A Coalition Story

Chocolate Pudding

After her brother's wedding, Alice felt like things were finally looking up for their little family. She wanted to keep the good karma going, so she decided to make Excalibur and Torin a treat. She'd seen how close the two were becoming again, had seen them share some lovey-dovey eyes at the wedding, and she wanted to give them something as sweet as them.
Their treat tucked safely under her arm in a rather nice serving bowl, complete with a fancy silver lid, Alice knocked on Excalibur's apartment door to the melody of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. She always knocked to the beat of a song, and thanks to her upbringing it was usually classical music. Apparently, Excalibur wasn't the biggest fan of this little quirk.
The door swung open, revealing a mildly annoyed assassin. Anyone else probably would have been scared. But after seeing the heart eyes Excalibur had been giving Torin during the ceremony yesterday, Alice was no longer afraid of him. Intimidated, yes. But afraid? Nope.
"What do you want?" Cal sighed, some of his annoyance dissipating once he saw who it was. It was still obnoxious that she knocked musically, but... Alice didn't deserve his typical anger.
"Well, I wanted to continue the good karma, and decided to give you lovebirds a little treat," Alice grinned, holding up the serving dish a bit and slipping past Cal into the room. He hadn't exactly invited her in, but Alice was quick and tiny. So he hadn't really gotten a chance to stop her, either.
Placing the dish down on Cal's desk, she turned back to the two assassins with a smile. But as she got a better look at the two, her face quickly turned to worry.
"Excalibur, what happened to your face? It looks like you were slapped," she breathed, moving forward and gingerly reaching for his face. Excalibur seemed rather confused at the light touch but didn't move away. Surprisingly.
"It's 'cause he was slapped," Torin piped up from the bed, his eyes finally rising from the report he was working on. "His father found out about us dating. Didn't take it very well."
"Oh, Cal! You poor thing," Alice cooed, instantly wrapping her arms around the taller boy. He was stiff as a board, clearly not expecting this kind of contact with the girl he begrudgingly tolerated.
Releasing him, Alice turned her attention to the other assassin with a frown on her face.
"Torin! How could you let that happen?" she scolded, earning surprise from both of the boys.
"Hey! I punched his father afterward," Torin defended himself, holding his arms up protectively when Alice tried to swat him.
"Besides, I'm fully capable of taking care of myself," Cal interjected, his voice harsh and defensive.
Alice immediately softened at their words, her focus returning to Cal. "Of course you can, Cal. But Torin is your boyfriend. It's his job to protect and defend you, just like it's yours to protect and defend him," she sighed. "But I am glad to hear that he punched your dad. I am really, really sorry he wasn't accepting. You deserve to be happy, no matter what your father may say."
Alice wrapped her arms again around Cal, and still this time he didn't soften at her touch. Alice didn't mind. Ravyn was often the same way when Alice would hug her. But the older girl had started to warm up to them, even hugging Alice back now fairly consistently. She was sure she could get Cal doing so too with some time.
"I hope Torin broke his nose," she muttered as she pulled away.
Both assassins chuckled. Torin was amused at how caring and sweet Alice was acting to his boyfriend (who was most definitely not used to being treated that way). Cal was more amused that the girl was hoping his father had been seriously injured. Plus, he was picturing his father's bloody face again.
"You said you had a treat for us?" Cal reminded her, stepping away and taking a seat on the bed beside Torin.
"Yes!" Alice grinned, turning to the serving bowl and lifting the lid off of it. "I made chocolate pudding. It's a recipe my mom taught me. Actually, the only recipe she taught me, but... Potato, potato."
Torin had started laughing, causing Alice to turn to the boys with a confused look.
"What, do you not like chocolate pudding?" she asked worriedly, a frown starting to form on her face. She really should have asked around what Torin and Cal would enjoy. She didn't want them to feel obligated to eat something they didn't like.
Still laughing, Torin shook his head, pointing at his boyfriend. Cal had gone still, his eyes trained on the pudding. His expression was entirely unreadable.
"Cal loves chocolate pudding," Torin emphasized. "It's his favorite. He probably won't even let me have a bite."
Alice's face beamed with pride. She knew Cal was all tough on the outside. But she had seen a glimpse of his sweet side during the ceremony, and she had wanted to do something nice for him. She was especially glad she did it now after he had such a terrible encounter with his father. And now knowing it was his favorite! Alice was pretty happy.
"Well, I'm sure he'll let you have a bite," she teased, rolling her eyes.
"Nope," Cal shook his head, looking up at the girl with the faintest smile on his face.