Chapter Text
The music picked up, its beat speeding forward as the blaring announcement of “OVERTIME” flashed through every phighter’s vision. A mish mash of ten contestants had been stuck into the train station for an Annihilate battle with far too many passing locomotives to be safe, but that didn’t really matter to the entertainers that were Dom and Valk. It certainly didn’t matter to Coil either; letting the energy of the fight flow through his veins, he looked up at the screens to see a flashing nineteen to nineteen kills lined up as the thirty second timer began its countdown.
It was time: he was ready to go Beast Mode. Skateboard and Boombox had both ironically pleaded with him to change the name of his final killer move, but it was simply too true of a statement to not be released to the world. (the two of them would just have to accept they were incorrect this time around)
Triggering his ultimate, shards of ice began to spread over his right eye. The three different pulsing rhythms he’d been maneuvering throughout the match overlapped, thrumming to his heartbeat as he let out an icy breath. Scanning the area, Coil could see his teammates both chasing and getting pursued, every phighter growing increasingly desperate for the last kill to end the match. An enemy biograft was hunting down Boombox, a blur of blue light from Slingshot’s glowing sneakers ran across the air, the distant and faint whirr of Hyperlaser’s phinisher charging started up-
Oh shit.
The mercenary’s gun was pointed right at the hovering inphernal, who was too busy pulling back the wire of his gear to hear it. There was only one thing standing between Hyperlaser’s final shot and Slingshots’s unaware existence—how perfect.
Coil moved without thinking, leaping into Hyperlaser’s trajectory, cancelling the trigger and pinning him down in a barricade of ice. This was it, finally, the end of this incessantly weary match. He turned around just to glance at his teammate who was still hovering in the air, and looking back at him in slight astonishment. Being saved by the guy who does everything in his power to annoy the shit out of you at work probably threw him for a loop.
Coil flashed a smug grin his way, a taunt just to remind his teammate that this wouldn’t be changing their regular routine; he expected a light scoff or an exasperated sigh back, but instead received the expression of… growing astoundment? He turned back to look at the enemy he’d pinned down—and was met in his face with only the bright flash of Hyperlaser’s phinisher.
Twenty to nineteen. That was all it took, Coil getting distracted and forgetting that the stupid gun’s final ability was still active even if he’d interrupted. The announcement blared over the arena, a loss for his team and a hilarious victory for the opposition. He respawned just a few moments after, quickly letting his legs buckle underneath him to squat on the floor in embarrassment. After a quick lamentation, he looked up and witnessed the face of a phighter doing everything in their power to hold back a cackle. Unfortunately, the phighter failed.
“PFFFT, HA! Oh swords, you, you really, ahAH–!” Sling raised his hands to cover his eyes, doubling over backwards. His gear fell from his grasp onto the train tracks as he went on with his fit of laughter over the booming voice announcing their defeat. The other team huddled in a boisterous celebration of their close win, while his teammates quickly sat down and sighed as a collective sweaty and tired mess. No one else was looking at the two—one knocked down on his rear end onto the cool tile of the train station, the other giggling maniacally at his companion’s dumbfounded expression.
Coil would usually hate being laughed at. Those who found him solely entertaining were the same people who expected nothing more than stupidity from him, the same people who wouldn’t admit their own shortsightedness even after seeing his prowess. It would usually tick him off to no end—but in this moment of pure undeniable embarrassment, the battle’s completion washing over him, and the final moments of his phinisher melting away:
Fuck, that laugh was beautiful.
“You laugh like an idiot.” Coil sputtered out, hoisting himself off the ground.
“AHA- ugh, oh jeez, heh,” Sling paused his snickering, “Was that seriously the best you could come up with?” Continuing to chuckle to himself, the phighter picked up his gear and de-summoned it, dusting himself off. Coil racked his brain for a defense, thoroughly rattled.
“Huh! Well it sounds like you’re just begging for me to come back to that little cafe of yours and try again,” he retorted, crossing his arms and flashing another signature toothy grin.
“If you try to pull on of your stunts in my workplace, you’re getting a lifetime ban.” Slingshot quickly huffed back with a glare before hearing his name called over by one of his siblings. Without a goodbye, he ran off to the other end of the station to meet up with his pink healer friend, leaving Coil to watch him silently withdraw from behind. Usually he’d have a better witty remark or some clever way to push the other’s buttons, but that damn laugh was still echoing through his head; he couldn’t even figure out why, it was just so… pretty? He wanted to hear it again, it felt like the sound of bells on a windy day-
Okay. He wasn’t going to waste another minute on the specificities of this stupid guy's chortling or whatever. Coil quickly turned off in the other direction, passing by other phighters who had lingered around after the match. He had places to be, and the cafe owner had no place in his head. Yes, one hundred percent. It’s not like it’d be hard to just get your mind off something.
So, he may have failed—just partially. After the match, Coil had attempted to do anything and everything to blow off what had happened that morning. He’d even thrown himself into a few one on one rounds set up by Steampunk, something he wouldn’t usually try to overexert himself with on phighting match days. But even after a few days of his turmoil, his mind wouldn’t leave behind the stupid cafe owner. So when a certain red and green playground duo invited him to tag along on their lunch trip, Coil took the offer. Usually he’d try to distract himself through his day-to-day workouts, but apparently exhausting himself wasn’t working; and besides, everyone knew Skate and Boombox were fun company.
Coil hadn't, however, known that he’d end up right back in the vicinity of his current problem as a result. He found himself walking through the entrance of Thieve’s Rest, a technical failure in his mission to get the stupid phighter off his mind, but brought on by forces outside his control (AKA Boom and Skate really wanted to visit for something sweet), so he wouldn’t count it.
The trio sat down in one of the booths next to the window, warm sunlight washing over their faces. The trio launched into casual banter, but Coil continuously drifted off slightly. Just as Skateboard flicked a crumpled napkin at him which he failed to catch, earning a laugh from Boombox, a waiter approached their table.
Looking up at the worker while expecting a familiar light blue face, Coil was surprised and slightly disheartened (wait, what?) at the tired face of a phighter with green horns. He recognized him, but only partially—maybe around a few phight matches or somewhere in Crossroads, but they’d never really spoken. Skateboard, however, seemed a little more familiar.
“Yo, Shuri! It’s been a while, how’ve you been, man? How’s Sling?” Skateboard rested his head on his hand, mindlessly flicking another napkin this time at Boombox, who tepidly swatted it away. Coil assumed the nickname was short for Shuriken, a fitting gear for the lean inphernal, choosing to ignore the way his ears pricked up at the second mentioned name.
“It’s been fine, just working as usual.” the waiter let out a small sigh, placing down a few menus and pulling out a pen and notepad from his uniform’s pocket. “What can I get you guys? You wanna start off with some drinks?”
As the other two perused the menu, asking about specials or new items, Coil found himself scanning the register area for a missing presence. Or maybe he was just appreciating the new decor, who knows? He wasn’t sure why he kept looking-
“Dude, are you gonna order?” Skateboard lifted up another one of his napkin weapons in a lighthearted threat, Boombox handing over two of their menus.
“Oh,” Coil quickly snapped his head back, “Just, uh, gimme whatever Boom got, I don’t mind.” He quickly folded up the last menu before handing it back over.
“Guess you’re all getting the same thing then. It’ll be out in a few minutes.” Shuriken, now holding all the menus, walked to the back of the register counter with the trio’s orders.
Coil smirked, “You guys ordered the same thing? Wow, matching!” he teased lightly.
“Heh, yeah, didn’t you hear us?” Boombox replied, quirking an eyebrow at the dual colored inphernal’s statement.
“Uh, yes,” Coil coughed, “I did hear that.” A momentary awkward silence filled the booth, before Skateboard cleared his throat.
“Hey, are you good man?” he asked.
“You’ve been really spacey today. Even during today's match, you made a, uh… few mistakes you usually avoid.” Boombox added hesitantly.
“Wait, you guys were watching that match?” Coil tensed up, still embarrassed from his public display that cost his team. Skateboard and Boombox looked at each other dumbfoundedly, before turning back.
“Bro, we were on your team. Did you hit your head or somethin’?” Skate asked. Both of them were now looking increasingly concerned for his sake, which only deepened the light blush on Coil’s face.
“It’s nothing! I’ve just been a little… distracted is all.” Coil waved his hand dismissively, hoping they’d drop the issue. He sincerely didn’t want to explain to these guys how he couldn’t get a catboy out of his head, especially since he still didn’t know why exactly that was. The other two were about to speak again until they heard the clack of a tray hit their table.
Thank the swords, a diversion.
“Cheers, uh, Shuriken was it?” Coil looked up to meet the waiter's eyes only to be once again surprised this time with the very inphernal he’d been trying to get off his mind.
“Thank you so much for visiting Thieves’ Rest, would you like to add anything else to your order?” Slingshot responded with a deadpan face, clearly not happy to see his most annoying customer. Surprisingly, the cat eared phighter didn’t feel as overwhelming in person as he did in Coil’s head. Perfect, regular shenanigans could ensue then.
“Oh sorry, my bad! What was it, uh, Plant Staff? I thought you usually wear pink, not blue.” Coil leaned on his hands, donning the most shit eating grin he could possibly muster. His boothmates sighed in worry, knowing what was about to ensue.
Slingshot gripped the napkins he’d been holding in his other hand hard enough to crumple them, “I think you mean my wonderful sibling Vine Staff. She usually mans the register, but unfortunately isn’t on the clock today. Now, would you like to add anything else to your order?” He emphasized the last sentence with a tone that poignantly mismatched his polite words, placing down the napkins with a bit too much force.
“Woah, if you’re going to treat your customers with that much aggression, I might just need to leave a bad review!” Coil quipped, enjoying the look of frustration on the cafe owner’s face. Both Boom and Skate had begun quietly digging into their tiramisus, sending apologetic looks Sling’s way—they were sure he’d had the day off today, Vine Staff must’ve had to call out… Slingshot took a deep breath, trying his best to give a convincing smile to the green and red duo that had wrought on him the inescapable curse of The Beast™.
“I’m so sorry about that, now if you have anything else you’d like to order, please let me know.” He pulled out a pen and notepad, clutching the pen a little too hard.
Coil smirked, even more determined to get a proper rise out of his target. “Y’know what? I would love to order a few more things. One of those little cat shaped chocolate muffins would be wonderful, but please hold the chocolate, I’m terribly allergic—oh! And a few cake pops as well, but if possible, could you please just give me the chocolate shells? Make sure they’re still on the sticks, those are my favorite parts. Also, I saw a new item on your menu-”
“You and I both know that none of that is honestly ending up on this table,” growled the light blue phighter, setting his hands down on the table and leaning in close enough for the two to be face to face. Boombox and Skate both reeled back, faces plastered with mild discomfort. Coil grinned, satisfied that he'd broken the corporate facade so quickly. Sling must've been having an off day, he could cheer him up just fine.
He leaned in further, noses almost touching, “What’cha gettin’ so close for? You wanna kiss me that bad?”
Slingshot quickly shot backwards, face now bright red. Turning his head away to hide the blush, he shoved the pen and notepad into his pockets and crossed his arms.
“I’m just gonna take that as a no to ‘any more items’,” he muttered, resigning himself from the table and walking back to the cash register. Coil felt the absence hit him in that moment, the crimson face of his victim now just as imprinted into his mind as the laugh.
“Aw, I wanted to play with the kitten a little longer.” he pouted, resting his chin into his palms. Looking back to his friends, he only saw two matching bewildered expressions.
“What?” Coil shrugged, unsure of how to respond to their confusion and choosing to instead take a bite of his tiramisu. Damn, it was good. The baker might’ve had a short temper, but his skills were undeniable—not that Coil would ever mention that to him.
It took a minute, but the three eventually settled back into their usual banter, with Shuriken as their permanent attendee after Coil’s little stunt. He didn’t think he’d done anything particularly of note, just the regular baiting routine, so the disappearance of his most valued server was duly missed. The one thing that kept nagging him was the manner in which both the blush and laugh remained in his head. The moments themselves didn’t make him nervous, but they just wouldn’t leave him alone. He’d catch himself looking back at the register every so often looking for the cat ear horned inphernal, ignoring the way his own smile dropped a little when he couldn’t see him.
Eventually the trio had finished off their meal and after a quick goodbye were back on the streets of Crossroads, stopping by a few stores and vendors along their way home. Coil had been temporarily crashing at the place Skate and Boom shared, on account of the whole ‘being on the run thing’.
As the streetlamps began to flicker aglow upon the sun’s setting, the conversation went over gear repairs, new skating spots, and eventually turned to the topic of the best foods in the area, with Boombox fiercely defending the sweets of Thieves’ Den.
“Seriously? Dude, the ribs at Ranged Royale beat out like, everything.” Skateboard argued, lazily treading across the ground on his gear.
Boombox huffed, “Come on man, Sling’s parfaits are to die for! You haven’t even tried them!”
“The day I willingly eat oats with yogurt is the day you shoot me in the head because that is, NOT ME, it’s a skinwalker.” Sling circled around the green DJ on his board, making sure to point two fingers at his head and dramatically fall back like he'd been shot for full effect.
“It's not yogurt! It’s whipped cream with, like, sugar and syrup—I’ve told you this a million times, it’s really good!” Boombox smiled back, watching Skate comically plug his ears and whistle.
“I mean, the food’s alright, but the best? Sling’s not a bad baker, I can admit that, but those ribs are seriously something.” Coil remarked, just wanting to fuel the flames of their playful argument; the parfaits were actually in his top three.
Boom turned to Coil whilst switching the music of his gear, “On that note, I don’t think it’s out of character or anything, but it feels like you like to joke at Slingshot the most out of everyone I’ve seen you talk to.”
“Yeah, why is that?” Skate hopped off his board, grabbing it by the hilt and swinging it under his arm, awaiting a response.
“Uh, I don't know...” Coil hummed, a little unsure of what to say, “I think I just like getting a rise out of him the most… it’s kinda cute.” Coil chuckled, thinking of the cafe owner’s beet red face once more.
As he continued to walk down the sidewalk, he missed the once more very befuddled glances between the red and green duo, who were slowly coming to a certain conclusion about their criminal friend; though, they wordlessly agreed to leave it unsaid, Coil himself probably didn't even know it.