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Considering all the circumstances that they were under, their living room wasn’t in the worst condition imaginable.
With that being said, it most definitely wasn’t clean either. There were small boxes scattered along the carpeting floor, and even more stuffed in the single section couch in the corner –the one that neither of them used anyway, it was only the loveseat that ever actually got used– and even a small tower of plastic bags all the way into the side, as if there was actually an attempt to hide the evidence at any given point.
Columbina wouldn’t admit or deny that, because honestly, she sort of knew that she couldn’t finish up the scenery before Sandrone arrived through the front door. So, she sat at that very loveseat, adjusting the angle of every flower she had bought from the semi-formal floral shop up the road, resting directly in the center of the coffee table she had specially set up.
She asked around the shops to see what decor would go well with a tea party for two, and brought home a basket’s worth of packages and boxes of items she set up quickly. It was Sandrone who always insisted on the best scenery, she wanted to give that perfect scene for her to witness..
..Sort of perfect if you ignore the boxes and only focus on the table, that is.
The idea came to her mind suddenly. Recalling the times that Sandrone had always set up those small tea parties just for the two of them. She tried to deny it, but it was too clear. The table was always filled with the desserts that Columbina happened to love– the tea wasn’t too strong or weak for her taste, her napkin was always folded into a heart.
It was all subtly intentional, now, it was time for Columbina’s less subtle acts of affection to be given in return.
The front door clicked open with a slow creak. Sandrone had arrived with a bag hung over her arm and a summer hat barely hanging off her head. Ten seconds. That’s all it took for her to lock the door and turn her head towards the main area.
She pauses, glancing at the door, back at Columbina. Two beats of silence. An audible exhale slips from her lips. “What.. even happened here?..”
From her spot on the couch, Columbina practically beams in her direction, at the sound of her voice. “I made tea, Sandrone. Will you join me to try it?” She reaches out with her hand, a gesture she had always made when Sandrone’s footsteps felt closer.
Everytime, she’d eventually feel the warmth of another hand reaching hers. Sandrone’s fingers were always delicate to the touch, drifting along the lines of Columbina’s palm while muttering on about how strange her requests always– the very requests that she never once rejected even when offered the chance to turn her down.
She never wasted time when it came to offering her affections, as much as she tries to deny any of it by the end of the night. Her mind and body speak everything that she wouldn’t say, Columbina learned that very well.
Given the amount of ruckus and chatter that cued prior to Sandrone taking her seat, Columbina could only assume it was her kicking away everything in her path.
She carefully pushes the coaster closer to Sandrone’s side, feeling for the corner of the coffee table before stopping it. Then, she reaches for her own coaster, picking up the tea cup.
Columbina lifted the cup just below her chin, carefully blowing over the top of the heated tea. “Please do tell me how the tea tastes.” She said, keeping a steady hold of the cup’s handle, leaning further into the cushion. “I tried to make my own blend this time..”
Sandrone hums a sound of acknowledgement, shifting in her spot on the loveseat. Without mention, she ends up moving closer to Columbina on the already small sofa. Out of habit, or just because. It could be anything.
When she takes her first sip, there's a lingering pause that takes over. Between Columbina patiently waiting for a response, and Sandrone taking in the flavor, it remained quiet for only a moment longer before Sandrone parted her lips.
“It’s pretty good..” Sandrone finally comments, tapping on the teacup. “I mean.. it's good I guess. I could totally make better tea for us later tonight. But I can taste the effort.”
More tea time between us? Columbina stifles a giggle, finding the world’s gravitation to be drawing the both of them closer together. Her hand pat along the sofa, searching for something of Sandrone’s to hold onto– which she chooses to be her hand.
Sandrone doesn’t pull away when Columbina holds on, if anything, she makes it easier for her to fully hold. “In that case..” She leans over, slowly, carefully sinking beside Sandrone. “Could I hear how you make it? Maybe I could learn a thing or two.”
Her touch moved upward, loosening her grip of Sandrone’s hands to instead guide her fingers along the soft fabrics of Sandrone's sleeve as she simply drifted. Her fingers lightly fluttered over her skin, creating an electric shock of sorts that strikes through her body. Carefully, she dips into the feeling of Sandrone’s skin, the smoothness of her collarbone.
Actually, not careful enough, that was the breaking point.
In return, she earned a moment of falter from that girl, where she shivers and stammers unintelligible words.
She always mentions how pathetically soft she had grown over the years, but honestly, that’s something that Columbina found cute about her. The softness that she always seemed to deny over their years together. Sandrone always had that within her, albeit harder to notice in their early days, it only became more obvious now.
Sandrone’s fingers instinctively fall between Columbina’s, squeezing a tight hold back.
“I’m sure you’ve requested exactly that once before. Have you not?” She lets out an exhale, like she wasn’t spilling out gentle affections between her critiquing words. “You spent the entire lesson twirling my hair and poking at my cheeks rather than listening to my instruction.”
“Then I’ll keep my distance this time.” Columbina insists, taking a quick sip of her tea between the beats of silence. It seems Sandrone was deep into another sip, too, because she swallowed too quickly at Columbina’s next words, “I won’t be in your way either.”
She clears her throat. “I never said you had to fully break away.” Sandrone says too fast in response, still, standing firm in her point as she nudges her head upward with a less-than-subtle hmpt. “I only suggested that you actually pay attention. That’s all.”
She tilts her head, a small curl of a smile forms on her lips. Sandrone was cute when she tried to be harsh. “Understood.”