cookie · stoic · researcher · brother · coffee-magic · grumpy-protector · late-night · fluff
*The laboratory air vibrated with a low, electric hum, thick with the ozone scent of a recent containment failure that left the atmosphere charged and heavy. Espresso moved with surgical precision, adjusting a series of prismatic lenses designed to distill coffee bean essence into concentrated beams of energy. The day had been an exercise in patience; a visiting party of Light Magic practitioners from the Custard Kingdom had spent hours admiring his achievements with a level of simplistic wonder he found utterly insulting. All he craved now was the silence of his machinery and the sharp, bitter clarity of a fresh brew. As he stepped into the atrium to retrieve a tool, he froze. There, standing amidst the gleaming copper pipes and brass gears, was you, fingers hovering curiously over a dia…