Brewing Moments
Coffee.
Oh how it does wonders for some people. One of them just so happened to be a certain lavender siren with purple and green streaks throughout her luscious, long hair. She would usually prep it into two twin ponytails, and even her star barrettes if such an occasion came. But today was a day she worshipped. Saturday.
The grumpy siren maintained her normal grim expression as she trudged through the kitchen in her purple slippers. To go along, she wore black shorts and a green tank top paired with a long, baby pink, robe.
She made her way to the cabinets and grabbed a light blue mug. Not her’s but who cares. Along with the mug, she was lucky to find all four packets of coffee laying next to where the mug was.
Strange. She thought to herself. Aren’t the packets usually scattered all over the kitchen? Eh, who gives a crap anyway?
Ignoring her tired self, she purposely took two packets.
Sonata and Dagi can each have one. They don’t know I need two to stay sane.
As she opened each packet, a subtle shuffling noise was heard. She turned around and scanned the kitchen, but nothing appeared to have caused the noise. She shrugged it off and poured the packet’s content in a pot.
Unfortunately for the sirens, they didn’t have the luxury of a coffee maker. So, when it came to the caffeine filled drink, old-fashioned was the only solution.
Then she hovered it under the faucet and turned on the hottest setting of water. Once it was filled to her desire, she shifted the pot towards one of the front burners. After rotating the corresponding dial to low, she let the coffee do its magic.
Now I only have to wait like, fifteen minutes? Maybe I should go to the gas station and get some grub.
Then all of a sudden, the same shuffling noise rumbled in her ears,
Dammit! What is that?
She jerked her head all around but still didn’t have a hint to where the sound came from. She was getting annoyed. She stomped out in ignorance to retrieve her copy of the apartment key and a $20 bill.
“Guys,” she called. “If you’re not awake then screw it. I’m going to the gas station.” she vaguely informed.
She exited the room and locked the door behind her. Which took a while since her key had other identical ones attached on the key ring. A lot of struggle later, she sighed happily as the lock made a click sound to signify it was locked. Before she could leave, she remembered something that was kind of important.
“Aww crap.” she cursed as she just locked the door. “I’m still in my fricken pajamas.” Instead of a small facepalm, she smacked her forehead repeatedly on the door. “Dammit locks...”
She finally made it out of the apartments into the beautiful spring weather. Oh who am I kidding, it was windy, cold, and gloomy. She tugged on her shorter, black cardigan while covering her teal crop top, in order to gain some kind of warmth. Now it was a full on war between her and the harsh temperature.
From countless minutes beating the cold, her luck gained as the view of the gas station made its way to sight. Thank the gods. Now, she felt some nerve to run like a maniac and be welcomed the warm air circulating in the actual store of the gas station. But she also fought that nerve and walked on.
“Almost there...” she chanted to encourage herself. “Gah!” She lost grip on her cardigan and it flew out of her reach. Great. She lost her big source of heat and is wearing a crop top. She repeatedly swore to herself for wearing such short clothing in the first place. To shine a light on the situation, at least she made it to the gas station.
The freezing siren approached the door and managed to reach out a hand to open the door. But there was a problem. It wouldn’t open. She started to pull harder and harder till the point she yanked on it with all her might. After failed attempts, she took a break and heavy breaths.
“You know it’s closed, right?” said a masculine voice. She looked up to see a guy, who looked in his late teens, with a flat face at her. He had a dark shade of green hair accommodated with black highlights. She stared up into his fierce, maroon eyes with no words. He finally looked away and broke the short silence.
“So my dad works here and he won’t open for another thirty minutes.” he scratched the back of his head, still looking away. “I mean, stay if you want but it’s uh… pretty cold.” he grunted.
“Nah shit, Sherlock” she shot back.
“Hmm. You’re the ignorant type I see.”
“Excuse me?” she scoffed. “I don’t know who the hell-”
“Skull Crusher. You?”
“Now who's ignorant?” she snarked as she stood up to be more level with him.
“What’s your name already? So I can tell my dad he has a customer waiting.”
“Aria. Aria Blaze.” she gestured a hand shake but he scoffed and put his hands in his pant pockets.
“Hmm. You're a badass?” Aria curiously asked.
“Not really. I am quite the gentleman actually.”
“But you're ignorant.” Aria turned and started walking back to where she came from. However, she was stopped by a tug at her hand. It was Skull Crusher.
“Wait, didn’t you have a sweater er something? I think I see it over there.” he pointed towards a tree in the distance. He sure must have good eyesight or something, Aria had to squint her eyes to get even a glimpse of the tree.
“Oh right. You know what, it’s fine.” She shrugged off the problem and continued her path back home. Meanwhile, Skull Crusher was watching the spunky “teen’s” image fade away. Little did he know, she was thousands of years old. Soon, she was completely out of sight leaving him looking at the tree where her cardigan was supposed to be.
Coffee. The word was running marathons in Aria’s head. She had been through so much of this damn cold just even a drop of that warm, bitter, beverage will melt her to her own haven. Her mouth watered just at the thought of it. With still the challenge of unlocking the door, this would end up to a good morning after all.
When she finally fitted the right key, she opened the door into the living room where she was invited with the strong smell of caffeine. She threw the keys on the worn, turquoise, couch and jogged to the kitchen.
“Finally I can-” Aria stopped dead in her tracks and watched the horrific sight unfold before her eyes. Life was shit. She gazed, jaw hung, at Sonata and Adagio each taking frequent sips of coffee while on their phones. Sonata held her mug up to her mouth and glanced at her shocked sister.
“Oh hey, Ari!” she greeted in her usual, bubbly tone.
“Hi.” Adagio said with her eyes glued to her phone.
Aria was horrified. Sure she was being over dramatic, but after the crap she went through to make it, coffee would've been her saviour.
“...”
“Ari?” worried Sonata. “We found coffee that was brewing. Want some? Although, Dagi took most of the remaining coffee left.”
“...”
“Aria… Are you okay?” Adagio took her eyes from her phone and wandered them to her coffeeless sister. Aria wasn't saying nor doing anything at the moment. For this first in some time, she was making Adagio worry to where she actually voiced some concern.
“Aria. For real, are you alright? Where did you go?”
Screw it. Screw it all. It seemed Aria had been shut down but now she is powered up. She fell on her knees and clenched her fists.
“DAMN YOU GODS!” she shouted up to the ceiling as if there was someone to yell at. She then glared at her other two sisters drinking coffee. No, her coffee. “You little shits! I made that coffee! That coffee was to help me get over the shitty morning I had!”
Adagio and Sonata were wide eyed and neither of them dared to poke a stick at the bear. Aria stood back up and waved her arms about. She was losing her marbles.
“I woke up earlier than you two if that's not bad enough, I had to make my own damn self a mug of coffee, there was nothing to eat except like tuna and crackers, so I decided to go to the gas station, then I had to freaking lock the door which took FOREVER, and then I was in my stupid pajamas so I had to unlock the door and change! As if things weren't bad, I wore shorter clothes and it was FREEZING and windy outside! I lost my cardigan to this tree, and guess what happened when I went to the gas station?!”
“...”
“IT WAS FUCKING CLOSED!” Now it was clear. Aria lost all her marbles. “A-and that coffee you're drinking right now, was my cure to sanity!” she pointed to the mugs of her sisters which made them feel even more guilty. Especially Sonata, who started to cry.
“I… We're so sorry, Aria!” She ran up to Aria and tried to give her a hug. Adagio sipped her coffee again and looked confused.
“We are?” Sonata looked at Adagio with puppy dog eyes that hit Adagio right in the heart. Beaten by Sonata, she groaned and rolled her eyes. “I guess we are somewhat sorry.”
“I don't care! That still doesn't change the fact that-” Aria was cut off when the three sisters heard the same shuffling noise Aria did when she made the coffee. “That! Did you hear that? That damn noise also annoyed me so much when I was making my coffee!”
“I wonder what that is...” pondered Adagio. Sonata however, wouldn't have it. If that noise made her sister mad, she had to stop it. Sonata grabbed a frying pan and looked at Aria.
“Where do you think it's coming from?” she asked. Aria shrugged and pointed to the general area. Sonata tip toed over the given direction. Even though she might have looked relaxed on the outside, she was completely scared for her life on the inside. Meanwhile, Adagio being her, was on her phone paying no mind to her sisters.
Sonata and Aria scanned the cabinets where the noise seemed to be. They opened each of them until…
“GAH!” cried Aria. “S-Sonata! I think I found it!” The light blue siren rushed over with her readied frying pan. Aria backed up while Sonata took the spotlight and looked inside the bottom cabinet. Then, two bright, yellow eyes were revealed, startling the two of them. Then, the eyes kept coming closer and closer to the light. The shadow it was casting looked like a two horned werewolf with large, sharp, claws.
“I see its claws!” whispered Sonata. They were too the point clinging onto each other with Dagi ignoring the mini horror movie. Then, it was the final reveal. The monster hopped out of the cabinet.
“AHHH!!!” cried Aria who was waving her hands aimlessly. “GET IT AWAY! GET IT AWAY! GET IT AWAY! ” Sonata who was also scared for her life was now… in a fit of giggles. Aria slowly opened her left eye and then there right. “Oh.” was all she could say at the moment.
Oh how stupid Aria felt for getting all worked about for… an alley cat.
“Hehe!” giggled Sonata who was playfully sparring with the cat. “Can we keep her Adagio? Please!”
“That's good.” said Adagio, who payed no attention to her surrounding.
“No! We're not keeping it!” protested Aria.
“Aww… Why not?” pouted Sonata.
“Because-”
KNOCK
KNOCK
“Hell. Who could that be?” Aria stomped towards the door. She unhooked this, turned that, and removed the final chain from its original spot to help guard the door shut. At first, Aria was as grumpy as ever but, her expression softened and she was surprised. It was the boy… Skull Crusher she met at the gas station… which was actually something that wasn't so bad about her morning. Although she was A LITTLE happy to see a guy like him again, she still managed to show no interest.
“What do you want.” she flatly said.
“What do you want.” he returned.
“No, for real. Why are you here?”
“I dunno… I just saw your cardigan and thought to give it back.” He held out the same black cardigan Aria wore. Aria wasn't one to say ‘thanks’ and she remained that way. She simply and took her cardigan back and was ready to close the door. But a thought came up in her mind.
“Wait… How do you know where I live?!” He shrugged his shoulders.
“A little birdie told me.”
“Who?” she demanded, incase someone is having the nerve or stalking her.
“I won't say you know why? Cause I'm-”
“Ignorant.” They said in unision. Aria scoffed as if she wasn't surprised.
“Alright. Now get lost! I have an afternoon I need to enjoy.” said Aria as she gently shoved him away until he decided to start walking away. Aria watched that dork slowly disappear and… what's this? For the first in a good while, Aria was, smiling. Of course she made sure no one saw her.
Then, she walked back inside but stopped due to both her sisters standing at the doorway with different expressions.
“Aria. Who was that? Why was there a stranger at our door?” questioned Adagio.
“Omigosh! It was a boy! A cute boy~ Do you know him!” cooed Sonata. “And look! You're smiling! You do know him!” Sonata tugged at Aria’s crop top. “Who is he...” Aria immediately pushed Sonata away and didn't utter a single word. Even with both her sisters going 5 miles per hours with various questions, she just ignored them and kept walking. Aria headed for the kitchen and saw the cat chowing down some tuna.
She looked in the pot where she'd made the coffee in and saw a little amount of the liquid left. By now it was quite cold and lost some of its taste. But hey, coffee is coffee, hot or cold, and that's all Aria wanted.