Sam didn't know why it was a shock when Vala selected an old Def Leppard song from the beat up jukebox in the corner of the run down coffee shop attached to their hotel. As a rule, Vala was a mass of contradictions and constantly shifting attentions. There were countless layers to Vala. An affinity for classic heavy metal was par for the course.
Sam's eyes followed Vala's trek from the jukebox to the counter where she ordered something. The volume of the music made it impossible to hear what she said to the lady as she paid. Vala's face lit up as she smiled at something the pretty, twenty-something woman in the gravy stained apron said to her. Whatever it was, Vala tossed her long, raven hair and glanced back at Sam, giving a little finger wave.
After a minute, Vala was on her way back to their table with a large bowl, a spoon and a squeeze bottle. She danced, silently mouthing the lyrics in time to the sexy swings of her hips.
'Listen, red light, yellow light, green light, go
Crazy little woman in a one man show
Mirror queen, mannequin, rhythm of love
Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up'
Vala's bowl held scoops of different ice creams from the freezer case beside the cash register. The bottle was chocolate syrup, of the kind parents put in milk for their kids. Sam used to sneak it into Cassie's milk whenever she came to stay because she knew Janet didn't approve.
After scooting into her side of the booth, her teammate upended the bottle over the ice cream and covered the entire thing with a ridiculous amount of chocolate. At Sam's widened eyes, Vala shrugged and grinned. She scooped a bite and popped it into her mouth, humming with pleasure.
'You got the peaches, I got the cream
Sweet to taste, saccharine
'Cause I'm hot, so hot, sticky sweet (Hot!)
From my head, my head to my feet (Head!)
Do you take sugar, one lump or two?
Take a bottle, take a bottle
Shake it up, shake it up
Break the bubble, break it up'
Vala was shaking the bottle of chocolate syrup to the words of the song and a bit of it spilled onto her fingers, which she proceeded to lick clean in a vaguely dirty way. Sam felt herself smile as she imagined licking those fingers clean herself.
When Vala offered a spoonful, Sam opened her mouth and let Vala feed her, and licked a tiny dot of chocolate off her lower lip with the tip of her tongue. Two could play at Vala's game.
"Good song."
"Yeah."
Vala ate two more bites and then fed another bite to Sam. They continued on with Vala feeding them both until the bowl was nearly empty, at which point Vala hopped up, "Okay, time for bed." She snatched the container of syrup. "I'm taking this with us."
Sam wasn't going to complain.
