Characters: Marnie and Emma (played by orie)
Content Warnings: None
Location: A Café
Emma is still recovering from seeing Marnie again for the first time.
Marnie preps for her first day at work and puts up missing person's posters for her best friend. Emma tries to not freak out and sort of fails.
Another day, another set of hours she was spending between closing and 2nd opening. It was entirely within her power to leave, maybe tackle things, make purchases, the like, but she enjoyed using the time she had left over from cleaning up to just… exist. She usually brought her homework with her so she could at least be semi-productive.
And that’s what she was doing now. Sitting at one of the tables, she had a notebook opening, full of various set up additions, multiplacations, yknow, math. She was doing calculus homework. Yaaaaay.
Marnie gets off of work at the same time most retail locations close.
The good thing about that is that she’s able to make a reason for her to not go to Gojo’s cafe during neither the normal nor magi hours. She’s busy during the day, and she’s not part of their group. So, the block in between closing time and midnight works best.
The only downside will be…her.
The door opens again, this time with the key gracefully given to her by Gojo. The little bell on the door jingles as she walks in.
This time, she’s not as loud as she walks in, though she does take the liberty to walk right up to Emma’s table and place her manicured hand over the notebook.
“I’ve got good news for you. Most of the work Gojo’s been gracefully pawning off to you is actually my responsibility now.”
….Ever since Marnie first stopped by a few days ago though, she’s never truly been able to relax during this time. Since their first meeting, Emma had been thinking about how future interaction would go, especially with the note they ended on. She’d been running different scenarios in her head, both to help in bracing herself and in just…preparing.
As she hears the door jingle once again, it’s not as much of a jumpscare as it was before. (Honestly most of the shock had just been from hearing Marnie’s voice). As Emma shifts from mindnumbing homework to looking at Marnie’s hand over her notebook, to Marnie’s face, she gives that same sheepish smile. It’s more or less her default expression at this point.
“Oh! Um… okay! Is there anything you need me to give you…?”
Marnie’s quiet, scrutinising Emma. For one, two seconds. Her gaze flickers down to the math problems, then back to her.
“…you’re doing it wrong.”
Anyway! Without explaining, she closes Emma’s notebook for her and pulls out her phone, to her resourcefully written list of files she needs!
“Okay, I need every worker’s resume and paperwork, contracts, and if there’s any documentation of everyone’s work hours, that’d be a huge help for now.”
Emma made a small sound of resignation as Marnie closed her notebook. Honestly Emma wasn’t even sure if Marnie was just messing with her (which after the last time they met, could be the case). But considering the track record of her grades recently (nothing horrible mind you, just not what she’s used to), it was entirely possible.
She gives it a little nod at Marnie’s request though.
“Oh, uh, sure! I’m… still waiting for a few new hires to get their stuff to me, but I have everyone else’s forms in the back!”
She gestures toward the small back room behind the counter area that’s typically out of view from the customers, and starts walking over to retrieve the requested documents.
Marnie’s not bad at math. The thing is that she was incredibly lazy about it during high school, and so typically barely made it because of how little effort she’d put into her work. Still, it’s enough for her to understand some of what Emma’s doing. Enough to comment on it.
She follows along, humming in surprise at the room she hadn’t seen before.
“..hm..this is probably where I’ll do most of my work, huh? I like talking to others, so I don’t mind retail, but..I don’t think I’d be able to do two different retail jobs all at once.”
Emma gives a nod at Marnie’s observation.
“Yup! Gojo keeps a bunch of the logistic stuff back here.” Marnie had always been the more social of the two. She hadn’t been shy by any means, just…
She nods again as she starts by opening up a file cabinet and looking the needed files. Another nod of understanding.
“Even if you enjoy it, it can still be a bit much to do day in and day out!”
“It’s a lot, yeah.”
She decides to help Emma by sorting through the files as well, though…geez. The organisation for them is shit. Not like Marnie’s organisation is much better, though.
“Be sure to relay all the filled out and filed paperwork to me from now on, okay?” Technically, Marnie should be the one to file it, but…Gojo’s already pawned off so much to Emma that she’s sure Emma will appreciate the decreased load even if it’s not everything.
“I had a question too, actually. For the..uh, Magi hours. Do you get paid under the table? If you do, no problem, but if you don’t, there’s a lot more I’ll have to sort out to make sure Gojo can’t get sued.”
Emma pulls out a few recognizable files of some of the employees and sets them on the table, before continuing to look for more.
“Will do!” Emma was ultimately glad that should wouldn’t have to handle the paperwork herself. She was more prone to silly typos and missing things now more than ever. Even if it meant having to interact with Marnie, at least the cafe wouldn’t suffer by her hand.
Emma can’t help but smile a little at Marnie’s hesitation about their Magi hours.
“Oh, yes I do! No need to worry about that!” She gives a thumbs up.
Marnie hums in acknowledgement, looking through the files without much thought. She’ll have to properly look through them later and start working on putting them into some sort of software to save her headaches in the future, but…for now, everything looks fine. So she won’t comment on it.
“…ah, okay, cool. Saves me a huge headache.” Still….it’s not like she’s all too happy about just how long Emma spends at the cafe.
“This….isn’t fully legal, but I’m gonna try and negotiate with Gojo to see if we can get you more time off so there’s less days where you’ll have to come in to work, to make up for how long you’re staying here.” Harley’s secret is that I’m making everything off as I go. This is a fictional city! Why adhere to actual legal stuff when you can just go crazy go stupid.
Honestly, Emma just likes spending time at the cafe because she’s wanted here. And yes, that’s mostly because she is a worker, but even people like Gojo appreciate her contributions! She can’t really get that feeling anywhere else, and she hasn’t really been able to “enjoy” spending time out or at places since she made her wish. So the cafe it was.
“Oh! Um, thank you! I usually only stayed so long since we were understaffed, but with all the new hires recently I don’t think that should be a problem any more!” She smiles. And so true Harley! Imagine knowing how actual laws worked!
“Don’t…think I’m doing it for you. Just, for the record.” Aside from the implication that Marnie helping Emma get what’s technically less hours means she wants to win her favour, it would just look bad on paper.
From her bag, she pulls out a sparkly pink planner and a gel pen, writing down some things quickly. Her handwriting is completely illegible. It looks like shorthand.
“I’d just rather you don’t get any funny ideas and sue the man…even though I wouldn’t blame you. But then it’d be my problem…unless you took him to..magical court or whatever.” Snrk.
Even if it does hurt a little for more than it just ‘not being about her’, Emma’s had time to prepare for these sorts of things now. She gives an awkward smile.
“Ah, okay, I see.”
While the idea of a Magi Court system seemed hilarious to her (“You’re going to magi jail for magi crimes!!!”), especially imagining Gojo in any sort of serious setting. She laughs a little.
“I don’t think I’d have the heart (or the money or the means haha!), to sue Gojo if I’m being honest!”
She pauses for a second, thinking if she should say what was queued up in her head next.
“He’s … a little too lax sure, but he’s done a lot for me otherwise so… I’m alright with it.”
Ah, hey! Emma’s capable of laughing! Good to know. Marnie takes the liberty to laugh along, only a little bit.
“…alright, then. As long as you know what you’re doing.” Which, she probably doesn’t, but…neither does Gojo, for that matter, so it evens out! And..it’s not like Marnie herself is any better.
As the conversation lulls down, Marnie inspects some of the paperwork a little more. It’s….decent, she guesses. Some mistakes here and there, but…it’s standard work. It doesn’t make her job harder, nor does it make it easier, which…seems to be a theme with Emma.
“Hey, by the way. I’ve been meaning to ask, since no one’s given me a straight answer. Do you guys actually think you do magic, or is it some sort of gimmick?”
Honestly she hoped she’s never have to actually reveal or explain much about Magi life to Marnie. Best case scenario, Marnie would never be subject to a witch’s kiss or get lured into a labyrinth. She knows that no matter what she says now, she’s not gonna believe if she says the truth, so….
“I… might have to be another person who doesn’t give you a straight answer unfortunately…” She laughs nervously.
“It’s! Complicated, but I think the easiest way to think about it would be as a….” She looks for a good analogy. “Second occupation…?”
Marnie, being taller than the average human female and therefore taller than Emma, looks down at her with a mixture of disdain and disappointment. She laughs, though. Of course she can’t answer. Why would she?
“…..sure,” she finally responds, though her narrowed eyes do nothing to hide her disbelief. If it was some weird cult stuff she’d understand, but it makes no sense that they’re so willing to keep her around yet so simultaneously secretive. Do they want her to know things, or not?
The disappointment breaks. Marnie laughs again, this time a little longer, as if laughing at an inside joke between herself and a secret third participant in their conversation.
“Sorry, sorry. I almost thought you’d actually be able to give me something to work with, but I guess I should know by now you’re not the best at people stuff, yeah?”
She laughs awkwardly a bit. She knows its at her own expense, but what else was she supposed to say?
“Yeah I’m…. not great at that sort of thing. Sorry.”
Even beyond her strategy of avoiding connecting too much to Marnie to avoid any further heartache, since making her wish, Emma had noticed that her people skills had suffered a bit. She wasn’t quite as quippy, good responses couldn’t come fast enough, a lot more filler words in conversation. Which, was perfect for that ‘polite employee’ vibes she needed to exude at work, but understandably annoying to deal with otherwise. She should probably say something else to prevent the conversation from dying.
“Been a lot of homework for me recently so… my brain’s all clogged up, I’m… usually at least a little bit better than this, sorry again!”
Emma is polite. She’ll give her that. Marnie has pushed beyond what she thought would be necessary to figure her out, and yet, she’s managed to hold her composure. It’s..honestly a little bit impressive.
But it doesn’t mean she appreciates it at all.
“..hm, well…I guess, at the end of the day, you don’t need to be good at talking to others to do….whatever it is you want to do.” She saw Emma’s math homework, but there’s not much you can really tell from that anyway.
Marnie pauses. Flicks her wrist.
“Which is?”
“Oh! Um….”
Right, people who attend college typically have an idea of what they’d like to do as a career. She smiles sheepishly again.
“Hate to continue the trend but, I’m… undecided.”
Before, she… honestly hadn’t known either. When people asked she’d just say ‘A double major in Engineering and something in the humanities, she’d explore that part with what was available to her in college’, and that would be enough for people to not ask anymore. Impressive enough that it aligned with what people thought of her at the time, but vague to where she wasn’t just completely lying. She did lots of things, enough to the point she didn’t know if she’d be fine with directing the rest of her life towards only 1 or 2 of them, if at all.
“….ah, right. Of course.” Seriously, what the hell? Something about Emma is so…unnatural, but she can’t put her finger on it. She didn’t even know people like this were capable of existing at all.
She starts to feel herself slipping again, to the point where she’d want to push a little harder. Instead, she bites the inside of her cheek. Even if she’s weirded out by Emma…she shouldn’t take it out on her directly.
She puts the files in her bag, taking out a small stack of papers in exchange, along with shiny washi-tape, complete with cutesy patterns of anthropomorphized food and drink.
“I’m gonna put some flyers up out front. If Gojo asks you to take them down, feel free to, but…if he doesn’t, just..ignore them, okay?”
Emma can hear the disappointment(?) in her voice, and she cant really blame her. Though, it does feel a bit different to all the other things she had said so far. Probably because this was one of the few things that had been true for all of her life.
She glances away a bit at the sight of the washi-tape. It’s familiar. She’d like to avoid reminiscing if she could. Emma doesn’t look away for long though, as she looks back as Marnie asks her something. She gives a nod in response.
“Um, okay! Let me know if you need any help putting them up!”
“You can go back to your homework. I’ll be fine.”
She steps back onto the main area of the cafe, scoping it for the best places to put the papers up for maximum visibility. Once that’s done, she cuts up strips of the tape, putting the fliers up on the designated spots.
They look…distinctly Marnie-made. The pink paper and cutesy font almost distract from the subject, and maybe that’s the goal. Draw enough attention for people to look, enough for them to notice and properly see what the flier is about.
In the middle, there’s a cropped picture of a smiling girl in round glasses. An arm is wrapped around her–with the bracelets on its wrist distinctly Marnie’s. A big, bold MISSING is on top of her picture. On the bottom lies basic information about her.
Marnie herself doesn’t seem to put much thought into the contents of the fliers themselves as she puts them up. It’s methodical, almost, the way she keeps her gaze from lingering too long on the girl’s freckled face.
Emma lingers a bit in the backroom, returning some documents that weren’t as helpful as she thought on first glance. She tucks them back into the cabinet, making sure everything’s closed properly and secure. Satisfied, nods to herself. Before she enters the main area again, Emma takes a second to let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
Just breathe. She could do this. It was going great so far, and once they fell into a work-based rhythm it would just be easier from then on. She could do this. She had to. For Mari’s- Marnie’s sake.
Small decompressor finished, she starts walking back into the main room.
“Is there anything else you need from me or-”
Emma’s eyes make contact with one of the posters. She stops. She freezes.
Marnie, still facing the wall, doesn’t notice. Emma isn’t the best at talking, so it’d be normal for her to stop after realising what exactly the posters were about. She finishes taping the current one up, humming a low tone.
“Nah, I’m good. Need to go get some food for Maro after this, anyway.”
Her phone buzzes. If she notices Emma’s shock, she doesn’t say anything. She texts back.
“..ah…seems like Gojo wants to do some kind of hotpot thing later. Guess I’ll just…go fetch Maro for that, then. Not like I’m gonna pass up the chance for free food, even if it’s with a bunch of weirdos.” Snrk.
Emma barely registers what Marnie says in response to the question she asked.
It was like being forced to stare at her own grave.
She remembered that picture, she kept it as a lock screen for a while. The pink paper, the washi-tape. Mari’s signature style.
She had freckles before. She’d almost forgotten that. Emma had avoided looking at pictures for so long that her own features were fading from her mind. And glasses. She started wearing them in 4th grade, and needed them ever since. Emma didn’t think she’d hate having 20/20 vision so much.
A slow, labored breath out escapes her. Her face remains blank, with a flash of dread.
Her brain catches up and processes what Marnie said. Gojo. Hotpot. Later tonight. Right. Great. Cool. Fun. She snaps back to her typical temperament.
“O-okay! See you later then!” She does her absolute best to pull out a smile and wave. It’s a little forced.
..guess she really didn’t know what to make of the posters. Oh well. They weren’t for her, anyway.
Marnie puts her phone back in her pocket, heading to the door and casting a wave in Emma’s direction.
“See ya, Em.”
Leaving her alone once again.
She gives another overcompensating wave as Marnie leaves. Emma stays there, listening as the jingle of the door bells settle and come to a halt. Her hand falls and grips the table behind her for support.
…She had done something truly awful hadn’t she? Was everything that had happened the past few days with Marnie karma for her actions? Was the situation she had forced herself into not punishment enough?
Emma feels her breath catch, a tightness in her throat, and her eyes water. Her head hangs and her hair follows, her hands covering her mouth. Without the support of the table behind her, she falls to her knees, head remaining low.
Emma sits there for a while. Tears stream down her face, but she doesn’t make a sound, the silence is only interrupted by sharp intakes of breath.
And Emma Miller remains stagnant, surrounded by her obituary.