Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 File 1: Dominant Species
Part 4: Hunger
Chapter 47: Personal Interests
by P. Kristen Enos (bgcpost2040@aol.com)
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A Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 English Dub Version Fanfic. All rights belong to AIC, ADV Films and the other creative powers that be. I just want credit for writing the story. Contains spoilers! Rated PG13. Yuri warning! Nothing in here should be a shock if you've watched the episodes and paid attention. All I'm doing is filling in the gaps with my own interpretation of events! Special thanks to Greenegret for betaing!
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With a chef's apron over the stylish attire marking her as the Silky Doll's lone shop girl, Sylvie efficiently moved around the spotless kitchen as she fished through the fridge and various cupboards for the items needed to prepare the large breakfast she had planned. On the long counter in the middle of the room, she arranged each item according to its category, from eating utensils to food ingredients. She was determined to make certain Henderson's lessons would not go to waste.
She paused in mid-motion at the faint noise from the hallway. Since it was approximately 4:30 a.m., no one else should be up. She turned to see Priss standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
Dressed in a ragged t-shirt and faded jeans, the human stood stone-still and stared with no expression other than a slight narrowing of the eyes and crease of a frown on her brow. Her hair was still wet as she continued to dry it with the towel around her neck.
The two women stared at each other in silence.
Sylvie bowed in greeting and said, "Good morning, Priss, I was just about to prepare breakfast. May I fix you something in particular? "
Priss didn't move for a moment as she continued to stare. Then she went directly towards the fridge and said, "I just want something to drink, thanks. I can take care of myself."
The boomer quietly watched her study the fridge contents and then pull out a container of orange juice. Priss then paused and glanced at the various cupboards. She started to open the cupboards in search of something, and did not find it immediately - much to her annoyance, marked by the noticeable deepening of her frown.
After watching Priss open the fifth cupboard, Sylvie surmised what she was looking for and picked up one of the ready glasses on the counter to offer it to her. "I had already pulled one aside for you. Would you like it?"
With her hand on the knob of another cupboard, Priss stared at the proffered glass. She then looked at Sylvie, who again matched her stare.
"Thanks," she said, finally taking the glass. She poured herself a drink and made no further attempt to acknowledge the presence of the other woman, who continued to watch her.
Seeing that no further interaction was wanted or required, Sylvie continued in her task of assembling necessary items.
Priss leaned back against the counter space and covertly watched Sylvie out of the corner of her eye. Her frown didn't ease one bit.
"Should I leave so you may enjoy your juice in silence?" Sylvie asked matter-of-factly, apparently otherwise occupied with her task at hand.
Priss raised an eyebrow and then said, "No need.... Do you do this every morning?"
Sylvie paused and looked at her with a clearly puzzled expression. "'This'?"
"Make breakfast."
"No. This is my first time. By myself at least."
"Oh... Then are you going to work in the shop today?"
"Yes," the boomer responded as she tried to make sense of the logic behind the questioning. Then she tilted her head curiously and asked, "Are you finally interested in buying something?"
Priss's frown got darker for a moment and then lightened. "No. I just never expected Sylia to take advantage of you like this."
Now Sylvie was clearly confused. "Take advantage of me? As in use me for her benefit without consideration of my own desires? I don't believe that is the case. I am fixing breakfast to show Mr. Henderson that I fully understand his cooking lessons and desire a test to prove myself. I work in the shop because it is the best way for me to interact with humans so that my social skills and experience increases. I am glad Mr. Henderson can sleep in while I take over cooking duties for a day, and that Sylia can rest and heal from the injury I had given her. And even if there were no benefits for them, I've found I enjoy cooking and socializing. Is that being taken advantage of?"
Priss had listened to her quietly, but each word actually made the frown lighten and eventually disappear. When Sylvie was finished, Priss finally smiled to herself and said, "You're right. There's nothing wrong in doing something you enjoy. If that's truly the case then, yeah, I'd like to have some of the breakfast you're going to make."
Sylvie broke out into a pleased smile and said, "It will take a while though. I can summon you from your room when it's ready."
"I'm in no rush. Unless of course that was your hint for me to get out of your way," she answered as she pulled a comb out of her pocket and started run it through her hair.
"I would like you to stay," Sylvie admitted with a slight softening of her tone that actually caused Priss's eyebrow to arch curiously. Then she said in a stronger voice, "However, I am curious to know why you're up so early. I had formed the impression you would not be an early riser given that you were up quite late singing and playing your guitar."
"Sorry about that. I didn't realize the walls were so thin," Priss said with a genuine look of surprise.
"They aren't. I just have particularly acute hearing when something catches my interest," Sylvie admitted. Then she quickly added, "I try not to go out of my way to hear things that are not meant for me to listen to. But sometimes I can't help it, especially since I was in my room without any task to occupy myself. And I didn't think you'd mind."
"As long as you liked what you heard," Priss said with a shrugged. "So, do you actually sleep?"
"I've begun to. But I am only able to do it for a couple of hours at a time. I'm finding that I'm having difficulty allowing myself to completely shut down for a significant length of time. And when I do sleep, it doesn't feel as deep and as restful as Mackey has described. Sylia tells me it just may take some time to adjust, especially since I am on constant alert status, having been a combat boomer."
"Sounds like you and I are on the same sleeping schedule.... Is there something I can do to help?" Priss offered, suddenly conscious of the fact that she just stood there while the boomer was tackling what seemed to be a feast for a queen.
Sylvie paused and regarded her critically for a moment. Then she said seriously, "Only if you are offering because you might enjoy it. Otherwise, I'd rather keep all of the enjoyment to myself."
Priss actually chuckled and said, "All right you win. I'll just stand here and watch."
The other woman broke out into another pleased smile and then remarked, "Then do it over there. Otherwise, you're going to be in my way in approximately two minutes."
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Dressed in her bathrobe, Sylia appeared in the dining room entrance and paused at the various dishes of food, which were more than enough to feed the three other people seated at the table. "My! All of that food looks delicious... and plentiful."
Henderson immediately got up and bowed in greeting, as did Sylvie. Priss remained rooted as she took a bite from her toast and gave her hostess a nod of acknowledgement.
"Good morning, Mistress Sylia," Henderson greeted. "Sylvie wanted to treat us to the best breakfast she could make, which as you can see is quite varied since she knew we all had different tastes. I've sampled everything and it's delicious."
"Is there anything in particular you would like to try, Sylia?" the boomer asked as she readied a plate for her.
With an amused grin, Sylia sat down at her usual spot at the head of the table and said, "Let's just start with a small portion of the Eggs Benedict -- no, smaller than that, dear -- and we'll proceed from there. I promise to try everything even though it may take a few meals to do that."
Henderson handed her the still neatly folded newspaper. "I think you would be interested in the front page headlines, Madame."
She took the paper with a curious arch of her eyebrow. She opened it up to see a bold, red headline that read "Mysterious Female Warriors Save the Day!" Matching the colored headline was a full-page story with two nice photos, one of Sylvie crushing the core of her boomer and the one of Priss landing the crippling blow on hers.
The story really wasn't that much of a surprise after the constant news coverage on television all yesterday after the attack. However, it added a certain dimension of concreteness to see it in print.
After a sigh, Sylia merely looked at Priss.
The singer gave a shrug as she continued to tackle her breakfast and commented, "I just think it's too bad that I can't use all of this coverage to publicize Sekiria's new play dates at Hot Legs."
-- End Chapter 47 --
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