That was true about the pay, at least for normal jobs. Scipio's "freelancing" was obviously different from just writing up a few good stories or giving a report about the latest things going on in whatever part of Arcus you'd been visiting. 

"#You suck at giving advice," teased the symbiote.

"Yeah, like you could do any better," Scipio thought back. "Maybe if this girl was a superbeing I could actually offer some good tips...."

"#Actually..."

Scipio knew what the alien was going to say. This girl had a certain faint scent about her that he was was all to familiar with. Smoke. Was... was she a pyromancer? Or maybe she had just used clothes that had been exposed to smoke sometime ago. Whatever the case, he wouldn't pry, as doing so might elicit a negative response or even give away his true nature.

"Well, I wish you luck in your job hunt then."

Scipio turned to Niesha.
"Kind actions on your part."

With that, he left the coffee shop and headed off somewhere.