WHO: Antigone, Asterion WHEN: Wednesday afternoon WHERE: A department store WHAT: Don't ask the universe to be chill, Tiggers, it doesn't listen. WARNINGS: Enclosed spaces
Antigone frowned as she looked at the label on this plain black shirt. The fabric felt fine enough between her fingers but the Made in India on the label make her stomach turn, thinking of kids fingers and rows of sewing machines, appalling conditions, no escape. She’d expected that, from a big department store like this one, but sometimes even when you know something bad is coming you still reach out to check. Fast fashion was a shitty, powerful, brutal organisation, harder, Antigone thought, harder to fight than Ares.
Although at least there were people - lots of people, fighting for children’s rights around the world. At least that was a fight that was... fighting.
Antigone gave up looking at the stupid clothes and wandered back toward the windows, but outside it was still bucketing down so hard the sidewalk looked like an actual river. There were still people out there struggling through the weather but Antigone knew that if she tried to get home right now she’d just get home in the foulest of moods and honestly, no one needed that.
Lightning cracked open the sky, reflecting her mood perfectly, and Antigone felt cruelly mocked by the heavens.
Maybe she should head up to the cafe on the top floor and get in touch with the local Unicef branch and see what she could do while she drank a coffee. At least she could tip the people working in the cafe, and maybe not think too hard about where the beans came from.
A woman and twins, all three of them dripping, stepped out of the elevator when it opened and just for a second, she thought it was Ismene. Her stomach clenched, and remain clenched, even after it became really obvious that it wasn’t.
If you could chill today Antigone asked the universe, the fates, or whatever Antigone-upsetting god was out to get her today. That would be great. She remained terrified of running into her sister before she worked out what to say to her.
Distant thunder rumbled through the city in answer and Antigone lay her head back on the wall of the elevator with a resigned sigh. At least, for the moment, she had the elevator to herself.