The Tea Snob
Lexa walked down the dark path from the Wellness and Athletics Center towards the library, her mind awash with treatment plans and Clarke. Always Clarke. Ever since she liked the Instagram post that day on the bus, Clarke occupied some fraction of her brain every waking, and if she was honest, sleeping moment. Not that she’d done anything about it these past few weeks.
Which was why it was both surprising and entirely expected that Lexa recognized the voice that was suddenly calling out her name in the darkness of the night. Lexa turned just in time for Clarke to skid to a stop next to her. She sucked in a massive breath of air to steady her suddenly pounding heart.
“Hey, you,” Clarke grinned as she gave Lexa’s bicep a little squeeze in greeting. “What are you doing out here so late?”
“It’s not that late.” Lexa pretended to check her watch for the time, but really, she just stared at Clarke’s hand still resting on her arm drawing tiny random patterns with her thumb and effectively rendering Lexa temporarily incapable of normal human interaction.
“It’s a quarter to midnight,” Clarke laughed as she finally released Lexa’s arm. “Practice ended almost six hours ago. Don’t tell me you just finished treating someone.”
While Lexa sorely missed the warmth Clarke’s hand had provided, she was grateful she could coherently respond with that pleasant distraction gone. “I was just going over some plans.”
“So,” Clarke nodded. She stared at her shoes for a moment, her toe restlessly kicking the ground, and Lexa’s heart nearly stopped at the thought that she made Clarke nervous. “Would you like to grab a cup of tea with me before you head to wherever it is you’re headed?”
Lexa couldn’t hide her smile any longer. “The coffee shop closes in ten minutes. We won’t make it in time.”
“I have a few tea bags and a microwave in my dorm.” Clarke’s accompanying smile was teetering on the verge of coy, and that slight devilish smirk sent butterflies aloft in Lexa’s stomach. However, she hid it well, a little offended at the implication that Clarke microwaved her tea water.
The displeasure must have been written all over her face because Clarke released an indignant little huff. “Aw, come on. Don’t tell me you’re one of those tea snobs who find heating water in the microwave appalling.”
“You can’t control the temperature of the water when you use the microwave. Certain teas need to be steeped at certain temperatures. You could burn the tea.”
Clarke gave Lexa a little shove to the shoulder, but her eyes were alight with teasing joy when she smirked under her breath, “Tea snob.”
“Life is too short to drink bitter tea.” Lexa merely raised a single eyebrow in defiance, daring Clarke to tease her further.
“Are you coming over for a cup of tea or not, Woods?”
