...

cold...

quiet...

empty...

was this.. a new room..?

No.. this was the same as always..

The same room.. the same prison cell he had been forced to live in for such a long time..

It only took seconds for the room to start spinning, and the colors to start changing..

He felt dizzy.. nauseous.. could this be over already..?

End this already..

End this already..

E̴͍͇̿̍̿͑̈͒̈̈́͑͆͘͠͠ņ̵̭̗̗̙̤̹̣̟̫̑̈́̿̐̈́̏̄̌̇̐̚ḓ̴̘̝̳͍͕̻̣̘͔͔̹̞̀̆̉͜ ̸͙̠̬͉͖͖̋͂͛͝t̸̡͇̟̯͕͓̤̼̮̬͇̱̩̰͗͑̏̎̈́̈́͊̚h̶̘̞̥̤̪͉͆̋̅̓́͆̊͘i̷̙͌̅̈́̇̓̃̿̚̕s̷̹̉̉̓̎͆̃͂͠ ̸̘̜̮͕̠̦̺̀̇̓̓́̌̿̂̀̿́̾̀͝a̶̧̨̢̤̱̫͎̺̟̞̾̽̚̕͜ļ̵̗͇͙̜̲̙̬̝̂͋̓́͌͜ͅŗ̶͑̉̀͑̔̓̔̎̌͂͐̐̕̕͝ė̶͉̮͎̺͙̇̐͆̐̇̊̄͝à̵̡̛̘̪̥͓̪̭̯̳̜͕̣̆̎̉̓͛̚d̸̢̛̗͕̞̔̀̒͐̀ý̷̖̻̞̻̺̹̘̖̮̫̮̮͛̉̂͗́̀ͅ.̴̨̮͚̰͙͆̏́͑̉͠͝.̵̯̃͋̐͗̍̒̚

...

And it did.

His eyes shot open, frozen against his bed. His heart was racing, breathing heavy, skin was sweaty, but it was nothing he wasn't already used to; his skin was normally a peachy tan, but like most mornings, he woke up with a much paler shade out of fear.

Sitting up, a heavy sigh escaped his lips, passing a hand through his dirty blonde hair. This was far from new, sure, but he never got used to it. Nightmares were never pleasing, even if they got repetitive.

However, as the sun shined through the window, a small smile grew on his face; he always made an appoint to appreciate the warmth and glow of it, he barely ever saw it for half of his life.

"Another day.."

With a yawn, he looked up at the clock on the wall. 7:30, he still had an hour before work.

There was a pattern to most of his days; wake up, go to the bathroom, make a cup of a warm coffee, and just sit by the window until it was time to leave. It wasn't interesting, but interesting wasn't his goal, the last thing he wanted was for his peace to be ruined. Still, doing the same thing most days just made each day seem to go all the more faster. 

It was after that came the part he dreaded the most.

Leaving his apartment.

It wasn't that he hated people, but he was afraid of it, especially when it came to being around many at the same time when he walked down the streets. His fennec fox ears didn't help either, hearing everything and everyone from miles away, which only brought headaches if the nightmares hadn't already.

Thankfully his ears didn't attract any sort of unwanted attention; in a world where magic existed, you could get away with any sort of looks, even as a hybrid.

He had gotten better though, at least now he didn't get panic attacks whenever someone bumped into him, and could hold a conversation with a stranger for a little while.

It wouldn't seem like much to others, but it was huge steps of progress for someone like him.

His day would also consist of two jobs; the first being a shift at a fancy clothing store, where he'd spend from 8:30am to 2:00pm behind the counter working at register, mostly because he was pretty quick when it came to numbers.

The second shift was at a coffee shop around the corner, staring at 2:30pm until 7:00pm. It may sound busy, but people don't really go shopping around an early shift, nor do they go for coffee in the later shifts, so he didn't mind having two jobs. If anything, he needed the money, and it's not like he had to talk to too many people.

As a plus, it would also serve as a distraction from his nightmares.

Once at the store, he stood behind the counter, placing his bag down so the customers wouldn't be able to see it and call him unprofessional, and so started another calming day.

But when his ears perked up, he grew nervous, hearing little murmurs from not too far away. He glanced over to the side, seeing a few of the other employees talking in low voices while throwing occasional glances over at his direction.

It was uncomfortable, he was uncomfortable..

Not long after, one of them walked over, a nervous smile on their face, "Uh, hey, Justin!"

He tensed up, not really used to talking to the others who worked here, but smiled back anyway, "Uh, hey.."

"Some of us were heading to the movies after work, wanna join?"

"Oh, uh.. n-no thanks, I actually have another job after this, but thank you for the invite."

"That's okay, just thought I'd ask," was their reply before walking back to their group, "Told you he wouldn't agree.."

"I don't even know why you tried, he's such a weirdo.."

His ears flattened at that, lightly gripping his sleeves. It's true his social skills were far from the best, he knew that far too well. Not only did people usually distance themselves from him, but he had a very difficult time trusting others, to the point where he was too afraid to even have conversations.

As mentioned before, though, he had gotten better thanks to his jobs, but there was still a pit of anxiety that lingered in his chest.

"Yeah, just another day.." he muttered under his breath before resting his cheek in the palm of his hand.

Maybe he did get bored sometimes, but that was normal, right? And it's not like he asked for a huge change. Maybe something simple, a new distraction; nothing that caused any new problems, but instead made him feel a little more relaxed.

That's how most of his shifts would go by, with him lost in his own head, only to pause his mind for a brief moment to attend a customer, then click play once again. This day began just the same, and before he knew it, three hours had already passed.

But this time, he was so lost in his mind than he didn't notice the customer walking to the counter until they placed a stack of clothing on it, making him break out of his trance.

And this person was.. not like anyone he had seen before..

The first thing that caught Justin's attention were the man's eyes, huge, wide, and a very light blue that from a far could be mistaken for gray or white. They stared back at the employee with intensity, yet at the same time, there was a layer of sincerity in them.

The clothes on the counter were all dresses; while some were simple, others were original designs from the stores owner, which were quite pricy. Still, he had made an appointment to never comment on his customers in fear of offending them in any shape or form.

"That'll be 275."

The man reached into his purse, and as he did, Justin began to notice his hair. It was blonde, bright platinum blonde to be exact, well taken care of, and tied in a little ponytail. Even from afar, it resembled a cloud in the way it could make you feel.

Just as the clothes he was attempting to buy, he wore a skin tight dress, periwinkle blue, that reached his thighs, some pink leggings following underneath, all complimented by some navy blue heels.

His skin resembled that of a porcelain doll, pale with some hints of peach around, all mostly covered by a light layer of freckles, and the makeup on his face was like that of a professional's work.

All around, there was an aura of high rank, someone who stood above others and knew it well.

The man offered a card to pay, and once the transaction was finished, Justin replied as he did for all his customers, "Have a nice day."

Usually he'd get a 'Thank you' or 'You too', instead though, the man gave a small yet kind smile as he took his bag, then walked out of the store.

He wasn't sure why at the time, but for some reason his whole routine had been brought to a pause when that man first walked in, at least mentally. Nothing significant happened, only another interaction between customer and employee, and a nice one at that.

Yet Justin's heart couldn't stop beating at a faster rate than normal, and his face felt a little hot. Was he getting sick? Was the temperature in the store getting higher?

"Weird.. what's wrong with me..?"

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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