Chapter Text
Slingshot enjoyed the peace and quiet that came from closing up the cafe every night, after Shuri and Vine had gone back to the apartment for the evening and all the customers had been cleared out. The catlike Inphernal was in the kitchen, gloves on and scrubbing some of the final dishes and mugs from earlier in the day as they hummed one of Boombox’s songs under their breath. It was one they’d heard in the Phight earlier- from the enemy team, including his siblings, which had won, much to Sling’s disappointment (and Shuriken’s joy). Nevertheless, it made a good tune to clean to, they thought idly as they emptied the washing up bowl and stacked the now-dry plates under the counter. And for once, they weren’t afraid of being judged for their (admittedly terrible) singing voice, as they were all alone in the building.
Until, apparently, they weren’t, as there came a loud crash from the storeroom, alongside some heavy breathing.
They stiffened, eyes flickering around the room as their horns pinned back against their head like a cat’s ears, before the cursing and shifting grew in volume. The voice was easily recognisable to the cafe owner, and their breathing steadied as they untied the apron from around their waist and grabbed the jacket that one of Shuriken’s friends had left there earlier, pushing it into their bag before slinging it across their body and striding over to the storeroom door.
“Skate?” the inphernal called out, exasperation lacing his tone. “What in the swords’ name are you doing here at this time of night?”
As he flicked the light on, the older phighter stiffened, crouching over a large… something, but Sling couldn’t quite make the dark shape out. As he squinted at the blob, Skateboard swung around, grinning like a cornered animal. The elder was looking anywhere but at his friend, and obviously trying to hide whatever he’d brought in behind him. And he wasn’t doing a great job, as Sling could very much see a pair of feet and a visor--
Wait, feet?
The cafe owner sighed. “Skateboard,” they started, “what the actual fuck.”
“Uh-,” replied the inphernal in question, “I can explain?”
“This had better be the greatest explanation I have ever heard. A dead body in my storeroom is a food hazard, idiot.”
“Wh- wait nononono, he’s not dead, I promise! Just a lil, heh, banged up. But definitely not dead!”
With a sigh, Slingshot pushed past their best friend and stared at a passed out, bleeding, and utterly dishevelled Boombox. A sight that was worrying, at best, and downright terrifying, since the cat-like inphernal couldn’t tell if the DJ was breathing or not. They crouched, pulling off his tie and checking for their breath under the glittery green polo he wore, and- yep, still breathing. With that issue out of the question, they pulled their emergency medical supplies out of their bag- they could never be too careful with Shuriken around- and started patching up some of Boom’s surface wounds; scrapes and cuts from a phight that had presumably occurred back in Playground.
Skate was still rambling out an explanation behind them, his words coming out fast and jumbled from worry, but they weren’t listening, too focused on helping the injured inphernal in front of them. He trailed off eventually, contenting himself with sitting beside the DJ and watching Sling’s basic medical knowledge at work. They were hardly a skilled or trained healer, and Skate knew they would insist on taking Boom to a proper hospital in the morning despite the cost of getting one in Crossroads, but they knew enough to stop the bleeding and keep him alive. That’s what really mattered.
Finishing up with the bandages and wiping their hands clean, Sling sighed, looking down at their handiwork. It was fine, but they were reluctant to let either of the Playgrounders out of their sight. Pulling their phone out of their hoodie pocket, they shot a text to Vine Staff, just to let her know they’d be staying at the cafe tonight, before looking up at their friend.
“Skate. Explain, please, why Boombox is knocked out on my floor?”
He sighed, wringing his hands with a slight pout as he started his story. “Well, me and Boom were walking home together, and dude, I swear Windforce musta been feeling a bit upset or something, and the weather was shit! So we went through an alley, cause it was wayyy better sheltered, and it may or may not have been gang territory…”
Cat-like horns flattening against their skull as their tail flicked angrily, Sling let out a hiss of air through their teeth as they raised a hand to stop Skate. The older inphernal backed down quickly, knowing better than to poke at an agitated Slingshot. He’d gotten enough scratch marks for a lifetime, thank you very much.
“You’re staying with me tonight. Here, where I can keep an eye on you.” It wasn’t a question, but the skater nodded frantically anyway, settling himself on the floor and reaching up to pull his best friend down beside him. The cat-like inphernal flopped limply into Skate’s lap, tucking their head under his and pulling their legs up so they appeared as a little ball of fluff, something that made the Playgrounder stifle a chuckle. For someone so confident and outgoing, Sling could be ridiculously instinctual when they were overtired.
Their big eyes were fixed on Boombox’s face, so the older inphernal stared there too, jolting as he saw his friend’s long eyelashes flutter. His action earned him another hiss from the inphernal in his lap, who was clambering off of him to help ease their DJ friend awake. Shifting, Boom yawned slightly, rubbing at his visor with their less-injured hand, the pixelated eyes slowly blinking back into existence and quickly turning surprised as he registered Sling’s form above them, purring loudly.
“Wh- what? Sling, dude, what the- Skate? Where-”
He was promptly cut off by a large Slingshot to the chest. Skate snorted, and rubbed his friend between the horns as BB gasped for air, a silent plea for help to escape the surprise hug. Sling was notoriously a worrier, especially when it came to their friends from Playground. Having been on the receiving end of many a similar hug, Skate was hardly sympathetic. The cafe owner was warm, goddamnit, and a good hugger to boot. Even when they were purring. Especially when they were purring, actually.
With all three inphernals cuddled together in a messy pile, and the darkness of the cramped storeroom, it was almost inevitable that they were to fall asleep eventually. Boom drifted off first, engulfed by Sling’s light, purring form, and Skate was soon to follow, snoring softly as he tilted his head back onto a box.
The cafe’s owner was lying in a daze, eyes fluttering closed before blinking back open, too anxious to sleep but warm and comfortable. They had a hard time sleeping in anything that wasn’t their bed, their tail currently flicking behind them as they gave into their instinct to get up and recheck the door, windows, and kitchen. Not wanting to wake up their friends, they slipped off their pristine trainers, pupils narrowing into slits as they padded around the storeroom, the cold floor feeling nice against their paws. Sling slipped out and into the kitchen, before stepping into the main room of their cafe, coming face to face with the empty room they expected. Until they saw Banhammer sitting on the floor, muttering to himself.
They paused, blinking, and walked over to him, their expression becoming stern. “I’m sorry, but we’re closed. How did you even get in here, anyway?”
Banhammer blinked, standing up with a scowl. “I was chasing a criminal, someone stealing from Blackrock. Well-” and he scratched his head, “-I was chasing one of his associates. Some green guy- I got a few hits in, but then I lost him. Whatever! I’m the Warden of the Banlands, and I-”
“Um, okay?”
“-and, yeah! People need to respect me more, like they respect my momma- she’s so cool, I wanna be more like her anyways-”
Dealing with Banhammer was giving the cafe owner a headache.
Raising a hand, Slingshot stopped the elder in his tracks and pointed at the door- a wordless instruction. It wasn’t something they’d normally do- everyone always said they were incredibly polite, a fact they were proud of- but they also weren’t going to let someone slag off Coil in their cafe, unless it was them. Finding out that Banhammer had presumably been the one to injure Boom only fuelled their rage, and left them a little upset at Skate too. He had to have known, hadn’t he? Being pissed off at their best friend- a rare occurence- left Sling ready to flip the demi-deity off if he decided to ignore their instructions. And true to their emotive state, when Banhammer started to protest, he was met with a middle finger to the face and a cafe owner with bared teeth and horns pinned back.
Sensing the hostility, the Warden blinked, surprised, and left obediently. He was clearly unused to resistance from what he saw as lesser beings, and Sling’s actions would probably get them a visit from Valk and Dom on Windforce’s behalf, but they couldn’t find it within themself to care.
An exhausted sigh slipped from the mouth of the young inphernal as they locked the front door again (how did it get unlocked to start with? Skate and Boom came through the back, so it wasn’t them, which meant Sling had no ideas as subtlety was not Banhammer’s style), tucking the key back into their skirt pocket as they stepped back into their backroom, eyes darting over their still-asleep friends. The movement of their tail calmed, and their horns flicked, settling comfortably back into their mess of curls. Slingshot didn’t know how anyone could sleep through the racket that came from the demi-deity, but they didn’t understand a lot of things about their playgrounder friends. It was enough for them to just have the pair in their life.
Smiling slightly, a fang peeking out, the cat-like inphernal settled themself on Skateboard’s chest. He was strong enough to hold them, they thought, as they comfortably drifted off to sleep in their storeroom. Well. A problem for tomorrow would certainly be what they would wear, as they hadn’t gone home to change.
Oh well. Another problem for future Slingshot. Current Slingshot was too busy napping on their best friends.