Chapter Text
Another pitiful day working at my local truck stop, my once clean white shirt covered in grease stains and the scent of cigarettes clinging to the fabric. I ran a hand through my hair, grumbling at the thought of another useless counseling session after I got all my shit together and hit the road running. I started to slip into the back until my boss, a skinny, small female a few years younger than me stopped me in my tracks.
"Uh, Apollo? Can you stay behind for a bit and bust until your replacement arrives?" I glared at her, a headache starting to form at the base of my skull.
"I can't, I have a therapy session right after work, and if I miss another one, they're gonna charge me extra!" My manger shrunk into herself, looking extremely nervous. It wouldn't be the first time I blew up at her because of my stupid counseling sessions. Honestly, I was surprised I was even still here, my only guess as to why I hadn't been kicked was the need for staff, and the days I didn't have counseling I worked more than anyone else did, putting upwards of two full shifts in just to pay the bills.
"I know, but we're already short a few people, and if you leave, only Rose will be here. You know how it is when we only have one waitstaff on the clock." I frowned, pressing my palm against my forehead. Pressure started to build there, most likely from the now migraine wrecking havoc on my head.
"Fine. But I get overtime and an extra day off." She bit her lip, but she nodded. Resigned to my fate, I trudge my way to my tables, putting on my best customer service face. I didn't get a lot of customers until around 3:50, usually when our pre-dinner rush boom happened. Half way through the boom I rushed to the bathroom, my stomach churning. I threw open the stall door, and puked out whatever I ate for lunch.
Great, another batch of bloody vomit. It's been happening a lot lately, but I haven't gone to see a doctor about it yet, since I wasn't sure if I would ever financially recover from hospital bills and therapy sessions. It probably wasn't really anything anyways.
I moved to the mirror, to see my gaunt face staring right back at me. My green eyes were dull, losing their vibrant green that I had when I was younger. My dyed red hair was starting to fade, making me sigh. My hair was a natural dark brown, and I hated it. So I started dying my hair a natural red (more of ginger, but eh). My once dark skin has turned almost corpse-like, from barely getting outside and enjoying the sunshine. My once sort of chubby face now sharp and masculine, a far cry from when I was a teen. I was skinnier than I was as a teen, and a bit more muscular. If I looked at a picture of me from like freshman year of high school to now, I wouldn't believe it was the same person.
I left the bathroom after splashing a copious amount of water on my face. My head still pounded, but I pushed through it. Around a half hour after I threw up, three men sat at one of my tables. Grumbling, I picked up three menus for them, forcing a smile onto my face.
As I walked over, I noticed that one of the men kept drumming his thumbs on the table top, looking around. As I reach their table, I was able to distinguish their features better.
One of the male's had dark brown hair, short and thick, with matching sideburns running down his cheek bones. I could see huge bags underneath his eyes, like he hadn't slept in weeks. His skin was pale, but not too much so. His face was a mixture of chub and bony, a perfect mix. His brown eyes looked hollow and dead, with very little emotion in them. He had on a red flannel with what looked like a normal black t-shirt underneath, which concerned me, since it was like a hundred degrees outside. The man next to him had nearly blonde hair, the waves in his hair making his hair look messier than I knew it was. His brown eyes were filled with warmth, a sharp contrast with his friend. His jawline was more pronounced like mine, but still not as sharp as mine was. He wore a yellow hoodie, the fabric loose off of his body. What was with these men and their hot clothing?
The male that had been tapping on the table had ashen white skin, with light, mousy brown hair. His eyes were a light mocha color, about the same color as my skin would turn into if I was actually able to be out in the sun. His cheeks were chubby, but not overly so. He wore a hoodie with a solid tan body, striped sleeves, and a blue hood. A bandage covered one of his cheeks making me wonder what exactly made him wear it. I shelved the thought though, as I gave them a bright smile. "Hi, welcome to the Broken Wheel! I'll be your waiter tonight. What drinks do you guys want to start off with?" The man with the nearly blonde hair gave me a bright smile, showing the gap between his teeth that I had as well. It caused dimples to appear in his cheeks, making my lips quirk.
"What do y'all have?" The man asked, his voice light. I let my smile become more natural, pulling out my legal pad and pen. "Well, we have Pepsi products, sweet tea, ice tea, hot tea, coffee, apple juice, orange juice, and chocolate milk." The man with the sideburns sighed, running a hand over his face.
"Can I get some coffee?" I nodded, writing it down. A stuttering voice made me look up. "C-c-can I-I get sssommeee S-s-seven U-up?" The man with the bandage on his cheek was the one with the stutter, making me even more interested. I nodded, writing it down with a small smile gracing my face. "Y'know stranger, I remember very vaguely that my little sisters loved Seven Up." He gave me a bright smile in return, his eyes sparkling.
"T-t-thanks, s-s-sir." He stutter seemed to worsen slightly, but I payed it no mind. I remember when I had a bad stutter, so I know how he felt. I turned to the guy with blonde hair, tilting my head.
"And for you sir?" The man snorted, leaning in slightly. "You can call me Brian, doll." Oh, I wasn't expecting that. I blushed slightly, correcting myself. "Okay then, Brian, what would you like to drink?"
He seemed to think for a second, before looking at me and giving me a maneater smile. "Some iced tea, I'll put sugar in it myself." I smiled, liking this guy. "I do the same thing, otherwise the tea here is way too sweet. Alrightly, I'll back with your drinks soon." Brian nodded, the male next to him made a non-committal grunt, and the man with a stutter nodded so hard I thought his head would fall off. Still smiling, I went to the kitchen and read out the order. As I waited, my friend Rose came over, putting in her table's order before she turned to me.
"Oh my God Apollo. I just saw the hottest guy, he was like 6'7", and oh my god-" Mason called out my table's drinks, letting me grab them from the counter. "That's great Rose! Maybe you can try to snag his number~" I teased, walking away before she could hit my arm. I made my way over to the table with the three men, placing their drinks in front of them.
"Are you guys ready to order yet?" My natural politeness came out, giving them a small smile. Wow, I couldn't remember the last time I had been this polite to strangers. Brian nodded, handing over his menu. "Sure, can I get the Trucker Skillet, with bacon instead of ham, with a side of fries?" I nodded, writing his order down. "Do you want cheese on that?" He nodded, and I added it to the order.
I turned to the man with the sideburns. "And what can I-" "Tim." I blinked. He sighed, taking a sip of his coffee. "My name is Tim." I nodded, smiling.
"Okay then Tim, what can I get you?" He thought for a moment. "Just some French Onion soup please." I felt my face stretch uncomfortably, my eyes sparkling.
"Great choice! We have some mean French Onion soup here." I wrote it down, with a little smiley face to the side. The last boy shouted out his order, making me laugh.
"C-c-can I get some waffles?????" I covered my mouth with one hand, stopping myself from snorting. He was adorable. "Of course! I'll get that right out to y'all!" I gave them one last smile before I moved to go put in their orders. Surprisingly, their table was the only one filled in my section. Actually, only one other table in the restaurant had anyone at it. I saw Rose flirting with the man at the table, who seemed to be an impressive 6'8". I snorted as I watched her shamelessly flirt with the man. I quickly told Mase the order, before making my way back over to the three men.
"So, what brings you here to little ol' Buffalo?" I asked, making sure that all of their drinks were decently full. Brian shrugged, playing with the straw of his drink.
"We got a job up here. We're staying up here for a couple months, so we can get some sightseeing done while we're here. Where are you from? Your accent is a mixture of New York and southern." I blush furiously, embarrassed of my roots.
"I'm from Wyoming originally, my Grandpa was from Buffalo. I moved here to go to SVA, but right now it's summer break so I'm hanging out at my great grandparents place since it was left for me in the will. It's so pretty, but it cost a fortune. Oh well. Besides, the best part is that I have enough room for some friends to come over and crash without having to use the couch." The boy I still haven't caught the name of yet twitched, and his head quickly snapped to the side, letting out a sickening pop. A slight tic of my own made my hand spasm a little. I swallowed my spit, calming myself down a bit. None of them seemed to notice or care, because no one made a comment on it.
"Y-y-y-you mean-n the s-state that d-d-doesn't e-e-xist?" I snorted, not surprised by his reaction. No one thinks that Wyoming existed, and sometimes I wished it didn't. But I didn't tell them that.
"Nope! It does exist, it's really pretty up in the Bighorns and Devils Tower. If you're the camping type, the Bighorns right before the full force of summer hits is lovely." I heard Mase call my name, so I gave the boys a sheepish smile. "Sorry boys, duty calls. I'll bring around the coffee pot after I get your guy's food." Tim quietly said thanks as I walked away. Rose was waiting for me as I reached the kitchen, an excited look on her face. She was nearly bouncing in place, a big smile taking up residence across her face.
"Soooooo, who were they?" I rolled my eyes, taking one of the circular trays and put all of the plates for the boys on it. "Some guys, why?" I started to head off to their table, Rose hot on my heels. She looked at me incredulously.
"They are sooo clearly into you! You're never interested in guys or girls, like at all!" I shook my head, sighing in exasperation.
"I'm not like you Rose, god damn! It takes me a while to develop those types of feelings for people. Besides, they're not from around here, so there wouldn't be any point." Rose let out a disappointed sigh, leaving me to actually do my job. I made my way over to their table, a bright smile on my face.
"Alrighty guys, here's your food! Do you guys need any refills?" The one boy I hadn't got the name of yet nodded as I handed out the food. "Y-y-yeah! T-t-thank yo-ou."
I gave him a warm smile. "Of course! It's my pleasure to serve you guys today!" Brian smirked, leaning in closer.
His breath fanned my face, making my focus narrow to him. "Well, I'm glad to be served then." My brain started to fry, the idea of such a hot guy this close to me made my gay ass short circuit. As I started to lean in, he pulled away, confusing me. He gestured to the unnamed man, making me turn to him.
He gave me a smile. "I-I-I f-forgot to t-tell yo-ou my n-n-name. I'm T-T-Toby, s-s-sir." I laughed, pulling back and running a hand through my hair.
"You can call me Apollo. Sir doesn't fit me very well." I joked, taking his cup and leaving towards the kitchen to get it refilled. I grabbed the coffee pot as Mase handed the drink back, giving me a devious smirk.
"Stooping down to Rose's level now, eh?" I glared at my oldest friend next to Rose, telling him with only my eyes that if my hands were free, I would be flipping him off. He chuckled, but went back to work.
Mason and Rose were from Montana, but they moved to Wyoming our Sophomore year, me being the baby in the group. Rose was like 10 months older than I was, and Mase was like a year older. But we all decided to move to New York, me off to SVA, Mase to Colombia, and Rose to intern at her father's work when she turned 24. Rose and Mase were twenty three right now, with Mase's birthday coming up soon. I was only 22, but I was close to being 23 in a few weeks. I don't know what I do without them, honestly.
When I reached the boy's table, Toby had the messiest face I've ever seen. His face was smeared with sticky syrup and he had the goofiest smile ever. He seemed like one of those over enthusiastic kids that come in and make their parents pissed. Tim was looking at him in disgust, only half way through his soup. I put Toby's soda down, and poured Tim some more coffee. Tim gave a quiet "thanks" before blowing on it slightly and taking a drink. Toby gave me a lopsided smile, and with syrup smeared acrossed his face, he looked like a five-year-old.
"T-t-thank you Apollo!" My smile softened a little, as I gave a little nod. "Of course, anything to serve you guys today!" Of course, that's not what I wanted to say. What I really wanted to say was: "Please, do not ever stop being so adorable!!!!", but it's not like I could say that. Oh gods, did I have a crush on these three men already??? I was pulled out of my thoughts by a question.
"When do you usually work?" I snorted, running a hand through my hair again. "That's like asking when a dog is gonna lick your face. I'm scheduled for the mornings, but I usually work a double shift." Brian, the one who asked the question, looked at the other two, and gave them a sly smile. Confused, I looked at the other two men. Tim looked uncomfortable, and Toby looked confused too. "Well, would you mind maybe hanging out sometime?" I blinked, and started to blush.
"Oh, oh. Um, sure! I can give you my number, and if you want to hang out, you can always call me up." I ripped out a piece of paper, and quickly wrote my number down. I drew a little smiley face next my number, just for fun. I handed it over, Brian giving me a bright smile. He tucked my number away, as another table walked in. I gave them an apologetic smile, before leaving to go seat them.
I didn't go back until I got their check, and when I did Tim and Brian seemed to be arguing about something. Before I reached their table, I heard the tail end of their conversation.
"C'mon Tim, you know you would love to-" Tim grunted, which made Brian look in my direction. Ignoring whatever they were talking about, I set down the check, fidgeting with the edge of my shirt. "Thank y'all for coming in. Uh, yeah." Toby gave me a bright smile, the edge of his bandage curling up a tiny bit. "Th-tha-ank y-you!" I smiled, before leaving again.
"Of course, it's been a pleaser to serve y'all today!" When they left, I realized that they left close to a hundred bucks on 40 dollar bill. I wasn't even able to ask them if they had made a mistake, the sound of an old engine revving as its way out of the parking lot the last thing I heard from them.
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I went through the motions of my daily routine when I got home. I twirled my phone charger in my hands as I thought about what I should wear tomorrow, and what I should make for dinner. I grumbled when I realized that I didn't have a lot of groceries left, only really enough for maybe dinner tonight. The cool air of the summer evening reminded me that soon enough I would be back at school, my already fucked sleep schedule going to be non-existent by the time I would graduate. Thank God I only needed a full year left before I got my BFA.
I pulled out the little food I had and started cooking. By the time I was done I had somehow ended up with a lot more food than I thought I would. Halfway through eating my food, I heard a loud clunk sound outside. Curious, I rose up from my chair, and slipped to my window. Opening the curtain slightly, I saw a man perching on a branch in a nearby tree. I tilted my head and watched as the man did so too. His hair seemed to be larger than life, a big pile of chocolate colored locks way fluffier than they had any right to be. A pair of goggles sat upon his head, an orange tint if my eyes weren't deceiving me. A mouth guard covered everything below his nose, with a hoodie that hid his form. He was still save for tiny tics that made his hands or his head twitch every so often.
After a few moments I slowly closed my curtains to keep the man from staring into my kitchen. Oh well, it's not like I've seen weirder in the city anyways. Or have weirder happen to me. I plated the extra food and took it outside, because if the man doesn't eat it, maybe some unfortunate dog or other animal could eat it. I cleaned all of my dishes and most of the house before I finally went to bed, soothing myself to sleep with the sounds of my favorite band, Claudio softly singing as his voice lulled me to sleep.
As I slept, I dreamt of a faceless figure standing in a line of trees, a mess of tentacles withering behind them. Their outfit was odd, I noted, a nice three piece suit colored jet black with a bright red tie. But their most notable feature was their lack of features. Their face was completely blank, their head a smooth, white surface without a blemish on it.
A voice in my mind was screaming at me to run away from whatever it was, but for whatever reason, this creature felt… safe and familiar. I couldn't explain it, but as I looked at his blank face, dormant feelings of warmth and safety rose to the surface of my mind, leaing me with this twisted form of contentment, lulling me into what I hope wasn't a false sense of security. Static overtook my senses, making me wince.
"You have no idea how special, how wonderful you are my son. You might not be my child, but I will stop at nothing until you are mine, Apollo. You will heed to me, and listen to every word I tell you. Your mind is so curious, so fragile, yet so, so strong. Hopefully my dogs can weaken you, and maybe I can take what is rightfully mine." I only realized how tall it was until it was standing in front of me, an imposing nine feet tall. I gulped but I stood my ground, clenching my fist in pain.
"W-who are you?" I shouted, my voice wavering as his disembodied voice reverberated through the clearing. It seemed to be in my head, but I saw birds and critters reacting to it too, making noises of pain, and the sound of scultting feet told me that they were running from the thing. The clearing seemed familiar too, like I had spent a lot of time here.
It tilted its head, reaching down to tip my chin up. Its fingers were long and bony, the same color of white as its blank face. "Oh child, I am your true family. They removed your memories, and I am powerless to bring you home until you remember. My dogs will be the key, my dear musical son. You will soon realize why you are the sun god." My body started to convulse, making me crash down onto the forrest floor. A sharp pain started in the back of my skull, making me cry out in pain.
I woke up in a cold sweat, my heart pounding and my lungs burning. I slowly started to calm down, but I couldn't go back to sleep. What was that? I mean, I'm used to the weird dream, hell, if I'm not having a nightmare or a premonition dream, then I was having acid-trip dreams. But that wasn't a dream I ever remember having, where it was so vivid, yet it wasn't a nightmare or a premonition dream. I sat up, running my hand through my hair.
Gods, this was so fucked. I checked my phone, groaning when I saw the time. Great, up at three on one of my only days off. I shakily got up, shelving the dream until I could function properly. I quickly got dressed, and took my medication before I grabbed my keys and left, making sure to lock my door and put a sign up for the person watching me in the tree last night.