Comforting Choccochino
Zero Ranger flashfic
Mido and Dori use some of their off-time to visit their usual cafe when Dori suggests they switch it up a little.
The streets aren't so busy anymore. When satellite telescopes first identified Green Orange and confirmed its trajectory there was no panic, centuries of warfare made our cities and the people of Daikon resilient and adaptable. Buildings that retract seamlessly into the ground to shelter the inhabitants from artillery fire and bombing leaving a flat expanse of bunker doors and empty streets one hopes to never see anyone on.
Dori looks up to the orange sky and strains her vision in the direction of Green-Orange, but all she sees is that void of sky for now. She sighs and lets her gaze fall toward the pavement. A sudden wind makes her green button-down blouse flutter. Past her distressed jeans and beneath her boots the pavement's pock-marks seem like the remains of a battlefield soon to come.
The contemplation is broken by Mido grasping Dori's shoulders from behind which startles her, leaning in she giggles "Told you I'd catch up!"
She turns to look at Mido. Her knee-length, white with orange coloured orange-blossom pattern spaghetti strap dress flows in the gentle breeze. On her feet are orange crocs with charms of Decker and Rybb
Dori smiles and chides "You wouldn't have to catch up if you could just get changed quicker."
Mido pouts at this "Hey! It's not my fault! My pilot suit is too small…"
"File a request for a bigger one," she lifts the strap of her dress slightly "The last thing we need is you complaining about chafing while we're tying to do our job." She lets the strap snap and Mido yelps.
"Eeep! You're such a meanie!" She slaps her on the shoulder and they smile to each-other "Fine I'll talk to the quartermaster after our day-out. We're still going to that cafe right?"
Dori nods "Yeah, it isn't far now."
"What are you gonna get, Dori?"
She shrugs "Probably a Long Black."
Mido scrunches her face and sticks her tongue out in disgust "BLECH! How can you drink that. It's so bitter!"
"It really isn't, it's less bitter than a regular espresso."
Mido shakes her head "That's not much better, less bitter than super bitter is still bitter!"
Dori smiles patiently "Well I happen to like bitter things. Even the sweetest treat…"
Mido completes the sentence "…gets a little bitter with each bite." She rests her eyes a minute, the pipes up "What did Erasure mean by that anyways?"
"Who knows. Sometimes I think we barely understand what Erasure is. Sometimes when I finish a simulation I feel lightheaded, in more ways than one."
Mido pats her on the back and tries to assuage her fears "Erasure is really hard on us! You're probably just feeling some jet lag from coming back to reality!" She crosses her arms "Seriously though, she's worse than my mom. At least my mom doesn't make me fight a giant crab! Even though it feels like that sometimes hehe."
"Ha. Ya." She pauses. "What were you going to get?"
"Iced vanilla extra cream extra dextra sugar!" she winks and makes a peace sign.
"Why am I not suprised." Dori wraps her arm around Mido's shoulder as they walk "Why don't we pick each-other's drinks today?"
Mido raises an eyebrow "You're not going to make me drink anything gross right? Like a straight espresso or that long johnson you were talking about?"
"Long Black, and no. I was thinking you'd enjoy a comforting choccochino."
Her eyes light up "That sounds delicious! I love chocolate!"
"So what are you getting me?"
"Ummm…"
When Mido and Dori arrived at the Cafe, Dori got Mido the choccochino and Mido ended up ordering her usual vanilla with everything in it for Dori. Mido loved the choccochino, and the second one, and the third, and the fourth.
Meanwhile Dori's blood sugar had never been so sickeningly, dizzyingly high. When they returned to the base at the end of the day Mido went to sleep six hours late that night due to overcaffination from drinking eight choccochinos.
She raved "They're just too small! But they're so yummy! How can something so bitter be so yummy still!?" among other such exclamations.
Dori enjoyed her sugar coma and woke early utterly refreshed to find Mido still asleep in her bunk untucked. Dori tucked her back in and walked over to Erasure for her morning sim-session, who tells her about Mido's all-nighter trying to beat Dori's score.
"Well how did she do?"
"Have a look for yourself."
Dori no longer appeared on the score-board.
Dori's fist clenches and a vein pops out on her head "…"
A question mark appears on Erasure's screen "What is it? You do not seem pleased."
She smiles a tight smile "Serves me right for caffinating her." she crosses her arms tightly, feet shoulder length apart "Prepare the simulation, Erasure. Looks like I still have some room to grow too."
Lights flash around Erasure's terminal rapidly "Of course, from the top?"
"Is there any other way?"
"I suppose not. Good luck, Dori."
A flash of blinding light and the world breifly became void before a deep green glow grew filling the absence with flawless fidelity increasing to a perfect simulacrum.
Dori's eyes narrowed, hands relaxed on the controls. "Mission, START!"