Subject: Not Quite Myself (Part 2!)
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Posted on: 2016-09-23 00:48:00 UTC

First off, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE COMMENTS! I luv you and your faces! Here's more story! Oh, and there might be shipping in the future! ( ^_~ )

~~~~~~~~~~~

The walk was helping, but only a little. Cornelius still felt something digging at him in the very back of his mind.

The murmur of quiet conversation and the mingled smells of what was arguably food told him he was near the Cafeteria. He would not normally have given this much mind, but a lingering gurgle from his stomach suddenly reminded him that he had not actually had any coffee before leaving the response center. Cafeteria coffee, while not ideal, could be an acceptable temporary substitute.

He walked inside and made a beeline for the coffee machine. The liquid it dispensed was only a few steps above tar, but that was irrelevant. It was caffeinated, it was hot, and it was here. The snobbery could wait until he was back home.

Cornelius scanned the room as he sipped at his cup. His gaze stopped on a familiar figure sitting ramrod straight at one of the side tables. She was clothed all in black and appeared vaguely Asian. It was hard to tell due to the jawline-length bob obscuring part of her face, but it looked like her eyes were closed.

He wandered over. Maybe talking with someone else would help with this strange funk he was in. “Good morning, Xeleppeon,” he said as soon as he was within acceptable conversation range. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Xeleppeon opened her eyes at the sound of Cornelius’ hail. Her expression did not shift from its normal neutral state as she looked over, but she did nod. “Hello, Cornelius,” she said. “My partner and I have only just returned from several missions in a row and are, unfortunately, too tired to cook properly. We would not have otherwise come here.”

She shifted in her seat. Cornelius could now see the dark circles under her eyes. “And you?” the Nobody asked. “What brings you here?”

“I forgot to get some coffee before going out for a walk.” He took a sip as to underline his point, and was able to prevent a sour expression from crossing his face. “Needed to clear my head. Something just felt weird when I woke up this morning.”

“In what way do you mean weird?”

“Well–”

“BREAKFAAAST!” someone exclaimed from about a foot behind Cornelius. Before he could react, a pale and lanky woman darted out from behind him and plopped two plates of greasy breakfast food on the table. “Aren’t I the best, Xelly?”

Xeleppeon rolled her eyes. “That is a point always up for debate when it comes to you, Bluescreen,” she replied. “For example, Agent Cornelius might disagree with your statement considering you just interrupted him.”

Bluescreen turned on her heel and gave Cornelius a puzzled look, as if she had only just noticed him. Recognition dawned on her face. “Cornelius, right! I remember now. My bad, by the way.” She flicked her blue-dyed bangs out of her eyes and offered her hand for a conciliatory handshake.

“Not a problem,” Cornelius said as he shook her hand.

Bluescreen sat down next to Xeleppeon, towering over the Nobody by almost a foot. “So what were you guys talking about?”

“It’s nothing. I’ve… I’ve just been having this strange feeling ever since I woke up. Like something’s not right with the world. It could be stress I suppose, but… yeah, I don’t know.”

Xeleppeon tapped the tips of her tented fingers together. “Could it be due to a canonical shift?”

“That's what I was thinking,” Bluescreen said through a mouthful of scrambled eggs. She thankfully swallowed before continuing her thought. “I get headaches and vertigo whenever DC makes a major change to their canon. Doesn’t even matter that they’re not changing my specific universe. It’s like ripples in a pond, or something.”

Cornelius shook his head. “I come from World One. It can’t be a canon thing.”

The two female agents exchanged a glance. “Then my best bet would be stress,” Xeleppeon said. “A general malaise, possibly from too many missions.”

“It happens to everyone eventually,” Bluescreen added. “My advice? See if you can wrangle a vacation out of whoever it is that’s running the DIAU. Take some time to clear your head.” She picked up a piece of bacon with her fingers and took a bite out of it. “In case that doesn’t work, which is pretty likely, I would recommend getting drunk.”

There was a small sigh from her partner. “You are a veritable font of wisdom.”

“I do what I can.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

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