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Slingshot was on his phone. He has been every time the two of them even had a glimpse of eye-contact. With the other customers, he had a friendly smile, a warm tone. Usually Coil would be greeted by a cold glare and it always brought a smirk on his face knowing he annoyed them so bad. It was a good change of pace from being chased by Biografts. Sling wasn't the typa Inphernal to be on his phone during work hours, so what's up with him? Could be just a way to ignore him extra-hard this morning, if so he'll just have to amp up the ragebait.
Coil moved over so that he could sit by the counter. Sling had visibly rolled his eyes at that, he took his phone and the notepad before speed-walking over to Coil.
"Can I take your order?" Sling raised a brow, not even looking up at him.
"Just the usual, sweetheart. Make it double though." He said with a wink, pulling out some cash to pay for it. Damn, not even a glance? Though Sling seemed more blank-faced rather than annoyed. He watched as Sling wrote down the order ticket, sticking it onto his workspace. "What's got you so cold today?" Coil propped his elbows onto the counter to lean forward.
"We're a little busy." Sling said in a dismissive tone.
"What?" Coil looked around. There was a totally manageable amount of customers here! He had one his Thieves Den friends helping wait tables. Manageable means that Slingshot wasn't moving frantically, if he was so busy he wouldn't have his phone out at all! "I've been here enough to know there's been busier days, and this one's 'busy' enough for us to talk so, what's got ya so cold to me today?"
"Not in the mood right now." Sling replied coldly, earning a slight frown from Coil. He let out an annoyed huff and crossed his arms.
"Slingshot! Big order!" Vine Staff called. Ah, there it is.
"Here you go. Two of your usuals. To go. Tell Skate I said hi." Sling gave a dismissive wave before hurriedly strutting into the kitchen, his thumbs rapidly talking on his phone screen.
Coil tilted his head to get a quick glance, and he swear he swears he saw a heart.
"Hey! You didn't say hi to me!" Coil said with his arms up. He subconsciously pouted. The boxer took his food, before hopping off the chair. Skate wouldn't be too happy if he had his takeout delivered to him cold. He headed out throufg the cafe doors.
"Hey dude!" Skate waved to him, sitting on the road bridge that led to Playground, legs dangling over the edge where they were above waters. Coil plopped the paper bag with the cafe's logo etched onto it into Skateboard's lap. He hopped down to sit next to him.
"Woah, did a Biograft spot you or something?" Said Skateboard as he took the contents out of the bag, carefully as not to drop the food. That would just be a crime, after all it's Slingshot's cooking.
Coil let out a long, long sigh. "It's so over, he's not even mad at me anymore. That's worse than him being mad at me."
"What makes ya say that?" Skate raised a brow.
Coil lifted his hand, naming things on each finger. "First of all, he tells me he's busy when we've talked to each other on busier days. Secondly, whenever he did approach me he wasn't even looking! He was on his phone. Thirdly, I tried to look at his phone and I saw a heart! And I know those aren't for me cause he hasn't messaged me all day!" He slipped the device out of his pocket. Coil usually only had it on him when he knew he wouldn't be out being the 'Crystal Criminal' and on the run.
"Totally no hearts from him!" He huffed, earning a muffled 'Uh-huh' from Skateboard. The other Inphernal was just trying to eat in peace. Can't blame him for being confused. Two of his best friends who supposedly hated each other, and now they're apparently in one of those 'relationships', but at the same time they don't act like it but at the same time one of them is mad that the other isn't acting like it. Skateboard took another slow bite of his burger in deep, deep thought. About as deep as a paddle pool could go.
"I've been telling you man, you gotta stop pissing him off on purpose so much." Skateboard shook his head. Coil slow-turned his head.
"…It's like you're askin me to cut off my oxygen supply. That's just cruel."
"Mm," Skateboard wiped his mouth with the napkin that came with the food in the paper bag. "Maybe he had a rough week while you were out. You can ask him, just lay down on the ragebaitin man. I mean I like hanging out with ya because you're cool, and I'm not pissed off right now. I mean if I was pissed off the only thing I could be thinking about would be that kinda stuff about ya. It's probably the same thing for him." He nudged his friend by the elbow.
Coil rested his elbows on his knees, chuckling. "Yeah, yeah I get it. Push his buttons the right amount." Then his smile faded and his hands flew up to check Skateboard for head damages. "Oh my SFOTH, Skate! Did you hit your head on the pavement!?"
"What? No man! I was just hungry…" Skateboard pulled away from his grip. Coil's eyes darted away from Skate's face and back.
"You gain brain cells… by eating? Right. Actually, that's starting to make sense. Sometimes I think you smoke more weed than you eat food."
Skateboard looked up mid-burger, offended. Coil raised his hands in surrender. The two of them shared a good laugh over the teasing.
"I'll probably talk to him, during closing time so he can't make excuses." He snickered maliciously at the idea.
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'Ding!'
"Sliiing!" Coil called, his hands behind his head as he helped himself inside despite the 'CLOSED' sign on the door. He didn't see him at the front, but the doors were unlocked so that meant that he's totally here. Probably in the back, cleaning the kitchen maybe. Coil hopped over the counter of the barista station. He only stopped when he caught a glimpse of Sling's phone from his peripheral view, screen up and on. Oh what secrets might be—IS THAT THE NEW 3D ROMANCE GAME LOVE AND HELLSPACE!!?? (He found out about it through Boombox though no one he knew actually played it... Except Slingshot apparently. Why would he? It's just more Blackrock-made trash.)
A soothing piano melody, followed by a calm voice that said. "Don't forget to take a break. You can lean on my shoulder if you're really tired." The 3d modeled Inpherno with lavender horns spoke, mouth animated with just a little lag but damn this shit was modeled to have every eyelash and visible under the lighting.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Is that what Slingshot was giving 'hearts' on? Some virtual young and handsome figure???. A hand grabbed the phone, flipping it over screen down onto the counter with a slam. It would be a SFOTH-given miracle if the screen wasn't cracked after that.
"Slingshot!" Coil said with a grin, canines visible.
"What do you think you're looking at?" Slingshot raised a brow, unamused. Oh he's doing that again…
"What the hell are you playing?" Coil crossed his arms.
"It's nothing you need to think about. We're closing." Said Slingshot, slipping his phone into his apron pocket before picking up the broom into his hands again.
"Wh—are you actually just gonna ignore me after that!?" Coil pointed where Sling was keeping his phone. "Is that why you wouldn't even look at me earlier? And here I was thinking I pissed you off more than I should've!"
Slingshot paused dead in his tracks, he turned his head a bit. For a moment, Coil actually thought he was going to explain himself. Then a snicker came from the other's lips.
"Mad that I'm not paying attention to your antics for once?" Then he just turned away again and went on to clean the mess under one of the tables. It actually brought an audible gasp of offense from Coil. Then a look of realisation.
"Oh, I get it! You're tryna ragebait me this time!" Coil pointed at his own chest. "Can't believe you actually thought that you were gonna pull one on a master of—"
"You said something?" Slingshot raised his head from the floor, voice slightly quieter from the distance between them. Then he lowered his head again once Coil opened his mouth to retort. Oh, by the Deities, what has he done!? Has he done this to Sling so many times he was able to take notes???
How could Coil actually be getting flustered from this? Over a cold shoulder? And he has actually gotten one multiple times!
Well, maybe it was the new dynamics of their 'relationship'. Yeah sure they liked each other but hell, how does that change a thing?
He decided to walk over to Sling, repeating the words in his head. 'Talk to him, don't tick him off.' It repeated thrice before he could finally reach a closer proximity with Slingshot.
"You at least wanna tell me why you decided to download a romance game, princess? Ain't I enough for you?" He leaned forward, getting close enough that his breath brushed past the other's bangs. When Coil didn't get a response, he decided to go for it. Only for Sling to swerve away from his lips, straightening his back
"Really?" Coil couldn't help but smirk at the little 'game' Slingshot was trying to make them run around.
"What's wrong with it? I just play it to relax." Slingshot innocently shrugged. Oh, he knows that move.
"A romance game? For relaxing?? No you wouldn't… come on, just tell me!" Coil was subconsciously tapping his foot, waiting for an answer. Slingshot today was just so… heartlessly apathetic! Not even a twitch in the eye like he usually would.
"Why? You're not jealous are you..?" Slingshot resumed with sweeping.
"Pfft—" Coil almost choked. "Me, Jealous? Of some pixels stealing your time and attention?" He couldn't help but snicker, his canines showing as he grinned.
"You are…" Slingshot said with slow realization. 'It's working' Sling thought to himself. He turned his head away, but really he was just closing his eyes tightly and pressing his lips into a thin line as he held his breath, fearing that a laugh would escape if he exhaled.
"Yeah right." Coil crossed his arms, scooting over closer to Slingshot. "You don't actually like that thing more than me, do you?" He kept an actually serious expression that it was almost close to a pout.
"Does it look like I do?" Sling raised a brow. Okay, that actually made his eye twitch. Slingshot had totally noticed it but Coil had managed to play it off by rolling his eyes.
"Okay kitten I ain't dense." He held the other's chin firmly. "You're just tryna get back at me. You don't have to try so hard, I get it. What do you want from me?" He raised his hands in mock surrender.
"You told me you aren't dense so you should know." Sling responded with a nonchalant shrug. "Come back when you figure it out. We're closing...unless you're gonna help me clean?"
"No…" Coil sighed. "I got some shit to do." He scratched the back of his neck, walking slowly towards the cafe doors. "See ya tomorrow then?"
"Wait—" Slingshot ran over to his side. Muah. Brief, sweet, and on the cheek. Sure he wanted to see how much he could annoy his partner with indifference but he wasn't going to be that mean. "Can you stop by at my place tomorrow?" Sling whispered to him.
"Why? Gonna miss me?" Coil mustered up a cocky grin.
"I'll just be waiting for your answer." Slingshot said with a light shrug and a tilt of his head. He lifted his hands to 'fix up' Coil's hoodie, earning a chuckle from him.
"Alright, alright. I thought you were supposed to be getting your vengeance on me."
Slingshot intentionally leaned closer. His intention was to push Coil's buttons, not to make it look like he hated him. He wanted to be mildly irritating, but not cruel. "This is vengeance." He whispered again. Then pulled away to return with sweeping.
Coil was visibly taken aback by the abrupt change in vicinity. "I–uh love you too?"
"See you later." Sling waved.
The cafe doors closed with a 'ding'…
Once Coil was far far away from the doors and from other Inphernals, he hugged his stomach tightly. Screaming quietly to himself. "FUUUUUUUUCK!!"
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"Okay, that was pretty fun." Slingshot said contently, and that meant Shuriken and Vinestaff were free to peer above the counter where they were hiding.
"See! Told you!" Vine Staff said. Shuriken just respondes with a thumbs up.
"Yeah, now I know what he sees in it." Sling opened his phone. "The game is pretty fun. I admit it's starting to grow on me."
"Oh! You can watch grown Inphernals failing at claw machine." Vine Staff pointed out as she stood up from behind the counter. She, on the other hand, liked the interactions between the virtual Inphernals. Definetely not the part where they get super close and whisper to the screen, but the domesticness was just so different from the usual environment of the Inpherno. It was nice to get an escape from that. Even though they have to dodge all the in-game purchases (as expected from a Blackrock developed game)
"I can watch my actual partner play claw machine more often. Although…He'd probably just stick his arm up the chute or break the glass." Slingshot chuckled at the thought.
Shuriken's eyes lit up with an idea. "Ah, but you can use that to convince him to play a claw machine for you more often."
The gears in Slingshot's head began turning faster. "Oh, you're right. You know what? I'll keep it for that reason."
"To play claw machine?" Vine Staff raised a brow.
"No! So that I can get him to do stuff that I like without him teasing me for it. I don't wanna be the only one that gets the teasing when I wanna do something…Sword's forbid—cute."
Slingshot hit himself with the handle of the room. "I'm starting to get his habits aren't I?"
"A little bit." Vine Staff held her hand up like she was punching the air, hardly any space between her thumb and index.
"Yeap! Don't worry if you ever become even close to that we'll slap you out of it." Shuriken responded with casually throwing his hand forward.
"You mean, 'snapping him out of it'?" Vine turned to him, her brows furrowed.
"Why? It'd basically be the same thing." Shuriken squinted in confusion.
"Oh…" Slingshot sighed. He has three children.
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When he heard the knocking, the baker purposefully walked over to the door agonizingly slow. Coil only finally let himself exhale when the lock clicked and the doorknob twisted.
He leaned his arm against the doorframe. "I almost thought no one was home, kitten."
"That's impossible, with Shuriken and Vine Staff here at least. They won't bother us…for a while." Slingshot retorted, his brows suddenly furrowed. "What in the Inpherno happened to you?" He pointed at the bruises starting to form on Coil's cheek, and some scrapes on his arms and clothes.
"Had an unexpected run-in on the way…" He shrugged it off casually before reassuring. "Don't worry, I wasn't followed."
"I know. You wouldn't have come at all otherwise." Slingshot opened the door for him, his aloof expression shifted to a concerned one. "You didn't even bother fixing yourself up, did you?"
Coil helped himself, slipping his shoes off and plopping down onto Sling's couch, feet resting on the other arm. "Nah, didn't want you to worry about me being late." The coils around his arms turned green and the scrapes slowly began to fade. "Besides, I wanted to save my energy till I got here."
Slingshot let out a sigh. "Move over." He said in a stern tone. Ah, there he was. Coil just lifted his legs to make room for Sling, settling them right back down onto the other's lap once he sat down. It brought out a scoff from the other.
"So, do you have your answer?" Sling asked. He wasn't gonna go through the trouble of pushing his partner away. A thought crossed him, and he suddenly lifted one of Coil's legs. Slingshot rolled up the hem of their pants, sliding his hand over to beneath his calves, firmly kneading the muscle.
"You're being reeeeal nice to me today…" Coil smirked, not commenting on the free massage. It actually felt nice especially having just come from a rough fight, and knowing Sling he'd probably stop if he commented on it, he thought to himself, after just having commented on it. "Where's your cold nonchalant attitude from yesterday huh?"
"That would be mean…I'll ignore you again when you're healed up." He continued.
Coil chuckled, he shifted so that his arms were under his head like a pillow. Then he gave his answer. "So let me get this straight, you just want me to admit that I'm jealous that you weren't looking at me as much esterday. You know what? Sure I'll admit it, yeah it ticked me off. Happy?
"Mhm." Sling just hummed with that kind of tone that said "that's what I thought".
"Listen, I'm fine with you tryna push my buttons. Don't know what's suddenly got you into doing it, guess what set me off was that I wasn't expecting ya to do it that way."
Slingshot turned to him while Coil still stared at the ceiling of his apartment. He breathed in through his nose. "Go on."
"Ha, what? You expectin me to vent or something?" Coil said with a 'psh' like it was a ridiculous concept.
"That's kinda part of yknow… being together." Slingshot muttered the last two words. "I won't judge you. Can't keep being a tough guy forever."
"Right, right. It's just— stuff like hanging out with the gang, and you, you guys are a good break from dealing with Subfart and his Bio-goons. When I do mess around like that I know I expect the fight, the adrenaline, and sometimes facing death itself, it's great! It's a rush. It's my place. Then there's you… I mess around with you and before I know it I'm getting a leg-massage and on the house comfort food. That's become what I expected especially after we… got together. You argued back like hell and, it's still fun even though you ain't gonna kill me and that became what I knew when it came to you… so when you stopped arguing back. Yeah—I know it's kinda stupid that I actually got… tense about it. Is it so weird to say that I didn't wanna lose what we had?"
"From you? It's weird to hear you admit it." Slingshot replied. His hands moved on to Coil's other leg. "Look, I didn't mean to scare you when I did that. You're right, I did just wanna get back at you for being so annoying, but I just—" He sighed, cheeks flushing a little. "I wanted to know what it felt like, to annoy you on purpose—"
The Hellhound let out a gasp from the confession. He sat up so quickly while somehow not snapping his neck. "You did!?"
"Stop looking at me like that!" Slingshot said with gritted teeth. "Yes, I did! You can say that I kinda get you now… it's fun."
There goes the rest of Coil's 'cool guy' demeanor slipping away. His eyes start looking glossy, and he had the stupidest, happiest, sappy grin despite him trying to repress it. "I really wanted that…fucking amazing."
Coil pulled his legs back, setting his feet on the ground before pulling his partner in for a swift unexpected kiss. Slingshot didn't get a chance to process it.
"So ya finally get me?" The cocky smirk returned.
"Yeah…" Sling rolled his eyes. "—sssstill not uninstalling that game though."
"What!?"
"I love you—but it's actually calming. Mostly. Vine recommended it to me after I bit through my dental guard in my sleep."
Coil let out a scoff. "Unbelievable. You're gonna make me compete for your attention over a game?"
"Yes." Sling admitted without hesitation.
"What have I done? You're taking too many notes on how to annoy me back."
"Learned from the best. Don't expect me to always be on the other end of your jokes." Slingshot grabbed Coil by the shoulders, pulling him ito lay down in his lap so that he could play with his hair. "It does give me ideas on what to do with you when were like this."
"So…you still like me more?" Coil said, tone like he's testing the waters. He'd rather die than admit it but the sudden intimacy has him just a little bit shy. He'll get used to it. Just like the injuries, just like the freezing cold, and the leaky eye. Except this was something he'd love to get used to.
"Of course." Slingshot admitted without much thought. His hand running through the coil's on his hair.
"Ha, you admitted that you like me!"
"Coil, I swear to the SFOTH—"