#m;maya

she’d had been working her ass off doing double shifts at the cafe in the morning then a bar at night because she was sick of sleeping on a ratty old couch and wanted an actual real bed. but normal people stuff still scared the shit out of maya, and so she’d asked the only person she tolerated to come with her. furniture shopping. big woop. and okay, maybe she hadn’t been sleeping well, and this was a really nice bed she was testing, and it’s not like she’s asleep long, especially not when a flash goes off in her face and she’s blinking her eyes open to a camera. “fuck,” maya mumbles, pushing herself up. “please tell me i wasn’t drooling.”

don’t mind her, she’s just having a panic attack on the subway. usually it’s okay, usually she works the early morning shift and beats the rush, but today she has the afternoon shift and the cars are crowded and her claustrophobia is kicking in hard. she’s just going to close her eyes, ignore the stares, and imagine herself somewhere else. 

“Um, ‘scuse me, but you are aware you have wings sticking out of your shirt, yeah?” Maya has never been around anyone so open about it. “Aren’t you a little self-conscious?”

the clock in her head signals that its time to go -- that her scheduled slot is up. but maya doesn’t move, even as the sky around her fades, feeling each unnecessary breath pass through her, counting every beat of her synthetic heart. something in her knows that eventually someone will tell her to leave, but right now she’s content hoping that maybe if she doesn’t move long enough, she’ll fade away like the clouds.

she sets a black coffee on the table by the girl, waits til the song finishes before gesturing to it. “on the house.” or rather, on maya, but that’s not important. “i didn’t know how you liked it so..” she shrugs. “i can get cream and sugar if you need it.”

ah shit. she doesn’t even need to check for a pulse, she knows he’s dead. well in her defense it was... defense? yeah that’s not gonna fly with anyone. goddammit, and she was just managing to blend in too. glancing around, she throws her hood up and starts walking. time to get as far away from here as possible. 

“don’t move, or i swear you’ll regret it.”

“So I don’t have the money for school, nor the preliminary education, right, but I don’t have the education for a full-time non-waitressing job. What the fuck is this world where the two are mutually inclusive or whatever but like.. not advertised as such?” Maya shoves another forkful of pasta into her mouth, mostly chewing before continuing. “It’s like... Sure, I’d love to have a life, but that needs money too. Where do regular people find the time for this stuff?” Another bite and a huge sip of water. “Anyway, how was your day?”