Joey found himself lost in case after case of product that had to be put on the shelf. He'd asked for menial stocking tasks today, and Anahi had waved him off to do them while she watched the register.
Courtney had texted him a couple days ago to tell him about the situation with Louise. Apparently she'd been attacked by Paris. And not as part of a random attack either. He'd targeted her.
Now Louise was staying with the Legion. A couple members had helped move her sewing stuff into Legion HQ so she could at least keep working. Apparently Louise felt more at ease if she had stuff to do.
Joey only had sparse details, but Courtney had told him since he was friendly with Louise and the Legion in general. Something about Paris and Achilles knowing each other. She'd said it was pretty rough on Achilles now that they knew about it.
Now he'd spent the past two days at work trying to sort out his thoughts. Paris was becoming a bigger and bigger threat. Sure, the Legion had plenty of people now, but would it be better if they had him too? Surely his actions wouldn't make or break anything, right?
And yet that had been the case before. The Legion was getting paid now. Would it be better to make that his job and add his strength, meager though it may be, to the battle against those who'd hurt Arx Nubibus? But what would happen if he died out there? Ned would be devastated. They were planning to move out together soon. As soon as Ned had a steady job.
Thoughts just continually spun around in his head. Should he be doing something more than this? Should he be more proactive about using his Miracle?
"Hey." Anahi interrupted his thoughts. Joey glanced up at her, still carrying the crate of oranges.
"What's up?" he asked. Was there something else he should be doing?
"Are you doing okay?"
The question left Joey at a loss for words. Anahi took that as a sign to continue.
"You've been quiet for the past couple days. Like, quieter than usual I mean."
"I..." Joey glanced towards the front.
"Nobody's in the store right now, bro," Anahi laughed. "Justice was asking about you too. Actually, that's why I noticed. Justice told me to talk to you if I had time today. So? What's eating you?"
"Sorry," Joey muttered, averting his eyes. It was really bad if his coworkers were noticing that he was off.
"Hey, you're doing everything just fine. The Demon won't have anything to complain about. Justice just wanted to make sure you're doing okay. Inside, see? If your brain is in pain, that's not healthy."
"I've just had a lot on my mind," Joey said, laughing nervously. He put the orange crate down and started moving the bags onto the display.
"Anything you need to talk about?"
"Not really. I've just...been thinking a lot I guess." Joey paused in his work for a second. When he did, Anahi knelt down and started stocking the oranges too.
They worked in silence for about a minute until Joey spoke again.
"My brother and I are planning to move out of our parents' house. He's looking for a job right now, but once he finds one we'll see what we can do about finding somewhere we can afford."
"What's your brother do?" Anahi asked. "Oh hey, older or younger?"
"Younger. He just graduated high school, so he's doing his best to find something simple. Worst case scenario, he'll probably apply to Green's."
"Poor kid," Anahi said with a sigh. "This is one of the tougher gigs I think. Hopefully he finds literally anything else."
"You really don't like it here, do you?" Joey asked, chuckling as they finished the oranges. Next were the grapes.
"Hate it. But absolutely no one else would hire me, so here I am. Stuck here until I can find literally anything else. Hopefully school works out."
"What are you studying?"
"Just dentistry. Gonna hopefully get work as a hygienist soon, then go in to get the full dentist qualification."
"Dentistry?" Joey asked, looking at her in surprise.
"Yeah. Something wrong with that?"
"No, not really. I just...didn't think you'd be interested in that."
"Hey, it's an important job. It'll pay well once I finally manage to get done the schooling. I'm in an online program right now, since work makes it impossible for me to make anything regularly scheduled. But as soon as I can, I'm blowing this dump and focusing more on school. School and money. Those are the two driving forces of my life right now."
Joey laughed a bit at her frank reduction of life.
"What?" Anahi frowned at him.
"Nothing, nothing. Just that the one driving force in my life right now is money." Joey grinned at her.
"Hey, people can't live without money. It's a worthwhile pursuit if you ask me." They finished the grapes and Anahi stretched.
Joey started sorting through pomegranates next. Anahi left to check the front, then returned to help.
"What about you, Joe?" she asked. "Justice mentioned something about you being in school at some point."
"Oh, that." Joey grimaced slightly as he grabbed an especially ripe pomegranate. "I was studying psychology, but then I had an accident and...I don't think I can go back to school now."
"Mind if I ask what kind of accident?"
"I...fell off a bridge. And landed several levels lower." Anahi's eyes widened.
"Wait, seriously? How are you alive?"
"I don't know," Joey chuckled. "Happened last year."
"Wait - I think I remember that."
"What?" Joey looked at her in surprise. Anahi frowned in thought and nodded.
"Yeah. Attempted mugging of two guys, one of them fell off the frickin bridge. Muggers were arrested for attempted manslaughter. Didn't see how the case ended, but I heard it and I was like, it's gonna change to manslaughter. Actual manslaughter. No way that guy survives falling that far. Even if he's alive now, he won't be for long. But hey, I guess you are alive. Crazy world, ain't it?"
Joey laughed nervously. She had no idea how crazy it was. Maybe he should have died back then. Maybe if that god or whatever hadn't given him a Miracle, he'd be dead now.
Crazy world indeed.
They finished the pomegranates and moved on to the bananas.
"So what was it like falling that far? Or do you remember?" Anahi asked. "Or, y'know, if you don't wanna talk about it, don't. Right. That would be a traumatic event for you, wouldn't it? Sorry. Forget I asked." Anahi turned away anxiously.
"I mean..." Joey started, then paused. He stood staring at the banana he'd just put on display, trying to sort his thoughts out.
After all, he'd fallen crazy distances multiple times now. He was kind of used to it now.
"Falling makes your stomach feel like it's gonna jump out of your throat."
That was the best he could come up with and Anahi looked at him bashfully.
"I guess it would, huh? But seriously, I shouldn't have asked. I just...got curious I guess."
"It's fine, I guess." Joey started stocking again. "The worst part was the hospital stuff after. I couldn't move at all and everything hurt. Breathing hurt. It's a miracle I'm okay now. The doctors were surprised."
"I'm glad you lived, though," Anahi said. "I mean, if you hadn't, you wouldn't be here. If you ever want to go back to school too, we'll all see you off with a smile and all that." She averted her eyes, but Joey found himself smiling at the sentiment.
"Thanks. I'm glad I met you too. You're a surprisingly good friend."
Before Anahi could respond with her usual snark, Zaid popped his head into view.
"There you guys are! I thought the store was totally empty."
"Zaid?" Anahi asked, her jaw dropping open.
"Hey," Joey said. "Sorry. There weren't any customers, so we've just been stocking stuff."
"Is it that time already?" Anahi asked. "Okay, Zaid, you clock in. Joey, you clock out and go home."
Right. Zaid was supposed to start work when Joey finished. Anahi shooed the two of them towards the break room, saying she'd take care of the other crates of fruit.
Zaid burst out laughing when they got there.
"Man, that Anahi is something else. Never seen her so flustered before. Now I regret sending Crystal my notice."
"Notice?" Joey asked.
"I found another job, so I am out of here. Two weeks today will be my last shift."
"Oh. Good luck." Zaid nodded as he finished checking in and headed out to work.
Joey took a bit longer to breathe and center himself. Then, he decided to focus on the present. Not the theoretical problems the Legion was facing. Just the here and now. He'd go home, rest for a bit, eat supper, and then play games with Ned.
Joey headed through the store. Anahi and Zaid were probably still off stocking shelves, because he didn't see either of them. As he approached the front door, though, something rammed full tilt into him.
It felt like whatever it was had come from slightly above, and after a short tumble he ended up splayed on his back on the floor. The thing groaned, and Joey realized that he'd run headfirst into another person. He wasn't hurt at all, so he decided to check if they were.
When he propped himself on his elbow to look at them, though, he froze. He remembered this girl.
The girl with blue-tipped hair who'd warned him about Phantasma's last attack. Sure it had been a few months since then, but he wouldn't forget her face so easily. Her face was pale, and her breathing was coming in gasps.
Their eyes met, and her face lost even more colour. Joey could only stare, trying to figure out what had just happened.
Why was she here?
