Demonic Influence (I hate my co-workers)

Bubble Tea and Food For Thought

A/N: It's an Eddy chapter! I hope you enjoy this one, it's probably gonna be important later on... (plus I couldn't wait to show y'all this character lol) Also, let's all give bubble tea a warm welcome, I'm amazed the fic has gone on this long enough without it. :D

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Research was time consuming. Research was boring. Research was undoubtedly not going to lead him anywhere, in the long run. Research generally sucked. There was a lot Eddy could say about research, none of it good.

Yet despite all of these incredibly compelling reasons to stop researching, Eddy continued. He wasn't sure what he expected to find. Brett had gone to bed hours before, still shivering slightly. A couple more of his feathers had fallen out, but not enough to make a substantial difference.

And so Eddy had checked on Brett in his bed. He had given the shivering boy blankets and pillows and left him to sleep. He had swept up all the feathers and dusted the counters. He had made himself lunch, and dinner a couple hours after that. And so now, he sat there, researching.

Honestly, it wasn't doing anything, and his eyes were beginning to swim with words and letters, none of them particularly helpful. He had consulted the Bible first, (until the tingling in his fingers had gotten too strong) but there weren't any recorded instances that he could even compare to Brett's situation anyway. Then he had surfed the web for a bit, looking specifically for PDFs of old texts and forgotten writings, but still, nothing came up. He had even gone through seventeen 'pay to read' documents that he had found, despite the chunk it took out of his wallet. Nothing.

I just need to know what's happening, so I can help him. Eddy bit his lip, slamming his laptop shut in anger. Nothing is telling me anything.

Still scowling, Eddy threw his coat over his shoulder. Maybe he should just work. It had been a while since he actually did his job, and he certainly had enough pent up energy for it right now. But I don't want to work... He should probably at least get some fresh air, Brett had said something about that being 'good for him' or whatever. Then, Brett would be happy at least, and he wouldn't have to stare at his computer screen any longer.

He called back to Brett one last time before he left. "Heading out, don't die while I'm gone!" he paused. "You need me to pick up anything while I'm out?"

"Can you pick up bubble tea?" Brett called back, sounding sleepy. Eddy felt a small stab of guilt run through him. He must have woken him.

"Yeah, I'll be back soon." He responded, then, "Get some sleep while I'm gone."

"What do you think I was trying to do?" Brett grumbled back, barely audible through his sandy colored walls.

Eddy cracked a small grin at that and closed the door as softly as he could when he left, starting to walk. He didn't put too much thought into it, he just let his feet take him where they wanted to go. He nodded politely as he passed what appeared to be a mother and her child, out for an evening stroll.

He walked a couple more blocks and grinned warily at a man donning a long, beige trenchcoat and did his best to stay as far away from him on the narrow sidewalk as he deemed socially acceptable without coming off as rude.

When he finally made it to what appeared to be his destination, Eddy was pleasantly surprised. He didn't think he'd ever seen this place before. Then again, it wasn't like he usually spent his nights wandering the city.

He opened the door to the shop, enjoying the jingle of the little bell above the door. The store was colorfully, artistically dark, with little knick knacks and other various thingamabobs covering every open surface. There were a couple of tables shoved haphazardly into one of the corners, and there was a mahogany counter almost straight ahead of him, in the back of the room.

Eddy walked up to the woman behind the counter. He couldn't quite place her age, but she looked like she could fit somewhere within the range of teenagers to early adult. Her hair was large and curly, the ends of it tipped a deep purple. Her eyes seemed to follow his every move, and Eddy reassessed her. She wore, like him, all black. A small cross was dangling from her silver bracelet.

The woman gave him a smile that seemed to stretch just a little bit too far across her face. Buttons hung from her ears. "Are you lost, dear?" Her chestnut eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Eddy sniffed a little bit, the scent of cinnamon and cedar coating his nose. "Is this... Bubble Trouble? I saw the sign out front and it said Palm Readings and..."

"Bubble tea, yes!" The woman grinned. "Welcome! My name is Mary, I run the shop. Now, do you want two cups, or just the one for your friend?"

Eddy considered this. "Just the one please," he said. Mary smiled knowingly, and Eddy was struck with a strange feeling that she didn't really have to ask him anything at all to know what he was there for. "I didn't mean to end up here," he said, more to himself than to anyone else.

"No one ever really does," Mary responded, humming some tune that seemed just familiar enough to make Eddy pause. He couldn't place it. A large, white cat meowed at him from behind the counter, and Mary rolled her eyes shooing it along.

"Isn't that a health code violation?" Eddy asked, watching the cat pick itself up and begin to make its way into the back room, completely unprompted.

Mary glanced back at him, the corners of her mouth twitching. She raised a finger to her lips mirthfully. "I won't tell if you don't," she whispered.

Eddy found himself nodding. Sooner than he would have liked, the tea was ready. He accepted it with a smile and thanks, beginning to pull out his wallet.

Mary stopped to consider him as he pulled out the money. "I don't usually do readings for your kind, but I will give you this for free," Mary looked him in the eye, and Eddy could feel himself begin to hold his breath. There was a long pause, during which Eddy's stomach took the opportunity to tie itself into knots. Finally, Mary spoke, her tone almost chiding. "You know exactly what's happening to your friend, don't try and kid yourself any longer."

Eddy could feel his throat tighten. No, I really don't think that I already know, I don't want to think that I already know. "I don't think that's how palm reading works," he heard himself say in response. "You didn't even look at my palm."

Mary just gave him a smirk. "And who are you to tell me how to do my job?" She asked him quietly, not a hint of malice in her words.

Eddy nodded, feeling the blood rushing in his ears. "Fair enough," he responded, or at least, he hoped that he did. What is this?

Mary just gave him a slightly more genuine smile in response. "Bring your friend by sometime," she said, though not unkindly. "I think he would enjoy one of my readings."

"How will I find you again?" he asked her.

"The same way you did before, Eddy. You'll know it when you try it."

The white cat meowed once more, drawing his attention. The bell above the door jingled, and Eddy was back in the middle of the sidewalk, his throat strangely tight and his heart strangely heavy. He clutched Brett's bubble tea in his hand.

Nodding to himself, Eddy turned, and began the long walk back in what he hoped was the direction that he had come from.