Chrysalis was not prepared for service work.
It was like acting on top of acting. Not only did she need to play her role as "Moon Glow", but she also needed to pretend to like these people. This shouldn't be very hard for a master of deception, but this was a little different. Nonetheless, the tasks themselves were simple. Take the order. Get the bits. Give out the food. Clean. When the customers weren't a terror, it was a fairly relaxed experience. Unfortunately, that was only most the time.

One such terror had been deciding for several minutes now, stretching her patience to its limit. She nearly jumped at the hoof on her back, so mind numbed from the task at hand

"Hey, hon. Break time. You look like you could use one." That 'kirin' was unaturally perceptive. But changelings weren't ones to really do breaks, if not for the disguise at hand. At least she wasn't... Plus, something was bothering her.

"Oh thank you .. Wait what about you?"

The kirin only smiled.

"I'm doing what I love. It ain't that bad. Besides I'm used to doing this on my own, you know?" A fine point. She admired her tenacity, at least. And her food certainly reeked of love.

"Fine, but if you get swamped, call me over. Promise?"

"Swear on my elders. Go relax, hon."

Chrysalis didn't need an excuse to get away from those annoying ponies... One of whom still hasn't decided so far. The menu wasn't even that big. "Moon Glow" sat down with a sigh. She was out of practice. It'd been too long since she'd gone undercover. The last time...

She sighed again. It's always that one tiny detail you didn't plan for. But she was alive, and had some of her previous following. It was enough.

Though they annoyed her endlessly, she found herself craving the company of those two. She chided herself for it. She didn't NEED friends. Stupid shit like that was exactly why she was here.

Still, it was awful lonely. It took her back to days wandering alone, in those damn woods. That time nearly broke her. She wondered where her stick went. Maybe after this operation...

Her musings were, once again, interrupted. The store was mostly empty and the Kirin had arrived to check on her

"Break's over, hon. You good? All ready to go and stuff?" This constant concern for her well-being was getting annoying. Of course she was fine.

"Yup! Just thinking about stuff, you know? A lot to think about."

"That's fair. Well... Feel free to share, yeah? You're a quiet one. Wouldn't mind hearing some more of your thoughts." As much as that sure as hell wasn't happening, she should make up something to tell her for the future. She needed to be well-liked after all.

"I'll consider it. It's hard to talk much about this kind of stuff after being trapped so long." she lied. Mostly.

" Tell me about it! That stream of silence thing was no good for my ability to communicate, that's for sure." She offered her a hoof up and she begrudgingly accepted, still not certain that she wasn't just another changeling.

The shift went about the same the rest of the day. Chrysalis was ill-prepared for the dinner rush, but found herself annoyingly encouraged by her current partner in crime. At the end of a too-long shift, she found herself suddenly restrained. She nearly went rigid until she realized this was a hug. She allowed herself to snack a little.

"Great work today hon! Thank you so much for your help." The Kirin continued to be overly warm. If she was a changeling, it was increasingly obvious she must be some kind of new form. Unfortunately, her discomfort was easily read. She was lightly let go of.

"Oh... Sorry. Not a hugger?"

"Just not used to getting many of them." Shit. That expression. That was not the correct thing to say. That insipid pity in her eyes. She should lie more.

"Do creatures not... Hug you at all? What about your parents?"

"Don't know them." Fuck. Why did she say that? She should have said they died, over that! She really needed to get on her game and start actually lying again. She found herself being restrained again.

"Oh you poor thing. Well I've got plenty more where this comes from! Please let me know if they ever make you uncomfortable, ok?" So sickeningly sweet.

"Thank you. I'll try to let you know." She supposed having more energy for the heist wouldn't be a bad thing... Right?

"Well I should get going soon." It was time to break this up. But she gave her another one of her damn looks.

"Hey uh... You got a place to stay?" No, and saying yes might have her trying to visit

"Not really. You know I just blew back into town and all and I haven't got that sorted yet."

They nodded thoughtfully "why don't you stay with me until you get on your feet? I've only really got a couch for you but I live in the shop more or less. It's bigger then it looks."

That was sad. Whatever. She'd better agree, but make a fuss about it.

"Oh are you sure? I don't want to impose."

"Positive! Come on let's get you settled in."

Though she didn't want to be here, she did want to learn more about her host. To manipulate her obviously. What other reason could there be?

Author's Note

Whoa! my editor chomped through the other chapters i had ready and they're all edited. until probably tommorow when i end up writting even more lol!

This one's named after the track from skullgirls. neat!