Case No. 19
BARISTA: AUDITOR
CAFE: ALL
DATE: EARLY APRIL
RECEIPT ID: MDN-07
The immediate crisis has passed us. Ms. Roussimoff's tab was paid in full by Ms. Bell on our behalf. We left Ms. Roussimoff with Beez for a proper burial of sorts. She was the last of her people… There is no way to truly honor her as there once was. None of her kin left to shed tears or pound the earth. Though she was part of her people's own undoing. As for the Seed… For June, she is coming along with us, back to Florida. From there… Well, we clearly have the looming shadows of Ms. Bell to worry about, but the more pressing issue at hand—or heads—is that Naberius' rage and doom have gone completely silent.
I'm not even sure what exactly happened when we crossed the threshold to cause his other selves to become entirely unresponsive. Asmi may know and we might as well check in with our Sponsor now that our primary customer Ms. Bell has returned with a fresh tab to settle. Thankfully, our trip home was much less fraught than our trip here. Beez saw us off at the Emerald Shore and arranged our flight to Palm Beach. To Midnight. Home, I suppose. Funny, in a way, I haven't worked specifically at Midnight for long—and much of that time was spent away from the actual Cafe—but it does feel like home.
More than a home, actually… A place to return to. I have been around a long time as a traveller, a drifter, a nomad… I never had a home or a place to be. A place to go back to. Sure, there was once a place beneath the Columbia River that I did "return to," in a way, but never willingly. It was always out of a sense of obligation. A Secret that had to be kept. Nothing more. But I can say with full Auditorial authority: I am rather eager to return once more to Midnight. To one of our many Cafes and Diners.
BARISTA: RANOMA L. BOY
CAFE: MIDNIGHT
DATE: EARLY APRIL
RECEIPT ID: SOS-03
I AM SO HAPPY YOU ARE ALL HOME AND YOU ARE SAFE AND HEALTHY AND WELL! (Except for perhaps, yes, perhaps Naberius is not entirely his "full self" right now, but we can fix that!! No worries!!!) And not only are you all back, you brought someone new with you! June! She is very pretty and very green and smells so wonderfully like grass, and moss, and pondwater, and I simply, yes, I simply love being around her! She hums with the vernal life of Esterskald, of its ancient moss, and twisting vines, the howling beasts, and ever-blooming life.
AND WE HAVE TAKEN HER TO THE MALL!!!
I said, yes, I said that I wanted to go to the mall once we were done with the Giant, and we are done with the Giant, and so we have! And it is so exciting to go to the mall with June because for her it is all so new!!! Like it once was for me! It is strange… She, June that is, she—well, she has Joy's memories but also entirely her own perspective on things. She knows how to speak and breathe and be a well-enough functioning twenty-something plant girl, but she has never seen a dog, or experienced a Tuesday, or even had a Baja Blast or Crunch Wrap Supreme! To put it plainly, she has not yet lived!
SO! I am going to show June EVERYTHING! We are going to do as much as we possibly can! Every experience that she has yet to get to experience fully as herself! And I think, yes, I think that over time she will start to blossom into much more of her own person, apart from Joy. Not that I think Joy is not a good person to be, of course not, if I could be anyone, yes anyone, I would think that I would also like to be Joy. But there is no one better to be than yourself, and that is just the way that it is.
(◕‿◕)
Caffeinated Report: C-SOS-04
"Mirror of the sky."
Crystal Trivia | 1 Word
Caffeinated Report: C-RTD-02
"Initially, All's Well That Precedes Well"
Shakespeare Trivia | 3 Words
Caffeinated Report: C-SOS-05
"Copperhead, hammerhead, death's-head, loggerhead sea turtle…"
Animal Trivia | 1 Word
Caffeinated Report: CD-RTD-03
"20/20."
Research || 2 Words
BARISTA: AUDITOR
CAFE: ALL
DATE: EARLY APRIL
RECEIPT ID: MDN-08
It would appear we are being pulled in many directions. Naberius, Daichi, Alaric and Indrid are working on a way to bring back Naberius' full sense of self. Joy and Julius are planning a trip to one of the Golden Flame's compounds to uncover deeper truths about their former Wicked King. Ranoma is rather busy showing June all that she has missed out on thus far in life. And Jericho and I… We have business with the Sunshine Branch of the Cafe and Diner. And, amongst all of that, Ms. Bell tolls thusly.
I am naturally sticking with Midnight for the foreseeable future, though, don't be too terribly surprised if I show up elsewhere in my receipts. While I am quite committed to Midnight's on-going operations, I am still the Auditor of all the Cafes and Diners within our Network. Speaking of, I have also been helping Requiem sort out their own Vile problem. You might very well wonder with what time I was able to sneak off to New Orleans to do this… To which I'd say, it must be something "like a miracle."
I'll be working with CaDence to surface my cases with Requiem in due time. For now, I've got some further business to conduct with Midnight. I alluded earlier that I would be sticking around until Ms. Roussimoff's tab was paid in full. I was anticipating that to perhaps take a bit longer. I'm not yet ready to leave. Even if the Dark isn't right at our doorstep, the Midnight baristas—my friends—need me, each in their own way. Until all is well, the hour for me shall remain at Midnight.