Aka: The rest of Spilt Milk
Balling into a puddle of ink, he slid out the bedroom window and rounded the building. Materializing outside the front door, he craned his neck up to find a flickering neon sign.
“‘Miles’ Family Diner’.” He read aloud as he clutched his vest over his aching stomach. “Doesn’t sound much like a family.”
And that is none of your concern, Sylus Synclaire! You cleaned up our mess and escaped. We can leave now.
“Not yet.”
Tugging on the door, he found it locked. Slithering a tentacle between the locks, he popped it open and stepped into the cheery sound of a jingling chime.
What are you DOING?!
Sylus took in his surrounds. The dining area was long and narrow. The external wall was lined by red-leather booths and windows while the inside had a long chrome-edged counter that bent around a register and drink dispenser. Along it were chrome stools with the same red leather on their seats. The ceiling was chrome with domed lights and the floor was black and white checkered. Something about it brought a smile to Sylus’ lips.
I really do not like this, Sylus…
“Welcome to Miles’ Family Diner,” the stranger emerged from a pair of chrome doors behind the counter, “How can I-” He froze mid step and mid sentence.
“Hello!” Sylus cheered as he gave a small wave.
“W-what are you doing here? How?”
For some reason, Sylus decided to swagger up to the counter and rest his massive arms on it. He wasn’t quite sure what he was doing or why.
“Well, I assume this is a place where food is served. I happen to be hungry-” A serious understatment. “so it figures that makes this the perfect place to be at this very moment.”
Sylus’ gaze unwittingly drifted downward landing on a six-armed crystalline cross that hung around the stranger’s neck.
I-it can’t be…
What am I looking at? It’s just a Sondreh cross…
Pay it no mind. I’ll explain later. This mortal must be destroyed.
Excuse me?
Kill it, Sylus. That is an order.
And I don’t take orders from you. Especially without an explanation.
Trust me.
I would, if you explained yourself.
We do not have time!
Then I’m not eating anyone.
Sylus was quick to snap his gaze back up to meet the stranger’s.
“I-” the stranger cleared his throat. “Sure. Take a seat wherever. I’ll… I’ll bring a menu over.”
Sylus smiled as the stranger returned to the kitchen.
I do not like how you are behaving.
It’s just a bit of fun, Qaitax.
Playing with your meal? Or just playing?
I’m not eating him.
Your guts say otherwise.
Well my guts have been wrong before. They’ll be wrong again, too. I don’t just run on instinct. You know that.
It’d be so much easier if you did.
And yet you were the one who wanted me to stop eating in the cave.
That was an unnecessarily dangerous endeavor! Look where it got us! This is very different. A town of mortals can’t fight back. One alone certainly stands no chance. We could just eat him and be on our way. You settle whatever’s bothering you and we get a meal out of it.
Sylus gave Qaitax’s words some thought. He was desperately hungry and surrounded by prey. Prey he craved with every fiber of his being. He could feel each and every person in that little town. Their breaths, their pulses, their every movement. The craving was unbearable. He felt it all like it was already a part of him. He licked his lips and bit his tongue. This was why he stayed away from populated areas. This was why he lived alone in caves like the monster he was.
Overwhelming shame pushed the desire to consume away.
You know what happens when I eat people.
Then allow me.
No.
Qaitax grumbled in the background as Sylus made his way over to the furthest booth to the back wall.
His mind wandered to the stranger. He wondered how his body looked beneath those ill-fitting clothes. How he’d feel between his lips. How he’d taste- He cut the thoughts off before they mixed too deeply with the screaming pit of his stomach sending everything straight to hell.
For once I encourage your indulgence.
“You can shut the fuck up, thank you.”
The stranger returned with a smile on his face. He placed a menu down on the table. Sylus met his gesture with a smile, but the stranger only stood there, lingering, staring at the menu he had to have seen a million times before.
“May I request a glass of water?” His stomach lurched at the close proximity of potential prey.
“O-of course.” The stranger shook his head before going behind the counter.
He returned moments later with a very full glass of water. He tried to turn around as quickly as he’d arrived, but Sylus was quick to stop him.
“What do you recommend?”
“Hm?” The stranger turned back to him.
“Every small-town family eatery has a signature dish. What’s yours?”
“Oh,” he stammered a bit, “i-its the ham. But like,” he glanced over his shoulder to a clock hanging above the kitchen doors, “it’s 5am.” He turned back to Sylus.
“Too early, then?” Sylus smiled.
He felt something strange in the stranger. His pulse was quickening, his breath hitching.
“I, uh, no. N-not if you want…” He was stammering a lot.
“Would it be much of an inconvenience if I did?”
“N-no, but it’d be from the fridge. From yesterday. Not fresh.”
“That’s quite alright.” Sylus held the menu up for the stranger to take.
“Side?”
“Side?” Sylus replied.
“Starch, salad, pasta?”
“Oh, none of that. Just the ham, please.”
The stranger was sweating, but it wasn’t fear he was exuding. It was… curiosity? Interest?
If he is so interested, perhaps he would enjoy a tour of our insides.
Fuck you.
It would be educational for all involved.
I said fuck you.
The stranger cleared his throat. “Right. Good. Okay.” He took the menu. “I’ll go get that ready. Anything else I can get for you?”
“More water.” Sylus motioned to his glass. “Please.”
“Right.” The stranger replied as he picked up the empty glass.
Sylus watched him walk away in silence lamenting the ill-fitting nature of the stranger’s pants.
It would be easy to find out.
Sylus shook his thoughts away once more. This wasn’t like him. Sure he was a being with a long history of sexual encounters, for better or worse, mostly worse, almost always worse, but he never found himself looking at someone like he did the stranger. It was something between craving and desire. His hunger often mixed with lust, but somehow this was different. The ache in his core was separate from the one in his gut. He was looking at someone he desperately wanted to consume in every way. His gaze, his voice, his strength, his sorrows…
“Why am I like this…” He murmured.
He looked up to catch the stranger returning with a pitcher of water in addition to his filled glass. Clearly he was good looking AND smart. Until he reached the table and just stood there holding the water as if he’d forgotten what he was doing with it. Sylus’ smile shifted only slightly.
“I am SO sorry!” He hurriedly put everything down before practically running back to the kitchen.
The man knew what he was. He knew he was a monster. A tentacle adorned monstrosity bleeding violet blood and yet…
Sylus imagined being a normal human being for a brief moment. He’d talk to the stranger, maybe get to know him, see if there was anything there. He’d indulge that hunger to see where it went. But not like this. Not when it mixed too closely with destruction. He was meant for no one and nobody. His eyes burned.
You should have left when we could. Why are you doing this? It’s ridiculous! Your facade is costing us precious v’rilk we can’t afford to be losing. All for what? To impress some random mortal? Who, might I add, hit us with their vehicle?
Sylus leaned his arms on the table and rested his face in his hands. He let excess v’rilk in his face drain away thinking it’d go unnoticed.
“He’s beautiful.” He murmured.
Oh for Father’s sake. All mortals are the same.
“He’s kind.”
Out of fear or desire for something. You know mortals as well as I do.
“It hurts.” Sylus muttered.
Are you lamenting your mortality again?
“Something like that.”
Irrational, but I would expect nothing less. You know how to engage in transactional coitus. Just do that and get it over with.
“No, I don’t think I will.”
Why? Human life and intimacy is cheap.
“I should have left…”
I know. I told you to.
The kitchen doors swung open. Sylus snapped upright and quickly restored his features.
The stranger set his plate down before crouching beside the table.
What the hell…
“What are you doing?” The stranger whispered.
“Hm?” Sylus forced a nervous chuckle.
“I hit you with my truck! You should be resting.”
Sylus’ mind was racing out of control. It was very much like him to confuse kindness for interest. The stranger was just kind to a dangerous fault. He’d be an even worse monster if he took advantage of that.
“Oh I’m fine!” Sylus forced a laugh.
“You aren’t, though. Eat, then go back to bed. I could’ve brought you something if you wanted.”
“I don’t much like taking advantage of people like that.” Sylus’ code for he would never ask for help no matter how much he needed it.
You are one breath away from doing something you will sorely regret.
“It’s not-” the stranger sighed, “I almost killed you.”
“But you didn’t.” Sylus smirked. “Takes more than a run-in with a 497 Yamamura K1000 to kill the mighty Sylus Synclaire.”
SYLUS! WHAT IN THE LIVING SPHERES HAVE YOU DONE?!
It’s fine.
YOU JUST GAVE A MORTAL YOUR NAME!
It’s fine, really.
I-I cannot with you right now.
It’s not like I gave him YOUR name.
You gave him half custody of our soul! Why do you keep doing this?!
Shame returned. I-I’m just…
The stranger raised a brow. “Sylus Synclaire?”
Sylus nodded. “For better or worse, that’s me.”
…so lonely…
I am here.
I-I know…
“And how did you know what kind of truck I have?”
“Photographic recognition of most vehicle models pre-501.”
Why did I say that? It’s just a stupid fixation. I’m so fucking creepy.
“That’s oddly specific.”
“It’s a hobby.” Sylus replied dismissively hoping to stem the embarrassment he’d surely caused.
The stranger stood up. “Eat.” He chuckled.
“You have my name, what about yours?” Sylus was desperate to maintain the conversation. He hadn’t spoken to another human in months by now, much less one that seemed to actually care about what he had to say.
He doesn’t. They never do. You know they only want something when they pretend to.
Please just let me have this.
“I think you heard my father screaming at me earlier.”
Sylus shook his head. “That’s what he calls you. What do you call yourself?”
“What do I…?” The stranger paused for a moment in thought. “Jeron. Just Jeron.”
“Just Jeron it is.” Sylus chimed before turning his attention to his heaping plate of ham slices.
The stranger returned to the kitchen.
Sylus forced himself to focus on a single hunger as he dug into his meal.
“Sondreh, that’s so fucking good.”
Though he said nothing, Qaitax’s disapproval weighed heavily on the back of his mind.
Sylus moaned every so slightly as he inhaled his food. He tried desperately to take the time to savor it, but nothing ever lasted in his maw. Before he knew it, he’d cleaned his plate.
“Shame.” He murmured. “We’ll have to come back someday.”
Come BACK?!
“Someday.”
Jeron returned to take his plate.
“Next time,” Sylus cooed, “I’ll take the whole ham.”
“Next time?” Jeron laughed.
“Yes.” Sylus looked him dead in the eyes. “Next time.”
There will BE NO NEXT TIME!
“Alright. Fine. Next time. But don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re barely holding yourself together this time.”
Wasting all that v’rilk and not even doing a good job with it. What am I going to do with you, Sylus?
“That bad, huh?” Sylus’ energy was quickly sapped. His body reminded him how bad of a shape he was truly in. Regardless, he forced a smile.
“Why did you come down here?”
Sylus shrugged. He didn’t really have the words for his actions. He had feelings and compulsions. He didn’t have thoughts or meaningful ideas. That’s just not who he was.
“Sylus, why?”
He took a deep breath and tried to put something he was feeling into words.
“I heard everything.” He quickly realized how much he was probably embarrassing his host by drawing attention to his personal strife. “Thought you could use a break.” Jeron remained silent. Sylus cleared his throat knowing damn well he’d made a mess of things as was customary. “This was all I could think to do.” He smiled though his gaze wandered. He did it because he always wished someone would distract him from all the yelling in his life. He hated that he could so easily empathize with this man. A grown adult being abused by people he should be able to trust.
“I almost killed you and you’re worried about my father being an asshole to me?”
Without a thought, Sylus croaked: “Yes.”
Jeron quietly stared at him. What was going through his mind? What was he thinking? Did he think Sylus was weak? Was he considering how to take advantage of him?
They always do.
Sylus swallowed hard as he began plotting his escape.
This was a mistake.
You knew that from the start, but still you dug.
“Sylus I-” Jeron stammered.
Sylus forced a yawn and stretched his arms over his head. It was time to play it all off as cool as possible. The tension in the air was getting unbearable.
“Well,” he groaned, “now that the charade is over with, I may as well admit I feel terrible.”
“You didn’t have to-“
“No.” He didn’t. There was very little a tentacle monster had to do. “But I wanted to.” Comfort someone the way I wish I could have been comforted.
That is not how this works, Sylus. You cannot run your reserves dry “helping” people who will never help you in return. I know you want to make friends, to build back that family thing you crave so badly, but that is not what we are here to do. That is not our purpose.
“Why?” Jeron’s voice shook ever so slightly.
How much comfort could a monster like him offer anyone? He wasn’t exactly a comforting form or personality. He was designed to be imposing and unapproachable and yet here he was doing the approaching when he should have damn well known his place was in the shadows. No, he knew that. He knew that very well and still he chose to make a mess of things. Still he chose to meddle with mortals. To pretend he still was one.
Sylus shrugged again as he slid out of the booth. Shame and agonizing loneliness buried beneath his sudden dismissive demeanor.
“I just wanted to.” He smiled softly and genuinely. His body ached horribly, but his soul felt mildly better even if it was wallowing in self-loathing. “Now how much do I owe you?”
Jeron shook his head. “Just go rest.”
“I told you I don’t much like taking advantage of people.”
“How about I start a tab?”
Sylus chuckled. “If you insist, but keep it honest, yeah?”
“I do insist and I’ll be sure to keep it honest. Pops wouldn’t let me do otherwise.”
“Good.” Sylus breathed as he headed back out the door.
The moment he was out of sight, he dropped into a puddle of ink and slithered back up the building and through the window he’d exited before.
Sylus…
“He said to get some rest.”
We can do that back at the cave. Why are we still here? Why are you lingering?
“I-” he sat down on the bed. “I don’t know.”
Please consider the needs of the unit and not just yourself.
“Qaitax, I always put the unit first and you know that. Why else would I isolate us like I do? Why else would I follow your instructions every damn day?” Resentment rattled in his every word. “You don’t have to worry about losing part of yourself. You don’t have to think about the part of your fucking soul you threw away to be what? A half-assed fake god?”
You are a Voidlord, Sylus.
“What does that even mean?! That we can bully mortals? I was a mortal! I was bullied!” He laid back on the bed. “I was fucking murdered, Qatiax.”
I… I know.
“They killed me.”
As they killed me as well. I suppose it takes more than one death to give up on hope.
Sylus threw an arm over his face. “And I’d kill them all in return if there weren’t diamonds hidden in the rough. If good people weren’t buried beneath the dross.”
All mortals are the same, Sylus.
“What about me, then?”
You are dif-
“Don’t say that, because I’m not. Either all morals are vile, or some of them are worth saving and protecting.”
Qaitax fell silent.
“That’s what I thought.” Sylus’ voice shook and his eyes burned. A familiar feeling he hated with every fiber of his being. “Not that I deserved saving.” He croaked.
Silent sleep came for his tired tendrils. As he drifted off, one last thought crossed his weary mind.
I believe you were.
Eternity's Irys 