Chapter Text
The brand new container of paint was drier than Lost Temple. It was crusted into the lid and solid at the bottom of the container. The inphernal next to him was messing with some sort of spawnling’s toy, a pair of rocks tied to a string and swung around.
“Broker, who’d ya steal that from?” He grumbled. “It’s very annoying.”
Broker glared at him. “First off, this is made by me, not someone else. It’s mine.” He shook his finger. “Secondly, I’m older than you. So, let me have my fun while I wait for you to finish with the paint dye. We are heading to Crossroads for a little money making soon, you have to stick with your teals.”
Megaphone rolled his eye. “I can’t use the dye if it’s dry.”
“So spit in it. Problem solved.”
“That’s… not going to work.”
Broker let out a dramatic groan, slipping his toy into his pockets. “Fine. I’ll baby you. Give me the bottle.” He snatched the container away from Megaphone before the younger inphernal could offer an answer.
He returned moments later with the same container, a paintbrush in it for ease of appliance. Broker, instead of letting Megaphone apply the dye by himself, grabbed him by a horn and pulled the taller inphernal down. Megaphone was protesting every moment, but Broker still held him down and proceeded to apply the dye his horns. Once Megaphone had stopped trying to wiggle out of Broker’s grip it was a lot easier to finish.
Besides his initial fights about it, it was quicker when someone else did it. Before long, the movements of the paintbrush stilled, and Broker pulled away.
“See? Was it that hard to cooperate?” Broker closed the lid to the container. “Now, you’re done a lot sooner, and we can get to Crossroads.”
Megaphone took the container from him. “Sure. I’m not going to be sitting for hours in an alleyway though.”
Broker pointed the paintbrush at him. “Fine. You can go get money instead by collecting the weekly payment from Zuka. That better?” Megaphone nodded in response and Broker strolled out of the room. He took the moment to glance at himself in the dirty mirror in front of him.
Teal horns that were carved down to make them a little more manageable. His right eye permanently half shut, half open. The way the glass eye glinted in the light at just the right angle. How the dye of the horns matched in color to the teal undershirt. The way the navy blue suit vest matched the pants. Combine that with the glass teal eye attached by a- more than likely fake- gold chain to his pants pocket. It all fit nicely on him.
Of course it did, it was the same look he grew up with! He’d be insane to say that it didn’t look good on him.
With the paint dye container in hand, Megaphone left the room. It was a quiet walk. Most of the church was in the evening group, listening to Father Overseer talk on. He’d attend the morning group most days, but only in the farther seats.
As knowledgeable as the Father was, he still gave Megaphone the heeby jeebies. He chuckled quietly at those two words.
He dropped off the container at one of the many storage rooms, swiping a bag of candies from a larger box. A nice treat for himself.
It was only a few doors down but Broker was already sitting on the hood of the car, impatiently bouncing one of his legs. When Megaphone entered, Broker slid off of the hood and into the driver’s seat. Megaphone took up his spot in the passenger seat, sitting down just before Broker slammed his foot down onto the gas petal.
The two of them shot out of the open garage, kicking up sand as Broker headed for the location of the nearest road.
It was like running over a body, the way the vehicle jolted when he sped onto the road. Megaphone was left holding onto the seat for all he was worth.
“Can I not throw up whatever I’ve had to eat today?” Megaphone glanced down at the passing road.
Broker popped a candy into his mouth, holding the bag with his other hand. It was a straight road, so both hands couldn't be bothered with steering. “Can’t hear you over the wind!”
Of course he’d taken the opportunity to snatch the candies that Megaphone had swiped. He only rolled his eye, choosing to stay silent. He grabbed the bag back from Broker, shoving it into the pockets of his pants.
Despite the occasional unintelligible crackle of static from the surprisingly functional radio, the rest of the drive was quiet.
The vehicle didn’t fall apart, they weren’t getting shot at, neither of the two had any problems. It was a win as far as he was concerned.
There wasn't anything noticeable happening on the way to Crossroads. The endless array of sandy hills and rocky surfaces that jutted out of the sand weren't anything special.
It felt better once the overbearing heat of the desert faded to a cooler breeze, though. Trees started to pass, strategically planted along the rough road in hopes of looking good. It helped block out the sun, but only so much.
When the Broker driven car entered the concrete tunnel to Crossroads, it would be the final stretch until Megaphone could get away from the other Church member. The lights on the roof of the tunnel helped illuminate the graffiti sprayed on the walls, and the failed attempts to cover them up.
Eventually the tunnel made way for the view to the gigantic tower in the middle of Crossroads. Apparently some random rich inphernal lived in it. They could've been using that money for better uses instead of building a useless tower. Oh well, so bad.
The ride came to its end all too slow when Broker pulled into his familiar spot in the alleyway- and almost literally kicked Megaphone out of the car. The tall inphernal had to brace himself and stand back up to not make a fool out of himself. Instead of giving Broker the satisfaction of a reaction, Megaphone just strolled out of the alleyway.
He made his way down the familiar path to Zuka’s shop, kicking a rock along the way. He popped a candy into his mouth when he reached the back entrance to the shop. It only took him a moment of fumbling with his makeshift lockpicks to open the door. He was instantly greeted with the sight of Zuka’s basically adopted child waiting on the other side.
Rocket wouldn't pass on the chance to grab Megaphone by his horns to pull him down.
“Argh- dude, you shortened them down. Now I can't use them to my advantage!” Rocket rubbed the top of Megaphone’s head.
The teal horned inphernal had to struggle to pull himself back up. “That’s basically the entire point!” He retaliated by grabbing onto one of Rocket’s horns. The blue inphernal let out a shout, pushing Megaphone’s hand away.
Rocket stuck his tongue out at Megaphone before retreating to the kitchen. “Since you’re here do you want me to make you something to eat?”
Megaphone followed behind him. “Nah. If I wanted something cooked correctly I’d ask your caretaker.” Rocket raised an eyebrow. “I mean- I’m on importantness to grab money from Zuka.” He raised his hands in a sign of surrender. “I’m not wrong though, you can't cook good.”
“How much do you need this time?” Rocket made his way over to the door that led to the shop half of the building, glancing back at the teal inphernal.
He took a moment to count on his hands. “Considering it’s been three months without payment… six thousand bux for the moment. I’ll have to ask Broker for the specific amount.”
Rocket sent him a glare. “You came to collect money WITHOUT knowing how much?” Megaphone couldn’t ignore the emphasis on the word ‘without’.
He sat on the table, legs dangling off of it. “Come on, it's probably close enough.”
“Dude. Are you-” Rocket cut himself off with a groan, rubbing the spot on his forehead between his eyebrows. “Fine. Let's just wait for Zuka and Broker to actually do this themselves.”
Megaphone stretched. “Do you have any…” he made an exaggerated gesture out of tapping on his chin in thought. “Actually edible food?”
Rocket gestured to the closed cabinets of the kitchen. “Unless you got some sorta weird cultist food thing, do almost whatever.”
A smaller TV crackled to life from the counter next to the fridge, closest to the table. A smiling yellow inphernal appeared on the screen, wearing a metallic looking hat. The volume for the TV was too low at first for Megaphone to know what they were saying, but when Rocket noticed the inphernal on screen he darted for the TV.
The volume was turned up just after, and the yellow inphernal was talking in a bright and happyish tone. “- welcome back to the Flipside! Now, I can release what the next Phestival theme is and when it is going to be held.” The on screen inphernal gave a patted drumroll on their knees before throwing their hands dramatically out sideways. “It’s going to be space themed, but not just any part of space. It’s going to be themed off of the stars in the sky!”
Rocket gave a pump of his fist, attention on the TV. “YES! Finally a theme that I can actually do something with.”
The yellow inphernal continued talking, but neither of the two seemed to be listening to them anymore.
“You sure? Cause all of Crossroads is super lit and I'm pretty sure you can see zero stars here. Lost Temple has a way better view of the stars. You should come visit some time.” Megaphone spoke with a fake superior tone to his voice.
That rewarded him with a glare from Rocket. “Mhm. And what's it like not being able to participate in professional phights?”
“Hey! I would if I could but only Scythe and Medkit are allowed to participate in those.” Megaphone shrugged off Rocket's remark.
Rocket turned his back to Megaphone and started sorting through the pantry. “Who says? You gotta have a little fun sometimes. I'm technically not allowed to participate in those either, but eh.”
“Yeah, but…”
“Seriously, live a little.”
Megaphone couldn't help but pointedly look at Rocket's prosthetic arm that was gripping a plastic bag of mismatched granola bars.
Rocket threw the entire bag at him in response.
“Hey! Don't break the snacks, idiot.” Megaphone sorted through the bag. “What flavors are in here anyway?”
“One of them tastes like fermented fish.” Rocket grinned. “Me and Sword mixed it with the rest of the unlabeled ones when he slept the night over here one time. Makes it fun to find out what the next one tastes like.”
Megaphone looked up at him. “Dude. Disgusting.”
Rocket let out a laugh to himself. “You're so boring.”
The yellow inphernal on the TV had disappeared by now, reducing the screen back to its default colorless screen. Rocket took one last look at the screen before looking at Megaphone.
“Bring the bag of granola. I'm gonna help you get set up for professional phights, with or without whoever's permission.”