Tori woke up with a long stretch, a yawn falling from her open mouth. She rolled over and sat up, looking at the other side of the bed with blurry eyes. Jade must already be up. Her side was vacant and Tori could smell coffee brewing. She crawled out of bed to brush her teeth then headed to their small kitchen. She found Jade staring into a cup of coffee, gaze intense. Tori quirked a curious brow and walked over to her. She brushed Jade's hair back to place a kiss on her shoulder, lips pressed to the exposed skin next to the strap of her tank top. Jade shivered a bit and frowned.
"Don't distract me," she grumbled, eyes still on the cup of coffee. Tori hugged Jade from behind and rested her chin on Jade's shoulder, looking down at the cup of coffee with her. It seemed ordinary enough. The dark liquid held a pile of powdered creamer on the surface which was slowly falling apart and dissolving.
"What are you doing?" she finally asked, at a loss for why Jade stared so intently at such an unremarkable sight.
"I like to pretend the creamer is a glacier that's melting, slowly dwindling into nothing as the inhabitants scurry in a panic, desperate for rescue that will never come, and ultimately drowning to death in the unforgiving ocean below," Jade answered in a deadpan. Tori's brows rose in slight surprise. Not that Jade's imagination surprised her, but by the unexpectedly grim fate of the imaginary victims.
"I see you've found a reason to keep buying powdered creamer," Tori responded with a sigh. Jade nodded.
"I mean, besides it being cheaper than liquid creamer," Tori amended. She recalled the small argument between them. Jade didn't use creamer, but Tori did. Tori preferred the liquid creamer, but Jade wanted the powdered one because it was cheaper for more of it. Jade nodded again in response to Tori's statement, unable to look away until the last of the creamer disappeared. Only then did she move to add sugar and stir.
"Here's your mug o' victims. Sweet and sugary, just how you like it," she announced with an innocent smile, picking it up to hand to Tori. She released Jade to take it, grimacing down at the warm beverage.
"Why do you gotta say it like that?" she questioned.
"It's funny seeing the look on your face," Jade said while fixing her own coffee with only sugar.
"Yeah, but…now I can't un-see it," Tori whined, still staring into her mug.
"Un-see what? The animals drowning?" Jade remarked candidly, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Jade! Now I really can't drink this!" Tori complained, setting it down.
"You better not waste it, Vega. Drink it for me. If I liked creamer, I would be all over those poor unfortunate souls," Jade told her sternly. Tori rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, pouting.
"Of course you would, 'cause you're evil," she retorted.
"You're damn right I am. Now drink your doomed souls and enjoy it," Jade countered. Tori groaned and grudgingly picked up the mug to take a tentative sip, as if the warm beverage would taste a certain way now that she knew the truth behind the reason Jade continued to buy powdered creamer. And yet, it tasted as she expected.
"Well?" Jade questioned, waiting. Tori forced away the smile that threatened to appear in reaction to a good cup of coffee and instead she cleared her throat.
"I guess it's fine for being made with freshly drowned animals," Tori bit back sourly. It was Jade's turn to roll her eyes.
"Whatever. You love it," she dismissed with confidence, taking another drink of her own coffee.
"Fine, but only because it's made the way I like it. Not for any other reason," Tori emphasized.
"Sure," Jade accepted, yet Tori saw the sly smirk she hid behind the rim of her mug. She glanced down at her coffee again.
"Jade," she whined.
"Yes, Vega?" Jade replied, turning to Tori with her mug in both hands.
"I can't unthink it," Tori lamented.
"Then my job is done for the day," Jade answered proudly. Tori groaned and Jade leaned over to kiss her cheek.
"Morning, babe. How's your day so far?" she asked brightly.
"Terrible," Tori grumbled, reluctantly taking a sip of her coffee. Jade chuckled, highly amused.