Alphabet Soup

Elle had spent a ridiculous amount of glimmer on that fortune teller. She had forced both Max and Charle to go with her and now she would never hear the end of it. They were now weaving through the City streets looking for a good place to eat. She was being uncharacteristically quiet, leaving the decision up to the others.

"What about that new place with all the chicken?" Max suggested, pointing down the street in the general direction of the restaurant.

Charle didn't even consider it. "No. All they have is chicken. I don't want chicken."

"You need to eat more chicken." Max remarked smugly. Charle smacked his arm. "What about that place with all the noodles?"

"You mean Elle's favorite place?" Charle glanced at their brooding friend. "No, she should be punished for dragging us to that terrible show."

Elle stuck her tongue out but didn't otherwise respond.

"Yeah," Max agreed, "that was pretty bad. I mean, I would almost be a little scared if what she said had any meaning."

"I see pain in your future." Charle quoted the gaudily dressed woman who had claimed to read their palms. "Of course there's pain in the future, we're Guardians."

"I see a battle between allies." Max continued.

"Your arrogance will be your undoing."

"Words will come back to scald you."

"Beware the letters." Charle laughed. "What does that even mean?"

"I think she was just mad that we didn't believe in her."

Elle rolled her eyes and finally spoke up. "You guys were a little rude. You could have at least pretended to believe her. Also, we are going to the noodle place because you guys have punished me enough already with your bad attitudes." She stalked off toward the place in question without waiting for the group consensus. Charle and Max shared a bemused look before following her.

A bell tinkled lightly as they pushed the door open and a round faced man peered over the counter in the back. He grinned when he saw Elle and motioned to the open dining area filled with mismatched chairs and crooked tables. Elle sat in her usual chair at a table opposite the door. The man scurried into the kitchen as Charle and Max sat down around the table. Elle glared at them.

The man returned with a steaming bowl that he set in front of Elle. "Some fresh alphabet soup, miss?"

"Yes, thank you very much, Eddie." Everytime Elle came to here she always said the same thing: surprise me. After a while the owner, Emma, and her husband, Eddie, stopped asking. The second Elle walked through the door they would grab her the freshest thing from the kitchen.

While Charle and Max perused the menu and ordered Elle picked up her shiny spoon and stirred her soup.

Hello.

Rubbing her eyes she leaned in closer to peer at the word spelled out in the noodle letters. "Hello."

How are you this fine afternoon.

"I'm good. How are you?"

Charle looked up at Elle questioningly, but shrugged and went back to her menu.

I am well.

Unsure of the proper etiquette when talking to one's soup, Elle mumbled "Oh, that's good... I suppose..."

"Um, Elle," Max started gently, "who are you talking to?"

"My soup."

"You're doing what?" Charle leaned across the table to peer into the bowl as the letters drifted round on the broth to rearrange themselves again.

Ah. This is the nonbeliever.

"No way this is possible." Max breathed.

"I'm pretty sure it's happening so that would make it possible." Elle whispered back. This was hardly the weirdest thing they had seen that day. She didn't know why her teammates were always so skeptical.

Yes, friends, I am indeed speaking to you.

Charle looked up from the bowl to roll her eyes at Elle. "Elle, how are you doing this?"

"I'm not doing this! The soup is talking to us, Charle! The soup knows!" Elle insisted, gesturing wildly to the bowl.

"The soup doesn't have a consciousness. The soup can't know anything!" Charle grabbed the spoon from Elle's hand and stabbed it right through the words spelled out on top of the broth, scattering the letters.

With a shriek Elle grabbed the spoon back, nearly pulling Charle across the table with it. Max tried to get between them but he only managed to upset the table. The bowl sloshed, spilling steaming hot broth over the rim and onto his hand. He yelled in pain and the girls stopped squabbling to look at him in concern.

"Are you okay?" Charle asked, all her attention on Max as his Ghost appeared and scanned his arm.

Elle stayed in her seat. "Um, guys."

"What?" Max snapped back.

Elle merely pointed to the letters drifting together once more.

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can also hurt you.

"Words will come back to scald you." Max recalled in awe.

Charle looked at Elle and the spoon clutched in her hand. "I see a battle between allies."

Elle looked between her bowl and her friends. "Beware the letters."

The three were staring at each other with wide eyes when Eddie returned. "Have you had enough time to decide?" He asked, smiling widely. His smile faltered when the silence around the table finally sunk in and he followed the other's eyes down to the bowl of soup sitting in the middle of the table.

I would like the spaghetti, please.

~ASDFGHJKL;~

I know it has literally been months and I'm super sorry because I really don't have much of an excuse other than ya know life and existing and all that annoying stuff. But anyway, have some fireteam fluff. I know it really doesn't have much to do with Destiny specifically, but honestly every aspect of a Guardian's life has got to be "bees in a trench coat"ish so why not some random, vaguely threatening soup for what was supposed to be a relaxing day off? I think next time we'll either return to Zavala and DD or maybe I'll have the prank wars thing finished because I promised that forever ago... I'm just incredibly bad at time management and staying focused on one thing for longer than six seconds...