violentine lemons. 🍋

Corn Flakes and Kisses

The muted sound of water pouring into the tub shocked Clementine's alcohol addled brain into consciousness.

She battled with her eyelids, prying them open only to have them slip shut again a moment later, heavy with sleep. She didn't have a splitting hangover headache, which was a pleasant change of pace, but she also didn't feel especially well rested. Her eyes were dry and her mouth felt disgustingly fuzzy. She rolled onto her back and heard the flow of water pause, clunk, and shift to the gentler spray of the shower.

Violet had already gone out on her run, then. Clementine allowed herself a moment to loathe her girlfriend's ability to drink in excess and still function normally the next day. Not even the next day. Clementine had never seen Violet acting even the slightest bit inebriated, even while actively pursuing said inebriation. She knew for a fact that Violet had drunk more beers, played more games of beer pong, and taken more shots--some of them off of Clementine's own stomach--than Clementine had last night. Yet she vaguely recalled being the one receiving the piggyback ride into her apartment building, mumbling nonsense into Violet's hair.

Clementine rolled onto her side to check the alarm clock next to her bed.

Nine o'clock.

That was really far too early for brain function.

Clementine dropped her arm over her eyes. She listened to the shower running and replayed the night's events in her mind's eye. What she could remember, at least. It was a kaleidoscope of faces flashing at her in the dark and voices shouting to be heard over blaring music. There had been a guy that tried to casually start grinding with her. Clementine had politely told him to stop before her girlfriend kicked his ass, then pulled said girlfriend off the couch to take his place. There'd been a minor lull in dancing when she got her hands on the iPod DJ-ing the party and played a song no-one, herself included, had ever heard before. And she distinctly remembered sitting across Violet's lap, drunk as sin and curled up like a toddler while Violet rubbed her back and asked if she was ready to go home.

Clementine stretched and swept the covers off of herself. Evidently Violet had taken it upon herself to remove Clementine's pants and bra, leaving her to sleep in her underwear (which Clementine never did normally) and the t-shirt she'd worn to the party. Her bra was spread carefully across the foot of the bed, and Clementine rolled her eyes with a grin. It was Violet's way of subtly teasing that she'd seen Clementine's boobs while she was sleeping. Yet at the same time it indicated that Violet had listened and remembered when Clementine off handedly mentioned that she hated sleeping in her bra, even when she took a nap. That sort of attentiveness spoke volumes, even if Violet had been purely motivated by the kiss she was sure to receive in doing so. Clementine rolled from the bed and stumbled into her own bathroom, determined to thoroughly clean her teeth and shower herself into some semblance of a human being before bestowing her reward upon her girlfriend.

Violet was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal, her back to Clementine, when Clementine finally joined her in the kitchen. Violet's hair was still wet her bangs was tucked in her ear. She was dressed in her Saturday casuals: bare feet, a slightly too large white v-neck t-shirt, and a pair of dark red hospital scrub pants. Clementine still could not figure out where Violet had gotten her hands on them--she'd never mentioned any affiliation with a hospital--and Violet was suspiciously mum on the subject.

Clementine wrapped her arms around Violet from behind and kissed the strong line of her jaw. She felt the skin of Violet's cheek lift into a small smile.

"Good morning," Violet said.

"Morning." Clementine stayed pressed against Violet for a moment, breathing in the fresh scent of Violet's shampoo and idly tracing the edge of her collar with her fingers. She finally stepped away and pulled her own bowl from the cupboard and joined Violet at the table. Wordlessly Violet passed the box of corn flakes.