“Thank you, come again!” Matt called out as the final customer nodded and walked out of the automatic door. Sighing as he leaned back against the wall at his station, Matt stretched out. This wasn’t an entirely long or difficult day, but Matt just generally didn’t have that much energy, especially for retail.

Reaching out and flicking a new switch attached to the register, Matt smiled as he heard a small chime coming from the door, locking it. That was a nice new upgrade the management installed, something about safety requirements or whatnot, but all Matt cared about was how it was easier than the manual locking of the door.

He worked in a small convenience store that got super lucky back in the day when it was built and purchased and is in a part of the city with a lot of food traffic, so Matt is kept fairly busy. It doesn’t pay the best but it's enough to cover the rent of his cheap apartment he was lucky to find around here, and it was fairly close, only a twenty minute walk from home. Overall, it was not bad.

Aside from having to stand all day when the only thing to sit on is a terrible stool that is honestly more uncomfortable than standing, Matt has found that just leaning against the wall is a way better to relieve the aches of his body then that infernal contraption that someone thought was a seat.

Glaring at the stool as he took one last deep breath as he got up to finish his duties, straightening his glasses he got to work. A bit of sweeping and straightening out the store's small collection of isles, Matt let himself unfocus and just went on autopilot. When working the register he needed to think, at least a little bit, but now he could just shut off his brain for a moment and revel in a moment of mental rest.

He had been working here for almost two years so it was practically second nature, a part of his routine as the store was all properly locked up and tidied. Seeing his meditations come to an end, Matt shook his head to bring his attention back to focus and looking around his domain, he nodded in satisfaction. A job well done.

Stepping around the back, he made his way around to the exit. Looking outside he could see that the sky was dark as rain continued to fall and splash against the puddles it had left behind through the long day. But it had been like this when he got here, and he knew it would be the same when he left. Grabbing his umbrella and tightening his coat, he stepped out of the back door and locked it behind him.

Matt wouldn’t describe the weather as a storm, if he decided to go without his umbrella he wouldn’t be soaked from head to toe, in fact many people chose this option, but he would be a bit damp and decided to continue with the protection as the steady rain beat against his little personal shelter. It was still turning over from summer to fall so heavy rain will be the norm for the next few weeks.

Walking around the store, he looked out into the city he called home. Even with the inconvenient weather plenty of people still walked the sidewalks and a decent amount of cars rolled down the streets. It was quite late, the clock almost striking eleven but Matt didn’t mind, he was always a night owl and much preferred the hour and weather than the morning sun.

Joining the traffic of moving feet and other similar umbrellas, Matt began the quiet trek back to his apartment. Reaching a hand into his pocket, his fingers brushed against cool metal and he smiled a bit at the feeling. Holding his hand still for a moment as he ran his hand against the object, he delighted in the feeling before properly grabbing the object.

Rubbing a thumb against the pair of rattler magnets, Matt began to twist them against each other with practiced ease as he played with the magnets. He has always been fond of the toy and similar such items, ever since he was young. If you wanted to make a young Matt happy just give him some magnets or a metal trinket and he'd be occupied for hours. Even now, the simple hematite magnets felt good in his hand.

He loved hematite in general, one of the best metals in his opinion. Great feeling and sound as it clicks against itself. He had a beaded bracelet made of the metal, but this of course wasn’t magnetic on its own so he favored the oblong magnets. Just holding them away from each other and moving them slightly, Matt almost could feel the way its magnetic field acted against each other if he imagined it hard enough. He couldn’t hear that iconic rattle of the magnets hitting themselves, what with the fairly loud rainfall and the sound getting muffled in his pocket, but he could definitely feel the vibration travel through his hand and into his bones. He almost preferred the feeling of them rattling over the sound, but there was reason the sound they made was the main feature.

Avoiding a puddle that was a bit deeper than his shoe could comfortably step in, Matt focused a bit more on his surroundings as he continued his walk. He didn’t care for earbuds or any kind of sounds besides what is just happening around him in the world, and especially since he finds the combination of cityscape and rain as an incredibly soothing sound. Combined with his low energy from work, it was easy to zone out and just relax his mind.

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Coming up to a crosswalk, Matt waited with the few other people at this specific light as he and his temporary companions for the light to change. This light was usually slow to change for some reason or another, but regulars knew that. In fact, if one was perceptive, they could pay attention to the expressions of those around them and see the slight pressing of eyebrows and the downturning of mouths as the seconds turned into minutes. Compared to them, Matt's smile grew slightly more visible from the amusement of watching confusion grow.

Turning his attention back to the light, he knew that it would change soon and so prepared to step forward and continue his way. Seeing that familiar white stick figure signal it was fine to cross, Matt began to step forward down the crosswalk and was about halfway down when he was distracted momentarily from the sound of heavy footsteps behind him, turning slightly just in time to see a person running forward with great speed.

Matt was able to steady his stance before the person barreled into him as he stepped away, but he was still bumped into quite heavily as his side was clipped by the hurried man. Stumbling a bit but catching himself, he looked back up to see the mysterious assailant book it down the street and away from view. Grumbling a bit to himself as he straightened his glasses, Matt prepared to keep walking before he noticed that the collision had caused his hand to fall from his pocket and drop his Magnets.

Panicked, he looked around him along the floor hurriedly before seeing that familiar gray shine that his oh so precious magnets had. And it looked like they were intact as well, what luck. Usually dropping them would be a one way ticket to cracked magnet town, a place that Matt practically has dual citizenship in.

Bending down to pick them up hurriedly before the light changed, he managed to regain possession of the magnets before the sound of honking made him snap his head back up in alert. Did the light change already and he was in the way? That can’t be it, Matt usually has a great sense of timing and he should have five or so more seconds at least. But looking up shows that he is correct, the timer still ticking down but the continued honking getting closer makes him reconsider.

Turning to the sound, Matt witnessed to his growing horror as two headlights rapidly approached towards him, blaring the horn the entire way. The front cabin of a large white delivery truck was speeding down the otherwise empty street, despite the red light and Matt standing in the middle of the road. Both due to the cabin being dark and the lights being very bright, Matt couldn’t see the driver but that was unnecessary to spur Matt into quickly running the rest of the way to the sidewalk and throwing himself of the road as he felt the rush of wind and rain pass by behind him, and then the honking horn retreat into the distance.

Matt just laid prone on the sidewalk for a moment, breathing in heavily as he waited for his heart to calm down the rapid adrenaline filled beating. Thankfully the rain now hitting his head and face was able to shake his thoughts away from spiraling and he sat up. Throwing himself to the floor had knocked his glasses onto the floor, so he picked them up and wiped the water and any dirt that had gotten on them during his crash. Placing them back on, Matt looked back into the road, spotting his now demolished umbrella remain in his previous spot. If Matt didn’t get out of the way, he would probably share the same fate.

Gulping in nervously, he sat on the road and mourned the loss of a trusty shield from the elements. Thankfully the rain had stayed the same, just a light but continuous drizzle so it wasn’t necessary, but surely missed.

After feeling sufficiently calmed from the sudden and downright frightening experience, Matt stood up and shook the dirt and water from his coat and pants. At least he still had his magnets, Matt thought as a mild comfort and continued to play with them as he continued his walk home. Not much further now and he could put past crazy drivers and inconsiderate pedestrians behind him. In fact, looking down the street Matt could see his building signs glow in the rain.

Quickening his pace to just get home and lay down, Matt hurried down the sidewalk still a bit tense from earlier when he suddenly felt an awful feeling as the hair on his arms and neck began to stand on end. Maybe not the best move, but Matt stopped moving and looked around before the world was lit up with a bright light that forced Matt to close his eyes, and then a loud crash of thunder quickly followed above him making him jump in surprise.

Looking up, Matt could see just as the piece of sparking machinery that was on the roof of the building he was walking past and that had just been struck by lightning started falling with a trail of towards the ground, and coincidentally straight at Matt.

For the second time that day, Matt dove out of the way as the heavy piece of metal crashed into a puddle that was under it. Matt thought he was fine for the split second before the puddle splashed outwards towards Matt, at the same time the already sparking machine let out a loud crackle as sparks flew away from the machine and into the air. And directly into the water that Matt was both touching and in direct contact with.

It took Matt a second to comprehend what was about to happen, fear spiking through his body before it was immediately replaced with pain. A strangled cry of pain echoed down the street before it was washed away with the sound of rain picking up. Even still, Matt screamed in pain as his muscles burned with energy, the scent of burnt flesh mixing with the petrichor of the rain into something that would be hard to describe as pleasant. And when Matt's throat was ripped raw from the electricity ravaging his body and throaty screaming, Matt bent over himself as the energy burned through him until the machine finally lost charge and the discharge halted.

Falling over with smoke rising from his body, Matt could faintly hear the shouts of panic from nearby pedestrians who weren't caught in the shock. That's good, Matt wouldn’t wish that feeling on anybody. Although even now it was getting harder to remember how it felt, it was all so foggy… Matt was just tired, and a nap couldn’t hurt. Easing into laying on the ground, Matt faintly felt his precious and beloved magnets fall from his hand and rattle against the concrete.

Faintly, he could still feel them. If he had to, he could probably turn clay into the exact shape and size of them from feeling alone. They were something incredibly so familiar he could even do it with his eyes closed. Which was nice, since he was having trouble keeping them open.

But he could feel them. The push and pull of the magnetism that he had imagined countless times before when visualizing the feel of them. How they pulled against each other, inseparable if they got their way. And when he flexed his numb fingers towards them, he could feel the edge of their field, and when he moved his hand into it he could feel the pair spin slightly to face him, as if he was part of their bond.

Heh, that's cool…

And everything went black for Matthias Harding.