The Perk, Tuesday Afternoon

[glacial_queen]

For once, Karla wasn't making tragic faces at all the coffee on display that she was (mostly) not allowed to have. It was fall on the island, which meant caramel apple cider. Her mug was two-thirds cider, the remaining third was the Perk's delicious whipped cream which extended into a high, unsteady mound in the air. Just looking at it made her

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[not_a_parakeet]

"Isn't pumpkin spice just... I don't know, cinnamon and nutmeg? Couldn't they just say cinnamon and nutmeg? Unless they're asking to put pumpkin in, too. But why would you put pumpkin into an apple cider, anyway?"

Warren asked the important questions in life, really. He had a double Americano and was feeling nothing shy of invincible, so he was willing to go out on that limb. For humanity, and all.

[glacial_queen]

"Is that what it is?" Karla asked. "Okay, that probably wouldn't have been too bad. That's what we add to mull cider in Glacia properly anyway."

This wasn't mulled cider, just warm cider. Still good, but not the same.

"The important part of the story is that's how I ended up with all this extra whipped cream." She grinned at him over the top of it all. "Doesn't this look delicious?"

Delicious and not-for-sharing?

[not_a_parakeet]

"It does," Warren agreed easily. "I might have to get one for myself. Maybe two for the road before we leave."

Warren had been bitten on more than one occasion, getting too close to Karla's whipped cream. He was learning.

"So, that's why the barista was crying? I had wondered."

[glacial_queen]

"She was threatening to put pumpkins in my cider," Karla sniffed. "Threatening to ruin a pregnant woman's cider. She's lucky she's only crying."

[not_a_parakeet]

"I think she was offering, not threatening," Warren noted, idly, "but point made. If you wanted those things in your cider, you would've ordered them."

He'd just bared his teeth when she'd offered to put it into his Americano. Teeth and claws. No threats necessary.

[glacial_queen]

Sadly, Karla was lacking in overt weaponry. Well, there was her snake tooth, but that would have required a little more explanation than she was really interested in giving at the time.

"How's your coffee? Untainted by anything not pure caffeine?" She leaned over a little, debating whether it was worth trying to steal a sip.

[not_a_parakeet]

"No pumpkin to be found," Warren agreed, hunkering forward and clinging to the cup a little more tightly, wings mantling behind him.

No. Bad Karla. No touching the Americano.

"Probably not as exciting as your mountain of whipped cream, though."

So turn your attention right back to that, Miss.

[glacial_queen]

"The baby wants to try a sip."

Best. Excuse. Ever.

[not_a_parakeet]

"She's too young, she wouldn't like it anyway," Warren replied evenly, just smiling at Karla over the top of his glass. "Maybe when she's older."

[glacial_queen]

Karla stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll process it for her first," she said. "But I'm building a future Worthington here. Americano is part of the process."

[not_a_parakeet]

"Start her on it too early and she might end up like my father."

Warren's tone was still mild, but this time it was accompanied by an eyebrow raise.

"I suppose I could get you some decaf..."

[glacial_queen]

Karla hissed and shied away, like a vampire threatened with sunlight.

"I won't have you using such language in front of the baby," she said, holding her hands protectively over the sides of her stomach. "We're raising this child with standards and decency, dammit."

[not_a_parakeet]

"And a decided lack of caffeine until she's older," Warren agreed with a smirk. "But a strong appreciation for apple cider, isn't that right?"

If she came close to his Americano again, he was going to snatch some of that whipped cream. Just to be spiteful.

[glacial_queen]

Just for that, she was totally having an unexpected craving for something ridiculous tonight. You wait, Warren. You just wait.

"Well, I don't know how you expect me to be able to build a tiny human without caffeine," she pouted. "It's a twenty-four hour job. No rest, no vacations! Not for almost ten months!"

[not_a_parakeet]

"Then just think - You're a third of the way there," Warren replied, completely unruffled. "But I can get you a donut, if you'd like a reward."

He'd be taking his coffee with him.

[glacial_queen]

He was the absolute worst. There was a round or three of cradle in his immediate future.

"I want three donuts," Karla declared. "And a bearclaw. I'm pretty sure I deserve at least three donuts and a bearclaw for assembling a human all by myself with no caffeine at all."