(A portfolio piece featuring @Buzzbeak35's Vtuber)
Another day on the job.
She could not have said what sort of day it would be. It was hard to at the Roost. One day could have been filled with mindless orders while the next was shooting back at gang rivals and cleaning up broken glass well into the night. It was always a coin flip. Buzzbeak sternly reminded herself that as she watched the clock-in machine, which similarly seemed to be struggling that morning. It hummed softly, contemplating whether to begin recording her hours.
“Stupid thing,” the gull muttered under her breath, casting a shifty gaze about before thumping the machine roughly with two knuckles. The machine beeped in response, declaring her clocked in. Buzz huffed out a sigh. Orun had told her once that whacking the thing around did not do anything to speed up the process but she could have sworn otherwise.
The seagull grabbed her card and carried on. She was unsurprised to find that she was the last of the crew to arrive—a fact that stung her pride slightly but some days, it was too hard to get out of bed. Ever since being reassigned to the Roost, Buzz had struggled to set a good example. She tried her best but the motivation simply was not there sometimes.
Caerphilly was the first of their team she encountered. They were moving boxes in the back, reorganizing some of the old equipment that Buzzbeak had personally been leery of trashing. Buzzbeak paused in the doorway of the stock room, still shaking off her grogginess so she could properly greet her teammate.
“Good morning,” she said to them and they turned to give her their usual stare.
No one was quite sure what went through Caerphilly’s mind—they had the passive, thoughtless face of a parrot fish and despite having been stationed with them for months now, Buzz could not decipher a single thing about them. But the others reassured her that was normal; Caerphilly was an enigma even to the sharpest of minds.
The seagull watched apprehensively as Caerphilly approached her. Their eyes were glassy and unmoving, face entirely devoid of emotion. When they reached for her, Buzz’s initial instinct was to freeze. Her brown eyes trailed after Caerphilly’s hand, watching it pluck a small leaf from Buzz’s wing feathers.
“Thank you,” the gull said awkwardly as the fishlike creature discarded the leaf onto the ground. Caerphilly said nothing in response and Buzz awkwardly shuffled away.
She passed by the office. Occupying the desk was Orun, the “brains” of their outfit as he called himself. He was a slender sort of fellow, bearing ram horns that curved underneath his pointed ears. His slim fingers combed thoughtfully through his mop of yellow hair, fixated upon some paperwork in front of him. Without glancing up, he typed into a calculator near him. Buzz presumed he was figuring that month’s expenses, as he usually did. Though she supposed the office was hers, she did not care if he borrowed the desk. After all, it was the only good place to handle paperwork in their humble little café.
“Ahhh… back so soon?” Orun glanced up then paused. “Oh, Buzz. I thought you were Suzie.”
“No, just little old me, I guess,” Buzzbeak replied, glancing down the hall towards the front of the store. “Guess I’ll get the ovens started.”
“I suppose that can’t hurt. But evidently we’re out of a few of our normal items so I would not bet on getting any baking done until Suzie’s back,” Orun said.
“Suzie’s gone?”
“Yes. She went into town to get a few things.”
“‘A few things’…?”
“Yes. She seemed to think we were low on a few food items. Though, she did say she would return before the café opened.”
“All right then.”
Well, I trust Suzie to do just that. But that’s odd. She normally doesn’t make runs this early. Oh well, I suppose she knows what she’s doing. Time to get everything ready for opening…
The gull sighed softly and walked down the hall. Opening the Roost in the wee hours of the morning had become something of a serene act for Buzzbeak. The very first vestiges of twilight were in the distance, sunlight’s first rays peering out over the horizon. A peaceful quiet often came with her opening duties. At first, she had found it irritating; such silence made it easy to doze off, after all. But now, months after being stationed at their cliffside café, she had grown a reluctant fondness for it. There was peace in those early hours.
She set about her work, preheating their ovens and making sure all of their equipment was ready. Coffee began being brewed, the warm scent of it quickly filling the café. Buzzbeak drank in the aroma as she set everything up, a soft smile about her features. Though she loathed that she was here, she could find momentary respite in the small blessings the café had to offer. It was hard not to smile at coffee, especially when it was sunrise.
But what little good mood she had was quickly annihilated when she saw the stack of glasses that needed polishing. Buzz heaved a sigh and wandered over towards it, looking at the rack with her smile slipping off of her features. She grabbed a rag, pulled the first coffee cup out and began to polish it, looking at the clock as she did. Twenty minutes still until opening. Usually, she would have been scrambling to get everything ready but today, things seemed to be going quite smooth. She hoped that was not all of the day’s good luck. Knowing how things went some days, they would be lucky if there was no blood on the floor by closing.
Why did I get stationed here of all places?
She already knew the answer to that question, even if it felt so unfair. It was a scenario she played in her head over and over every day.
The sight of that man on his knees, crying behind his blindfold. His blubbering and begging had beyond ruffled her feathers—they had sparked a rage in her. In hindsight, maybe it had been the exhaustion of being put on cleaning job after cleaning job. But the Larus family ran a tight ship and there was never any room for vacations. So Buzzbeak had thrown herself into her feelings. She had drowned in the fiery wrath that sparked from her weary heart.
“Tell me where the rendezvous is and maybe I won’t blow your head off!”
Buzz could still remember the anger in her own voice, the impatience. She could still remember the dim lighting in that room. The feel of the trigger against her index finger. The rush when she pulled it, the blood that stained the floor. The cry from her teammates screaming for her to stop.
But it was too late.
And when the head of the family had found out, her career was toast. She was fortunate to keep her life after such an impudent act. Fortunate but perhaps not thankful as she should have been. Stationed at the Cliffside Roost was basically a death sentence in its own right. For all of the peace and charm that the coffee shop had, it was positioned at the border of a rival gang’s turf. That never boded well.
Her thumb scrubbed against the cup fervently. The Roost’s logo stared back at her placidly, as if to remind her that she was here forever. Serving coffee and keeping watch for the Larus family’s greatest enemies. It was disgraceful. A person of her skill should have been afield on the most dangerous missions, not wiping down tables and cleaning cups. But she had blown her chance at that when she had blown that man’s head off without a second thought. The authorities turned their attention to the Larus family and the strife they had caused them was immeasurable.
It’s my fault I’m here.
“Buzz.”
Orun’s voice pulled her from her wordless lamentations and she glanced over her shoulder back at him. He looked serious—more so than normal. Already, Buzzbeak could tell she did not like where this was going.
“Has Suzie not come back yet?” he asked her.
“No…” Buzz said, tossing another look to the clock.
Strange… she should definitely be back by now…
“I don’t like this,” Orun voiced what they were both thinking. “A quick trip to the local mart does not take this long. And there’s no way in hell Suzie would slack off.”
Buzz agreed wholeheartedly; Suzie was not the type to go missing, not on the job. She cared for her team, her pack, too much to do that. But what could they do? Her first thought was to delay opening the café but that seemed like disobeying orders. The café had to keep running—its income helped, even if it was minor, and their biggest rush was always in the morning. If up top found she had stalled opening their doors, she feared what the punishment would be. And the hammer may not have just fallen on her head but on all of them. Her next thought was to send Caerphilly. She had no doubt in her mind Caerphilly could do the job but what if it was too dangerous for one person? What if she was sending them to their grave?
I should be the one to go. But if I go, who will watch the front…?
“Orun,” Buzz began. “How do you feel about dealing with customers?”
“Would rather throw myself into the garbage bin, if I’m honest,” came Orun’s candid retort.
The noise that came from Buzz was half a sigh, half a chuckle. “Well, it’s either you or Caerphilly and I think you’re the one that’s a tad more… customer savvy.”
“Point taken,” Orun flashed her a fanged smile but could not shroud his bitterness. “I presume you mean to go after Suzie.”
“I do.”
“Then be careful. And be quick. You know how the morning rush is. She’ll have taken the truck.”
The seagull’s chin lifted.
“Good thing I don’t need a truck.”
Buzz hastily began towards the pantry, side-stepping around a slightly bewildered Caerphilly as she approached the back wall. It was suspiciously devoid of any shelves and for good reason. The seagull reached up to a partially concealed panel, flipping open its case to reveal a small 3x3 set of buttons. Hastily, she plugged in the passcode and the wall slid open to reveal a secret room. Although she had not prepared for such a venture that morning, the Roost thankfully had a fairly noteworthy armory. The weaponry within was not as advanced as what she was used to, a bad gun could be made into a decent enough gun with the right person behind it. She grabbed a handgun off hanging from the wall.
I hope I don’t have to use this.
She departed the Roost without hesitation.
The early morning that stretched across the town was as quiet as one might expect save for the start of morning traffic. With the sky a mix of blue and gold-tinted clouds, sunrise had come to an end. She could already see cars beginning to come into the parking lot, tripling her anxiety. But there was nothing she could do about that. Buzz spread her wings and took off into the air.
Though she knew that keeping a clear head was paramount in her mission to find Suzie, her thoughts quickly clouded her mind. Every bad scenario played through her head. What would she do if Suzie was hurt? What would she do if Suzie was… No. No, she could not think of that. It scared her too badly.
The mart soon came into sight and Buzzbeak’s pace accelerated from a brisk walk to a full-on sprint. Wind whistling next to her ears, she braced herself for the worst.
Where should I look first? If Suzie was here to pick up something, she would have gone inside. But if she ran into trouble, would they have done something to her in a public setting? No, that doesn’t seem right; if she ran into a rival gang member, they would have at least taken it outside. The cops would have gotten involved if it was too out in the open…
The logical answer was to check the back—that was where the truck would be, if Buzzbeak guessed correctly. She made her way towards the store’s loading dock, gun concealed in her long jacket. Her finger neared the trigger. There was something afoot, she could feel it.
It did not take long to spy what had become of Suzie; rounding the back of the mart, Buzz easily caught sight of their delivery truck and then the small gang that had gathered near it. She could not identify who they were, only that Suzie was among them. The wolf was surrounded, hunched slightly as though she were in pain. Buzz gasped, the gun coming out from under her jacket in one fluid motion.
With a family member in danger, there was no hesitation. There could not be. She ran forward, knowing her aim from such a far distance was too great to ensure she did not accidentally hit Suzie. A few hurried paces towards where her colleague was being beaten and she was within a comfortable range. She fired at the first of the goons—men with slicked back hair and nondescript black leather jackets. It was a hit to his back and he fell forward. The others whirled upon her with a few of them grabbing their own weapons. Suzie, seeing the opportunity to strike, lunged at one with a bestial snarl. From her peripherals, Buzzbeak saw one of the men go down under her fists.
Though the gangsters had previously outnumbered them, the gull’s surprise attack had sent them scattering quickly. A few of them seemed without firearms and they evidently knew better than to engage. Buzz watched the thugs retreat hastily, rage in her heart like a flare. She lifted her handgun.
I could shoot them all still. They don’t have to leave this place alive for what they’ve done.
“Agh…”
It was Suzie’s voice that stopped her. Buzz spied the wolf limping and clutching a hand to her forearm. She lowered her gun and ran to her teammate’s aid.
“Got here right on time…” Suzie panted, wincing. The gull could see she had been beaten. Through her black fur, she could spy a few visible cuts. The wolf’s left eye looked half-swollen already and where she grabbed at her arm seemed to seep with a steady stream of blood.
“How bad is it?” Buzzbeak asked.
“I’ll live,” Suzie offered her a fanged albeit pained smile.
“Who were they? What group?” Buzz asked.
“No clue. We’d best get out of here. Still got the truck keys on me. I don’t wanna be here when the cops show up to see what the gunshots were about.”
She’s right about that. We’d better get out of here.
“I’ll drive,” Buzz said.
“Didn’t manage to get the extra bagels and donuts before they got the jump on me… figures, heh,” Suzie grumbled, leaning on Buzz for support as she fished out the keys to the truck from her pocket and plopped them into Buzz’s palm. “Sorry about that.”
That’ll make for some unhappy customers but there’s not much else we can do…
“We’ll figure it out,” Buzzbeak said to her as the two of them got into the truck. “Just hang in there. I’ll have Orun patch you up.”
“Think a shrimp like him could manage that?” Suzie asked with a brow raised.
“If not, I could try…” Buzz replied uncertainly as she started up the truck.
“Ha!” Suzie laughed. “I’d like to see that.”
As Buzzbeak drove, she chanced a look at Suzie. Though she worried for the wolf, she knew that she would likely be all right. Still, Buzz could not help but watch the blood drip onto the truck seats. Suzie was lucky to still have her life—the both of them knew that. The gull did not want to think about what would have happened if she had arrived just a minute later.
All of this for a bunch of bagels and donuts. Just another average day at the Roost, I guess.
Comments