“All I’m saying is, if this was a heist movie it would flop,” Derek says, morosely.

Vampires always look morose, even on a good day. But right now, Derek is looking especially pale; his black eyes are sunken and weary, his body slumps into the armchair. On his right sits a small stocky creature whose feet barely peek over the edge of the seat. A long grey beard trails from his chin all the way down to the ground, almost touching my shoes. His chest raises slowly, and soft whimpers emanate from his throat.

“Are you sleeping Barry?!”

The sound of my voice jolts the three foot dwarf awake. He glares at me with beady eyes before turning to his side and promptly falling back to sleep. A sliver of drool runs down his chin, matting into his beard.

“Wow…boomers are _so _embarrassing,” a tiny voice remarks.

I turn to look at the little pixie perched near my shoulder. Her head is buried into an even tinier screen she holds in her lap. How she even saw Barry’s drool is beyond me.

“You’re literally forty-five, stop acting like a human teenager,” Derek groans.

Candace narrows her eyes, but still doesn’t look away from her phone.

“Yeah well, forty-five _is _a teenager in pixie years. You don’t even have a say in this, you don’t age - you’re dead!” her fingers tap furiously on the screen, no doubt posting this conversation on the the SSM - supernatural social media.

I take a sip of my now-cold coffee, wincing at the bitterness. The shop is quiet, just a couple of students sit on raised chairs by the window, headphones in, typing away. The soft clatter of the keys helps me to focus, to formulate a plan to build morale.

“Right everybody….”

No one looks at me. Barry’s snores increase in volume.

I stand up, tapping my teaspoon against the side of my mug. Brown liquid splashes off the side, almost soaking Candace.

“Hey - watch it!” she cries, darting over to sit near Derek. My patience grows thin.

“EVERYBODY LISTEN!”

The whole coffee shop becomes silent. All eyes turn to look at me. I gulp slowly. Ok, maybe that was a bit overkill.

“Not you guys…” the students turn and go back to their typing.

“Just you three.”

I stare at my companions: Derek the sullen vampire, Barry the now-awakened and very grumpy dwarf and Candace, the angsty pixie. Include me into the mix and you have four of the most opposing types of magical creatures you could possibly put together.

“Look, I didn’t ask to be picked. None of us did. But we all received a letter from the Council of Supernatural Beings to meet here in this coffee shop to get to know each other before our big mission.”

I must be saying something right because even Candace is giving me eye contact. Narrowed eye contact, but I’ll take it!

My voice quietens to a whisper. The others lean in to hear me better.

“We are going to find a way to break into the vault, we are going to follow the brief, we are not going to make any mistakes, and…”

I pause for a moment for dramatic effect.

“We will work together as a team to complete our mission!”

A broad smile beams from me. I feel all warm inside. For a second, I think my speech has worked.

“Ugh, Gen X are _so_ embarrassing…”

Tiny fingers type at breakneck speed. I want to say something back, something firm yet witty to put Candace in her place. But I don’t even know what Gen X is!

All I know is that today is going to be a very long day.