FSE

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It was just another long night at the Rust Barn convenience store, few people ever came in overnight and yet management still felt the need to have it 24/7 for what few profits it could bring in. Standing behind the counter was Alexandria, a young grey wolf who had little to her name and no family to speak of. Standing at a rough average of the lower end of a five foot range, no one would think twice about assuming her age to be one of a student, in which case they'd be correct. Normally she kept her shoulder length hair tied into a bun for safety purposes, however tonight she was feeling rather chipper, and allowed her brown hair to roam free along her head. Her uniform, although technically proper, would always have some kind of either wrinkle or small spot along it causing her to have a discussion with her manager, and as always it ended with 'I won't let it happen again'.

A normal night for the young wolf would have been stocking the shelves, checking expiration dates, dealing with the occasional customer, and cleaning the store. Tonight however was different, before coming to work Alexandria had found out she was being evicted from her apartment due to the building being sold off to make way for various development projects moving into the city. She had heard of these going on and attempted to do what she could before she lost her home, but there was not much she could do once the notice had been placed upon her door short of finding a new home to live in. Fate, however, would seem to be shining a fluorescent glimmer of hope upon the young wolf, unfortunately it would not be what she had hoped for.

The front door chime would go off, and right with it Alexandria with her phase for every customer, mandatory from management of course. "Welcome to Rust Barn" she would say with a cheerful demeanor regardless of what she was doing. In this case, it was stocking cigarettes behind the counter so she didn't look over to see who came in, however she could hear two individuals talking of beer and ales, so she continued to stock. Unfortunately she also had a bad habit of listening to customers' conversations, and in this case Alexandria overheard one of them say that they required a roommate due to the last one leaving, though it wasn't clear why. An extreme joy overcame the young wolf and she jolted up, unfortunately straight into part of the cigarette case knocking it and all of the cigarettes over onto the floor.

Alexandria just stood there in complete embarrassment wishing the store was empty, but she could feel the two just staring her down with judgement while she stood there, in complete shock. "They're surely going to think of me as a clumsy oaf and will refuse my request to room with them..." she thought, still visibly shaken from the case being knocked over. As she slowly turned around, the two individuals, one a clearly older but very tall Moose who lacked any hair around his antlers and seemed to have issues standing straight with a six pack of beer in each hand, and another smaller figure in a black hoodie with blue jeans, were still in the aisle looking at various bags of chips and other salty snacks. She let out a sigh of relief and moved the case back to its original position and began to clear the walkway of cigarette packages.

After a few moments of trying to clear everything, Alexandria heard the two walk up to the counter and place everything down. She turned up to see the two six packs of beer, three bags of pretzels, and a large container of synthetic catnip. "Find everything alright?" The young wolf asked, peering over to the shorter individual in the hoodie. Alexandria was only able to get a quick glance before the individual turned away, but noticed it was a very young feline, possibly around her age, with a very thick black coat of fur. "Yes we are" answered the Moose, as he smiled at her with bloodshot eyes and hint of alcohol on his breath. The feline quickly turned to the moose and just glared at him while he stood there completely blanked out. The feline then looked for just a moment at the young wolf as she stood there, then looked back at the moose.

The moose finally noticed and looked over at the feline in confusion. "What?" He asked, trying to keep his balance while looking down at the feline. The feline's head just slowly shook as an almost velvet voice came out, "Michael, if it hasn't already been apparent, you're completely wasted and looking like a complete idiot." Michael was completely taken back, acting as if his entire family heritage was insulted. "H-how dare you!" He exclaimed, trying to hold onto the counter while making an attempt to point at the feline. Alexandria just stood behind the counter not sure what to do, watching the entire altercation occur before her. Before she could let out a word, the feline yelled out "now, run for it!" As the feline went to grab the items, Michael attempted to grab a six pack, knocking it over and falling straight to the floor. Thankfully none of the glass bottles followed him, and the feline just slowly took her hands off the items.

"I tell you what" said Alexandria, "you tell me about this room you have available to rent and how much, and I'll just pretend you guys didn't try to take everything without paying for it". The feline slowly nodded, "we have a small room we're trying to rent out for five fifty a month, it's just down the block in the small victorian, of course roommates would be a given but you don't seem to be too much of a slob to bother anyone unless you're going to knock everything down like the cigarettes". Alexandria kept her smile on, "no this isn't the norm, I can assure you" she replied, scanning the items up and bagging them, "how soon could I be able to move into the room?" The feline began to pull out a wad of cash from her pocket "It should be move in ready, but it doesn't have any fur-" "That's fine" Alexandria said quickly with desperation in her voice. The feline looked at her for a moment and could see the emotion pouring through the young wolf, she looked down and nodded her head. "Alright, I'll be back with a key and someone else to get Michael off your floor and home" "Thank you" said Alexandria as she attempted to hold back tears of joy. "I never got your name" she said, looking down at the small feline as she began to walk towards the doors with the items. "Henrietta" replied the small feline as she walked out with several bags of items.

Alexandria finished up cleaning the cigarettes with tears flowing down her face. She had a new home, and possibly a new family. About an hour passed with no customers, and she began to get concerned about Michael on the floor, however he seemed to be just sleeping heavily, sometimes having small motions of movement here and there. Alexandria could hear thunder outside, as the sky was ready to release itself upon the city. A few moments later Henrietta arrived with a slender but tall bunny with short brown hair, "I've come back with some muscle" she said, still looking away from Alexandria. The young wolf just nodded and continued to clean and prep everything for the next shift to come in. The bunny began to slap around Michael, "let's go buddy, time to get home" he said. Michael slowly began to move and let out a few moans and a grunt, "Thanks Greg" he said before turning over and slowly getting on all fours. "There you go man" said Greg as he helped Michael get off the floor and to the door. Henrietta placed the key on the counter, "try not to be too loud when you get in, I'm sure Michael would appreciate it". The three left as it began to once again thunder, water slowly making the trip down to cover the landscape.

The young wolf quickly snatched the key after the three left and had a small dance where she stood. Finally, things were looking up for Alexandria. A new place to call home, a new family, and hopefully a new start to life.