SR2 time with Shaundi, Carlos, and the Boss. Something short and silly, because I got a good prompt over at Tumblr, and I also seriously need to start writing Carlos.

Everything was blurry as she rubbed her eyes and rolled over. If this wasn't going to be another hangover from hell, then it was going to be one of the minor ones, making her head buzz and ache enough to want to sleep an extra eight hours.

V pulled at the blanket strangling her legs and kicked it off, not wanting to bother with it. She was too awake to want it anymore, and needed to grab a toothbrush to exorcise the demons nesting in her mouth.

"Fucking tequila," she muttered, throwing an arm over her eyes.

She started when she heard light snoring to her left, but relaxed when she saw the source. Johnny was sprawled on top of the covers with a bottle falling out of his hand, passed out enough to actually let his eyes close for once.

The strain didn't show in moments like this. It was almost too private for her to catch, and after a minute she forced herself to get up. The path to the bathroom was clear as she stumbled towards it, and she did her best to stay quiet as she closed the door behind her. By some miracle Gat still hadn't woken up by the time she'd brushed her teeth, and she decided not to press her luck by risking a shower.

Grabbing a few things off of the floor, she opted to raid Gat's shower for herself, and gave him one last glance before slowly closing the door behind her.

The fact that the HQ was quiet right now was startling. A few Saints were scattered about when she made her way downstairs after cleaning up, but nowhere near the crowds that she was expecting.

It worked well for her on days like this when she wasn't in the mood to spread her arms wide and be the leader they pledged themselves to. No, what she wanted was to grab a large jug of orange juice and ooze into the couch cushions until her head stopped pounding.

"Hey, boss." Her eyes swept over Carlos and Shaundi as she walked over to the fridge and she raised a silent hand. "Long night?"

The groan that came out of her mouth was a bit too accurate as she lugged the juice out and placed it on the countertop by them.

She and Johnny had started the evening by counting shots, but when the numbers bled together in no time flat, there was no need to pretend anymore. They'd been aiming to get drunk, and it'd been worth it for the few times she'd managed to get him to laugh.

As to what he was laughing about she couldn't remember one bit, but the bruise forming on her hip told her it probably involved her falling off of something or giving a terrible demonstration. There was no telling with them.

V had started to chug as much juice as possible when Shaundi pushed a plate toward her. "Cookie to go with that?"

The container hit the counter and V stared at the plate of chocolate chip cookies. "What?"

"She brought them in this morning. Should've seen the crowd surrounding her. I think they all wanted one," Carlos said, nudging the plate in his direction.

Shaundi caught this and tried to swat at him. "Hey, hands off. You got one earlier, now it's the boss's turn."

Carlos withdrew his arm, but kept an eye on them as Shaundi pushed the plate forward again. Then the two waited. Shaundi was half-draped across the counter on her side, completely at ease, while Carlos tried to keep as straight a face as possible. V's raised eyebrow got a smile out of him, however, and she shook her head at them.

"Ugh, you two. It's tough to stay in a shit mood with this kind of resistance." She picked one of the cookies and turned it over. "Where'd you get the recipe from, anyway?"

"Laura."

She whistled. "Got to be Grade-A shit then." Top-notch ingredients and that little extra something, V bet. It was sorely tempting to consider on a day like this, so she bit into it. She waited, took another bite, then frowned.

"What's wrong?" Shaundi asked, raising her head up.

"You said you got the recipe from Laura, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Weird. Unless she's perfected the art of hiding the taste, I'm kinda confused."

"There's nothing in them. Not everything I eat or drink has an extra. ….Just a lot does," Shaundi said with a grin. "Sometimes a cookie's a cookie."

Half the cookie was gone and V didn't hesitate to grab another. "Damn good one at that. I don't think it ever would've occurred to me that you could cook."

"Learned a long time ago. Cooking's kind of like chem for the kitchen. You get a lot of stuff together, throw it in the oven and see how it goes. If it works, you get that shit out and go for it. If it doesn't, you adjust the amounts, throw it back in and wait. Even if that doesn't fix it, it'll probably still work good enough for a late-night snack."

"Maybe I should get some lessons from you then. Never could find a good way to cook fancy stuff without burning the place down," V sighed. "Fucking shame."

"Really? I've seen too many apartments go that way. Seriously blows."

"Could always try me, boss," Carlos offered.

"Oh? Got some hidden talents too?"

Her friendly tone got a laugh out of him and he shrugged. "Big family meant that help was always needed, so I picked up a thing or two."

"Could be fun."

"It is," he said, grinning. "Always more fun with company, though."

"Shit, looks like we're going to have a cooking bonanza at some point. Get Pierce in on this, and it'll be one hell of a party." She pushed back her chair and wandered towards one of the couches in the living room. "Until then, I'm out."

She crashed out on the couch and was dead asleep before they could head after her.