Symbiotic Slurps and Wholy Grains

by TacosAndBeetles

Four symbiotes have come together to try their claws at running a coffee shop. In a town of powered people and aliens, tourists are fresh, constant, and eager to buy a muffin. It's a good business when the employees aren't mucking things up. Soon they will have to compete with a new coffee shop in town. One run by humans. It's a rivalry that will end in the most unexpected of ways.

{Authors Note:

I don't have the energy for my original symbiote idea right now, but I still want to write them. So I'm trying a smaller scale story using the Coffee Shop trope. In this world, the town Newshire is inhabited by some Marvel character and some of my own OCs. Stan Lee is the mayor and the symbiotes live here.

In this universe, they can form their own bodies and don't have hosts yet. I know this is set in an AU of the marvel universe, but you probably won't be seeing many Marvel characters which aren't my own OCs. Sorry :(

Hope you enjoy this!

(Also how do u indent here? I tried putting indents but it always goes away when I save the doc!)

Also, to see what my symbiotes look like, check here-

/works/31512797/chapters/77956097

End Author's Note}

It was a clear morning. Faint pink swelled up from the horizon and spun its wisps around the far off mountain, whose eternal gaze stood watch over a fair sized town and its ever-constant residents. Birds whistled good morning. Their songs were soft, twinkling, yet oh so infuriating. So infuriating, in fact, that the town's mayor Stan had to (more than once) stop a girl who controlled cats from having them attack all birds. Thanked though he was by most of the citizens, there were always those few morning-haters who agreed with the girl.

One such resident couldn't help but wish for the girl to try it again this fine morning. Not that they'd ever admit it. They had a business to run after all. Opinions, even silent ones, had to be carefully tailored to others. Now if only their employees would see that as well...

This was their train of thought as they prowled the sleepy streets of Newshire toward their shop. Without eyes, they were forced to rely upon their echolocation. They could send out a little screech every second or more and have objects bounced back. It was tiring, but it was something. A few passerbys littered the sidewalk, but ultimately most everyone still slept. Those that didn't (or, rather, those that were out walking near this resident) didn't bother trying to talk. If anything, they did their damned best to avoid even looking at the shop-owner. Said owner couldn't help but feel a small amount of pride at that. It'd be better to them if they could actually "see" the people avoid them, but, alas, forever set were the limitations of echolocation. It did have its perks, however. If they wanted to, they could send out waves from the center of their body and have things bounced back from all around them at once, rather than just their front. So not all bad, they mused. Soon, however, they had to focus on other things, as the roof of their shop came into metaphorical view.

It was situated at the inner ring of town, nestled between a little computer repair shop and an empty parking lot. The lot wasn't abandoned, it was just left unused most mornings, since the residents who actually lived here preferred to walk rather than drive. It was only the tourists who used it. The constantly changing and forever arriving tourists.

The owner, Sonar, as they were known to strangers and the like, couldn't actually complain about the tourists. Tourists let the business run. Who doesn't want to start a new town off with a cup of coffee and a muffin? After those were finished, it was off to see what crazy shows the locals had.

That was the thing. Newshire didn't have impressive things like other tourist towns did. It didn't have a museum of rare things, or a mine, or a bunch of hiking trails, or a well known artist, or... anything. It was a simple town. A fair sized town. A town with residents who had grown up here, who knew each other well, and-

Scraape.

Sonar quietly screeched. On the other side of the road a middle-aged man had pulled a street lamp out of its concrete hold. He held it high and waved at someone down the road. The click of a camera flash followed. Sonar sighed.

Newshire didn't have objects to impress. It had people. People who could lift cars, turn green, fly, swing, make earthquakes, control animals, etc. You named it, Newshire had it. Even Sonar themself and their employees had to participate in shows for the tourists every so often.

The man put the light back into place. Miraculously, it didn't tip over. He smiled, waved at the people again, and started striking a few poses. Sonar, weary at the childish display, stopped focusing their screech in his direction. They pointed it forward, at their shop. They walked up to their quaint coffee shop with its classic white paint and brown trim, complete with a glass door and a logo of Sonar's toothy appearance holding a cup of steaming coffee in their long claws printed upon the glass. A well kept lawn greeted those who wished to dine outside. A cobbled path led up to the door and around the shop. Set upon the path, lining the entire front of the shop wall, were two tables on each side of the door. They were polished cherry wood. In place of chairs were stools.

Sonar advanced upon one of the tables. They held their hand over it and let a few tendrils slide out. The tendrils touched upon its surface and encompassed it in its entirety. No dust, dirt, or garbage was felt. Marginally satisfied, Sonar walked back to the door and retrieved a key hidden inside their substance. A tendril slipped the key into the lock. Long claws didn't do the job (or a lot of jobs requiring fingers) very well. The lock clicked open. Strangely enough, it was the first sound to renew a little energy into them. More so than the songs of birds, or the trudging steps of fellow citizens. And much, much more than the voice that greeted them next.

"Good morning. Lovely view today, isn't it? So many colors in the sky." Sarcasm dripped off the words. No, it poured. Sweet, sugar-filled and thick like honey.

"I'm sure it must be." Sonar answered.

"Two emphases? My, I thought you were getting better, but I must be mistaken. Do you need help?"

Sonar didn't bother echolocating. No need, when the shit-eating grin Euphoria must be wearing is so easy to visualize. Resisting the urge to grind their teeth, Sonar waved Euphoria off. "What I need is the knowledge that my employees have done their jobs right last night."

Euphoria clicked. "Why don't you see for yourself? Take a look around."

Fury burns hot. That's what is said. But if fury burns hot, Sonar's burns cold. Rage transforms into focus. Fire, to ice. Only with this cold flame can Sonar resist the urge to push Euphoria against a wall and tear into her substance with all the care of a rabid dog. Sonar closes their mouth. Needle teeth click together. It's the only signal to Euphoria that she'd done what was, to her, a damn good job.

Sonar chided themselves. Having worked with Euphoria and everyone else for a half year now, the jabs should be nothing. Usually they would be nothing. But it's different when they come from Euphoria. Where the others occasionally joked about lack of true sight, it was just that. A joke. When Euphoria did it, it was with barbs. It was with the intent of reminding Sonar that she had something they lacked. Color. Sight at all times without the need to screech. Petty though it was, it was one of Euphoria's little games. A pathetic, desperate power play. And Sonar cursed themselves for letting it get to them.

Teeth opened into resting position again, and Sonar simply began a tirade of little screeches from her core. The entire store mapped out in grey, like a blueprint of every object and wall and shape, only without substance somehow. Euphoria lay resting her arms atop the counter, with a wide grin, right at her station.

Right at the cash register.

Irritation flared against Sonar's cold flame. But, to their relief, everything in the shop seemed to be in place. A napkin holder stood upon every table. Each holder, to Sonar's pleasant surprise, even had napkins actually in them. The floor was devoid of stray straws or wrappers. In fact, they couldn't detect a single piece of garbage. Sonar tapped a claw against a nearby table. "Well done."

Euphoria, safe from sight, grinned a little wider. A little more mischievously. "Splicer cleaned well-

"What's wrong?"

Euphoria paused. The grin froze as her eyes narrowed. Lazy tendrils hanging from the end of her jacket sleeves stiffened and stilled. "Whatever do you mean?"

Sonar tilted their head back.

"The only way anything would be this clean after Splicer was on shift, is if Torment was with him. Which means Torment is on shift this morning. You mess with something every time you two are together on shift. Don't deny it!"

Euphoria had opened her mouth to protest, but quickly shut it.

"So I am asking, once again." Sonar fully turned their body to face Euphoria. "What. Is wrong?"

Euphoria hesitated. Was the truth really needed? Was it truly terrible that she was currently using her light bending abilities to give the illusion of frogs squatting under all the tables and chairs? No, she decided. No it was not terrible. It's not like she was making the entire store look different, or creating entrails to hang from the windows. Really, there wasn't anything wrong at all!

So decided, she simply said "Nothing" and left it at that, if only to know that her abilities had some measure of power over Sonar.

Sonar, who couldn't "see". Who couldn't be confused by light tricks. Or invisibility. Or any of what makes Euphoria powerful. Her only solace was that, at least, until Torment got here, she currently had a one-up right now. Even if Sonar couldn't be fooled by seeing light, they could be fooled by not seeing things, too. Sonar hummed. A short, low thing complete with an underlying growl. Euphoria had no doubt they didn't believe her, but that's alright. All the more fun to see them try and puzzle out what could be wrong. Sick, petty delight curled up from the depths of her being. Joyful though it was, she did her damn best to not laugh, lest she be stuck with garbage duty and extra hours. Still, she enjoyed the feeling. Celebrated it with slow waves off her tendrils and, of course, a grin.

Sonar tapped another tabletop. "Where is Torment? Usually he's the first here, is he not?" They scoffed. "Certainly you're never here before him."

Euphoria shrugged. "Apologies. The disappointment from you is truly heartbreaking," she drawled. "I'm disappointed too, in fact! I haven't spoken to him this morning. Not at all. For the life of me, I can't fathom what's keeping him. Punctual little thing must have had an accident of some sort. Let's hope that's not the case." She ended her words in sing-song.

Sonar held back a sigh. It was almost opening time and they were already down a worker. Before they realized what they were doing, their claw began rhythmically scraping over the table it was placed upon. "Let's just get to work. Hopefully he'll show."

They walked over to the counter and slipped behind it. As they passed Euphoria they stopped a breath away, just behind her back, teeth next to her neck. "Any and all illusions better be gone by the time the first customer enters."

Euphoria didn't respond. Sonar placed a hand upon her shoulder and dug their claw tips in. Hard enough to be felt, light enough to be delicate. Exactly enough to be a warning.

"All illusions will be gone by the time the first customer enters." A beat passed. Then, with an audible grin, "If there ever were any illusions in the first place."

Sonar's claws tightened before slipping from Euphoria's shoulder. They walked over to the cups and coffee machines. After a quick screech to make sure everything was accounted for, the shop's doorbell rang. Euphoria had shot a tendril out and flipped the sign in the window to Open. Just like that, the place began filling with tourists, and Sonar once more prayed Torment would arrive.

---

Beams of sun shot through the cracks of an old, partially open curtain. Stunning light illuminated a dull carpet and noticeable lack of furniture. A lumbering beast lay curled upon itself in the far left corner of the room, where the light couldn't reach. It's shiny form twisted through the air. Frothing black intermixed with white, like ink spreading across paper. Despite its motions, it made no sound. Despite no sound, it wasn't asleep. The early sun, even without touching the beast, was enough to keep it awake. Then, because being awake left it with too much energy to lie down for long, it pushed itself up on muscular arms and stood. Its white eyes glinted. Two spiraled horns curled back. Their substance was thicker, more defined, than that which made up the rest of its body. A long, thin rat tail swayed side to side, decorated by an arrow tip. The beast lumbered over to the moth-bitten curtains, where sun caught the smooth curves of its toothy collar and bounced off.

Restless energy clawed at its insides, as mornings tended to do. Scratch that. As nearly all times of day save for dusk did. Early sun just had a stronger effect. Yet somehow the lazy light countered such effects by making the beast simultaneously feel the opposite. Feel lazy, too. But now is not the time for being lazy! There's a bright new day, an early new day, a pink new day! A new day to see Torment.

Bundled up in the warmth of such a prospect, the beast felt its energy swell and pull, till it pulled the beast out the window, straight down two stories and across the lawn. The beast sprinted over the field of weeds and hopped the rickety wooden fence before dropping to all fours, bounding off down the street with its tail whipping behind it, the very picture of excitable. Run-down houses lined his street down to the end. Some had lights on, some lay abandoned. It always knew which were abandoned or not, as even strangers probably did. Weeds spilled past the fences of those empty houses. The door was usually open, the windows dark, the sound a dead nothing that was nearly suffocating in its lack of life. Far off came the chirping of birds. The beast smiled. Given that it was always smiling, no one would have noticed that this time it meant something. No one, maybe, but the person it was off to see. Speaking of, it was completely off to see this person simply because it was bored. And this person lived closer than the other employees. Yeah, that was it! The beast was off to see this someone because they lived closer.

With this reason determined, they let their thoughts turn to other things. Like that person they just passed! Tight expression, nice suit. Nice suit? The beast tilted its head back to get another look, but its fast pace had already left the guy in the dust. Ah well.

It continued on. After another few minutes (accompanied by another few tired residents and slightly frightened tourists) it came upon its destination. A lamp post, set at a street corner where the person's neighborhood street merged into the main road in a T shape. Slowing its pace, the beast came to a halt at the base of the lamp post. The post's metal body was littered in scratches and dents. They covered it from base to top. Deep, long gauges that it'd seen tourists wonder over. Chuckling at the thought, the beast dug its claws into the post and began climbing. As always, the post miraculously held its weight to the very top where the beast couched in wait, its long tail hanging down and swaying in the light breeze. Its gaze tracked birds that occasionally flitted over the well-kept houses. Neither paint nor wood peeled. Every few houses down hung a feeder of some sort for the critters. Delicious critters... Saliva pooled behind its teeth. As if in response to the danger the poor critters were in, a figure appeared at the end of the neighborhood street. Its form stood tall and regal. Encompassing its brawny figure was a pair of large wings. They curled around his shoulders, but didn't quite touch them. It was as if they were floating. Like a halo. Giving him that much more of an angelic figure as the morning sun hugged his frame and bathed his back. The beast found itself leaning forward, only realizing after its weight nearly lurched it off its perch. The figure came closer. By now the beast could see familiar white eyes, the recognizable outline of downward-pointing horns. They were so small compared to the beast's. It wanted to reach out and run a claw over those minis, to see if they felt the same as its own, or if they were more delicate...

The beast didn't have long to ponder at such things, as the person was now close enough to nod hello. Close enough to see that his black color far away was actually dark blue.

He stopped at the light post, having spotted the beast well before he got there. Not that it was difficult to spot, seeing as it was like a gargoyle. There weren't any of those around here. "Splicer," he greeted. A faint smile danced across his features.

The beast, Splicer, waved its lithe tongue over its teeth. "Torment!" it crowed. Where Torment's voice was softer, somehow smooth in its deep rumble, Splicer's was loud. Loud and, at times, scratchy. Splicer hopped down. It landed with a concrete-breaking thud in front of Torment. Splicer's substance still writhed, only now with a little more ferocity. Its partially hunched form was several inches smaller than that of Torment's. For a few long seconds neither one said nor did anything. Splicer became intensely aware of how awkward it probably looked right now, and bolstered up the courage to say something. "Lovely morning isn't it!"

The words had a slight squeal to them. Splicer caught itself before it could flinch at that. It began to wave its arms in theatrical fashion, gesturing to the trees on the other side of the main road. "Plenty of animals to eat! Have you had a snack this morning? I bet you could use one!" Splicer laughed a scratchy, confident laugh. Torment merely followed Splicer's movements with his eyes. Instead of responding, he tilted his head and nodded, mouth still open in a grin much to Splicer's relief.

"That would be much appreciated, but I must get to work."

Splicer's substance drooped. Its constant slithering slowed. "Oh. Of course! Sonar would hate if you were late! Bet they'd get their tongues in a twist." Of course Splicer (did)n't want to keep Torment from going to work just so they could talk more. That's crazy! Still, Splicer couldn't help but feel a flicker of... something, at the thought of parting ways so soon.

Torment nodded again. He closed his mouth. Another few silent seconds passed between them. Splicer's gaze wandered to Torment's horns. They were so smooth. So small, yet anything but fragile. It was oddly enticing.

"Look!" a voice squealed. "Oh my God!"

Shaken out of the odd force that had kept them in place, the two Klyntar stiffened and jerked their heads to the right. Splicer took a few hasty steps away from Torment just to make sure the urge to touch those small horns wouldn't overwhelm it. Torment didn't notice. He was too busy looking at the gaggle of tourists staring back from down the street. One woman, a pudgy thing in her late 30s, doused in pink cloth, clutched the arm of her companion, whose black outfit and grim expression clashed so thoroughly it was startling to see. Surrounding the women were five other tourists. All of which held expressions ranging from shock to fear to- Wait, was that boy in the back waving at them? Torment checked again and- Yeah, the boy was waving. He didn't appear to be doing it in fear, either. It was more akin to the wave of someone seeing their favorite celebrity, or someone cool-looking at a theme park. One of the adult males raised a camera and it went off with a flash. The light was a signal it would seem. All the humans rushed toward the two toothy, hulking symbiotes. Torment wondered if it was some foolish form of attack, as occasionally happened when tourists didn't bother checking the town's website, thus leading to them being unfamiliar with some of the local aliens, which in turn led to either attacking said aliens to trying to get others to attack them. It was quite irritating. Only... The little boy ran with the humans, too. Torment cocked his head, wings puffing out a bit in confusion. Before Torment's poor, tormented mind could process this, Splicer was meeting the humans with a lively, prancing gait. Its mouth hung open in glee.

Human and symbiote met in a burst of energy. The pink woman squealed at the same time as the little boy. Torment's wings ruffled once more. He watched as Splicer took no notice of the human's lack of fear, as if squeals of delight upon seeing them were normal. If anything, it was even more comfortable around them at this moment than it'd been with Torment. Splicer dropped to all fours and struck the pose of a predator, mouth open as far as it could go, claws extended and thin tail raised above its head in strike position. The little boy squealed again. Then, to Torment's amazement, the boy squished his hazel eyes shut and clapped. Copper hair bounced to and fro from the force of his shaking shoulders.

"See?" The woman in pink declared. "What'd I tell you?"

Her eyes were planted upon those of her grim partner, but her voice was raised to address the whole group.

"So you were right for once, Ginneane,'' a middle-aged man answered. His red shirt matched the red of his contacts and the red of his camera, which he focused upon Splicer as it struck another pose. Observing the silly display was slightly amusing, Torment decided. It was childish, but Splicer did have a certain flare from the positions it was choosing. Though Torment had no clue where Splicer learned these things, he appreciated whoever taught it nonetheless. The next one was a type of fencing stance. Splicer's side was to Torment, allowing him to observe the way rays of sun wrapped around its teeth, bouncing off in fractured colors, reminding him of precious gems he'd often seen humans wear upon entering the shop. They, like Splicer, were forces of nature. Quite ironic, Torment snorted, considering they were both aliens and thus in no way forces of nature. Still, the idea had merit. Forces of nature were powerful, resilient things to be looked upon with respect. Torment's gaze followed the curves of those large teeth rising from Splicer's chest. Mapped out best he could (with considerable difficulty thanks to Splicer's moving surface) the black specks around its body. They didn't move. They were the only things, actually, aside from its horns and eyes, that was always the same.

"What about him?"

Brought out of his thoughts by the high-pitched tone, Torment looked past Splicer and at the little boy, who's finger pointed straight at him. Splicer glanced back at him. Its eyes gleamed in amusement. "That's Torment," it said, voice scratchier than usual. "Why don't you say hi?"

Torment took a step forward before pausing. The shop would open soon. Usually he'd be there by now. However, was it not important to also bolser relations with tourists outside of the shop? Encountering friendly tourists outside of work -encountered among the wild, as Euphoria would joke- didn't happen very often. And Sonar liked to remind everyone of the importance of public image. It'd be rude to go, especially when it meant leaving a happy little boy.

Splicer subtly extended a tendril to beckon the deliberating figure over. Oh he was very much aware it meant making Torment late to his shift, but it was for the good of the kid. It was to keep the kid happy and, by extension, the adults. Spending more time with Torment was just a bonus. It's not like that was the main reason Splicer found itself hoping against hope Torment would stay. Right? Right! To its pleasure, Torment took another step forward, then another, till he was standing next to them all. Splicer's tail flicked a little faster.

One of the men, a mousy fellow with freckles and hooded blue eyes, shifted his weight to one leg. He shifted it back. His eyes flicked up at Torment, then quickly down again. Torment simply stared and waited. Finally the man said, "You must be pretty strong."

Torment nodded. Faint pink crept up the man's neck. The woman in black smiled a sly smile. "How much can you lift?" She asked.

The pink woman's eyes brightened. Oblivious to the blushing man and cattish smile upon her companion's lips, she brought her hands together in front of her chest and smiled. "A demonstration would be wonderful!" She gushed.

Splicer's tendrils shifted against themselves. A demonstration? Perfect, that'd take time! It looked up at Torment with a plea in its eyes. The other Klyntar stood motionless. "I'm afraid there is nothing around here which would serve as suitable for a demonstration," he said.

The pink woman's face was crestfallen. She scanned the surrounding area, gaze fixating on the trees across the road. She pointed at them. "You could use those." When Torment's head merely followed the direction of her finger without responding, she tried again. "Please, my son would love it."

Splicer nodded enthusiastically. Torment looked down at Splicer's wide eyes. A few seconds passed between them. "If it will please you and your son, I shall demonstrate."

A smile tugged at the mousy man's lips. The little boy clapped once more, and the woman's eyes crinkled as she smiled in relief. "Thank you."

Splicer lashed his tail, then gave a heart-felt slap to Torment's back. "This'll be fun!" it whispered. Or, at least, it tried to whisper, which proved majorly unsuccessful. Some of the humans smiled at the statement.

They all began their trek across the road. Keenly aware this could prove to be hugely time-consuming, Torment couldn't help feeling a bit of guilt at the thought of the shop opening without him. But the humans rushed onward, and Splicer was looking at him with swirling eyes full of life. So he continued on.

He just hoped it wouldn't be a busy opening at the shop.

---

Milk flew across the air, spilling from an open blender laying sideways on the back counter. One of Euphoria's tentacles desperately tried to snag the liquid from the air. It whipped in frenzied circles around the still-operating blender as the machine continued to massacre the kitchen via coffee ingredients. Luckily for her, no one was aware of this little fiasco. All the customers saw was one Euphoria leaning against the cash register, occasionally wincing when milk-from-nowhere splashed against her tendrils, which also disappeared to nowhere. Aside from that, the coffee counter at the back was completely okay. So they thought. Or, so they saw, rather. Light bending really had its perks. Of course, even seeing everything was alright didn't stop them from wondering just what the Hell that blender sound was when clearly the blender was there on the counter not plugged in. However, seeing as this was a shop of symbiotic (AKA parasitic) aliens, and the entire town was full of crazy weirdos with crazy weird abilities, no one bothered questioning it. Also a good thing for Euphoria. She doubted she'd be able to come up with a reasonable answer, or even just an acceptable one.

She just smiled and took down orders, because that's what she did when a wild blender wasn't on the loose. Finally, one of her tendrils managed to push past the blender's defensive blades and unplug it. The shop fell into silence. Okay, not complete silence. The chatter of conversation still wafted through the air, fortified by the laughter of those outside floating in from the shop's open door. Compared to a blender though, it was pretty quiet.

Euphoria sent out more tendrils to clean up. One tentacle snagged a pair of napkins from next to the register while another zipped behind the counter to the hall that led to Sonar's office at the end, a small storage closet to the left, and a pair of bathroom stalls to the right. It opened the closet and pulled out the mop, whose poor body remained stained from numerous unknown coffee things. The faint smell of caramel clung to its black handle. She brought it back to the blender and had just begun to wipe up the mess when Sonar came into the shop. Their smooth, inky substance was a blackhole, sucking up all the bright, shining sun without letting it cast light upon their form. Their two tongues hung in neutral position, clueing Euphoria in that the conversation Sonar had with that large bloke outside (out of hearing range, no less!) had gone well. It'd only taken 5, maybe 10 minutes, yet somehow Euphoria had found herself dealing with a flying blender before Sonar got back. Her tendrils sped up their cleaning.

A soft, consistent tirade of squeals could be heard from Sonar. They couldn't pick up on all the milk everywhere, but they could pick up on several of Euphoria's tendrils hurrying around with a mop and towels. Teeth coming together in a clack, they stalked to the counter, tongues twitching the whole way. Euphoria's wing's twitched. She waited till Sonar got right up to the register. "Who was that man of which you spoke to out there on such a fine day as this?"

"Manager of Little Crust."

Euphoria's eyes narrowed. She leaned back a bit. "That disgusting pizza place down the street?"

"He wanted to cut a deal. 50/50. Merge our businesses. Not that I'd ever take it," Sonar clarified in response to Euphoria's wing and jaw drop of shock. "The only reason he wants a deal is because his watery business is failing. The place will be closed down within a month if he can't figure something out." Sonar tilted their head. "Not that he will." They turned their attention past Euphoria. Tendrils still swept up the occasional spot of milk. During their conversation, she'd mostly managed to return the kitchen to its original state, and thus sent out a tentacle to return the mop. She could feel the suspicion radiating off Sonar.

Desperate to steer Sonar's focus elsewhere, Euphoria attempted to continue the pizza conversation. "I've heard he doesn't even bake his dough all the way most days. I'm su-"

"U-um... Excuse me?" A voice peeped up behind Sonar, cutting Euphoria off despite its small manner. Euphoria leaned over and peered behind Sonar's tall figure and long arms. A short woman with auburn hair and a fair complexion stood with her hands clasped together. A shy constitution was clear in her pale blue eyes, whose gaze wavered upon meeting Euphoria's eyes. Sonar stepped out of the way. The lady scooted up to the counter. Her eyes flicked to the menu behind Euphoria, but came back to Euphoria's face before she read it. "I think your sign might be broken."

Euphoria's eyes widened in surprise. She turned around to see the menu, one hand atop the register, the other coming up to rest upon her chest. No, everything was fine with the menu, she found.

"No, I mean the sign outside," the lady said. Euphoria turned back to face her, but not before seeing that Sonar's body teeth had grown a smidgen larger. "I'm not sure," the lady continued. "It's wooden, and was broken in half. It might be someone else's sign, but it looked like it had part of a coffee cup on it, so..." she trailed off, voice shaken by the stiff composure of Sonar and Euphoria's panicked silence.

She had to say something! Ignore Sonar, Euphoria thought, ignore Sonar! "Thank you, we much appreciate the message." To her credit, Euphoria's voice was smooth. Suave. It held no hints of her panic. Who wouldn't panic, considering that, if what this woman said was true, it'd be the fourth time this month the stupid sign had broke. Sonar would not be happy...

"The employees here are top quality workers, they will get it fixed within the hour," Sonar interrupted, putting a gruff edge to their voice at the end.

"Oh, it's okay," the lady replied. "They don't have to, I just thought you should know." She looked back at the menu, now with full focus.

Sonar turned their head right at Euphoria. A purposeful message penetrated the silence between them. Euphoria wanted to argue her case. Namely, it was not her fault that the damn sign had broke. Nor was it reasonable to pull her out just to fix it when Torment still -still! Where the fuck was he?!-still!- hadn't arrived. But with a customer right there, and several more entering, all she could do was silently curse and hope her anger came across as clear as Sonar's. The lady looked back at Euphoria. "I'll have a Stan Lee."

Euphoria nodded with an open-mouthed smile. She hummed an approving "Good choice" as she wrote the order down on a notepad next to the register. Before she could actually get started on making the drink, Sonar stepped behind the counter and put a hand upon her shoulder.

"Why don't you go? I can handle this. There's still a sign that needs to be fixed. You can work on that, can't you?"

Euphoria closed her mouth and drew taut her wings. She knew for a fact the only thing keeping those emphases out of Sonar's voice was a very weak, customer-controlled leash. A guise of calm and poise. How Euphoria wished to start an argument right here and now, but Sonar's hand remained in a resting, delicate position upon her shoulder, and the customer was waiting with wide eyes. Arguing now would make her look foolish. So off she went, out from behind the counter, across the store, and to the clear blue skies outside. The sign was, indeed, broken in half. Euphoria could only guess as to what had done it. A new powered person, an argument, an accident, a strike of lightning for all she knew! She sighed, but walked over to it and, with as much care as she could muster in her fury, started fixing it. Unknowest to her, inside the shop, Sonar began making drinks. Their tendrils were much more refined in their actions. No blender flew off, no cup was tipped, no customer unsatisfied. Everything was, to their immense surprise and immovable suspicion, in its place. They'd been prepared to find a mess after seeing Euphoria furiously cleaning... something. Mess they did not find, however, till they stepped into a puddle of something cold and wet. A puddle of milk. Their grip on the delicate coffee cups tightened. There were still people around, so they refrained from letting their tongues swish or their spikes grow. Instead, they handed the people their coffee and bid farewell.

10 minutes...

Sonar sighed.

They'd been gone for 10 minutes...

---

Splicer was positively ecstatic by the time it was on its way back with Torment, the latter more subdued and not on nearly as happy a level. Dealing with the tourists had taken a good half hour. By now the sun was already high in the sky and the shop would be brimming. And he wasn't there to help...

Torment flexed his shoulder, weary at an imaginary Euphoria nagging him. He could hear the words already. "It's been forever, where were you? I was here all alone with Sonar! How dare you leave me alone with them! They're awful! Now go do most of my job so I can take a secret break."

Splicer looked over its shoulder at the sound of Torment's wings shifting. He appeared to be deep in thought. From what Splicer could tell anyway. His head hung down a little, he didn't glance at the people passing by. It never was too good at reading body language...

But no time to dwell! The coffee shop's roof was cresting the horizon. "Maybe I should stay with you till you get there, for good luck," Splicer teased. "You'll need it." Plus it wanted to say hi to Euphoria real quick.

Torment tilted his head at Splicer, then at the shop. "Are you sure?"

Splicer's tail swished in happy little swings. "Rodents can wait! Yes, I'm sure."

Its verification was rewarded with another of Torment's smiles. Splicer felt a slow, languid warmth spread over itself. Liquid happiness... A good feeling, it praised. A feeling which seemed to be happening more and more for whatever reason.

"It's Euphoria..."

Splicer cocked its head. Squinting at the shop, it saw the outline of Euphoria's wings and droopy tendrils. She appeared to be atop the sign that was supposed to read Symbiotic Slurps -a name that had nearly been beaten by Euphoria's suggestion of Symbiotic Success before Sonar deemed it too arrogant- but currently only read Symbio. If Splicer had to guess, it'd say she was trying to fix it, but if it had to say what it saw, it'd say she was having a tantrum. Several tentacles reached from the sign to the ground, waving and pulling at something Splicer couldn't see. Several shorter ones held her aloft while she pulled at the sign's edge and swayed. The closer Splicer and Torment got, the better they were able to tell she was still swaying and pulling, only now with a clear reason. Decorating the broken edge of the sign was a large black burn. Euphoria wedged several tendrils into the sign's wood and pulled again, trying to create a new break to remove the black marks entirely.

Torment shared a look with Splicer. Splicer waved his tongue in a shrug. "Hey, Euphoria!" It called out.

She reeled back, delicate claws sliding off the wood, and plunged down, creating that new break she wanted. The tendrils lodged into the wood took most of the remaining sign with her. Sign and symbiote landed with a resounding crash that drew the eyes of those who hadn't already been staring. She looked up at Splicer with shock, then rage.

"Look what you did!" She screeched.

Splicer's grin widened. "Looks like I helped you. You should thank me!"

Euphoria pulled herself to her feet and marched over, straightening herself to full height along the way. Even so, she stood at a full head and a half shorter than Splicer and Torment. It was very much not as threatening as she intended, but that didn't stop her from giving Splicer's arm and head a good whack with some thick tendrils. She pointed a claw at its chest. "I am not thanking you for this mess!"

Splicer merely rumbled out a laugh and looked at Torment again. Realizing he was there practically 40 minutes late by now, Euphoria turned her claw on him. "Where have you been?!" Torment opened his mouth to answer. "Nevermind, I don't want to know. I'm sure it's some stupid reason that doesn't matter."

His eyes narrowed and his bony rib cage expanded in a puff of irritation. Helping public image was not stupid, thank you very much! A screech from the shop cut off his reply. They all simultaneously realized Sonar stood at the entrance with tongues lashing, spikes growing, and claws clenching. Euphoria's head snapped up to gawk at what little remained of the sign. Torment held Sonar's "gaze" with calm collectiveness. He'd apologize when he got inside. Surely Sonar would find his reason acceptable. For now, they all stood in place, waiting to see what Sonar would do. Unsure if they should approach or not. Sonar opened their mouth and-

Craaaaaack.

The poor bit of sign left standing came away from its metal pole. It splintered and cracked. Bits of wood fell down as, in near comical slowness, it began to fall, shedding splinters all over the place. Customers and passers stopped to stare at its fall with wide eyes until, finally, it collapsed upon the ground in a heap of rubble, blowing bits of wood into the air. Several people began coughing.

Sonar didn't say anything. They merely watched it all. Watched as it pitched over onto their employees, all of whom did nothing to stop it.

Euphoria watched frozen in shock. On autopilot, she did the only thing she could think of. She cast an illusion and just like that the sign was fine. The people still choking on wood weren't, but that's not her problem right now.

Sonar just stood there.

Torment stood there.

Splicer began cautiously slinking away.

Euphoria's substance dropped. An illusion was not going to fix this...