25. Tea (It was originally 'coffee', but tea fit China better.)
Closing the door to the barracks, Viper waltzed in happily. In her tail were a few lavender flowers she had picked from the nearby forest. Some nice, calming, lavender tea was what she needed the most right now. Her mind has been in absolute turmoil recently and she just wanted a break. Humming a small tune to herself, she opened the door to the kitchen, and twirled her way in.
"You seem to be in a happy mood…"
Viper quickly turned around, seeing Crane leaning on the table, eating some fruit. The green on her face tinted pink and she regained her normal composure. She didn't even notice him there! How did she manage to do that?! She placed the flowers on the kitchen counter, cleared her throat and gave her fellow Master a smile, "G-good morning, Crane~" she said, turning herself towards the cabinets where the teapot lay, "I-I thought everyone had already gone to the Village…" She opened the pantry and scanned through the shelves—looks like someone moved the teapot.
The avian sighed, throwing the fruit he was eating between his wings, "I wasn't feeling very well this morning, so I slept in a bit. And now, I'm eating breakfast." He finally took a bite out of the fruit and looked over to his comrade, "How about you?" he asked, after swallowing.
The reptile hummed, "Well, I woke up early this morning," she said, opening then closing another pantry, "I couldn't go back to sleep due to incredibly loud thoughts parading through my mind, so I decided to find some ingredients for tea – ah ha! There you are!" She found the teapot on the bottom shelf and grabbed it, bringing it over to the sink, starting to fill it up with water.
Crane peered around her body to see what material she was working with. He rose an eyebrow, "You…make tea…out of…flowers?" he asked, genuinely curious.
Viper turned to face him and nodded, "Yes." She said, bluntly, "Some properties in certain flowers can aid with many issues regarding health, depending on the type you use." She turned back to her teapot and let out a silent gasp when she realized the water was overflowing. She turned off the sink and placed the teapot on the stove. Well, she just embarrassed herself in front of Crane…great. Exhaling a calm breath, she took the lavender and began to rinse it under a low output of water. She tried to remain calm. The main reason why she was making this was for the sake of relaxation! But Crane had to be in the kitchen…
"I didn't know you knew about those type of things." Crane said, throwing the core of his fruit into the trash…He missed. He blushed and quickly put it in the bin, hoping Viper didn't see. "Uh, who-who taught you?" he returned to the table, assuming his previous position.
Viper turned the faucet off and jumped onto the counter. It was easier to make the tea this way, "I learned the basics from my mother…" She began to pick apart the lavender, only getting the pieces she needed, "…but when she didn't have the time to teach me, I began to teach myself." She smiled to herself, remembering all of the terrible teas she created, "You know, now that I think about it: I could have actually accidentally died." She took a spoon and crushed her ingredients. She then threw everything into the pot and began to stir.
Crane chuckled, "You are always full of surprises…" he mumbled under his breath.
"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing~?" Viper asked slyly.
"Good thing! Definite good thing!" Crane exclaimed. He smiled nervously, "I've just…always been impressed by you."
Viper stopped stirring for a few seconds; she had frozen in shock. Removing the spoon from the teapot, she closed it with the lid. "Ah, ha ha. How could you be impressed by me?" she asked, half-heartedly, not looking him in the eyes. She kept her eyes down—on the counter, the floor, his talons.
"You're a great fighter." Crane started, "Even though you have no limbs, it still takes a lot of strength to use your entire body for fighting. You can slice an entire boulder in half!" Crane looked at Viper and noticed her face was turning red. He smiled, "Cute…" he thought, continuing, "And you're also really kind. When the others are so hard to deal with, you're so mature and nice and sweet and…amazing." He trailed off when he realized he started rambling. Viper looked like she was going to explode. Oops…
Viper didn't even feel cold-blooded anymore. No one has ever spoken so highly of her before. She tried to speak, but no words were able to escape her mouth. So, she just ended up stuttering like a flustered idiot like, "Uh-uh-uh-uh, haha. Um, er-"
"AH! AND YOU DANCE!" Crane exclaimed, waving his wings frantically in front of him, attempting to salvage the situation. Viper finally looked up at him, startled by his sudden outburst, "Hehe, you-you ribbon dance~" he said, lowering his voice, "Whenever you dance, you're so graceful and you're really pretty…"
Whoop, there it is. Viper could just put the teapot on her face. That definitely would make the water boil faster, "Ah…C-Crane…?"
Crane noticed this and, again, tried to salvage the situation, "GOOD!" he yelled, "…you're really pretty good at it—at dancing…" he looked away, pulling his hat over his eyes, covering his red face.
Viper giggled, "Th-thank you for your flattery, Master Crane." She said, shyly to the cute man in front of her, "You…you're really pretty amazing as well…" she looked over to her teapot and gasped, "Oh, shoot!" The water had boiled to the point where the lid began jumping around due to the bubbles trying to escape. She turned off the stove and removed the teapot from it. "Ah, I hope it still works!"
She panicked her way off the counter and past Crane, fetching a teacup – oh wait! She turned to the avian Master, "Uh…would you like some as well?" she smiled sweetly.
How could he say 'no'? "Of course! I-if you don't mind…"
Viper took two cups from the shelf and rushed back. She skillfully placed them on the table and the rest of her movements had to be seen in slow motion for them to be seen. She had to move faster than she usually does because she let it boil for too long. She needs to get the sugar and honey in before the calming properties in the lavender dissipate.
Crane's eyes tried following the speedy snake dashing through the kitchen, "Woah…" he said under his breath, amazed.
After placing all that was needed to the table, she took the teapot and gently poured the tea into his and her cups, "Sorry, I couldn't find the strainer in time, so just try not to swallow the lavender buds, okay?" She spoke so fast, Crane barely deduced what she said…but he just nodded in agreement because he wasn't sure whether asking her to repeat herself was a good idea.
"Do you want sugar? Honey? How much if you want any?"
"Uh…just do whatever you usually do! I trust your expertise!"
"Ah! Okay! Okay!" She added in sugar and honey, then slid Crane's cup across the table, "Cheers!" she smiled, raising her cup towards him.
Crane laughed, "Cheers~" They clinked their cups together and took a sip.
Viper looked at Crane, trying to see if he liked it…Well…he began chugging it all without even being precautious of the buds like she told him to, so that was probably a good sign. She swallowed and let out a calm sigh. It still worked. Thank goodness. "So…you like it?"
Crane was reaching over to the teapot, "Yes!" he smiled nervously, "Hehe…May I-?"
"Go ahead~" she said, waving her tail at him.
Crane smiled and refilled his cup, "This taste's amazing! Why don't you make this more often?!"
"Only on special occasions." She winked, taking another sip, "If you have any requests, I'll see if I can make it for you~"
Crane went wide eyed, "Really?"
Viper nodded shyly, "Uhm…y-yeah~" She wiped a bit of tea off her lips.
"Wow, you really are amazing, Viper…"
Viper just wanted to make some nice calming tea on her day off, and she ended up making conversation with one of her teammates. She thought being with Crane would increase her anxiety, but it did exactly the opposite. Being with him had made her feel…at peace with herself.
Maybe she didn't have to make the tea after all.
Second test. Slightly longer chapter. This chapter takes place before they started dating. I'll specify the timeline at the beginning of the chapters once I get a good grip on this. (And when I see that people actually enjoy what I write.)
Also-before anyone else points it out-I, too, am not pleased with that ending. Like...oh geez. And I know nothing of how to make flower tea. I looked I searched up the basics things you need to know about it, but DO NOT TRY THIS NOT HOME.
Have a nice day/night depending on where you guys live~! :)