Darkness into Light - Espresseleine

Chapter Twenty Four ~ A Sibling's Heist (Clean Ver.)

Hello!
This chapter is purely for those who skipped the graphic version of chapter twenty four!

This will likely be the only time I will be doing a clean ver. of a chapter because I'll be cutting down on things that are a little "too much" (or "too graphic") as advised by my friends.

Plus it's my mistake for combining parts that are important to the story with a graphic scene so I apologise for that.

~

Earlier that day...

Latte passed a mug to Espresso, to which he accepted it gratefully, smiling. She reached into her bag and retrieved a stack of paperwork, placing them on the table in front of them. Espresso chugged the coffee inside his mug, immediately lighting up at the electrifying buzz of energy. It was now recess at the Parfaedia Institute, and the two teachers were conversing in the staff lounge as usual. The mage had still found it odd how he had not seen any other teachers yet, such as Eclair who Latte mentioned before, or Almond.

"You're doing great Es! Soon you can start teaching normal classes! I'm thinking you could teach a Spanish class, since you know some stuff, right? How does that sound?" Latte beamed, shuffling the papers.

"Yes, I suppose that— wait, what did you just call me?" Espresso adjusted his glasses.

Latte blinked, tilting her head, "Just a shortened version of your normal name. Espresso is a mouthful sometimes, no offence. I hope you don't mind!"

"Oh. Alright, just don't start calling me something ridiculous." he replied.

"How 'bout Essy?" she grinned.

Espresso scrunched up his nose, glaring at her.

"Ugh, gross. That is definitely a no." Espresso pretended to barf, making Latte chuckle.

"Okay Mr. Grumpy-Pants," she giggled.

"Oh by the witches below, that is even worse." He playfully slapped her forearm. Latte stuck her tongue out at him and continued filing her papers with a fond smile. Espresso leaned back in his chair, peering at the nearby bulletin board situated on the wall. He squinted, eyes darting around until they landed on a small photo.

The photo contained a young cookie, appearing to be Custard Cookie III, but instead of his usual royal attire he was dressed in the Parfaedia Institute uniform. And stood tall beside the child with one of his hands ruffling Custard's hair, was none other than Madeleine cookie.
Espresso tilted his head to look at the photo in an alternate angle, hoping to spot any other details in the image.

"What are you staring so intensely at?" Latte chuckled, following his line of sight which landed on the photo of Madeleine and little Custard.

Latte rolled her eyes and smiled slyly, "Of course." she muttered.

"I have a question." Espresso spoke up, not looking away from the photo. In fact he stood up, went over and  plucked the picture from the board, strolling back over and re-taking his seat at the lounge table.

From close up, he could now see it more clearly. He leaned in, inspecting it closely. In the picture, Madeleine looked a little younger than he is now, but still sported the muscular build, the broad shoulders, defined cheek bones and of course, the very long blond hair. In the picture he looked truly happy, his blue eyes sparkling, and Custard looked the same, bright blue eyes, fluffy blond hair and a proud demeanour.

"Jeez, you're quite the curious cat aren't you?" Latte teased, "What's your question?"

Espresso slid the photo across the table in her direction with two of his fingers, while the other arm was propped on the surface.
"They look quite similar. Are they related? Siblings perhaps?"