It’d been one of her rougher days at work; the kind with the excessively rude Demons on the board of whatever company that wanted their soy latte with two pumps of vanilla, shaken, half-calf in exactly two minutes. Not even the best barista could do that, especially since said Demons wanted their beans freshly ground (though they did that for every customer) and then they wanted the drink at just the right temperature. Gene hated dealing with people like them, and was incredibly glad that as soon as she and Xiu were done with school, she could quit working for the chain coffee corporation that these ridiculous people frequented. Coffee, in Gene’s mind, was to be enjoyed and sipped casually and slow. It was a form of art in its own right, what with the roasting process all the way down to the latte rosettes.

At least she’d gotten compliments from her regular customers on her new hair. She’d cut it after having gone to that other plane of existence, where Xiu had been a King and a mysterious Voice was trying to sap her of her energy, according to Medea. There wasn’t a specific event that caused the change of style, she’d just seen a lot of ads with short haired women, and they were all extremely cute. She could have just changed her hair using her Doppelganger abilities, but she preferred to save her Fear and energy for when she really needed it.

She was in her dorm now, pot of coffee brewing as she cuddled with Gideon, Jotham, and Deborah on her well-kept bed, absently stroking the kitsunanars while her mind trailed off to recent events, namely the afore mentioned other realm – the Realm of Kings, as she took to calling it. She’d been a tea brewer in that life, something that brought a little smile to her lips; not even a different universe could separate the ghoul from her love of hot beverages – though that world definitely could have used some coffee. She smiled a little at the prank she’d pulled on that hellhound, telling him she put actual gunpowder and other assorted awful things for a tea blend. Wasn’t that hellhound one of Danny’s friends, in the actual Halloween world? She thought she’d seen her with him once or twice, in passing.

The citizens of that Kingdom had been pleasant, if not a little different from what she knew their actual selves to be. Riley, for instance…. Yeah, no. Gene was extremely glad the Mindflayer had awoken, or else she could never take her seriously. Shun had been mostly Shun, Mot had been a lot of Mot, and the country bumpkin Levi had been an eloquent Queen. She was actually glad for the party that had awoken – memories of a holy woman Riley and a proper Levi would make her shudder for a good while to come.

Then, there was Mot. Her smile faltered as she thought of the cowboil turned chiropractor turned silver fragment, hand going to her chest instinctively. When they were claiming which memories to set free in the Garden, the awoken had called their lovers, while Gene chose Mot. It had been an instinctive reaction, pulling the first name that she had attachments to; but why him? What of Amphi, Danny, Lizzy, Zurine, Frost, Belladonna? For some reason, Mot’s name came to the tip of her tongue. He was a great person, completely sweet and honest and caring. He was fun, trustworthy, and gave his hundred percent to everything he did- even if he didn’t want to do it. Plus, he loved coffee as much as she did. All great things, yet her other friends were great too…

And then, when she killed him, she nearly bawled on the battlefield. She’d been in plenty of spars before, hurt plenty of people, but it never hurt her the way it did to hurt Mot. Each punch had pained her in ways she didn’t know possible, wrenching her heart out each time his fist connected to his pale body. When she had the octopus strangle him, it was like her own airway was being enclosed and cut off. This didn’t happen when she hit Frost and Yin.

Everything came to a head right then, from her coffee pot beeping to alert her that it was ready, to a cerulean blush encompassing her face. She liked Mot, in the romantic sort of way. She had told herself multiple times that she was done with boils, that she didn’t need anyone to love and support her – she could that herself. Then Mot came along and decided to be a great person. She turned to look at Gideon, who she swore was giving her a sassy look (which she obviously returned, blowing air in his face just because). Covering her face with her hands, she let out a soft moan, followed by a giggle. She needed to tell Xiu, and probably Danny and Amphi too.

Mot, on the other hand…oh Jack, what to do? Let her feelings be known? Subtly hint at him? Bring him coffee until he asked why? She just – she didn’t know. She’d never been this unsure of a plan of action until just then, and it was incredibly distressing. She rolled out of bed ad made her way to the kitchen, pulling out a mug and pouring her coffee. She would just take a walk, clear her mind a little bit…