Divine Guidance

[BlackAkuma]

♫Oh, what a wonderful morning
Oh, what a wonderful day.
I’ve got a wonderful feeling
Everything’s going my way.♫

Divine groggily came back to life after what might’ve been one of the best nights of sleep she’d ever had. The deft tones of Gordon MacRae came from her cellphone, waking her up with one of her favorite musicals, like that they did every morning, and like every morning she reached over to take the screen and hit the snooze button.

And this morning, she missed.

Divine’s arm lazily flung around for a few moments before she realized that her cell phone wasn’t in the place it usually was, on her lampstand. Because there was no lampstand. Because she’d sat it on a chair. Because she had gone to sleep in the apartment of a young, beautiful, bright, somewhat naive islander that she’d befriended at a strip club. No, none of that was a dream. It really happened. ”Huh. Wow.”

Divine was fairly certain this was the first time she’d woken up in another woman’s bed without having slept with them the night before. Typically, she liked to slink out before they woke up as well. She wasn’t a fan of the awkward morning, of not knowing if she was overstaying her welcome, of trying to sound friendly with someone she didn’t know that well. This was a change, but a refreshing one, and likely as close as she’d ever come to sleeping with a partner.

She stretched out in the bed, reached over for Aroha and felt the empty space where she’d slept. The warmth of her body was mostly faded, but the indentation remained, and a few quick sniffs told her where she was - breakfast. Eggs and toast. It had been a good while since she’d had either, and her stomach was keen to remind her as much.

Divine sighed and slipped out of bed. She took a moment to rub the crud from her eyes and straighten her hair into something reminiscent of presentable before she stood up and padded her way across the floor, letting her soft, sloppy steps take her into the kitchen. There, she saw her host being her adorable self as usual, bright and cooking and dancing to a tune that was only in her head.

Cute dance, too. Divine was sorely tempted to sneak up and give one of those cheeks a little slap, but she successfully fought off the impulse. Instead, she quietly stepped over, and gave Aroha a quick tap of her left shoulder while she sneakily slipped to her right, just to mess with her a little before she skipped over to the nearest chair.

”Good morning, lovely.” She eased herself in the chair and wiggled into the seat, settling in for a moment. ”How are we feeling, hm? Sleep well?”

[HotWheels]

Aroha was just sliding the last piece of toast out of the frying pan, the spatula carefully angled to catch it before it could flop onto the counter, when she felt a definite tap on her left shoulder.

She spun immediately, a bright greeting already forming on her lips- "Good morni-" -and nearly sent the toast flying across the kitchen as she whipped around to find... no one. Her hair fanned out with the momentum, black strands temporarily blocking her view, and for a brief, disorienting second she wondered if she was going paranoid. Maybe having someone else in her living space again, waking up with another person nearby, was making her jumpy in ways she hadn't expected.

Then she caught movement in her peripheral vision, and there was Divine, slipping past her right side with far too much satisfaction on her face.

Aroha turned fully this time, making absolutely sure the toast landed safely on the plate before she did, and then pointed the spatula directly at Divine like a weapon. Her posture was lecturing - hip cocked, eyebrow raised, unknowingly looking like her mother.

"Do not do that!" she declared, trying her absolute best to sound stern even as her lips twitched toward a smile. "I might accidentally hit you with the hot pan next time! I cook the food well, but I am not good with all this cookware yet. Everything here is so... slippery and weird and the handles get so hot."

She lowered the spatula, her expression softening immediately into something warmer. "But good morning! I slept great!" She set the spatula down and grabbed one of the plates, piled high with perfectly golden eggs and buttered toast. "How about you? Did you sleep okay? I know you said you don't turn off well, so I wasn't sure..."

She pushed the plate across the small table toward where Divine had settled, then turned back to grab another plate for herself. "Breakfast is ready! I have eggs and toast, and- oh!" She spun to the small bowl of fruit she'd set out earlier. "I have some bananas and oranges if you want fruit. And I think I have some feijoa too, if you know what that is? The green fruit that tastes sort of like... hmm, I don't know how to describe it. Sweet and tangy?"

She moved to the fridge, pulling it open. "What do you like to drink? I have water, juice - orange juice and apple juice - and I think there is some milk but I am not sure if it is still good." She sniffed the milk carton suspiciously before setting it back. "Probably not the milk. But everything else!"

[BlackAkuma]

Yes, that was a little mean of Divine. In her defense, though, she couldn't resist: Aroha was just too easily teased.

She did her best to suppress a giggle as she skipped away and narrowly avoided the spatula, happily making her way over to the seat and plopping into it like a little child. Which wasn’t too far from what she felt like, really. Refreshed, awake, alive in a way she couldn't recall feeling in a good while. It was like Aroha’s good vibes had leaked over onto her through the night.

She crossed her legs and put in genuine effort to look innocent - an effort that certainly failed, she was sure. Not nearly as bad as Aroha’s failed attempt at being mad, however, looking like a parent trying to scold an unruly child. She suspected the woman was just doing an impression of her mother, which made it even cuter.

”I’ll never do it again. I promise.” She made sure to say it with a tone that showed she would, in fact, do it again at the first opportunity. Any future snark was canceled as soon as Aroha sent that plate her way, though.

Divine had to resist the urge to gasp. It wasn’t much by any real standard, she knew - just eggs and toast. But it had been so long since she’d had an actual home-cooked breakfast, she’d nearly forgotten what a bouquet for the senses it could be.

”I slept like a rock, Aroha. Thank you.” She eagerly accepted the plate and brought her attention to the fruit, particularly what her host identified as…’feioja’? She’d never heard of that fruit before, but it looked oddly like a lime, to her eyes. While she typically went for a banana, she could have one of those anytime. This was a good day to experiment.

”I’ll try the…” She started to pronounce it, then decided against butchering the word. ”What you said. That. And water is fine, thank you. I need to get hydrated before I hit the road. You do not want to get a cramp while you’re driving a motorcycle, trust me.”

She winced at the memory of a bad experience that could’ve gone much worse, if not for a little luck on her side. Not something she looked to relive anytime soon.

”I’ve got to say, this is nicest any opponent has ever treated me before a match.” Divine started on the toast, nibbling on the corners to start. ”I hope you don’t think this means I’ll go easy on you in our matches, though. It’ll be every woman for herself.”

There was a light, lilting tone to her voice, just being playful…mostly. While she didn’t have an iota of ill will towards Aroha, she was the competitive sort. Anything less than their best was unacceptable.