"Medium chamomile tea with lemon, please."

The whirl of a foam machine and chatter of an afternoon rush filled Alice's brain with calmness and emptiness, but her body worked like a robot at the request. Sweet smelling packs of dried flowers and leaves were steeped in a decently sized Styrofoam, lemon squeezed until it no longer produced juice. The cup was then covered and slid to another person. Return to post, listen, repeat. Over and over and over until only a few sitting patrons were left. A soft murmur of relief that the mad rush was over and done with came from behind her, and then a pat on the back.

Ow.

Alice flinched away from the pat, eyes turning around to face her co-working, a lanky boy covered in piercings named Peter. He gave a sheepish grin, holding his hand as if he had touched a flame,

"Sorry, did I hit you too hard?" he asked, eye brows turn up in worry. Alice straightened and gave a reassuring grin, one hand draped over her shoulder,

"Nah, I've just been really achey recently. Maybe it's bruised?" her voice held an air of calmness, and she soon released her back and stretched, keeping her face emotionless as a wave of pain rippled across her skin. Peter nodded slowly as if accepting her answer, then turned towards the counter, staring out at rather cozy cafe which they called their job. Alice's eyes drifted over eash detail, relishing in the cafe's cuteness and utter paint-a-bility. It was a corner shop, with the counter and kitchen being the center piece of the joint while chairs, tables, and booths covered the outer layer. An outdoor area with three small tables covered by rather ornate red and orange umbrellas sat just out of the way of the rushing streams of city-walkers. The whole place had a warm feel, perhaps the color-scheme was the reason. Reds, oranges, and browns were rather warm colors, after all.

"Anyway, doesn't your shift end soon?" Peter asked, rolling the piercing in his eyebrow around casually. Alice glanced down at her smart phone to check the time. Four-thirty.

"I get off at five, why're you asking?" she questioned, leaning against the counter's edge, green eyes gleaming. He shrugged, smirking,

"I just hate Megan is all, worst co-worker ever."

"That's so rude! I might tell her how you feel next time I see her~." Peter gasped, feigning fear before giggling and giving Alice a little shove. Pain sprung from where she had rested her back and she failed to hide her flinch again. Peter held up both hands in an 'I'm sorry' pose,

"Sorry, I fo-"

Chimes.

Alice turned, putting on her working smile, 

"Hello, welcome to the Corner Cafe..."

---

Alice slipped out the back entrance, bracing herself against the chilling wind. The sky was overcast, the threat of rain growing with each distant rumble. She zipped up her loose hoodie and moved forward through the back alley, journeying passed the trash into the city air. Cars and people filled her vision, and dull pop music filled her ears as she moved in sync with the crowd around her, zoning out once again. Step, step, step. Chatter, white noise. Pain, faint but unchanging. Fresh air, honking,

"Miss!"

Alice lurched backwards, just as a car zoomed passed, nearly hitting her. The crowd of people had stopped, staring blankly as the nearly-hit girl blinked stupidly before slowly returning to the curb. Her face was a deep red, embarrassment evident in her posture. '[i]Stop zoning out, Alice![/i]' she scolded herself. Alice always found herself zoning out, but recently it had been very bad. Perhaps her back was the reason for that too? Her eyes drifted towards the stop light, and when it turned red she began traveling with the crowd again.

Two blocks later, she was at her apartment building. It was tucked away between two other seemingly vacant buildings. Graffiti was common (and she may be the cause for some of it) and trash littered the curb. It wasn't exactly luxurious, but it was home. Alice slowly made her way to the fifth floor,keeping a cautious eye behind her until she was safely behind a locked door. 

"Rubbbiiixx~!" her voice echoed through the small two room apartment, and a meow responded, coming from the main room. Alice allowed the bag slung over her shoulder to fall to the floor, and after kicking off her sneakers she tiptoed down the wooden-floored hall and into the living room/kitchen/computer room/dining room. A black cat perks up from behind one of the couch pillows and purrs loudly at the sight of the tall girl, who in return hops over and gives him a little peck on the head. Alice grins before rolling over the arm of the couch onto the cushions, wincing as her back hit the pillows. Sure, the place was small, but it was quaint, had wifi, and was kept relatively warm during the colder seasons. It was perfect, though a bit lonely, but Rubix was there for that. Alice slowly slipped her phone from her pocket, and instead of checking the fifty messages from her folks she lazily surfed the web until she ended up on a rather small forum.

Apparently it was full of people from this city, and Alice checked it out every now and then when she was bored. One post caught her eye, made by a certain KeyserS0ze. A smirk pierced her bored face at the sight of a corgi being called a "doom-beast", no idea on how to respond, though, so she decided to move on through the site until her eyelids began to droop and sleepiness took hold of her mind. She had plans to go out later with a few friends, but a nap wouldn't do any harm, after all... And soon, everything was black.