#fr writes

It's a chilly evening on the subway, as Penny stands by the doors, nail-polished fingers holding onto the safety pole as she looks at her watch. Her coat pockets jingle with change and crumpled bills from her shift at Bunny's Burgers, all courtesy of her satisfied customers, as she sways backward from the train's speed taking her to her cozy apartment uptown.

'Today was rough', she stares pensively at her boots, sighing as she contemplates her work day with fellow coworker, Mile.

'We were understaffed, a large party came in and occupied 3 booths and a table, and left a mess I cleaned up myself, and Mile was getting yelled at for dropping the cash box while managing the cash register.' Her screen goes dark as she lay deep in her thoughts until she saw out of the corner of her sensor someone moving into a double seat across from her and her pole.

It was a tall, knife-headed man, unfamiliar to her, with a malevolent glint on his blade. Well, she perceived it to be so, considering light can't be malevolent, but does it really matter? He sat next to a man in a denim jacket, covered in what appeared to be mud stains and water, with a foul odor following him, much to Denim Man's slight panic. Penny slowly moved slightly closer and began to eavesdrop ever so cautiously.

"Look, I'll say it again only once", the suspect man sneered, as he pulled what looked like a gun out of his coat pocket. "Hand over the wallet, bozo, and I'll let you off the hook scot-free. If not, your dumb, phone face GETS IT. Deal?"

Shakily, without lifting his head, Denim Man whimpered quietly, “P-please, sir, I don’t have any money, just, just some loose change...” Denim Man was shaking with fear holding an expression of what seemed to be pure dread.

“Well, better than nothing, I guess”, the mugger replied. “Hand it over before I stab you, so help me Phone-God!”

Penny started to feel sick to her stomach, a lump welling in her throat. Surely she couldn’t leave the poor man to get mugged of all he had? She started weighing her options quickly.

The train started to slow, lunging everyone slightly forward, and suddenly, an idea manifested itself. This is her stop. Penny stepped forward slowly, making pace closer to the mugger.

“Leave him alone!”

She heard herself gasping, and immediately covering her mouth in alarm. Why did she say that?! She felt the color drain from her face as the mugger stood up and faced her, towering over her.

“Hey, Sweetcheeks, stay out of this if you don’t wanna see this cuck blown away, y’hear me?”

She stood there, frozen, trembling, forcing herself to respond to the criminal’s threat. “I-if you leave him alone, I’ll, I’ll give you my tip money for the night”, she managed to squeak out, “But leave him alone, o-okay? Surely it’s more than what you’d get out of him.”

The air was still for a brief second, but to everyone involved, it felt like an eternity. The Denim Man looked up at her, in grateful shock, before gesturing for her not to intervene with his bandage-wrapped hands. “Finally, at least I'm getting something out of this,” The Mugger grumbled. Penny rummaged through her bag for a few moments, silently refraining from making eye contact with the bladed robber.

In a split second, she grabbed her pepper spray, undid the cap while still in her bag, and let it rip on the mugger’s face, in a fiery cloud. The mugger immediately folded over in pain, dropping his gun, which revealed an empty cartridge.

“MY EYES! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT, I DON’T EVEN HAVE ANY?!” The Mugger screamed in agony. “YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS, YOU FREAK! I HAVE MOB CONNECTIONS! I’LL FIND YOU AND BANDAGES OVER THERE AND MAKE YOU PAY FOR FORCING ME TO THINK ABOUT THE BIOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF MY EXISTENCE!"

Penny grabbed Denim Man’s hand and quickly pulled him to the now open-subway doors, and bolted out into the station and onto the streets of Uptown DIaltown. She had never felt so scared before, but at the same time, she was euphoric on the adrenaline rush. She had stopped a man from getting mugged on the subway, almost single-handedly! It may be a good idea to check on him, he seemed very shaken up.

“Oh, my Phone-God, are you okay, dear?!” She worriedly asked, still huffing and heaving from the run. He was sobbing quite loudly, and in quite a messy way, too. Let’s not get into the details of how a phone can cry.

“W-why, why did you do that?!” He finally managed to sputter, in between sobs and heaving, hitching breaths. “You don’t even, even KNOW me! Why would you risk yourself, f-for a schmuck, a bum like ME?!”

She looked at the messy, blubbering wreck in front of her and heaved a heavy sigh. “I... I don't know. I don’t know what came over me. I just, started moving without thinking,” She replied, much to her own surprise. “I think it was instinct. But, anyway, what’s your name?”

“I-it’s Randy, Miss... uh...” He wavered.

“Oh, um, it’s Penny! Penelope Sciarte. Just stick with Penny, okay?” She chuckled awkwardly. “Anyway, what led to you, um, getting on the subway? From the sound of it, you didn’t even have enough to get on in the first place.”

“O-oh, right... I, um, this is going to sound pathetic, I’m sure, but uh...” He muttered while looking down at his bandaged hands. “I got chased down here by swans. I managed to get in through the doors before they closed.”

Penny stopped in concern and slight awe. “A swan would go out of its way to chase you down from the park to the subway?" She added in astonishment. "I knew they were rude but not outright cruel.”

“Well, you really see to the worst side of them when you spend your days trying to wrangle them every day for a pittance.” He sighed and briefly exchanged his final pleasantries with Penny before starting to walk in the opposite direction.

“Wait! Are you sure you’re okay to walk by yourself? Where are you headed, dear?” Penny inquired, attempting to ensure Randy didn’t run into any more trouble.

He hesitated. “Look, thank you for your help back there, but I don’t want to cause you any more trouble. I’m going to my dumpster, it’s really all I have left at this point.” He looked up at her, her screen flickering pensively.

“D-did you say, dumpster?” Her face lit up. “No wonder you looked familiar! You’re the guy who’s been squatting in Bunny’s dumpster for the past few years!”

Randy’s expression became wearier as she mentioned this. “Yeah, that’s me, but you could probably tell simply by the SMELL that follows me everywhere. there’s no point in complaining. If there is a God, he certainly isn’t a merciful one. After all, he created those portents of pure maliciousness that we call SWANS.”

“Well, are you sure you don’t need a place to stay for the night?” She asked, and realized just how much of an idiot she sounded like for inviting a stranger into her house.

“W-well, I know it sounds kind of, um, sudden and odd, but I assure you, it’s much better than staying in a filthy dumpster after such a rough day.” She felt the air coming out of her vents heating up at the thought of a stranger in her home.

“I couldn’t possibly intrude, and you’ve done enough for one night,” He quickly responded as he tried his best to avoid eye contact with her. He sighed and shook his head. "I know how busy things are at Bunny's, the last thing you need is another lousy burden on your shoulders."

She looked him in the eyes.

"Oh, nonsense!" She insisted. "I won't be able to sleep tonight worrying that you're sleeping in that greasy dumpster and I have a very busy shift tomorrow! You'd be doing me a favor by staying in my home, even if it's just for tonight."

She didn't seem to notice while speaking she had cupped his bandaged hands in hers, much to her own surprise. She pulled back nervously.

"Oh, er, sorry." He stood there silently, impressed and slightly intimidated by her.

She took notice of this, and countered, "You don't have to say anything, just nod your head yes or no, dear." He started to tear up again and started shaking his head up and down in agreement.

She took his hand and directed him to follow her down the row of buildings in Uptown Dialtown, as the night brought down a cool chill and lit the light posts. Somehow, somehow, despite this, both felt a warmth inside them, faintly glowing with each step.