Work Text:
Alex riffled through the cupboards of her lair’s massive kitchen. She knew she had some coffee beans somewhere. Nice ones too. They’d been a gift from some politician or businessman or someone –his name might have been Poofer, she thought– who’d been trying to garner her favour. Of course, it hadn’t worked because Alex wasn’t the biggest fan of coffee. It never really did much for her.
Her new sidekick was a different matter. For the three months they’d been stuck in the eternity area, Morgan had mourned her lack of coffee multiple times a day. She hadn’t missed anything else, not her family, not her friends, not beds or internet or showers or eyeliner or bread or anything. Just coffee.
Alex didn’t mind though. If her sidekick was madly in love with coffee, it wasn’t her business. Morgan could be in love with whatever she wanted. Alex refused to make her feel bad about it. Besides, Morgan’s obsession had only made it easier to convince her to become Alex’s sidekick, and Alex was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Even if that horse was the reason she was digging through pocket dimensions.
At long last, she found the little silver parcel she’d been looking for. Alex opened it up and took a whiff. It smelled like dirt. But apparently that was the point, so she poured some of the beans out into a little bowl and started looking for something to grind them into powder with. Her kitchen had basically every food related contraption ever invented, despite her barely using any of them. She felt a jolt of excitement when she realized how much Morgan would probably love all the gadgets. Her new sidekick had done a lot of the cooking during their time in the eternity area. Not to mention a lot of the gadgets had very interesting and unconventional parts that Morgan might like to take apart for traps.
After even more digging, Alex finally found what she'd been looking for; a French press and a coffee grinder. She made quick but careful work of turning the dark brown beans into first a powder and then into a steaming hot cup of almost black liquid. Morgan liked her coffee “pure and simple”, which Alex knew from their many conversations about food and drink preferences. There really was nothing better to talk about in the boring emptiness of the Eternity Area. Alex honestly wanted to thank the heroes for giving her such a wonderful opportunity to get to know someone like Morgan. They’d left the sidekick to die, practically gifting her to Alex. Maybe next time she fought the heroes, Alex could kiss one of them as a thank you before killing them all. She’d talk it out with Morgan.
Alex poured the coffee into a heavy black mug that looked like it had been fashioned from a human skull, because it had. She smelled the coffee again , wondering if being a liquid improved its appeal. Her nose wrinkled at the bitterness. It was still horrible, though hopefully Morgan wouldn’t think so.
Morgan hummed a tune to herself while she worked. She had expected being a sidekick to a hero would be similar to being the sidekick to a hero, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. Turns out villains had minions to do all the tedious things like scouring camera footage and patching up ripped capes. Villain sidekicks seemed to just be normal villains who could do whatever villainous things they wanted to do, which she had more of than she thought she would have.
Or at least, that’s how it was with Alex. Morgan didn’t really have any other frames of reference. Just then, Alex walked into the room, holding something that looked like a skull and smelled like heaven. Morgan smiled warmly and gave her a small wave.
“Here’s your coffee,” Alex said, placing the mug on the desk. “Enjoy.”
“Thanks,” Morgan said, picking it up and taking a sip.
It was perfect.
Smoother than silk and just as rich, it tasted indescribably good. Morgan wanted to drown in it forever. She glanced up at Alex, ready to thank her, but she seemed to have lost her voice. Had Alex always been that beautiful? Long black hair half tied back in a messy bun, pointed teeth peeking out from behind blood red lips curled up in a smile, and those eyes. God, those eyes. Golden irises glowing around wide black pools that narrowed when she was dangerous. Morgan couldn’t take her own eyes away from them.
She felt a warm blush rising up her neck and cheeks. Something fluttered in her stomach and her chest felt far too light. Fuck, she thought. The hand holding the coffee mug dropped onto the desk, a few drops spilling over the edge and onto Morgan’s papers. She ignored the mess. She was the real mess to be dealt with right now.
Fortunately, Alex didn’t seem to notice what must have been painted all over Morgan’s face. “What, is it bad?” she asked, seemingly annoyed. “Like, I made it myself. I can go buy you one if you like.”
Morgan buried her face in one hand “Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, fuck,” she muttered. She took another sip, “fuck!”
Alex stared at her for a second before realization dawned on her. She leaned over the table to be at face level with Morgan. ”Wait, did you just fall in love with me?”
Morgan looked away, still blushing furiously. “In my defense this is a really good cup of coffee,” she took another sip of the perfect drink.
“Okay there’s easy?” Alex laughed, “And then there’s you. Cause like that was the first cup. Literally in the first sip! Good god!” She stood up straight again, still laughing joyously.
“I told you before,” Morgan mumbled, “Coffee is like a love potion for me. Do you know how many of my crushes have been baristas?”
“Wait, did you say love potion?” Alex was serious now.
“Uh yeah, why?”
Alex didn’t respond, and instead gave Morgan a thorough once-over. Her golden eyes pulsed with red, like some sort of scanner. Morgan’s skin prickled with warmth, but she wasn’t sure if that was because Alex was looking at her, or if it was because Alex was looking at her. Finally, Alex frowned, nodded, and then plucked the mug from Morgan’s hand. Morgan gaped slightly, heart breaking from the loss of her beloved coffee.
“Don’t drink this,” Alex said finally.
“What?! Why not?! You gave it to me, what’s wrong with it?”
“It was spiked.”
“You spiked my drink?” Morgan asked in wonder. It seemed like the sort of thing she would normally be upset about, but right now she just felt flattered.
“Not me!” Alex exclaimed, aghast. “The coffee beans I used had some kind of love spell on them, to make whoever drank the coffee fall in love with the person who gave it to them. I didn’t notice because I never gave the coffee a second thought until now.”
“Then who-”
“Rex Roofer. The beans were from him. He wanted to marry me, a while back, for power or something.”
“Right…” It was a relief to know her heart couldn’t actually be bought with a single sip of coffee. “So can you break the spell or what? I don’t really want to spend the rest of my life hopelessly in love with you.”
“I think I could change that if you give me some time, but yeah, I can break the spell.” Alex snapped her fingers, and Morgan instantly felt 5 degrees cooler.
“Thank you,” Morgan smiled gratefully. Alex was still wonderful, but it felt different now. Less horrifying.
“Don’t mention it,” Alex smiled back. “Now let’s see if I can get you some normal coffee, so you can fall in love with me the normal way.”
“Alright.” Morgan felt a softer blush rise, one that she didn’t mind at all.