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// Coffee With Adagio 
// Story: Coffee With Adagio 
// by FourShadow 
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A rainy evening. Soft sounds of piano music, accompanied by the plucked strings of a cello playing from a jukebox. Lamps out in the streets, providing some comforting light. A single woman, sat in a booth, dressed in a warm hoodie near a window. Her head turned to look at the rainy atmosphere, watching as the rain danced in the streets. 

She took another sip of her coffee, feeling everything in her body slowly relax and calm down. She watched a few people move underneath the streetlamps with umbrellas extended, trying to keep dry as best as they could. Everyday people, she was sure. Day in and day out, working the same old jobs, just trying to make a living for themselves in such a big and crowded city. 

As she took another sip of her warm tea, she gazed up at the picture frames hanging on the walls. Several pictures of old memorabilia hung here. Some from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. A few old newspaper articles, some pictures of former employees or people who had lived previously and were now in the next life. A few records, and even some hung on display over the colorful jukebox in the corner which just casually played jazzy tunes.

She was about to order a soft snack until she heard the door open and shut. For a brief second, she could hear the rain beating hard outside, until the sound died. Walking inside was a teenager; a pale skinned boy with spiked up blue hair and a dark gray zip-up jacket. He was drenched a bit from the rain, but was still visibly okay. But there was a frustrated expression on his face as he walked in, like he had just seen one of the most depressing/infuriating sights on the planet. A mixture of both emotions thrown into a blender. 

The boy was about to find a space to sit until he caught eye of one of the most popular girls at CHS. He didn’t want to bother her, but after the way he was feeling, he needed a friend to talk to. He brushed past the space he was intending to sit in and walked straight towards Adagio’s table.

“Yes? Oh, Flash. Hello there,” Adagio greeted.

“Hey, Adagio. How are you doing?”

Adagio smiled. “Doing very well, handsome. How about you?”

Flash sighed heavily. “Frustrated. And tired.”

“Oof,” Adagio hissed. “Bad day?”

“You can say that,” Flash said, his eyebrows furled a little bit. “I guess I just needed to blow off some steam. I don’t suppose you mind if I…?” Flash ceased, letting Adagio fill in the blank.

“Why don’t you have a seat? Always love talking to friends these days. I’m not expecting any company tonight, and I certainly don’t mind talking to a handsome man as yourself,” Adagio winked.

Flash chuckled a bit. “You really know how to flatter people, don’t you?”

“Well of course. Flattery is a part of my charm. Knowing how to charm those around me certainly provided me and my sisters a little aid of survival in our past,” Adagio said.

Flash instantly took the seat that his friend had offered to him.

“So, what do you fancy?” Adagio asked, holding her face up with both hands, giving a seductive grin.

Flash blushed a bit. “Um… I don’t suppose this place has any coffee?”

Adagio giggled quietly. “It does; Got the same myself. Always like this place. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sugarcube Corner, but this place is very… relaxing. Nice and quiet with good food and drink. Especially after a very long and stressful day. Would you like something to drink?”

She snapped her fingers, attracting the main server’s attention.

“Ma’am?”

“Get my companion… um, what do you want?”

“Uh…” Flash looked down at the menu. “I guess I’ll take a cup of coffee, whipped cream.”

“Nice. That, and another cup for me, black, no sugar, please,” Adagio asked.

“Madam,” the server nodded, prepping their drinks. 

"So then Flash," Adagio purred, holding her head with her hands. "Tell me about your problems. Let your hair down and let your troubles just boil away..."

Flash shook his head, rolling his eyes and smiling. "Well, okay. I needed to come here to blow off. I kinda got into a fight with my little sister."

"About what?"

Flash laid his head back. "Well... lets just say she and I haven't been getting along very well. I keep telling her to stay out of my room, and she keeps on doing it anyway. She keeps on going near my guitar, and I have to tell her every time that it's not a toy. Do you know how annoying it is to have to keep repeating yourself and it still doesn't register in that person's head?"

Adagio nodded. 

"I swear, it feels like most of the time he does it on purpose to annoy me," Flash groaned, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Mmm, I see… I can certainly understand how that feels,” Adagio said, sipping her tea.

“You can? But I thought you and your sisters got along greatly!"

Adagio held a finger up, silencing Flash as she took another sip of her coffee. She set the cup down and sighed.

“To tell you the truth, I love them to death, but good heavens they can be so annoying…” Adagio rubbed her temples. “They constantly need me to make sure they don’t self-destruct. Some things I understand, but other times it’s the stupidest things! I shouldn’t have to double check the toaster every time! Who puts tacos into the toaster? That's a fire hazard waiting to happen, I swear!"

"So you do get it, then?"

Adagio nodded. "Yes, I do." She threw her head back. "I can't even tell you the amount of times I had to step in when Aria's anger turned into rage, leading to unnecessary violence. I remember this one day in the 1970s, she almost picked a fight with some snobby girl in school, and fists broke out. You can imagine who had the harder punch."

"Aria?"

"Correct. But the girl's parents weren't too happy with Aria's anger and threatened to sue us," Adagio grumbled, taking another sip of her drink. "Understandable on some level, but they carried a grudge with us ever since and it really... ugh, now I'm starting to sound like that old hag."

Flash chuckled. "Technically, you are a mom, aren't you?"

"Yes, I suppose that's true," Adagio said, thinking about it. "Oh, this is a good one. I remember back in the 50s, during a bit of some rough times... we were doing work on some Marebara cartoons, and before break time, I find out the two girls are starting a fight with a parent who joined a test screening for our next cartoon."

"Oh boy. I don't think I'm gonna like where this is gonna go..." Flash said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Lets just say the woman felt entitled to the idea of what we were allowed to do in our company despite the fact her child was entertained by our fancy moving pictures. And then I had to step in and try and contain the two from tearing the woman apart. ... I would have loved to see that, but I wasn't planning on having murder being on our list of crimes we committed again."

Flash nearly spat out his coffee. "... Again?"

Adagio's eyes widened. "Oh, um... I didn't say that." 

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Ma'am, I have no idea what you two are talking about, but I did hear the word murder tossed around," the server called from behind the counter.

"Dang it."

Defeated knowing there was no going back, she spoke. "I'm not going to lie, Flash. My sisters and I may be immortals... but we were not particularly clean throughout our years. We have committed a fair share of crimes in our days."

"Yeah?" Flash asked, not phased by what she was telling him.

"Now we had to participate in a few wars here and there, and we always believed the side we were fighting for was doing the right thing, and admittedly we believed it was all for the common good. So, um... okay, we did have to kill some, but it was a long time ago, I promise," Adagio stammered.

"Adagio, it's okay," Flash chuckled. "I know you girls wouldn't do such things now."

"Oh thank goodness," Adagio sighed in relief. "But I will admit, we have done some things we aren't so proud of... well, I'm not proud of, I'm sure Aria's been proud of some of her works."

"So what else have you girls done?"

Adagio's fingers extended, counting back to all of the crimes she was about to list. "We've broken into places, though on some occasion it was to obtain or retrieve something that was stolen to begin with... we've vandalized hotel rooms, destroyed pieces of property out of petty revenge, we--... this really doesn't paint me as a good human being, does it?" Adagio blushed, twiddling her fingers.

Flash chuckled again. "Adagio, you and your sisters come from a dimension where everyone is a pony. Compared to everything else you've told me, this doesn't even crack my top five in the strangest things you've told me."

"... right. Anyways," Adagio shook her head. "Back to your problem... hmm. I know you won't like hearing this, but do you perhaps think there's a reason she's constantly gone to your room?"

"Maybe," Flash shrugged. "I don't know, she shouldn't be barging into my room anyway. I don't go barging into her room."

"Hmm," Adagio's fingers tapped, thinking. "Has she ever told you why he's done this?"

"No."

"Curiouser and curiouser..." Adagio said, taking another sip of her coffee. "I know my sisters have done this on occasion before. I know they have gone into my bedroom before even when I tell them not too."

"You ever know why they go in there?"

"Unfortunately no, most of the time. But I know a few times it was for... specific things," Adagio blushed. "But I do remember one time in the 80s, Sonata barged into Aria's room to try and find something for inspiration, mostly because Aria refused to help her whatsoever."

"Help her with what?"

"I had been working day shifts around that time, and Aria and Sonata were the only ones home around that time. I remember Sonata was trying to change her hairstyle to impress some boy, and she wanted Aria's help but... she didn't exactly provide any," Adagio finished, taking another sip. 

"Why not?"

"Well understandably the guy that Sonata was trying to impress was... Aria's ex. ... Who dated a lot of girls. ... And cheated on them." Adagio's face drooped wider with each passing sentence, realizing something disturbing. "... Oh my goodness that jerk was a two-timer!" 

Flash blinked. "Ahem, um, Adagio?" 

"Oh! Right, right," Adagio cleared her throat. "But yes, Aria didn't really help her even though she wanted some which led to some unfortunate chaos in the house and... things led to another, and lets just say it was a while before the two of them could start talking to each other again," Adagio admitted.

"Ouch," Flash hissed. "That's gotta be tough."

"Yeah, it was. But I'm sure it's nowhere near as bad as what you and your... um... brother, sister--"

"--sister--"

"--sister may be dealing with. Has your sister mentioned anything bad or disturbing from her days at school?"

Flash laid his head back and thought. His face went blank as he thought back to the past couple of weeks. There was certainly some things that had been going on in the past for a while...

"Well... I do know she said she was dealing with some jerks at school who kept making sure it was difficult for her to make any friends," Flash said, thinking deep about it. 

"Yes?" Adagio inquired.

"And..." Flash thought some more. "... Oh my god," he scrunched his face. "She's been trying to talk to me this entire time. ... Wish she could just be direct, but I think that kinda explains it a little bit, maybe."

"Well, some people aren't so good with being direct, Flash," Adagio nodded. "Some people have the confidence to just be direct, but some aren't, possibly afraid of the response you may give them."

"But I don't want my sis going through school thinking she can't talk to me. I mean, I know we fight but... I don't hate her," Flash said.

"Well thankfully, handling this situation is an easy one. Well, at least for me as the advice giver. Find her, have a seat with her, and tell her just what you told me," the siren winked.

Flash blanked. "Wait, that's it? There's nothing more, nothing bigger than that?"

"Relationships are like... plants. It'll help if you talk to them, help them grow. Give them some attention, understand what is troubling them and help them along the way," Adagio explained, laying a shoulder back against head rest.

Flash smiled contently before taking another sip of his coffee. "Thank you."

Adagio giggled. "No problem, guitarist boy."  

As Adagio took another sip of her coffee, Flash looked down at the watch on his wrist. "Oh, I should probably head back. Thanks for listening to me, Adagio."

Adagio smiled. "It's no problem, Flash. It's good to let things out every now and then."

Flash nodded before going to the front door. He waved at her just before leaving the diner, a soft bell dinging in the door. Adagio looked back outside with a smile, enjoying the hot steaming liquid that poured down her throat. Just the boost of energy needed after a long day. That and a nice beat of old 50s music... all in all a perfect evening.