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the quiet beeping sound of the water heater finishing its job was their cue to get up and go to the kitchen.
one of their companions, the closest one to them, made her discontent with them leaving known via a slightly exaggerated whine, but ultimately gave it up for the greater good.
said greater good just being that mizuki made drinks for all the group to continue watching their movie.
they giggled at ena's small display of dissatisfaction before being engulfed by the lingering notes of vanilla and cream left in the kitchen from their baking session twenty minutes or so prior, their rather poorly decorated cake still sitting on the counter for anyone who wanted another piece, who, in this case, included ena and themself.
now as for the drinks, they took out four mugs, meticulously selected from the ocean of solid colored and patterned ones, knowing that these ones were their partners' favorites.
the fact that none of them had quite the same taste prompted them to take a variety of products out of the cabinet, even when they hadn't given them clear requests, said products included coffee mix, vanilla creamer, milk, and finally a box and a bag of different kinds of tea.
the simplest mug they recognized as kanade's favorite was straightforward enough, the pearly white container adorned by ena with a single, small blue heart was slowly filled with water the moment they placed the tea bag from the box on it, the liquid turning an earthy tone as the aroma of green tea overpowered the faint scents of the dessert.
kanade was never one to like foods with a strong scent, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't enjoy a cup of green tea every now and then, and with her being someone who doesn't usually experiment with wacky flavors, like they were, they could imagine she hasn't actually tasted enough varieties of tea to make a different decision when it comes to her go-to drinks.
next came their own mug, certainly what would be qualified as 'too much', the pink ceramic object was filled with charms and cabochons in a way that would make holding it uncomfortable, hadn't they taken into consideration the - heart shaped - handle when customizing it.
as for their drink, they took a small teaspoon and scooped about three or four spoonfuls of the dehydrated fruits on their packet of strawberry tea, more than needed for that cup, knowing they would have to dilute it later if they wanted any chance to take a sip in the next 20 minutes.
earthy and slightly sour notes danced in the air from the two mugs as they poured the water to half of the cup's capacity before moving onto the next one.
dark blue greeted them as they reached for another one of the simpler, very lightly decorated by ena with tiny snowflakes, mugs, pouring a few teaspoons of the coffee mix before adding a lot of water and a small amount of milk.
mafuyu was never one to try fancy creamers, even when his ability to taste food came back, they supposed it was a force of habit, or just that he genuinely enjoyed a strong coffee that attacked his taste buds and plotted to keep him awake until unholy hours.
not that they weren't right now, their more-than-unhelpful sleeping schedule forcing their minds to remain active even when they collectively decided not to work today.
and that's what brought them to that situation, the 4 members of their music group watching a movie in the comforting silence of each other's company, mafuyu and kanade sitting in the couch while mizuki and ena cuddled while sitting under the kotatsu, taking in the heat that kept them warm.
or at least until mizuki offered to make drinks for them, and that included their neediest girlfriend, ena.
the last mug belonged to her, decorated in a similar style to mizuki's, albeit in a more tactful way, still obvious that they decorated them together, some of the charms being the same on both as concrete proof.
and so they got to working on one of their last tasks as an impromptu barista, and that included a much smaller dose of coffee mix and a whole bunch of creamer, mixing the ingredients together into something that somewhat resembled coffee, still bitter enough to make them flinch whenever the hot steam carried the scent to their nose.
ena, much similar to mafuyu, used to drink her coffee strong, but had lately decided against it as the caffeine had been affecting her sleeping habits and her mental wellbeing too much, opting to sacrifice some of her beloved bitterness for a stable mindset.
now, with all the cups full, they focused on getting the right amount of sugar for each one.
kanade didn't usually get sugar but green tea can be quite strong, so one teaspoon.
mafuyu took his coffee bitter like ena used to, so that's gonna be half a teaspoon.
ena certainly had a sweet tooth, so around two or three should do the trick.
as for them, they were as much of a sweets lover as ena, so three teaspoons it is, since the sweetness accentuated the sharp tones the strawberry in their tea provided.
finally, they served two pieces of the cake on the table, making sure that ena's portion got the cherry and one of the strawberries, she was always happy to get the toppings.
as they balanced two of the cups at a time from the kitchen to the living room, they thought about how much they knew their partners.
enough to know these little tidbits of information about them, precious trivia facts that they were able to practice in many situations, ranging from whenever they decided it was time to make a new clothing garment while thinking about them to whenever they were the ones serving the food, they couldn't help but make each serving customized for them, loving the way they were all so undoubtedly unique, and how much their heart adored them.
they thought about how scary it would have been for a 7 years younger mizuki to be so known by another person, terrified about anyone prying a bit too hard at their defensive self.
now, though, they were able to really appreciate the moments when they could tell they had been in the mind of the others, like wherever kanade sent an 'i miss you' or 'i love you' in nightcord despite not usually using the chat, only because she knew how much they liked rereading old messages and fawning over these proofs of her affection, or when mafuyu bought fabrics and accessories for them, chosen with such a precision that it felt like they were the ones to pick the object, because he knew how much they appreciated a good fashion item, or when ena placed ice cubes on their ramen despite deeming it 'gross' or putting an extra teaspoon of sugar in their hot cocoa when she made the drinks, because she knew exactly how they liked their food; those little thoughts and actions showed them that 25ji, Nightcord at 25, their lovers, knew them inside and outside.
and they couldn't be happier.