Title: Toast
Rating: G
Summary: Bryce makes Lara breakfast in bed – at least, that's the plan… Lara/Bryce one-shot.
Author's Note: Written for Acid Rush as a fic-meme response. Love ya, Jenn! :D
Lara woke alone, stretching an arm over to the vacant side of the bed, but finding no one there. This was unusual: normally she was the early riser, and Bryce would be curled up beneath the covers until lunchtime if she let him.
Pulling her Glock out from under her pillow and donning last night's clothing, she moved silently through the mansion, following the faint scent of toast toward the kitchen. It was unlikely that Bryce had been forced out of bed at gunpoint and made to prepare breakfast for his kidnapper, but Lara wasn't taking any chances.
Bryce was still in his pyjamas, buttering toast and stifling a gargantuan yawn against his arm.
"Who are you, and what have you done with Bryce?" Lara asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table and laying down her weapon. "More to the point, what have you done with Hillary? It's not like him to let you into the kitchen unattended."
He jumped and turned to face her, his hair tousled and eyes heavy-lidded. "You're supposed to still be asleep!"
Amused, Lara poured herself a cup of tea from the pot on the table. "You're the one who's allergic to eight a.m., not me. What are you doing up?"
Bryce slid the plate of toast across the table, sighing. "I was meant to be making you breakfast in bed. I asked Hillary to go do something butlery somewhere else."
She was torn between two urges: to laugh, and to apologise. Before she could make up her mind, he left the kitchen, and she arched an eyebrow at her toast, wondering whether it was worth delaying her breakfast to follow him.
After a couple of minutes, he returned with a large, wrapped present, which was topped with a carefully-tied silver bow. "Happy birthday. Valentine's Day. Whichever."
She'd completely forgotten the date, as usual, and stared at the gift in dismay. "I completely forgot-"
Bryce kissed the top of her head and took a seat at the opposite side of the breakfast table, shrugging. "I know. Open yours."
He never seemed to bear a grudge that she could work out the best route to take through hazardous territory in the blink of an eye, but never remembered simple things like Valentine's Day or his birthday. Lara didn't know if that fact made her feel better, or worse.
She set to the task of unwrapping the present, revealing an unmarked white box. With a glance up at Bryce, she opened it and pulled out a beautiful crossbow, sleek and deadly. "Bryce…"
He yawned again, grinned sleepily and drained his teacup, never one to stick around and be praised. "I'm going back to bed."
Lara contemplated the tea, toast and crossbow with a faint smile, while he wandered back toward the bedroom. After a couple of seconds, she set down her new weapon, took a final bite of toast and then followed him.
END.