Curious Tastes

prologue: cupcakes and storms

The sky is weeping. It's tears beating against the battered old wood of Astra's balcony. The steady drum of it is drowning out even the whispers of her own thoughts. For once, she isn't grateful. Nature's screaming is normally beautiful and welcome. She'll sit and watch as the sky tares itself open and weeps. She'll listen to the wind as it howls and twists in agony or a beautiful dance. But Quantum mechanics are more difficult than the name suggest. With midterms around the corner she needs to concentrate. Thunder roars as the clouds clash and Io hisses from her hiding place under the couch. Astra shoots her a sympathetic smile, poor thing. Then from his perch on the bookshelf Aries opens his eyes to stare at the white cat. His gaze looks to be almost criticals almost as if he's judging her, before he puts his head back down to go back to sleep.

Astra would sell both her kidney and liver to be able to understand what was going on in that head of his. The Savannah cat is a quiet apathetic things. As long he has food and water and she doesn't watch Game of Thrones without him he's happy. Aries is very particular with how he receives his affection, and seems to always be judging her. Astra isn't to insulted by it as Aries judges everyone. Io is different. She will beg for attention and will cry at your feet until you scoop her into your arms. The Turkish Angora is almost always the reason she runs late. The cat only ranks after her the desire to stay in the bath forever. Io is notorious for stealing her keys and her shoes. As well as scattering her countless pages of notes before class all because she wants a cuddle. Despite their different temperaments and an air of mutual dislike. Astra has caught the two curled up more than once.

Thunders roars again and the wind howls as the sky weeps and Astra can't think straight. She stares down at the problem sets open on her laptop. She groans and looks at the paper that litters the floor full of scratched out incorrect answers. Astra close her eyes, all this work makes her head want to burst. Her tea has long been cold and the bread of the half eaten sandwich might as well be stone. She lets herself fall against the cold wood floor with a small thump. Astra relishes coolness of the floor against her cheek. Astra's body thrums with soul crushing agitation. It shouldn't be this difficult. She's intelligent and she's driven so why has everything felt so impossible lately?

Typically when her brains decides it wants a vacation Socrates is there to fix it for her. Socrates who is currently visiting his boyfriend's family...the traitor. Her only comfort now is six large strawberry cupcakes on their way from Batter and Frosting. The bakery is her saving grace and has been a constant in her life since she moved into her apartment. Astra ponders if it's worth getting off the floor to find something to eat in the bone bare pantry. As she decides to stay where she jumps as a obnoxious buzzing noise cuts through natures song.

It takes Astra a moment to stretch out the initial stiffness in her body. She holds back a moan as she get's up and navigates through the mess on her floor to go unlock the building door. She makes it there with little interuption from her housemates. Aries never puts up much of a fuss he ignores the buzzer all together. Things change when unfamiliar visitor's come inside. He's the first there to investigate them. So for once it seems Io is prioritizing hiding from nature over tripping her up. Astra decides to take it rather than look the gift horse in the mouth as makes it to the door. The front door is large and metal. It has a long partially rusted piece of metal that locks the door along with the deadbolt. Astra is prone to wondering if the lock system will either end up saving her or killing her.

As she finishes unlocking the door there's a knock on the other side. After a second of fumbling with the lock she pulls the door open starts, and blinks startled.

The woman on the other side of the door is soaking wet from head to toe. She has lilac hair that is limp and certain parts of it also cling to her face. Astra wonders what it's styling looked like before the rain. Her clothing is also soaking. The black Batter and Frosting shirt along with a dark pair of jeans don't look comfortable at all.

All this is irrelevant because the woman is beautiful. Astra can't seem to stop her eyes and the way they dance all along her body. She can't stop herself from noticing the way the wet shirt clings to her boobs, or the way her legs seem to go on for ages. She tries not to notice the lashes that are so long they brush against the woman's cheeks. As she tries not to get a lost in her piercing hazel eyes. She's taller than Astra by at least five inches although that isn't very hard to do.

"I've got half a dozen cupcakes for Astra?" Asks the woman her voice jarring Astra out her own head. Astra blinks clearing her vision, as she finally notices the plastic delivery bag.

She smiles," That's me. They're strawberry right?"

The woman nods,"Sure are! Good choice by the way, I haven't been able to stop eating them. It's a good thing planet fitness is only ten bucks a month because membership looks like it's in my future."

Astra laughs," Oh I know what you mean, I'm kind stress eater and B&F is always good for that."

The delivery woman smiles as she nods her head ," I a started a couple weeks back. Tragically I'm going to start having to use my non-existent self restraint."

Astra is willing to bet money that more relatable words have never been said. She opens her mouth to say so, but then the sight and sound of water dripping onto the floor grabs her attention. She must be freezing and now Astra feels terrible at her own inconsideration.

"I'm sorry you got caught up in the storm. All that effort for just so I can eat and not think about quantum mechanics." Says Astra with a sheepish smile. She rubs a hand over the back of neck and her cheeks start to heat from embarrassment.

But the woman is already waving her off before she even get's all the words out her mouth , "Am I soaked and freezing? Hell yeah! But I wouldn't be observing girl code or practicing feminism if I got between a woman and her cupcakes. There's a special place in hell for women like that, and those aren't my kinda girls. I'm off the clock now anyway. Who know maybe lady luck will be willing give a sister some help so I can get a taxi this home."

Astra weighs her options for moment before deciding to wing it," You know I've got a lot of hot water and some dry clothes. And I can call a cab for you if wanna get outta those clothes."

"Oh, thank you but I could never-"

Astra cuts her off, "I will feel like the biggest piece of shit if next time I'm at B&F they tell me you've died from Pneumonia. I'll never recover. And then adding insult to injury you'll haunt me because of that whole vengeful spirit thing. And I won't even be able to call Sam and Dean because its time for them to hang it up. I don't want to reenforce their bad habits."

"Are you sure?"

"Do you have anything against cats?"

"The little shits should be worshipped," she says smiling now. Then her face becomes more serious, "You're not a serial killer are you?"

Astra schools her face into something more somber. Shaking her head she fakes disappointment and says, "Cannibal actually."

Astra pauses then says, "But don't worry I only eat the criminals. Another pause, then, "You don't have any parking tickets do you?"

The woman snorts and let's out a loud laughs that echoes off the empty halls. It's beautiful like a chorus of angels wrapped up in a singular sound. Astra does not have to stop herself from swooning a little bit.

"No parking tickets and I've even received a warning."

Astra steps back and opens her door wider, she takes the plastic bag out of her arms and steps back to let her in. Once she crosses the threshold Astra clothes the doors and re-locks the door. She turns to facing her guest and it hits her.

"My mom would be so ashamed of me," Astra says running a hand through her hair. "Here I am offering you a shower, clothes and I don't even know your name."

"Oh!" She laughs again leaving Astra swearing to herself that her heart doesn't skips a beat," I'm Nova, nice to meet you."

a/n: 

so i haven't done anything in forever but i figured i'd give this a try and see what people thought.