Day in. Day out. They tried to lived every moment of their conscious life with the bounds of ordinality, and they wouldn't have it any other way. What is ordinary if not safe, what is ordinary if not uncomplicated, what is ordinary if not something you can rely on to keep you away from the unknown that would combine the two. All these factors were values they'd held deeply, values they would actively protect. They were by all external perceptions, a normal human being, going to an eight to seven job in the heart of the city, a person well liked by most who meet them. They lead a positive life.
Shooting up, they opened their eyes and analyzed the room. Everything was as it should be. The room was small, and they knew where everything was. The bed they were in sat in a corner, where a window with its blinds closed permanently was found. They raised their hand and lightly brushed the window's covering to the side carefully inspecting the lock and panes of glass. Perfectly intact. Standing up, the floorboards groaned underneath his weight.Taking a few small steps across the room he stood in front of a dresser where a large mirror stood atop its surface.
"No abnormalities..." they thought aloud, inspecting the reflection thoroughly. The face in the mirror was that of a male, early twenties, deep blue eyes and blond dyed hair turned into blond highlighted ends as naturally black hair grew in from the roots. Had the job place they attend spontaneously develop a dress code, he would be forced to cut it. Though that was woefully unlikely, so it would stay. They noticed the time, 6:45, an hour and fifteen minutes before they were slated to leave, this was confirmed by the fact that it was still somewhat dark outside, normal for this time of year. It was time to prepare for the day ahead. Opening the top drawer they pulled out a small hand sized notebook, gripping it tightly before getting some preparing cloths to were
Phew
she whistled in relief. Her task was to stake out a certain individual's routine. Despite the fact that she watched him check his window in the morning for nearly a week, she still startled. If she kept this up it was only a matter of time until he looked up and saw her peering over the adjacent build corner. Luckily she should be able to leave this position soon. As she day dreamed of stepping back onto a 'real job', she almost missed the point of her stalking. "Oh," she sounded, as she ducked behind the roof railing as she viewed him enter the apartment building's corridor, " and there he goes."
They made their way out of the door, locking it behind them, and checking it a second time before making their way down the stairs and out the building into the ever so familiar street. Even this early in the morning, the sidewalks remained populated with familiar faces, with the occasional new face. It was unlikely that they wouldn't get the odd greeting.
Zeru. The name they were called as, by street vendors, by passing socialites, and neighborly vagabonds. Ironically enough, it was only after 'he' disappeared that people began to look at Zeru with kind eyes. Considering who Zeru was, it made sense that they'd appreciate them better considering the change of character.
"Mornin' Zeru," shouted a lady behind a food stand, they almost passed as they jogged their way to work under the consequence of bad time budgeting "come on over for a hearty breakfast!" Leonora's lightly Scottish accent tinted advertisement made him pause for a moment as he jogged in place, looking at the food she had on display. Though as their stomach grumbled, the display foods were usually days old, and she being who she was only served people fresh food. He shook his head.
"Sorry." they said with a quiet voice and polite smile. He tapped his watch displaying the 7:45 on its face, "No time." As they turned to continue their jog to work, a hand that gripped his shoulder stopped him.
"Aye," she said, spinning him around, it was easy for her considering that she was both taller and more muscular than him, if only a year or two older "slow your roll." As her finger wagged above the counter, she reached under and pulled out a lunchbox let off light steam due to the slightly chilly weather. Quite literally mouthwatering. "Since you've been a good lad as of late, and a mighty grand customer at that, I prepped a wee snack for ya." She dropped the free food in their open hands, and waved them off. With a quick nod and a small but bright smile he turned and jogged off to work. "You better bring me box back!" she leaned on her hand with a grin on her face, "when did that arse become such a treat to do chat with?"
They continued their jog down the street, though a man waved them down with a dreadful look on his face that they simply couldn't ignore. "What's the problem?" Zeru said, still jogging in place.
"Glad I caught you Zeru," he said, pulling Zeru to the side of the street where a car with its hood popped sat, "You're a car guy right dude?" Though the panicked man was desperate for help, Zeru was strapped for time and was forced to ignore the man's words… as they were already trying to diagnose the issue. "Hey are you listen--"
"Wrench." Zeru said, holding his hand out. The man, startled, dove into the driver's seat, the place he put the toolbox that was near useless in his hands. Rushing back and placing an adjustable wrench in Zeru's palm. The impromptu car mechanic quickly went to work, plunging their hand in between and under mechanical parts until it was no longer visible. Despite the uncomfortable looking state of their arm, the occasional clack and clank of metal before a loud pop prompted Zeru to slither their hand out of the engine and call out to the man. "Try it."
As the man turned the key in the engine he let out a primal cry of relief when the engine sounded and the car hummed to life. As he stepped out of the car to thank Zeru, he only managed to catch his back as they jogged off into the distance. "Thanks a bunch dude!" he shouted as he waved both his arms in catharsis.
As Zeru jogged up the road they turned their head check if the man car was working well with their hotfix. This caused them to bump into an old lady named Rita holding two big bags of groceries, with a quick reaction they were able to prevent her dropping the bags. Zeru was already running low on time however, so they couldn't help her… that is if they weren't right next to her building. With an apology and a kind smile he took the bags and sprinted up the stairs and through the door, returning a second later to help Rita up the stairs.
"Sorry again," he said once the elder was situated in the building, "I'm in a rush."
"Oh, no problem," she said, reassuring him and pulling something out of her purse before he jogged off, " you've been a dear, Zeru, take a taffy." Dropping the candy into their hand, Zeru turned away with a smile on their face.
From there it was multiple other things, being asked to play hopscotch by children, keeping a promise to prevent a local vagabond from drinking, listening to a street poet. Their daily routine was never the same, but it was never boring due to the two years of work they'd put into improving Zeru's public relations.
They caught a glimpse of their watch as they unwrapped the taffy. 8:29 they were officially late, but not too late. Turning the corner they glimpsed the building of their work at the end of the block. Speeding up their jogging before anyone else could stop them, luckily not many people knew Zeru by name down this block so they finally made an uninterrupted stretch of street. Bursting open the front doors and checking in his card, they had made a new record. Only thirty-three minutes late.
It was oddly quiet in the building. Just like yesterday when they surprised him with some impromptu excuse to postpone work… yet yesterday was an event that made him smile with its mere memory.
"Surprise!" As Zeru walked into the door he was nearly startled into a heart attack. Sudden and extreme change of a routine wasn't something he was good at dealing with. "It's Zeru's seven hundred and nineteenth day of being late."
"Huh?" Zeru said as they looked around with a look of coy cluelessness, though their questionably convincing acting was intercut with an unquestionable sweat droplet rolling down their forehead, and an undeniable quiver in their voice. If there was one thing they were especially good at, that one thing would not be lying. All of their co-workers laughed after seeing Zeru's reaction.
"What are you late for today anyway?" joked Soa, a tall good looking man, who let off some ladies' man like energy sometimes. His earnestness however was what allowed Zeru to get a job here in the first place, them being college 'acquaintances'. "Let me guess, saving puppies?"
"No way," interjected Rory, "I bet he was flirting with that food stall owner again!" Rory was the utter definition of a flapper, a woman always up for a party, sometimes of varying legality, yet she always managed to surprise with her diligent work.
"Wait I--" Zeru tried to force a word, to explain they had simply slept in but they already got going, and once they got going it was out of Zeru's control.
"What are you guys on about," said the tall older boss that was Sorav, finally seeming to breathe some sense into the conversation, "he probably just got caught up in a children's game again." That quickly faded. Sorav was technically Zeru's boss, though his relationship to everyone in the company was closer to that of a long lost father or some kind of mentor with a wellspring of varying quality advice. Though previously frayed, Sorav's relationship with Zeru recovered as much as it could in recent years, simmering down to a base of trust if not anything else.
These three, along with Zeru, were the start ups of this minute law firm, and over the half decade of work the company only grew into a still small, but well off firm. The other coworkers were mostly at this sudden 'surprise not party' to take advantage of the free break.
"Crazy that I would have been called bull just a few years ago." Soa's statement resonated with everyone in the room, after all just two years ago not one of them would be willing to wait for someone like Zeru. " Funny that you being late is the one thing that never changes."
"Stop it," Rory said, as she slapped Soa on the arm, "you're gonna jinx his good behavior." her grim half joking remark only managed to bring more attention to Zeru's change in behavior, a somber note to the three people who truly considered them as they were now, a friend. Forcing them to think that if he could change for the better so suddenly he could switch back easily.
"...Zeru," their bad lying capability began to crop up, " won't change again." The oddly ominous reassurance was enough to get everyone laughing again. Even if the transformation was sudden it was accepted over what he was before.
"Alright brakes over!" Sorav shouted as he waved everyone down, "Already waited fifty minutes for him to get here..." he murmured as he glared at Zeru.
"Awww…" groaned Rory, "Who are we surprising next time."
"Fast recovery huh?" Chuckled Soa, "Maybe Derick, he dude just got married right?"
"Good thinking…"
Looking at the entrance corridor they giggled under their breath, he was just sure that they would be around the door to the left, that's where they were ambushed yesterday. He crept slowly up towards the door ready to give at least one of the quite the fright. "Soa does scare easily," they thought as they paused in front of the door.
"SURPRISE--" Zeru's voice was caught up in there own throat. As they steeled their eyes and analyzed the room… nothing was where it should be.