she sees the way Marnie looks at her, she can feel the way her stomach drops. She wants to start shaking, just crouch down away from one of the only people who mattered to her because—.
She grips her apron again and looks down and away from Marnie.
“…I’m sorry.” she manages to get out. She wishes she could explain just how much she’s apologizing for when she says it.
There’s more laughter. It’s a little bit more awkward now–a little more disbelieving. What is she even apologising for?
Maybe it shouldn’t fuel her. But it’s so easy to get reactions out of this girl, and something about how intense she can tell they are annoys her to no end. If she really is magic, why would a normal girl like Marnie make her so nervous?
“Seriously! Did you get bullied in high school or something? You’re acting like I’m planning on putting blades in your shoes or something!”
The laughter comes in another wave.
“..I guess….there’s worse people I could have for coworkers. Even if you look like a little bit of a pain to be around–no offence, I’m just not into that girl next door look you’ve got going on.”
Okay. She just… needs to loosen up. Just calm down, ignore the feeling of wanting to burst into tears, and just… breathe.
Marnie’s always been a bit more on the abrasive side, it was nice how it made them play off each other so well. But right now, it’s a bit hard to see the light in it.
She manages a laugh at the same time Marnie does.
…Maybe it would’ve been better if she had been bullied. If she had been friendless and hopeless before now, maybe this would’ve been a better life for her.
She doesn’t really enjoy the look either. It’s… the only thing she feels comfortable dressing in nowadays though.
“It’s fine! I’ve just … never really had the time to look into other styles.”
“…what, you never got over your high school uniform phase? You look awful. No offense.” Yes offense. “I would’ve thought you were like, sixteen if I didn’t already know you weren’t.”
Ah! Wait! Marnie pauses again.
“–oh, wait, is this just like, your uniform? If that’s the case I’ll have to talk to your boss-man about that, because I’m….not wearing any of that. Again, no offense, just not my style. I like…bling, and pink, and fun stuff.”
She really is kind of making this worse for poor Emma. She kind of knows, too, but she’s just trying to figure out why. This isn’t something she wants to think about outside of work hours, and it’s better to nip weird feelings in the bud instead of letting them seethe forever, isn’t it?
She gives an almost genuine laugh at that. Emma had to agree, she did look like a high schooler nowadays. She hated it, but it felt at least a little nice that someone felt the same way.
“No the… only part of the ‘uniform’ really is the apron, and that’s mostly for cleanliness. Actually, since you’ll be doing HR you might not even need the apron…?”
She trails off a bit. Gathering her thoughts, she speaks again.
“Yeah I just… never really gave any time to exploring my sense of fashion I guess!” she gives another sheepish smile.
If Marnie wanted the truth, she’d have to pull it out of her, kicking and screaming. Emma isn’t willing to take the chance of divulging only to risk not being believed (which was likely).
…ah…..Emma’s so boring to talk to sometimes. Marnie laughs anyway, kicking her feet into the air playfully.
“–wait, hey, actually!” She perks up again. Another question lingering in the pause between her sentences.
“You guys were talking about wishes earlier in the group chat, right? That you all like…made some or something and that’s why you’re a group?” Of course, Marnie doesn’t believe any of that to be true, but…she’s curious as to what Emma’s answer was in the first place.
“What’s your wish, then?” There’s another pause. She cuts Emma off right as she starts answering. “If I had to make one….I’d probably wish to get my friend back, or something. Or maybe just know what happened….shit, sorry, again, what’s your wish?”
As Emma goes to speak, she closes her mouth as Marnie cuts her off. She smiles a bit sadly at her answer.
It was good to know she was loved, at least.
She… obviously couldn’t tell her the truth. But she didn’t have the time to come up with a convincing lie. Half-truth it was then.
“No worries! I just… wished for a less stressful life.”
That wasn’t true, but not false either. She had been sick of the life she was living. She wanted to tear it all down, some part of her was willing to tear herself apart piece by piece if it could end in peace. She wished to break herself down to nothing and rebuild. She wished to burn away all the things she enjoyed, all the connections she had made, all the things she had done, because she couldn’t take it anymore.
Marnie doesn’t need to know that though.
Marnie’s smile fades. Turns into an amused, pitying one.
“That’s fucking boring, girl.”
She pushes herself to stand, taking the paper coffee cup and throwing it out on the nearest trash can. She keeps looking down after, fiddling with one of the bracelets on her wrists.
“No offense, yeah? You’re just kinda sad to look at. Hopefully we don’t have to work together all that much–dunno if we’d get along in the long run. At least it’s relatively fun to fuck with you.”
“…Yeah, it is.”
A little part of her also hopes they won’t have to interact much, though with how many things Gojo’s been leaving her to handle lately, that probably wont be the case. Maybe she could deal with a tolerating relationship than something closer. She could deal with that.
She can’t really refute what Marnie is saying. By design, by definition, by her very being she’s boring. If the her from before had to interact with her now, she probably wouldn’t want to spend that much time around her either.
She glances down and smiles solemnly.
“….Yeah.”