Apply Yourself (Coraline)

Exhaustion hung around Erica's face more pronounced than the strands of her bangs. "Can we at least put a bell by the portal to Hell?" The layers of the sweater she folded began to crease along the seams. The sleeves of Erica's baby blue sweater were pulled up to her elbows with the bottom falling just at the belt line of her corduroy pants. Lifting her brow, Erica brought the sweater up for an examination. "I've folded this same sweater three times now. Mitsy! Change your patterns!"

"Bliss says the portal to Hell adds resell value to the property." A yawn cut off the end of Mitsuko's sentence. The barely held herself together on the stool in front of her sewing machine, calling in to Erica from the adjacent work room. At least twice in the past ten minutes, Mitsuko almost sewed the sleeve of the yellow long sleeve shirt she wore to the article of clothing she continued her work on. And, at least once she almost managed to sew the hem of her black skirt to the same article. The past few nights took a toll on the worker at Mitsy's Boutique, but fashion, like demonic entities did not sleep or take sick days. Even snot demons. "Also, excuse you, that design is selling incredibly well."

Erica tossed the sweater on the table and pushed a green sweater with a pink seam on top of it. "Then why do I keep seeing it on the counters?"

"Because, otherwise we could not keep them stocked." The walls blocked voices here and there, but the muffling of the material only suited to stress the point arguments needed to be louder.

"We have too many in stock!" Erica proved the point and the theory.

"Can you two keep it down." The flash of a phone reflected off the glare of a computer screen highlighting the already brightly platinum hair Summer left looking unkempt. Of course it took her forty-five minutes to make it look unkempt, the same way it took her thirty minutes to do her make-up to look natural. The rest of her attire matched perfectly with a blue button down shirt with a messy collar falling into a pair of loose jeans. "I'm trying to vlog about the shoppe."

Erica tossed another sweater. "Let me see that." Erica snatched the phone before Summer could object- she still did of course- then went over to the sweater table. "Mitsy! I'm putting your sweater up on Insta. If it's good, we won't have this thing around in an hour. If it's still here, you stop making the exact same thing over and over again, deal?"

"I'll make more when we sell out!" The hum of the machine made it easy to miss out on some of Mitsuko's syllables.

Erica decided it would be for the best. She pressed snapped a picture, pressed send, and then tossed the phone back to Summer. "Wow, I'm better at your job than you are."

"My job is very labor intensive." Cradling the phone, Summer lifted the screen to her face.

"Anyone who walks in off the street could do your job." Erica moved over to straighten a placard reading 'Days since Mannequins have come to life: 5'.

"You just spent thirty minutes folding sweaters and then took a picture. You aren't exactly, um- I can't think of a reference for someone who works hard." Both of her thumbs pressed against the screen in quick succession.

"Yeah." Erica bunched her cheeks as her eyes peered to the ceiling. "That one is rough, but I did my job and your job, so regardless of how easy mine is, yours is way easier."

"To do maybe, but not to do right." The already wide eyed Summer's pupils grew.

"I took a picture and put it on Instagram." Erica cracked her knuckles before getting the straightening the belts. "How can anything go wrong sending it to five million people?"

"You sent it to every dimension accessible to Earth. Make that five million Earthlings and billions of demons, aliens, and mythical creatures." The glow of the phone lit up Summer's armpit as the screen remained in the left hand of her crossed arms.

A twinge shook Erica's left eye. "It's only sweaters." A small laugh accompanied her twitching fingers.

"We've been robbed, dimensionally teleported, or almost sacrificed for less." Summer straightened enough to almost fall from her chair. "All three almost happened last time we tried clearing the pants section and angered a lesser associate of Mammon!"

Erica turned back to her work "Eh. Lesser indeed."

Coraline had expected coming back to New York to feel like a homecoming. That the moment she stepped off the plane, everything would fall into place, no matter the events of the past eight or so years. It was a stupid hope, even by her standards. Still, home was supposed feel… different. Right? Not anxiety and stress inducing. More importantly, it wasn’t supposed to take every bit of money she was receiving from her stipend. New York was still expensive despite the destruction it had undergone. Who knew?? She definitely didn’t, evidenced by the fact that her funds were running low and she really needed to find a job.

Hence, her current state of being. Standing in front of a little boutique called Mitsy’s, resume in hand. Apparently they were hiring. Sure the place wasn’t really her style, but then again, she no longer really had a style after… you know. The Event. Her main prerogative was now covering as much skin as possible without drawing attention in public. So frumpy and dull it was. Not like looks were particularly valued in grad school, thank goodness. Hopefully it wouldn’t deter them from hiring her though.

“Um, excuse me. I’m here about the open floor position? I have my resume with me.” She said as she stepped through the door, jumping a bit at the jingling of the bell before directing her attention to the two employees up front. “I don’t have a lot of retail experience but…" she trailed off, mentally cursing her incessant need to blab when nervous. “I’m a hard worker! I swear!!”
Word Count:  265

"Did we put the bell on the portal?!" A plastic bottle rolled off the counter after the pathetically off balance attempt to grab it from Summer. "I hope that demon didn't hear me call him a 'lesser associate'."

"It really says something when the bell rings and that is what people shoot to..." Erica stepped away from the back door and looked at the new comer in all of her black and grey glory. "You've come to the right place if you are looking for- oh, you're looking for a job."

"That's a lot of black." Summer clicked her fingers across the top of the screen. "Like. A lot."

"You don't have any sales experience, but you have a resume." Erica held out her hand to take the resume, not quite sure what she would be looking for. "I guess I can always ask Mitsy. We do need someone to help around with stocking items, helping customers, placating any stray demons that pop up in the backroom, or even just making orders really."

"Don't ask Mitsy. She's too nice to say 'no'." Summer looked at Coraline's pants and lack of fit. "I'm feeling a 'no' coming from those clothes."

"I'm looking at a job placement found by Mitsy not saying 'no'." Erica turned to walk towards the backdoor. "Ms. Social Media Consultant."

A shout came from Summer's seat behind the counter. "It's a real job!"

"No it's not!" A rebuttal faded behind a swinging door.

An awkward air hung between Summer and Coraline. "I'm not saying you shouldn't get a job because of how you're dressed. I'm just saying you need to burn what you are wearing and get new clothes. Hey! Maybe Mitsy can make you something. Have you thought about clothes that don't make you look like a shoplifter?"

The hum of the sewing machine gave off, leaving a silence that foretold the return of Erica as well as the slightly smaller, bespectacled Mitsuko. "Oh. She does need some work."

"She also needs employment." Erica kept her eyes on Coraline. "She says she is a hard worker."

So maybe this was a terrible idea after all. Coraline seemed to shrink even further within herself if possible at the blatant scrutiny, though her face tic’ed ever so slightly at the mention of placating stray demons. Probably a metaphor for shitty customers though. Probably. Who knew these days. Watching the back and forth between the two, she could feel her chances of getting the position growing slimmer and slimmer until finally, a burst of hope. The slightly more in charge person was going to ask this ‘Mitsy’ who apparently couldn’t say no. Thank god. But now she was left with the… social media… consultant. To be nice.

She listened to Summer’s attempts to justify her words and what she wanted to say was something along the lines of ‘That’s exactly what you’re saying and how about this? Have you thought about being less of a bitch???’. What actually came out of her mouth though was: “Sorry… its fine. Black just blocks the sun… better…” She trailed off, adjusting her sunglasses and doing her best to give the emotional interpretation of a turtle withdrawing into its shell. Nailed it. Way to be assertive and show self-confidence. You’re doing great sweetie.

Relaxing slightly when she felt the shadows shift towards them in the back, Coraline turned towards the entering figures, straightening her back in the process. Good posture showed confidence. Oldest trick in the book. Time to sell yourself to the boss. Or at least the current manager.

“Hello yes. I’m currently attending graduate school at NYU and while I haven’t had experience in retail, I’ve been a part of a lot of field studies and hence, know how to deal with people. If not that, I’m stronger than I look and can help move stock and organize the back rooms as necessary. Thank you for your consideration!” With that, she bowed from the waist, desperation oozing from her pores.
Word Count: 319
Total WC: 584

"Black. Blocks. The sun?" A pair of white and black nails framed Summer's face with the glare of the phone basking her face. "How does light get through space then?"

After the breakout of scientific inquiry that would ensue, the swinging of the door allowed the focus of the conversation to recenter around the question at hand. "Wow. You have really good posture. We can find a job for you." Mitsuko decided to bow in response to the odd bow Coraline gave, resulting in an awkward display of cross cultural respect.

"You didn't ask her any questions." Summer rubbed her finger across the screen, failing to unlock her phone for the fifth time. "Hey, can you ask her if she can unlock my phone?"

Mitsuko raised a finger. "Can you unlock her phone?"

"Why can't you ask her if she can unlock your phone?" Still taking in the complications coming from Mitsuko's sudden hiring spree, Erica turned towards the line of questioning.

An organic barrier in the shape of a hand coned Summer's mouth towards Erica. "I feel like she hates me..."

"There are days I feel like I hate you, and you still ask me to do things for you." With the hiring process complete the only thing left to do would be the paperwork of getting Coraline legally hired. The paperwork was always in the small office just to the side of the retail floor where Erica kept the tabs on the ledger. "If you just sign some things, we can get you put in the schedule- oh and you're going to need to wear stuff from around the store too."

"Thank you." The fact Summer did not even attempt a glance at Coraline spoke louder than the words. A loud rumbling shook through the bowels of the store.

Mitsuko smiled gently while her gaze slowly fell over to the table with the yellow patterned sweaters. "I was pretty sure those sweaters would have flown off the table?"

A creaking hung in the hinges of the door. It screeched in a high alarm.

"I put a picture out on Instagram." A stack of papers emerged from the office with an Erica hidden behind them. "Apparently Summer's job takes five seconds. Too bad the girl you hired without hearing what her name was couldn't get that job."

"Yeah, then no one would have to see-"

The swinging door shot across the room, crashing into the glass door. Purple veins lined a massive black arm filling half of the doorway with its own girth. A clawed hand wrapped around Mitsuko, squeezing the poor fashionista. A glowing yellow eye emerged behind the door, glimpsing through the half of the doorway left vacant in the wake of the arm. "I DEMAND SWEATERS!" The clenched hand slid to the side, knocking Erica against the wall and raining a debris of employment papers and NDAs. "I REFUSE TO PAY THE PRICES LISTED ON INSTAGRAM! FOR EVERY HUMAN DOLLAR OVER 10, I WILL FLAY THE FLESH OF A LIVING EARTH HUMAN!"

"Hey, look." A shrill of laughter came from Summer's stool. "I guess Social Media Consultant is actually a real job and not just anyone can do it. Right, Erica?"

Rubbing her head, Erica slowly rose to her feet, using the wall as a support. "Hey, new girl, is there something on your resume that can help with this?"

“I…” She trailed off, not sure that she didn’t just hallucinate what happened. Coraline was genuinely thankful that she wasn’t given any more time to think about… that. Instead, she had to privilege to be distracted by the person that was presumably Mitsy saying that she now had a job.

“Thank you so much!! I swear you won’t regret it!!” She straightened up, a huge grin on her face. A grin that faltered slightly when she got asked if she could unlock a random phone. “Uh… no… sorry…” That’s right. The social medial consultant didn’t like her and the feeling was mutual. Well. Everyone has a bad coworker right? She could deal for that sweet sweet paycheck. With that, Coraline turned towards Erica, smile returning to her face in full force.

“Of course! And that’s fine, as long as it’s all long sleeve and stuff. I have a bit of a… light sensitivity.” She said sheepishly, ignoring Summer’s snippy comment. When Erica came back in with a stack of papers, she moved towards her, ready to help steady the alarmingly large pile. That’s when all hell broke loose. A giant monster barged in demanding sweaters, and of course it didn’t want to pay because apparently no matter what species, no one respected retail workers and art. Most important though, they had Mitsy!! The source of her paycheck!!! This was what prompted her to ignore the whole secret identity thing.

“Yeah, I think I got this.” With that, the shadows casted by the demon’s arm solidified, piercing through and severing it from its source. Coraline ran towards Mitsuko, prying her out of the now still hand. “Are you alright m’am?”
Word Count: 279
Total WC: 863

Most of the blood in Mitsuko did not know if it should rush to her head or retreat to her feet, but the problem became solved when all the circulation in her body could no longer flow into natural circulation. What little effort she accounted for to attempt to free herself from the grip of the demon waned as her meager strength paled in comparison to the indignation the demon interjected through sheer will and belief in getting the best deal imaginable. "Help..."

Before Erica could make her way across the store to try and get the magic battle axe they kept for exterplanar entities and unruly college students, the shadows beneath the arm severed the muscles within the demon's arm. Mitsuko dropped to the ground, quickly scooped up by Coraline.

Erica ducked behind the counter and tore open a drawer. After sifting through a few files, she emerged with a book titled 'Plan B'. "Dragmor Consultus Precto!" Light began to burn away the severed demon hand, leaving behind piles of rainbow dust.

"BWWAAAAA!" A sudden curse from the back room shook the walls. "NOW YOU HAVE DONE IT! YOU HAVE VIOLATED THE VERY SANCTITY OF THE FIRST OATH. STRUCK IN BLOOD AND SEALED WITH THE FATE OF DOOMED GODS!"

"Uh oh." Erica quickly thumbed through the next couple of pages to try and find a counterspell. "This could get pretty rough. I need to find the incantation for we reserve the right to withhold services."

"THAT IS NOT AN INCANTATION! IT IS MERELY A RULE STEEPED IN RACISM FROM YOUR HUMAN AMERICA! AN EVIL SO VILE I DO NOT CONSORT WITH IT!" The glowing eye pushed closer to the door. A brush of icy breath filled the room, dropping the temperature into a more pleasant temperature for sweaters. "NO! I INVOKE, 'THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT'!"

"No!" Mitsuko tried to shoot back up to defend herself.

A folded brow rested between two up arched eye brows. "Uh oh. Um, new girl, you may have messed up."

"I NOW LEAVE YOU TO CONSULT WITH THE ELDER DEMONS OF THE BETTER BUSINESS CABAL. I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE GARMENT PEDDLERS!"

"I’m… what is happeni— How are you guys so calm anyways? Like where the fuck did this thing even come from?? Why is there even a plan for this shit???” She said in a manner that could only be described as overwhelmed, looking between Erika and the back room with panic written all over her face. At the admonishment though, any prior confidence immediately disappeared.

“I’m sorry!!! She was being hurt and you asked me to do something and it’s not like my power’s anything subtle like mind control or something!” Coraline said, stuttering out her reasoning for escalating the already very escalated situation. At the last threat from the demon however, she turned towards the back room once more, marching forward with determination in every step.

“First of all. You fucking started this. Like hell the customer is always right. You’re the one that barged in here threatening to flay humans and grabbing the employees. They’re fragile. F R A G I L E.” As she spoke, her voice rose with each sentence until she was shouting. “Besides. I don’t even fucking work here so you can’t do shit against them. I’m a rogue element. Fight me!!!!” At that, the shadows around her began to writhe and grow, the room darkening as if the light within the room was being absorbed.
Word Count: 222
Total WC: 806

"I'm a little frazzled right now." Mitsuko rubbed her forehead as the shivering mass of demon flesh pulled back through the floorboards and into the portal.

"We will probably need to file some paperwork on this one." While the rest of Coraline's employment papers rattled around, Erica got to work pulling out the forms she would need to inform the landlord of the current state of affairs. It would play off as more mundane, but still inform them of the damage to the floors.

Summer stood up and swung her purse around her shoulder. "Not a lot of traffic right now, so I'm taking an early lunch."

Ink slowly began to dry around the edges of Erica's signature as the pen continued to travel about the parchment. "An early lunch means you come back early too."

"Hey Mitsy, I can stay out til my lunch would typically be over right?"

"Um." Mitsuko fiddled around with one of the sweaters on the counter. "Yes?"

"Cool. See ya round two." The blonde headed towards the door until a massive door stopped her in her tracks. She side stepped the door, opting for the shattered window next to the door. "We should call someone about the door."

"I'm putting it in the report." Erica finished the needed work to get the door and floors finished before getting the rest of the papers for Coraline. "It's okay to mess up on the first day, so don't worry about who you assaulted or whether or not they are going to bring a cabal against us. Sometimes that just happens, but you get used to it."

"Yeah. It gets better once you slip into the routine." While the devastation visited upon the store looked very contained, it still left some of the tables to be pushed back and cleaned. A job Mitsuko took upon herself in lieu of sitting around doing nothing. "Some customers are just really bad."

"Here." Erica put the employment papers in front of Coraline and gave her a pen. "Just sign on every tenth page and be sure to read through the non-disclosure agreement concerning anything Mitsy deems confidential for any fashion week she plans on showcasing. Also, keep the demon thing on the down low."

"But, mainly the fashion week." A few sweaters fell off the table as Mitsuko pushed it back into alignment. "I hate it when my designs get stolen."

The lighting slowly returned to normal as she realized that the fight was over before it even began, the demon slinking back to whatever slime pit it came out of. Probably the same one all soccer mom with can-I-speak-to-your-manager haircuts came from. Coraline clenched her fists before taking a deep breath. She had hoped to give the thing a piece of her mind despite her general policy of ‘don’t get involved’. But shitty customers that actually believed the we’re always right bullshit was a pretty good exception in her books. Apparently not to the employees of this boutique though. Speaking of.

“Is… Is this normal? Where did that thing even come from???” Disbelief colored her every word as she took in the absolute nonchalance surrounding everybody in the store except for her. “Like… that thing definitely started it right?” She took the papers automatically, simply staring at them for a moment. What has she gotten herself into? She just wanted a normal job. Something that’d let her continue paying her overpriced rent. Except normalcy apparently hated her. Still, the pay was above minimum wage, which was frankly kind of worth whatever supernatural fuckery was happening.

With that, Coraline began the sign, scanning through every page automatically. So apparently there was a portal to hell. Cool. This was fine. This was fine. Just think of the money you’ll be getting, and everything will be alright. With one final flourish, she handed the papers back to Erica, shifting around awkwardly before finally speaking up again.

“So… how was I supposed to deal with that?”
Word Count: 262
Total WC: 1068

"I'm going to get a broom." Erica stacked the papers into a neat pile before lifting them and going back to the office.

"What the door falling off? It doesn't normally do that. The demon showing up is mostly to blame for it I guess." A black mark still stained Mitsuko's top from her accosting at the hands of the demon. "Sometimes demons come out from the portal to shop, or to see if Bliss needs help being Bliss, or sometimes they just want to control the minds of mortals and unleash doom. But, they don't do the last one very often. Once a week at most."

The door to the office closed by the power of Erica's hips putting in work. "Our motto is usually to try to deal with anything coming from the portal in a cordial manner. Sometimes we cut body parts off, but usually not as fast as you did."

"Sometimes we don't cut them off soon enough though." Whether the lint roller Mitsuko rolled over her sweater was magic or not did not get an answer, but it did work wonders on removing the demon stain. "Sometimes the demons will kidnap whomever is working and try to sacrifice them, but usually the person on the next shift comes in and stops that."

"We haven't had anyone actually get sacrificed." Most of the debris around the ground lifted up with the cleaning power of a Swiffer pad at the behest of Erica's wrist. "You should be fine though. If things get out of hand, there's a battle axe capable of severing most demonic entities behind the counter and if worse comes to worse the demons just imprison you or tie you up or something. Not great, but it can sometimes be a break from the monotony of retail life."

“… I meant the demon thing. I’m pretty sure demons shopping on Earth still isn’t normal, even in this ‘Age of Gods Among Men’ or whatever Times magazine called it.” Coraline said as she watched Erica bustle about, cleaning the shop in a manner so efficient Coraline really had to wonder how often this happened. Once more, she questioned if maybe it’d be better to work at a McDonald’s or something of that nature. Maybe minimum wage would be worth the peace of mind that she wouldn’t get dragged into some cosmic bullshit. That was more her friend’s purview anyways, even when she had been young and stupid.

“I’m just… maybe this isn’t for me? I’m sorry. I’m just like. Trying to get by you know. Without…” She waved her hand vaguely, a lost and slightly distressed expression on her face. “I just… I can’t draw attention again. I don’t think my parents could handle the consequences of that again, bless their hearts.” She frowned, looking around the small shop. She had been looking forward to this too. Up until the Hellish creature had barged in with no warning.

Just… why her. She clenched her fists, staring down at her shoes as she tried to fight back sudden tears. What cruel higher being had looked at her and been like 'Ah yes. Let’s fuck up this one person’s life.' She had asked someone that once and was given what really just amounted to a shrug in reply. Sure the powers had been fun at first, when she still believed that running around a small town intimidating drunks and fellow teenagers was actually making a difference. But now… they just caused nothing but trouble.
Word Count: 283
Total WC: 1351

"Demons not shopping on Earth isn't normal?" Two of Mitsuko's fingers brushed through her hair, knocking a flick of drywall from her hair. "Is it because the flow of the shoppe isn't friendly enough for them to browse?"

"We could do a little better with flow, but we probably should just accommodate to our local clientele." After only a few minutes of sweeping, the floor looked absolutely spotless. Erica tossed the broom to the back of the closet with enough force causing the door to close behind it. "We need to learn to deal with people from New Jersey before we go heavy into reaching out to Hell."

"Oh. You don't want to work here. That might be a problem." Mitsuko looked over to the stack of papers. "The papers you signed might not like that. There's something special about them."

"The paper is recycled and we use toner from bulk, but the printer is actually possessed by the spirit of a demonic attorney, and he isn't too big on people breaking-" Erica tucked her lip as her eyes got bigger. "I get it. You want first dib on the day off rotation."

"Oh!" The somber expression fell off of Mitsuko's face, brightening with the revelation. "We have Wednesday and Thursdays off with a rotating day falling between Friday and Tuesday. Pay starts at twenty two dollars an hour, but I guess you're going to do the same thing where you held out, so we can just make the pay twenty five dollars an hour. Wow, you're really good at business. Maybe you can be our business manager. My sister Bliss says she does that, but she just steals money from the register to build super suits and commits egregious cyber crimes."

"We don't talk about that too open." Erica closed the door to the back room to avoid the Portal to Hell being more visible.

"Yeah. I think we would actually turn a profit here if Bliss would pay back the money she invests, but hey, time to get you fitted for new clothes! We can even get you a powersuit in case you want to control your powers more."

Coraline looked up at the mention of demon contracts or something of the sort, wiping way the few tears that had slipped through. Looks like the decision was being made for her then. She’d really prefer not to know what happened if she fucked with demon ghosts. To be fair though, the pot was being heavily sweetened right before her eyes. 25 dollars an hour??? Jesus Christ she knew this was above minimum wage but this… this might actually be livable! Especially since she needed to eat way less now.

“Well… since there’s a demon lawyer or something… guess I’m stuck here for now.” She said, still frowning slightly despite the pay raise and chance for better hours. “Oh you have a sister?” She asked, latching on to a topic she was much more comfortable with. Except of course the sister apparently wasn’t normal either, considering the whole super suit and cyber-crimes thing. “What does she do? Or if you can’t tell me that’s fine too.” She added the second part at Erica’s interjection, hoping she hadn’t overstepped her bounds.

“Wait. How are you guys still open then?” she asked, eyes widening. They widened even more at the mention of a power suit. “You do that too???”
Word Count: 207
Total WC: 1558

"Oh yeah. We make clothes for metas. Controlling powers, healing wounds, and channeling energy are all things we can do. Oh, and making it look cute and not frumpy too." Mitsuko picked up on the more important element between clothing and family. "We can show you the designs and even take some measurements."

"No supersuits during working hours though." Erica made an about face to open the door she just recently closed. "We get enough unwanted attention from supervillains, aliens, and demons."

"Some of them are customers!" Mitsuko grabbed a measuring tape off the table and began taking measurements around Coraline as they walked to the backroom. "We shouldn't blame all demons just because some of them are mean. Chelle is really nice and likes my clothes."

"Chelle likes your clothes is the truthful part of that statement." A flick of a light switch opened up the backroom to a more readily available look through the several designs Mitsuko came up with. "This is the stuff Bliss outfits everyone who works with her." A row full of unitards with pleated skirts covering the bottom and sailor flaps adorning the collar with bows along the chest and back. "You can pick whatever boots you want to match with it. I think Mitsy has one of these."

"Yeah. It's yellow. And not a copyright infringement because Bliss said it wasn't. If you want one I can probably make powersuit tights to cover your arms, legs, and probably neck too. I can probably make you a visor too. Or, some other design if you want."