Brown Day, Black Night

The sky was black, but the city was alight; it was never dark, unless you specifically tried to get away from it. Still, it was quieter in the city at night, even if it never fully slept. When the sun went down though, that little tiem between people going to bed and third shift... that ws a strange, magical hour, a zombie hour.

Silencing a groan before it could even come up her throat, Luzia pushed her way into a conviencestore, rubbing her eye as they still struggled to stay open. She blinked a few times, ignoring her headache and forcing herself to look around the relatively bright store. Some lazy J-pop song was on the radio, like always, but it was distorted slightly so it was hard to hear what they were saying, just like ever. Could be an English rock song, even; she wasn't paying attention anyway. A convenience store and a fast food place, there were so many smells; coffee, donuts, fried stuff, even floor cleaner... but in her state, it was a bit too much. All the smells almost hurt, but she dealt with it with a grimace.

Like it always seemed to be, there was just a few people going through; this time, there was a man in a suit standing in front of the coffee machine, staring between the machine and his watch. There was a guy and a girl making out next to the fridges... and then there was the last guy. Luzia stared at him for a moment, watching him stare mesmerized at the swirling Mushie in the machine. He was high as always, but what amazed her was that every time she was here, so was he, doing the same thing and never doing anything else. She finally had to wonder where the hell he got his stuff, and how she could get some too, but she shook those thoughts away for now.

Her surprise faded from her face, and when her amazement faded, and her headache came back so hard it made her flinch, rubbing her head tenderly as her eyes narrowed. She had way too much last night... this was one of the worst hangovers she had *ever* had. She shuffled past the guy watching the swirling ice and grabbed a cup, still rubbing her head as she filled it up with whatever drink her still-sleeping fingers pressed. Before it was even halfway filled, she let go and chugged it down so fast she had to gasp, then did it again before finally filling the cup up, grabbing a lid and a straw before finding herself a table and sitting in it, rubbing her hurting neck. Already the drink was starting to help, so she could at least see straight, but the hangover was still annoying, and on top of that, she slept in a shitting place, so she was hurting in a lot of different ways.

Luzia was dressed in an old tank top and just as old jeans, the latter a size or two too big, held up with a belt someone tossed out. They weren't clean, but at least they weren't holey. She had her backpack, too, set down under the table in front of her so she didn't have to deal with the weight. She leaned back in her chair, trying to stretch her muscles awake, staring at the spinning fan on the ceiling, just trying to get rid of this damn hangover.

This was one of her favorite places; cheap, good food, lots of drinks, and one of the only places in the area that was halfway safe, at least for her. Honestly, this was probably the closest place to a home she could think of... she even managed to sleep in the bathroom a few times, including yesterday.

Everything was so quiet, though. She usually didn't like that, but right now, she wanted nothing else. She rubbed at her neck again, ignoring the ding of the suited man leaving, and stared at the ceiling, sipping her drink, some part of her mind registering the silence breaking for just a moment when the speakers shifted to another song.