better
“Hey, my love.” Rio placed an orchid behind Agatha’s ear.
“Hey.” Agatha let her into the cottage. “So, uh, just so you know, if you try to make a candle with food coloring, the food coloring will just sink to the bottom of the glass, and when the flame eventually reaches the bottom all the food coloring will catch fire and become one giant flame that you can’t blow out no matter how hard you try and the glass will start to crack and then you'll throw your tea on it in a panic and then the extremely hot food coloring will boil and sizzle and then the glass will just…” Agatha imitated an explosion.
Rio’s eyes widened. “Agatha–”
“Just take my word on this, okay?”
“What did you do?”
Agatha paused. “Well, nobody died.”
“Agatha, give me a proper answer.”
Agatha bit her lip. “I mean, I tried to make you a gift– emphasis on tried.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s just…”
Rio sighed. “Our table’s burnt, isn’t it?”
Agatha nodded. “I’m sorry.”
Rio shook her head. “It’s fine. I’ll fix it.” She kissed Agatha on the forehead. “As long as you’re okay.”
“I mean, I kinda burned my hand and the glass shards cut it–
“You burned your hand?” Rio grabbed Agatha’s hand, inspecting the burn.
‘–but it’s already kinda healed.”
“You burned your hand!”
“I ran it under cold water, it’s fine.”
“And there are shards of glass in it!” Rio clicked her tongue and shook her head as she tried to heal the burn and wounds. “Why were you trying to make me a gift, anyway?”
“Can’t I just want to celebrate my love?”
“Agatha.”
“…Because making half your dream come true isn’t enough.”
“It is for me.”
“Well, you deserve better.”
Rio sighed. “The entire point of you staying inside was for you to stay safe and not get hurt.”
“Well, you didn’t count on my stupidity.”
“No, no, you're not stupid.”
Agatha’s opal-blue eyes met Rio’s. “You underestimate me.”
Rio continued looking at Agatha.
“It’s fine.” She waved her other hand. “It’s not like it’s the first time. My mom used to do it to me all the time.”
Rio’s eyes filled with worry.
“Don’t worry, they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger– guess my mom was just really committed.”
Rio narrowed her eyes, thinking of all the times Agatha had talked about her past or something that hurt her. “You often use humor to deflect trauma.”
“Thank you.”
Rio put Agatha’s now-healed hand down. “I didn't say that was a good thing.”
“What I'm hearing is, you think I'm funny.”
“Agatha.”
“What?”
Rio opened her mouth to argue, then closed it. “Nothing. We’ll unpack that another day.”
“Or never.”
“Or today.”
Agatha shrugged. “Another day it is.”
Agatha sat on the couch as Rio brewed tea.
“Anything interesting happen at work?”
“Not really.”
“Yeah? ‘Cause you look tired.”
“Well,” Rio sat next to her, handing her a mug. “My job has never been fun, you know.”
“Maybe I could…” Agatha traced her hand up Rio’s arm. “...cheer you up.”
Rio chuckled. “I’m not saying no to that, but I don’t need cheering up.”
“Too bad, I've already sent good vibes your way. They’re coming. There’s nothing you can do to stop them.”
Rio blinked. “This is the most threatening way I’ve ever been cheered up.”
Agatha grinned. “So… about the first offer…”
“Race you there.” Rio winked before she flicked her hand, vanishing.
“Oh, you cheater!” Agatha laughed as she followed her up.