Tao's startled shriek was the only thing that disturbed M21's morning.
Looking up from his second cup of coffee, M21 gave Tao a warning glare. Despite being on his second cup of coffee, the caffeine had not yet hit his brain and therefore his tolerance for anything that moved or squawked was rather nonexistent.
But Tao paid no attention to his caffeine deprived companion. Instead, he was staring at the coffee creamer in horror. The white liquid was splattered onto the counter (that, M21 had to admit, was a good enough reason for Tao's shriek. Heaven forbid if anything messed up the house).
Despite knowing that asking would not give M21 the quiet he wanted, he asked anyway. "Tao, what is it?"
Tao scowled at the creamer. "This!" he pointed at the brown container. "It's white!"
M21 raised an eyebrow. "So it is. What of it?"
"What of it?" Tao repeated. "Do you see this?" He pointed at the coffee creamer. "It says 'Café Mocha.' Mocha means chocolate and chocolate is brown. Well, this," and he pointed at the offending white spot on the counter. "Is anything but brown. It is white!"
M21 shrugged. "So?"
"So! That means that my creamer is not chocolate. Again! This is the second time this week!"
Taking another, much needed, sip of his coffee, M21 could recall the first incident that Tao's creamer had 'gone white.' At first, the hacker had assumed that his creamer was going bad because of the odd, non chocolate taste. But after Takeo had sipped the creamer and concluded that the creamer was safe to consume, Tao had been unable to rid himself of it. Frankenstein refused to waste anything, and everyone knew not to ask him for an exception.
"It's not that bad," Takeo had said after tasting it. "It tastes like vanilla and caramel."
Which, as everyone found out, Tao hated. Tao could not stand the taste of vanilla and caramel combined. He had even threatened to sue the company that stocked the creamer if they were changing the formula of his favorite creamer.
And it looked like his chocolate creamer was out of commission once again.
"I swear," Tao muttered as he glared at the creamer. "If they are changing the recipe of the 'Café Mocha' I will sue this company for all it is worth." His gaze became mournful as he glanced at his ruined coffee. "And now my morning has been tainted." He huffed and placed his hands on his hips. "Or maybe…" he trailed off as he snapped his fingers. "I bet it's Regis' fault!"
Now M21 was amused. "How so?"
"Because he likes the same creamer as me, and he drinks his espresso in the afternoons and leaves the creamer out! He probably made the creamer go bad and lose all of its chocolate taste!" He huffed. "I keep telling him that he should put it away in the fridge every time he's finished topping off his espresso, but he never listens to me!"
"You can't throw it out," Takeo pointed out as he sat down next to M21 at the table. "Boss hates wasting stuff."
Tao sighed as a look of regret came over him. M21 actually began to feel sorry for him. "I'll help you finish the creamer Tao," he offered.
Tao's smile was strained. "Thanks," he said as he grabbed his ruined cup of coffee and went in search of his computer. As he left the room, M21 caught the look of distaste on his face as he sipped his contaminated coffee.
Now alone in the kitchen with Takeo, M21 sighed and shook his head. "So, when are you going to tell him?"
Takeo's nonchalant face gave way to a mischievous smirk. "When he finishes the 'distasteful' creamer."
M21 chuckled. "You know, you should really stop swiping out Tao's chocolate creamer for your vanilla one. He'll get suspicious."
Takeo's mischievous smile grew. "I made sure to mix it with chocolate syrup this time."
Despite his friendship with Takeo, M21 now felt wary of the sniper. "This is because he braided your hair while you were asleep in the middle of the night, right?"
"He ruined my night. So I'll ruin his morning."