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“Ah, Miss Kali, nice to see you!” Daniel waved when he saw that familiar mane of red hair enter his line of sight through the door into the break room. She was clearly startled to see him, and her face quickly took on a distasteful air.
“Hey.” Her greeting toward him was blunt as ever, though it didn't bother him. He just chuckled, continuing with what he was doing while smiling at her. “Carmen come by here?”
“She just left, but she should be back soon. I'm getting started on brewing a fresh pot of coffee, and she said she wanted me to make her a cup.” Daniel pressed a fresh filter into the coffee maker, and spooned in just the right amount of freshly ground beans for a full pot. “If you want to catch her, you'll probably have the best luck sticking around for a while.”
“Great. Thanks.” Without another word, Kali plopped herself into one of the comfortable chairs that was set up in the break room, letting out a soft sigh now that she was off her feet.
Though she'd closed her eyes when Daniel was still looking at her, upon turning around he swore he could feel an intense stare boring holes into his back. But still, he kept right on with what he was doing, humming and adjusting things around the coffee maker. After a short while, the sound of flowing water could be heard, and the smell of the brewing coffee began to fill the room as the hot water filtered through the grounds. The scent of the hot beverage percolating was always a relaxing one to him. And he'd received many compliments and praises from the other researchers about how grateful they were to get such quality coffee in their far-flung lab after so long.
“Oh, sorry. Mind handing me the sugar?” Daniel pointed to the table, where Kali realized a small container of the stuff was sitting. “Want to make sure it's put back where it belongs for when everyone needs it.”
“... Yeah. Sure.” Kali stood up, grabbing hold of the container, and carried it over to where he stood at the counter. Daniel gratefully took it and set it gently in its proper place.
“Thank you~ Ah, looks like the coffee just finished. Would you like a cup?” Before Kali could answer, he was already swiftly at work, pulling down a second mug to join his own on the countertop, and retrieved the 'pot' part of the coffee pot from its snug little divet in the machine. “It's some really good stuff, used to drink it all the time before exams. Thought it would be just the right thing to give everyone a little boost since we're in a bit of a waiting game for this round of trials.” He doled out some into each mug as he spoke, a pleasant smile across his face. Especially with the smell of coffee wafting up to his face. Then he picked up each mug, and held one out to Kali. “Carmen said she really liked this kind. Maybe you'll like it too.”
“... Fine. I'll try some.” Kali maneuvered her hand around his so she could grab the mug by the handle, and looked into the murky surface.
The smell was fragrant, almost a little nutty. Definitely not unpleasant. She wasn't much of a coffee drinker, cigarettes were more her poison of choice; hadn't spent much time in coffee shops or anything in her time in the Backstreets. Still, if Carmen would vouch for the stuff, and even this guy who was apparently the expert on the drink that everyone looked towards to get themselves through the day. Kali blew lightly across the top of the steaming drink, and brought the mug up to her mouth.
The reaction was nigh instantaneous, with how Kali immediately gagged at the bitter taste that suddenly filled her tongue. She sprayed the small mouthful she'd taken back into the mug, causing some of it to splash out beyond the rim and splatter on the floor. The mug banged against the counter from how heavily she set it down, while she was distracted with spluttering from that sensation that was still clinging to her tongue like blood that had dried into white fabric.
“... Pff~” That small sound drew Kali's attention first, but it was taken fully very quickly when she saw that Daniel had burst out laughing. A true, gut-deep fit of laughter that had him nearly doubled over; only held up by him resting the arm still holding his mug against the counter.
“What the hell's so funny, huh?” Kali loomed over him, tongue still filled with lingering bitterness from that ill-fated taste.
“N-no no! Haha~ I-I'm not laughing at you, honest~” Daniel took in short gasps for air, trying to steady himself again and force himself to stop laughing so hard. Kali glared at him the whole time, a fact which apparently did nothing to put a stop to his laughter until it had recovered entirely on its own. Daniel pulled himself back to a proper standing position, wiping his eyes to clear away any tears of mirth that were still prickling at the corners. “Haha~ I'm... Haah~ I'm sorry. I promise I wasn't laughing at you. It just took me off-guard. I didn't think you'd react that way.”
“You've got a lot of nerve, you know that,” Kali grunted, still fixing him in her intense stare. “Not a lot of people out there would feel brave enough to laugh at the Red Mist like that. Usually got enough sense to be afraid so they wouldn't even think to try it.”
“Ah. So you wanted me to be afraid of you?” Kali blinked, certainly not expecting that kind of reply. Daniel, who had put himself back together by that point, set about picking up a small hand towel with which to wipe up some of the coffee spilled on the floor. “Sorry, that just wasn't the impression I had of you. Before I had gotten the idea that you were being so standoffish because you were trying to not unsettle me with your presence.” He shrugged as he stood, carrying the cloth to a place where it could be picked up for laundering later. “I mean, I've been wrong before. It was just the impression I'd gotten.”
“How did you-” Kali stopped when she realized what she was saying, and let out a frustrated grunt. Daniel smiled again, yet somehow, this time she didn't get the sense he was mocking her or anything.
“I've learned how to be a little good at reading people, that's all.” Daniel moved Kali's mug to the sink, setting it down gently into the basin. “Well, my read on you was that you felt a little bad about how we first met, what with the kidnapping and all. And now that we're working together you didn't want to make me uncomfortable if I was at all scared of you from that incident. Am I right?”
“...” Kali averted her eyes when he looked at her, not wanting to admit to this being her thought process, but unable to outright deny it either. Carmen always teased her about not feeling able to say what she really felt sometimes. Oh, she'd probably be grinning ear to ear if she caught wind of this mess of a conversation. If this guy really was a genius like he'd said, then she really wished he'd not put that brain of his towards figuring out what made her tick and just focus it on what Carmen was asking him to do.
“Well. What do you think about this?” Daniel's voice drew her gaze back toward him, and she saw him smiling again. Less playful and lighthearted than before, though. Now it was something softer, and far more genuine. “If we can forgive each other for something that might make us uneasy about being near each other, maybe we can start over. Say... I'll forgive you for the way we first met, if you can forgive me for laughing like that. How does that sound?”
“... Pretty weak exchange you're offering,” Kali muttered. “Someone from the Backstreets would probably say you're a chump for making such a lopsided deal.”
“Well, sometimes it's worth it to take the lesser end of a bargain on purpose, if it means that something greater can be attained from the deal later down the line. Especially if you know it'll be worth it.”
With that final word being put in, Daniel lifted one hand, and held it out to her. A simple, open offering of peace. Kali watched where it hovered in the air, awaiting either her acceptance or refusal of the offered deal.
Quite without meaning to, Kali felt the corner of her mouth twitch, just a little.
If nothing else, she could respect someone who had enough guts to be self-assured enough to make an offer like this, even with all he had to potentially lose.
“Alright then. Let's see if this'll be worth it.”
And then her firm, calloused hand curled around his, with him returning just as firm of a grip right back to her.
–
Chesed sighed pleasantly to himself, setting down the fresh, aromatic container of coffee grounds he'd just finished processing. Lingering on those old memories made grinding the beans go by much more quickly.
It really was something, looking at the disparity between those first lives of theirs.
In their first go at life, Daniel and Kali had gotten much closer to one another overtime. Emotionally, and intimately. Neither of them would say it was love, in all likelihood. There was too much work and too little time for them to have been able to consider themselves closer than an odd, growing affection and seeking comfort in the embrace of another person. Cut much too short for it to go anywhere further by the tragedies that unfolded later on.
Then came the second life, the first incarnations of their selves as Chesed and Gebura. Those memories came more clearly, and they were rarely ever pleasant. Trapped in those cycles of self-hatred, aimless fury, and cursing at the lives which bound them to prisons of gray matter trapped in metal all for a greater purpose which could only be unlocked by endless cycles of pain. A much more fraught dynamic between two people who had a vague inclination of what used to be, but which was woven on such a thinly-strained cloth that it would be impossible for what once was to be able to stay strong.
And now they were here. Life number three.
The life where things were still mostly a blank, and where neither of them knew anything about where they currently stood. Things definitely weren't at their peak as Daniel and Kali, nor were they at their most abyssal valley of the first incarnations of Chesed and Gebura, the Sephirah of Lobotomy Corporation.
They were just in the here and now. Chesed and Gebura, Patron Librarians. With nothing truly between them in this life which felt so distant from the last ones.
Chesed didn't know if he'd say he envied their prior selves in the lives they lived. They had their own build-up, their own journeys to get them to where they were. As things stood at the moment, he could say he liked Gebura. She was a beautiful woman without a doubt, no one could deny that. But even beyond that, he found himself looking at her with a longing his heart simply couldn't place. The kind that still drove him to needle and tease, just enough to draw her gaze his way, even if it was only with annoyance.
Well, he figured Gebura was still sorting out her feelings on the matter, with everyone else alongside himself. So even though they had the vague grouping of being in the “middle” of the Library along with Tiphereth, there was really nothing holding them together. Those bonds of their old life might as well be as substantial as a tuft of dandelion fluff to be blown away by the breeze, what mattered now was what was being built in this spire of knowledge they were a part of. If, in the end, he'd have to resign himself to what was in the past being left in the past, he'd find a way to accept it.
At least he could say that he had plenty of good coffee.
“Hey, I'm here.”
“Ah~ Welcome to my floor, Gebura~” Chesed greeted her when she stepped through into what he considered his main room. She didn't have a cigarette in her mouth, but from the smell of smoke that followed her in, he assumed she'd just finished one. “I'm glad you two were up to joining me for a drink again. Ah, Tiphereth hasn't arrived yet. But I'm pretty sure she'll be here soon. She hates being late, after all.” He glanced at his clock. “I'm honestly surprised you got here so early.”
“Felt like it,” was her short reply. Gebura approached the narrow end of the counter where he stood, and he was working briskly with the cups he had with him. “That mine? Looks familiar.”
“Sure is. One mocaccino, a little on the sweeter side. Just the way you like it.” He set down the cup in front of her, and then picked up his own mug to sip from it. “I'm glad I was finally able to find something you liked, after all this time. You never were too fond of coffee back then, were you?”
“Back then?” Ah. He'd let his reminiscing follow him back to the present moment by accident, it seemed. Gebura's expression went thoughtful, until she made a small sound of understanding. “Oh, you're talking about back then, right? The first time I tried some of your stuff black. Spat it back out and everything... Thought the whole point back then was that we forget about that.”
“Ahaha~ Sorry. Was just feeling a little nostalgic, is all~” He watched Gebura sip from her drink, and he got a hum of approval from her.
“You sure had a lot of nerve, even back then. Don't think a lot of people would be stupid enough to laugh right in the Red Mist's face.” Gebura mused into her cup, swirling the contents. “... Then again, a lot of what you did back then didn't make any sense to me.”
“There were probably a lot of things we didn't understand about each other,” Chesed agreed. “Well, this might technically be take three for us, but I think it'd be nice if we didn't waste that chance. Even if you'll never understand why I like black coffee, and I won't understand why you don't, we can always try our best with the time we have now. Trying to understand is better than mindless acceptance, at least.”
“Another try...” Gebura went silent for a moment, then set down her cup further up the counter. “... You know, thinking back... There was one way I remember I kind of liked the taste of black coffee.”
“Really?” That was news to him, if that was the case. Chesed took a sip, contemplating what way that might have been. He didn't have all of his memories of being Daniel, but he didn't think any of the ones he could recall had a recollection of seeing Gebura enjoy any amount of black coffee.
He lowered the mug from his mouth, intending to swallow down that last sip of his drink before asking the question that might sate his curiosity.
Gebura's hand came to grip his collar, and he nearly gulped it in one go with his surprise. She yanked him closer to her, so fast he had no time to react to the movement besides being helplessly dragged along by the force of her grip.
Then he felt a softness against his lips, and a warmth that wasn't just from the drink he'd yet to swallow. Chesed's lips parted with an instinctual need to gasp in surprise, and Gebura pressed on from the advantage of that. Slipping her tongue into his mouth, tracing at the edges of his own. His mug, blessedly not so full it would risk spilling over at the slightest angle, began to dangle precariously from his hand. Yet still he found his eyes slipping closed, accepting without struggle or defiance the feeling of Gebura tasting his mouth. One of her hands came to grab his hip, yanking him around the corner of his counter so that their bodies could be pressed against one another, instead of being separated all but for their joined lips. Just to press that point further, she pushed him backward til he could feel the edge of the counter digging into his back. Leaving him trapped between the press of her muscled body and his solid coffee counter.
By the time Gebura finally pulled back, Chesed found himself breathless, and he was certain he had to be even more flushed than the splash of redness he saw across Gebura's cheeks.
“Yeah... Used to taste just like that.” They were still close enough to be eye to eye, and he gulped, seeing her run her tongue across her lips as if to taste what had once been there. “That was the taste I liked.”
“A-ah...” For once, silver-tongued Chesed found himself at a loss for words, all he could make himself do was keep breathing in those unsteady, shaky pants. Unable, and unwilling, to pull himself free from her grip.
“Or, I don't know...” He felt her loom closer to him again, a shiver running through him as he felt Gebura's breath caress his lips. “Maybe I should have another taste, just to be sure...”
“Ugh! Sorry I'm late! That Roland is always such a pain!”
Chesed was abruptly shoved backwards, just as stunned as Gebura was to hear the sound of Tiphereth's voice. He quickly rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth, as if doing so would hide any evidence of what had just transpired from Tiphereth. Thank goodness her voice had its tendency to precede her actual self. When she appeared through the doorway, her glare and derisive sniff were as sharp as ever.
“Seriously, look at you. There's such a thing as too easygoing, you know!” Tiphereth scolded him with her hands pressed into her hips. “Fix that hair, why don't you! And your tie is a mess!!”
“Ah, right... You're right.” Chesed quickly fixed himself up, smoothing out what had been ruffled, then set himself to work again. “So, what kind of coffee would you like this time, Tiphereth? I remember you liked the frappe from last time.”
“Hmm, that one was pretty good,” Tiphereth agreed. “... Sure. Let's go with that one! And extra chocolate bits on the top this time! You're always so stingy with those!”
“Coming right up, little miss~”
“Don't you start with that! I get enough of that crap from that slacker, Roland!!” Tiphereth snapped, then stomped over to examine his shelves while she waited. “At least you're better at organizing your books than him! The Keter floor's look like a train wreck lately!”
As requested, Chesed set to work on the coffee Tiphereth wanted. However, though his gaze was turned elsewhere, he could feel quite acutely another set of eyes on him, boring directly into him while the various ingredients clattered efficiently across the counter.
Well, this was a bother. They'd both spent all this time waiting for Tiphereth to get here, but now all he could think about was when she'd leave again. To allow the adults some time to to... 'discuss' what had just happened further.
At least they had that now. Time to talk about it all, figure out where they stood, and where they could go on from this point. That was what this third chance was for, wasn't it?
And yet, for all the time they now had, he found he couldn't wait for that discussion still to come.