The Magpie Emporium, Monday [05/01]

[giveittoyoursister]

The break had been relaxing and refreshing for Vi, which made for an extra sense of chipperness as she opened the store.

It even lasted as she started going through the stack of orders from people who hadn't seemed to be aware that the store had been closed.

Saffron had been aware though. Aware that she'd been cruelly abandoned (with near daily visits that somehow didn't count), by her heartless humans who weren't even sorry.

Comments

[drumsticksandd20s]

Not even the bag full of salmon treats that Steph brought in along with the disconcertingly massive burritos for herself and Vi would persuade Saffron otherwise.

"Of course people miraculously missed that announcement," she said with a glance at the order stack.

[giveittoyoursister]

Maybe if Food Human had deposited her offering and left it might have worked, but instead she was stealing Snuggle Human's attention. Again.

"Sucks to be them," Vi agreed with a marked lack of sympathy.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Didn't Food Human get that she was supposed to be in Saffron's presence for the absolute minimum amount of time? No. Clearly not.

Steph set the bag down on the counter and came over to lean against Vi. "Good thing I brought fuel to get you through the rest of the day, huh?"

[giveittoyoursister]

She certainly wasn't supposed to monopolise Snuggle Human. The nerve.

Vi slid her arm around Steph companionably. "It's like knew I'd need it."

[drumsticksandd20s]

And yet that was all she ever seemed to do. Rude.

Steph grinned impishly. "Are you surprised that I figured out you like to eat?"

[giveittoyoursister]

So rude, especially when Saffron was certain she had the prior claim.

Vi held her fingers up about an inch apart. "I do try to be subtle about it."

[drumsticksandd20s]

Saffron had had dibs on Snuggle Human since before Food Human had even gotten the idea to adopt her! It wasn't her fault Food Human didn't understand that.

"Extremely subtle." Steph reached for Vi's hand so she could kiss it. "Only keen observation and deductive reasoning let me figure that out."

[giveittoyoursister]

It was so hard to be Saffron, really it was.

Vi leaned her head on Steph's shoulder as she let her take her hand. "You really get me."

[drumsticksandd20s]

No one understood. It was tragic.

Steph kissed the back of Vi's hand gently and turned it so she could kiss the palm too before bringing it up to rest against her cheek. "After this long, I damn well better get you, or what the fuck am I even doing?"

[giveittoyoursister]

Woe.

"I mean, me for a start," Vi teased, then more seriously "You probably know me better than anyone else has in my life."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Obviously," Steph retorted, wrapping both arms around Vi's waist and hugging her tightly. "I can say the same for you, you know. You haven't seen me at my worst, but you know more about it than anyone who didn't have to live through it."

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi slung her arm around Steph's shoulders, keeping her close. "I know you at your best too."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Again, more than anyone." Steph unwound one arm so she could start laying out the food. "I don't think I ever figured out how to be my best self before I met you."

[giveittoyoursister]

"You would've figured it out," Vi said, remembering that first picnic. "At most I have you a nudge where you were already going."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Maybe," Steph allowed. "But I'm not going down that rabbit hole of what ifs, because I refuse to imagine a version of my life without you in it."

[giveittoyoursister]

"You don't have to," Vi said, kissing her temple. "I'm not planning on going anywhere."

[drumsticksandd20s]

That not planning on bit stuck with Steph a little longer than she'd have liked, and she tightened her one-armed hold on Vi. It wasn't a new thought, just one she tried her hardest not to entertain.

"Not anywhere?" she asked instead, trying for a lighter tone. "Not even home with me after work?"

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi squeezed her shoulder, and nuzzled the top of her head before replying "Anywhere without you. So you gotta come to my classes with me too."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Are you going to learn anything at all that way, though?" asked Steph, who knew exactly how productive they'd been in classes together before. "And who's going to run the store?"

Practicality was interfering with their sappiness in the most annoying way.

[giveittoyoursister]

"I mean, Saffron and Little Bot shoul dknow the ropes by now," Vi teased, very definitely not answering the question about learning.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Saffron would hate me more than she already does if I made her have to work for her own supper," Steph noted wryly around a bite of burrito. "Besides, if we have to be apart for a little while every day it just makes us appreciate each other even more. Right?"

[giveittoyoursister]

"Saffron doesn't hate you," Vi protested, even as Saffron glared at her terrible Food Human. "And, yeah, it does."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"I'm exaggerating," Steph replied, further infuriating Saffron with how willfully obtuse she was. "It is true that you're the only one she loves, though."

[giveittoyoursister]

"She'll come around." It'd been only three and a bit years, after all.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"As long as she loves you, I'm fine with it," Steph assured her. "I've known that since the first time you ever held her."

[giveittoyoursister]

And yet she was still trying to get between Saffron and Snuggle Human. "You're too good to us," Vi murmured, ducking in to steal a kiss.

[drumsticksandd20s]

At this moment, literally, even. Granted, this had not been the case before Saffron had gotten up from her napping spot and settled down at the far end of the counter, but it was still Food Human's fault.

"Gotta take care of my girls," Steph replied, lingering against Vi's lips.

[giveittoyoursister]

"You're pretty great at it," Vi told her.

Lies.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"I better be. It's my most important job." Steph reached up to ruffle Vi's hair affectionately.

Incorrect. Food Human was barely adequate at it.

[giveittoyoursister]

Snuggle Human was just incredibly biased and in the wrong direction.

Vi leaned into Steph's touch. "Can't fault your performance."

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph kept combing her fingers through Vi's hair, fingertips gently massaging her scalp. "If you had an issue with it, I'm pretty sure I'd know immediately."

Excuse you, Food Human, Saffron had been loudly repeating her objections for the last three years and you'd never noticed, so that had to be wrong.