sneaky fae

Survival Juice

“That’s a lot of chocolate,” Steph said.

Marinette glanced up at her and smiled, “It is, but sometimes you have to use regret levels of survival juice and the chocolate helps it go down more smoothly.”

She put the lid on the cup and walked over to the register to take her order, pausing to take a quick sip of her drink before she did.

“Survival juice?” she laughed. “Did you have a late night?”

“Yeah. Every night this week. I work every day but I also take commissions for design and I have a lot due soon.”

“That is hard.”

Steph looked up and studied the menu even though she had been here many times. She preferred the sweeter ones, but recently she was ordering drip coffee and staying just long enough to get a refill before she went on her way. Marinette suspected she was short on money so she came up with a plan for this time. She was really hoping that she was looking at the menu to extend her time here since the cafe was empty.

“You’re actually the one thousandth order this week. You get one free beverage, any size.”

“Really?” she asked. “Anything?”

“Yeah. It just can’t use more than two shots of espresso.”

“It has been so long since I’ve even considered ordering a fancy drink. What do you recommend?”

“I know just the thing,” Marinette said.

She turned away with a smile. She took a breath to calm herself. She had been waiting for this moment for weeks. She needed to make sure the shop was clear if she were going to offer something free so it didn’t get back to her boss. But also, she didn’t want anyone to see her hitting on a customer. There were far too many who would expect equal treatment.

She made it with maple, cinnamon and vanilla and whipped the milk frothy to make it extra creamy. It was as close to tasting like a waffle as she could manage. She looked up to make sure the woman wasn’t watching the final step. She added purple on top of the frothed milk and pulled out the mug she had for her. She had seen her stop to look at it one day and Marinette had hidden it for this very moment.

She poured carefully, making feathers down the side before making a heart inside a heart. She was not very good at saying what she felt. But she had always been able to have a creative flair that she used to make things. Hopefully, it would be seen for the confession that it was. She turned back with the drink, anxious for the other woman’s reaction.

“Is this for me?” Steph asked as she looked at the sparkling purple mug in awe. “I was so sad when they sold out. My work went out of business and I haven’t gotten a paycheck at the new place yet. It’s all going to my rent anyway.”

“It had to be purple. It matched the design,” Marinette said.

She said it like it was no big deal but she waited with baited breath for Steph’s response.

“It’s purple! How did you even do that?” she exclaimed.

“I’ve been practicing.”

“I know better than to hit on the hot barista, but if you give me the best mug in the world with purple hearts on top, I might just ask you to marry me.”

“As nice as it sounds, maybe we should start by going on a date?”

“Hell. Yeah.” Steph said.

Marinette couldn’t hold back her excitement. She climbed over the counter and pulled Steph into a hug. She pulled away just in time as people came in the door right after, but before Steph left her with the line that was forming, she left her phone number.

Relaxing braid

“Is that for me?” Marinette asked.

Cass nodded, “Headache?”

Marinette flipped the switch, forgetting why she had turned it off and then looked down while blocking the light with her hand. She saw Cass’s hand move in front of her and with a small click, the light turned back off. She rested her hand on the counter to help the dizzy spell pass and commented on what she saw when the light was on.

“That’s a lot of chocolate.”

Cass hummed in agreement. It had a pleased tone to it. She didn’t always feel like talking too much but Marinette could always tell by the way she hummed when she was happy or frustrated.

“You’re sick. Lay down.”

Marinette pouted but then turned to go into the other room. She said her mom’s hot chocolate and snuggles always made her feel better but she mostly just wanted Cass to come over and lay with her while she laid down.

Cass brought her the hot chocolate and then moved away and started cleaning her apartment.

“Come on Cass, I know this is what I asked for but this is not what I meant.”

She gestured at the cocoa and then back at Cass cleaning her mess. Cass turned back, she bounced slightly with her hands behind her back and a mischievous smile on her face.

“What you want?” she asked.

“I want you here with me. I need to cuddle, not worry about you cleaning up my mess.”

Her pleased smile was back but she came to the bed and climbed in with her. She rubbed her back and pressed a kiss on her forehead. Marinette could feel the frown as she pressed her lips there.

“Too tight,” she said.

Marinette hadn’t even remembered that she had put her long hair up in a tight bun. She was supposed to be getting a lot of things done today so she had put it out of the way. The tension released as soon as Cass pulled the pins out. She sighed as the other woman's fingers moved into her hair and pressed at her scalp. Over and over her fingers wove through and then massaged the tightness away. The relief was intoxicating as was the feel over her hands in her hair. Marinette was nearly asleep. She relaxed against Cass as she felt her weaving the mass of hair into a loose braid.

The bed shifted and Marinette’s hand moved out trying to stop Cass from leaving her there. She peaked at the rustling noise.

“Are you taking out the trash then?” Marinette pleaded, really begging for her to stay.

Cass kissed her cheek. “Sleep. I will come back.”

She was asleep by the time Cass did return but she had kept her promise and Marinette snuggled into her sleepy embrace. The headache was mostly gone but she was happy where she was.