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Awareness creeps into my mind, displacing fuzzy, half-baked dreams of fox ears and parasols, and my morning eyes drift open before long. My bookcase is still affixed to the wall, thank god, despite the loose screw I keep forgetting to fix, and the blurry yet familiar beige walls—
Wait a second, those walls are white! They've never been beige. Why are they beige? What?
Oh, and that isn't my bookcase either, on second half-blind glance. I'm ninety-nine percent sure my bookcase isn't a freestanding bookshelf.
I look around for a few moments, seeing rows of bookshelves, sitting tables, and wall lamps. From there, it takes only quick maths and a mental self-kick (mostly the self-kick) to determine the problem. This is the library. I must've fallen asleep here again…
Before I can groggily pull myself up and off the sofa (not bed), a hand tugs on my undone hair, lightly dragging me back, and I turn my head to my left to spot a messy bedhead of shiny black hair draped over my shoulder, gently rising and falling. A little farther beyond lies a somehow still immaculately groomed bundle of chocolate brown, and my still-sleepy mind takes a moment to process that my girlfriends are on this sofa with me, both apparently fast asleep.
My internal clock yells at me to arise, most likely unlike Miho's, which is tuned towards staying in bed until eleven AM, or Juliet's, which has been carefully calibrated by centuries of vampirism. Though I'd definitely like to comply with Miho's lingering hand, I can't really fall back asleep past seven, and I get up, if only to stretch.
"Mmmh," sleepy-Miho grumbles, and her hand briefly tugs at the air before coming to rest on the sofa. Her other hand is interlaced with Juliet's, placed on the former's lap as the Fabled's head rests on Juliet's shoulder. The two girlfriends are cuddled up on the sofa, and it'd be a perfect scene if not for my absence where Miho's right hand sits, though one is the spitting image of picturesque elegance and the other looks vaguely like they came out of a hole in the ground three hours ago.
Now, if I were a Georgian-era debutante, my reaction to that information might be becoming momentarily breathless at the sight of such a beautiful arrangement. Instead, I'm a romantic disaster millennial, and I have to stop myself from squealing and verbally keysmashing at how utterly adorable these two are, god forbid I wake them up.
Girls. Women pretty. Girlfriends cute. I'm gay. Women.
A glance at the clock shows it's only about seven AM, quite a while before the library opens on the weekends; given that I'm the only one awake, even before the nocturnal vampire, I have a unique opportunity on my hands.
I, Miss Aspen Benoit, get to treat my girlfriends. And, with stealthy customer service skills honed by years of experience, there is absolutely zero time to waste. I quickly drape a light blanket over my two girlfriends' laps, and tip-toe to the kitchen, placing my hands on my hips and surveying the open counters when I arrive. My quest begins!
My beverage preparation skills are, of course, top-notch, and it only takes a little rummaging through the familiar cabinets and drawers to find the ingredients for a foxtail latte, which I set down by the library's espresso machine while I start the kettle and find the loose English breakfast tea. Nearby sits the hob, which is quickly overlaid with the beginnings of pancakes before I get to work on toast and eggs—sometimes, spending 24 hours a week multitasking really does come in handy. Everything is prepared with only the utmost care and affection, of course, for I am nothing if not hopelessly in love.
I can't help but practise a few swirling flourishes pouring the latte milk, chuckling to myself, although stirring two sugars into Juliet's appropriately immaculate breakfast tea is a much less theatrical affair. With years of experience preparing my partners' favourite breakfasts, it's all second nature to me.
Though I'm a little scared the culinary aromas might have unintentionally woken up the two sleepyheads back in the main room, when I tip-toe back to check after finishing everything, they seem only slightly less asleep, despite the sunbeams sneaking through the cracks in the nearby curtain.
When I take my last step, though, Miho shifts a little, and though I freeze in place on the spot, her eyes drift open, glancing towards me.
"... pancakes?" Miho mumbles, groggily. Of course that's the first thing she says. "And coffeeee…"
My stealth roll having failed (or, more likely, Miho's perception roll having succeeded), I abandon tip-toeing for a more sensible stride over towards Miho, who's almost fully awake and sniffing out the source of the aromas before I get there. The sounds and sudden movements soon awaken Juliet, who shifts around mildly for a moment before opening her eyes and glancing down at the Fabled nestled into her neck, smiling.
"Good morning, dears," Juliet whispers, with the characteristic warmth that makes my heart skip a beat and wakes Miho up completely, at last. "It seems you've taken the liberty of preparing breakfast already, Aspen."
"That I have," I reply, smiling softly. "There's no special occasion, really, I just woke up earlier and thought I'd cook for my loves." As Juliet gets up from the sofa, to slight grumbles from Miho, I even bow slightly for added effect. "It's my treat!"
"Shall we, then?" Juliet says to Miho as she extends out a helping hand to help her up, ever the chivalrous lady.
"Mmm… I can't say no to breakfast!" Miho takes Juliet's hand and rises from the sofa. Once they're both up, Juliet takes the opportunity to pull Miho in for a kiss, which necessitates the Fabled standing on her toes to reach—never one to leave me out, though, Juliet then steps over, as careful as ever, to give me a light kiss, one that I happily return.
I intertwine one of Juliet's hands with mine, and take a moment just to admire her, my unending font of inspiration and strength and selflessness. Us… happened much slower than it did with Miho and either of us, but when I finally realised it, I'd fallen just as hard.
"I love you," I whisper quietly, and in the tranquillity of the morning library, it's the only sound in the world.
"I love you, too," Juliet replies with a smile, and beside us, our fox girlfriend's face is a mixture of adoration and 'wow, that's gay'.
Miho steps forward to kiss me, too, but I'm so tall that I need to lift her a little for our lips to meet. The Fabled smiles into the kiss anyways, and I'm never one to turn down hugging my very huggable fox girlfriend, so it's a win-win.
Our first morning ritual of many complete, I lead the two former sleepyheads over by their hands to the kitchen, where I've fully laid out the table, adorned with plates of pancakes, toast, eggs, a myriad of spreads, and even some of Miho's beloved bacon. Our familiar beverages are placed on coasters in the same arrangement as they always have been, though our seats are all much closer together than they were when these breakfasts first began.
I take my seat first, gazing over the results of my labours, while Miho sits with a loud plop to my right, and Juliet sets herself down to Miho's right, already testing the temperature of her tea.
"Oh, this is wonderful, dear," Juliet says, lightly sipping from her ornate teacup, "you've outdone yourself once again." The ego boost travels straight to my brain, accompanied by a feathering of heat on my face.
"I thought the last cup was already as exquisite as it could be?" I reply, pulling a piece of toast onto my plate with a slight smirk.
"You simply push the boundaries of possibility every time," Juliet smiles brightly back. Miho, meanwhile, nods vigorously with a whipped cream-covered pancake stuffed halfway into her mouth.
"Well, thank you," I mumble, already used to being exposed to Juliet's overwhelming genuineness, but never quite resistant to it.
"Mm! Your cooking is always the best!" Miho finishes inhaling her pancake and turns to me, grinning, with a few dabs of whipped cream on her face, and a monetary glance towards Juliet's sparkling eyes suggests she's just had the exact same idea.
One wordless agreement later, Miho is attacked on two fronts by cream-removing cheek kisses from her partners, leaving her reeling and defenceless—scrambling back with her face on fire and her ears ramrod straight.
"I—hwha—no fair!" Miho squeaks out indignantly, having dropped her fork on the table in surprise.
"All is fair in love and war, Miho," I chuckle. "Besides, I needed revenge for yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that…"
"You..!" Miho huffs before turning towards Juliet. "And you! Betrayal!"
Juliet only smiles back, and there's a dangerous look behind her loving grey eyes that's both beautiful and a little frightening as she sips her tea. Miho sighs and turns her attention back to her food and drink, defeated.
"This latte has—" Miho asks, and I already know what she's asking, as much of a tradition as any other.
"Two sugars," I nod, beginning to sip my own version of the foxtail latte, which has triple the espresso shots of Miho's.
"I love you," Miho says, and without missing a beat, she dumps another spoonful of sugar into her drink.
"I love you, too."