The sun yawned as it stretched over the eighth day of my stay, smiling chipperly as it dawned over the early morning sky. Its face fell as bickering grew louder from the penthouse, wishing to retreat back below the horizon.
"You slept with the dog again, seriously?"
I rose up from the pile of fur on the floor, Reti's large tail wagging excitedly as I finally woke up from my deep slumber. I scowled at Hawks, rising to my feet. "Reti is comfy and warm, and makes me feel safe from shower-peeping pervert birds," I huffed, and his feathers expanded, his cheeks turning red.
"I-I am not a pervert!" He defended himself, crossing his arms. "Besides, I'M not the one getting up at ungodly times this past week. Seriously, what the fuck." I stuck out my tongue and put my hands on my hips, looking for my new uniform. "You could literally just... Stay here, ya know? I don't mind having you as a roommate," he offered, and I sighed, shaking my head.
"Yeah that's great and all, but I'm not in the business of weighing someone down," I explained, and quickly added on when I saw him bristling. "I'm really, really grateful to you Hawks, you're giving me a chance to get back on my feet, I'm just taking it. I don't want to burden you any more than I have to." He rolled out of bed and groaned, stretching his arms over his head. He shook his head and crossed his arms.
"Whatever. You can stay here as long as you like, cupcake," he yawned lazily looking down at me pointedly. "Need a flight to work?" He asked casually, and all the blood from my face fell, and I vehemently waved my hands in denial. He grinned and ruffled my hair. "Have a good day at the bakery Bubblegum. I'll stop by on my lunch break, cya then." I nodded and watched as he left me to my own devices, feeling slightly unsure of myself.
I pouted and turned towards Reti, who happily panted as she twisted her golden eyes up towards me. I scratched her nose and she closed her eyes and leaned into my touch, which caused me to smile. "Why does he want me to stay so much, girl?" I asked her quietly, and she tilted her head, her ears flopping to the side. "Right, sorry, I'm just thinking out loud." I took my uniform and locked the bathroom door and slipped into my outfit.
It was a white dress that flipped out at the hem, with a pale yellow apron overtop. I walked out and put the leash on the dog as the bakery I worked at miraculously allowed dogs to remain in the store, where patrons could pet them. Reti loved it every time, becoming more and more comfortable with humans. I slipped on a leather jacket and placed headphones over my ears, and hummed along to the music that played.
The streets were silent as I made my way to the bakery. It always was this early in the morning. Reti was also enjoying the solitude, glancing up at me every so often. It was quality time that I took to reappreciate my surroundings, my life and what it held in store. Anticipation had always bubbled up in me on these walks, and by the time I reached the bakery I would channel that feeling into boundless energy. I pushed open the doors and smiled at the chime of the bells, and one of the openers looked up and smiled at my arrival.
"Bubbles, it's so good to see you! And Reti," she cooed, slipping out a dog treat. Her tail wagged and brushed by my leg with anticipation, her tongue lolling out of her mouth with desire. "Who's going to be a fantastic girl? You are!" She chirped, and tossed a treat. Reti easily rose on her hind legs and caught it in her mouth, chewing it happily.
"How's it going Mitsu," I asked, going behind the counter. "You seem pretty awake this morning." She beamed at me, her finger idly curling her indigo locks.
She nodded, turning her black eyes back to the counter as she wiped the wood. "Heh, yeah, I guess I am," she said wistfully. "I might have met someone last night," she admitted, her pale cheeks dotting with blush. My jaw dropped, and I squealed and clapped my hands.
"Oh my toasty turtles, who?" I asked, and she looked away shyly.
"I-I can't tell you Bubbles, it'll ruin the surprise," she timidly turned away. "But you'll meet him soon! He's very nice, I promise," she expressed and went back to her work. I pouted as I slipped off my things, but shook off the mood as I washed my hands. It's was time to bake!
The sun had now fully risen in the sky, and the pleasant hum of people in the shop were heard out in the front of the house. A tiny smile curled on my lips as I pressed my palm into the croissant dough. I would flatten it and then let it cool again for a bit, before actually shaping the pastries the next day. It was very satisfying, peeling back the dough from my fingers. I pressed this pan into the edges and sighed in pleasure, placing the tray on the cart before pulling off another one.
It had been a pretty steady day. There was always something to do, always something to make, it was that kind of easygoing day that you could just relax and work through. Today, I decided, was a feel-good lucky day. Mitsu came around the corner, her eyes wide. I looked up from my work and turned around.
"Bubbles!" she beckoned, waving me over. "There's someone here to see you!" I furrowed my brow and followed her out the door to find an ash blonde peering into the display case. "Uhh, Mr. Hawks?" She called, and he tore his gaze from the pastries and his face lit up as he saw me. "I brought out Bubbles," she said, before hurrying off to deal with a customer. I smiled suspiciously, coming up towards him.
"I'm a little busy, do you wanna come into the back with me?" I hiked a thumb over my shoulder, raising a brow. His eyes sparkled at that, and he nodded enthusiastically.
"But of course, I'd love to see where you spend the majority of your day hiding from me," he teased, and I puffed my cheeks. I opened the raising counter for him and guided him into the back, where a cozy, bright atmosphere was found with pastries galore. "Oh, this is definitely what I pictured when I imagined you working in a bakery," he breathed, wandering around. I settled myself in front of the croissant dough and began to pat it down, getting back into the feel of things.
"So, what's crackin' big bird?" I asked cheerily, and a smile twisted at the corners of his mouth. "Got any nice and uplifting heroic stories for me today?"
He snorted, putting his hands in his pockets. "Not really. Just a bunch of paperwork today, that's why I'm here for a bit," he explained, shifting his back a bit.
"Are you sore from sitting all day?" He blinked in shock before looking quite unsettled.
"What? No, of course not, I'm a hero," he said as though that were explanation enough. He nodded to the tray I was still currently beating down on. "What about you? How's your day been?"
"Well," I began, finally having finished this tray and pulling out a third. "This morning I baked off some cookies and then rolled up some more to put in the freezer. I iced some carrot cakes and put those in the fridge, I got started on some jam that should almost be done, I made a batch of muffin batter that'll be used up tomorrow, and I'm now just flattening out the risen pastry dough." I took two fingers and touched two trays. "Regular croissants," I said, and pointed at the last two trays, one of them in front of me, "chocolate croissants." Hawks whistled, looking at me in a new light.
"Damn," he commented, "you're a busy little bird aren't you?" I tilted my head to him, smiling in affirmation. "It's cute though, I like seeing you work like this. You're the kind of people that make me love doing my job," he admitted, his gaze softening. Blush exploded in my face, and I stepped away from the table, coughing. "You good? Here, I know what'll do ya a favour." He walked out to the front, and I could hear the sounds of voices from the back. He quickly returned and untied my apron, pulling me from my table. "C'mon, it's time for a break," he explained, and snuck me out the back door.
I rolled my eyes. "You can't just drag me out of the shop Hawks, I have work to do," I chastised, and he shook his head. He brought me to a stall nearby and held up two fingers with a bright smile on his face. "Really, hotdogs?" I asked incredulously.
"What? They're quick and easy, plus I'd- you know what, I won't say that," he stopped himself, and he gratefully grabbed both of them before handing one to me. "Come on, there's a couple of stairs this way," he suggested, and I sighed, rolling my eyes. Not like I had anything better to do. We sat side by side, quietly eating. I looked over at him and he quickly averted his gaze. I narrowed my eyes.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"Staring? I'm not staring," he rejected, closing his eyes as he took another bite.
"Uh huh..."
When we had finished, I wiped my mouth with the napkin, and he smiled, an expression lined with something mischievous. He pinched my cheek and I winced, closing my eyes. "You're so cute and adorable," he complimented, and I blinked and looked down to the ground, shuffling slightly. "I'll tell you what I was looking for at a later date," he winked, and I pouted. He stole the napkin from my hand and got up, shaking his wings. "Alright, time for us to get back to work. Thanks for hangin' out with me, and try to sneak a couple of those sweets home, eh Bubblegum?" I nodded, scoffing at his petname.
"Bye Hawks," I said with a little bit of attitude.
"Bye Bubbles," he blew me a kiss and I gasped, an electric shudder running through me, and I bolted. I found the solace that was my work and sighed, getting back into the swing of things. I pounded at the dough, my jaw clenched stressfully tight.
"Stupid, fucking, bird for brains," I cursed with every punch, and the other bakers gave me a wide berth, their eyes glancing between me and their own work, as though they were worried about my anger turning against them.
It was around 4:00 PM when I was able to go home. I scratched Reti's chin and bid my coworkers goodbye, slipping out of the glass doors and into the public.
The sky was just barely tinting orange, a sign that it was evening. I smiled and tucked a curled strand of sun-blonde hair back behind my ear. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky to obscure the sun. I felt accomplished and satisfied. Nothing beat a good day at work, nothing.
Unless there was a banana peel on the sidewalk.
I squarely stepped on the yellow death-trap, and my eyes widened. I slipped and fell on my left foot which painfully twisted, I cried out as I leaned to my right, but my right foot missed the sidewalk and dropped into an open drain. My left foot slipped in too, and I was about to fall completely in until my breasts had caught the lip of the road and held me up above ground level. My legs dangled, unable to touch the ground in the drainpipe. Reti whimpered as she saw me struggling and licked my face. I flattened my palms against the sidewalk, huffing angrily. What shitty luck. Wait a minute...
Shit, where is she? I looked around, scanning the area.
I cursed, still trying desperately to pull myself out. She's coming, I can feel it.
A black heeled boot stepped out in front of me, and I slowly looked up, a frown plastered to my face. Before me, dressed in her racy hero attire, was none other than my older sister. Aislinn Mesta.
Miss Fortune was adorned with a black band around her chest and short shorts with different utility items ranging from whips to caltrops, and her legs were mostly covered by the belts she had wrapped around them and the knee-length boots. She squatted down and looked at me with a chipper smile on her face, her spiky pink hair bobbing slightly. She waved her hand.
"Yo, Freckles," she greeted normally. "How's it hangin'?" She snickered and looked away, pleased with her own pun. I snapped, growling.
"What the fuck, Aislinn. Get me out of here," She looked back and gasped, her golden eyes trembling in disbelief. "Don't act all shocked, I know this was your doing, mom doesn't have the power to pull a stunt like this." She shrugged, and pat my head. I seethed.
"Now now little sis, I only wanted to talk to you," she explained boredly, picking at her nails. "Cute dog by the way. What's her name?"
"Reti..." I admitted, and then snarled, "THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! GET ME OUT YOU BURNT BROWNIE!" She sighed, tapping her head.
"Such rude insults," she pouted, looking back to me with sad golden eyes. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
I scoffed. "You and I both know that I haven't kissed my mother in years." Her face fell at my words. I knew that she didn't have particularly strong feelings about our parents, so it wasn't that she was upset of my reaction. She was upset because she knew the truth.
"I heard from Mom and Dad," she began softly, and sat down on the pavement with her legs hanging over the edge. "From their side of the story, they said that you threw a fit and just left... But clearly," she observed, looking at the dog and petting her softly, "There's a little more to this story, They've always wanted to seem like the good guys, they did the same with me. I also ran into Nao," I winced at the name, but she didn't notice, "he was really upset with you too. Said that you never thought things through, that you were being immature and that you were never grateful, but I know better, Bubbles. I know you. What happened over there? What's the truth?"
My mouth formed into a grim line, and my legs ceased their struggling. It looked like I was going to be in here for a while. "I literally just sucked in a breath and Mom got upset. Said I was being too loud and disrupting her nighttime yoga," I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "I... didn't act super friendly towards that, and then Mom just said to me, 'then you can just leave if you don't want to respect me,' or something like that..." I looked down. "They are right though; I didn't think anything through, just... left."
"Who took you in?" She asked softly. I huffed a laugh.
"Some stupid bird boy," I sighed. Immediately, Reti began barking and I raised my eyebrows, before realising what she was barking at.
Speak of the devil and he shall come...
His shadow flew around in circles around us, watching our interaction from afar. Perfect. Just great. Something cold and slick wrapped itself around my leg, and my stomach twisted in turmoil. "Have you turned off your fucking Quirk Aislinn?" I asked snappily and she shook her head, brow furrowing. "Huh, no kidding, cause now I'm feeling something crawl up my leg and it's really gross and slimy and get me out GET ME OUT IT'S GOING TO EAT ME GET ME OUT!" In a flash, Hawks swooped in and scooped me out of the drain. Aislinn stumbled backward, her eyes wide as she took in the famous hero before her. I was busy scrambling to scrape whatever black slime had suctioned itself to my shin, tears of fear prickling my eyes.
"Holy shit, Hawks?" She exclaimed, sitting up. "Are you telling me that HAWKS took you in? Really?" She cast her eyes between the two of us, incredulous. "Huh. Looks like my sis does have some luck in her life, no kidding."
"Aw, thanks! That's probably the nicest thing anyone has said about me adopting her," he teased, and I kicked his shin. He smacked the back of my head playfully. "And who are you?" She stepped back, shocked that he would ask her.
"O-Oh, I'm her older sister, Aislinn. But the people call me Miss Fortune," she added sultrily, and I rolled my eyes. "So you... adopted her? Is that intended as a joke, or..."
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in, while his wings hovered over me. "By adopt, I mean claim. There was no way I just going to let her get snapped up by anyone else, she's too precious," he said, pulling me in tighter. I flushed a perfect shade of crimson, slowly steaming from the build-up of heat. I couldn't even say anything to defend myself. "Aw, look at her, she's too cute." He leaned down and planted a kiss squarely on my cheek, and this time I did do something.
"N-N-N-NO!" I cried, and struggled in his arms until he released me. I immediately ran as fast as I could to the apartment, the dog panting as we broke out in a lightning-fast sprint. Hawks sighed and turned towards Aislinn, slowly walking backward.
"She's completely worth it, even this only makes the heart pound more," he promised with a hand over his heart, and Aislinn laughed boisterously.
"You'd be good for her. She's needed someone to show her the good things in life for a while now. I'm counting on you," she said lowly, as though she were threatening him. He scoffed, sending a feather towards her with an address on it.
He snapped his fingers and his wings expanded, prepping for flight. "You seem like the one good person she has around her, so if you ever wanna visit, there's my penthouse," he winked and took off. Aislinn looked to the sky, humming as she watched the hero soar off in the direction that her little sister ran in.
"You've attracted the right kind of trouble this time, Bubbles," she whispered softly with a smile, before turning around and walking down the street.
I was huddled in Reti's mound of fur, hiding from the world around me. Hawks stepped through his back door coming from the balcony, looked at the floor, and sighed.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have given you a random kiss like that."
"... I don't care," I mumbled, digging further into the fur of Reti.
"Is there anything I can do? A poki stick, or... Ice cream?"
"Cheesecake," I immediately replied, peeking out from the mountain of dog I had embedded myself in.
"Cheesecake? I'll go get it right away," he assured, and hopped off the balcony, flying away.
I smiled softly and nestled against her side, my emerald eyes slowly drooping. "Good..."
Bubbles looks from the screen to Hawks, who raises his eyebrows. She smiles slightly, rocking back and forth on her heels.
"You never did get me that cheesecake," she states cheekily, looking up through her lashes.
Hawks turns to the camera, his amber eyes lidded as he points to Bubbles. "She's lying."