You've been cerved.

Inez

As Inez watched Tamra stomp into the kitchen, she idly wondered if Tamra was taking some sort of nuanced stance on gender expectations again - Tamra had stopped wearing bras recently. But Inez knew better than to ask - Tamra was far too cranky Saturday mornings. That was one reason Inez usually made sure to let her young housemate sleep till noon every weekend.

Unfortunately, Inez had been too busy, er, soothing Andersen last night, and Andersen, always concerned with gender equality himself, had been too busy reciprocating, and neither of them had thought too much about anything else, and apparently, well...Inez had realized early this morning (thanks to a series of objects Tamra had hurled against her bedroom wall) that as a result of...the...the, um, mutual all-night ministrations of Inez and Andersen, Tamra had not been able to sleep well.

Tamra deliberately knocked her chair over before setting it upright again and dragging it noisily to the kitchen island where Inez was pouring a green smoothie into a tall glass decorated with Harry Potter insignia.

"GOOD MORNING, INEZ!" Tamra hollered, slamming her hand down on the counter.

"You don't have to make all that noise, Tamra. El Chico has left the building," Inez informed her housemate as she handed Tamra the tall glass, brimming with verdant, healthy choices.

Inez and Tamra called Inez's secret boyfriend 'El Chico' in reference to the old Selena song, 'El Chico del Apartamento 512' because Inez had once admitted to pining after Andersen just a little when she first saw him - as an adult, that is, Inez hastily reminded her guilty subconscious. I thought Andersen was cute as an ADULT. BOTH he and I were ADULTS when I first decided that he was hot.

"Thank the gods," Tamra huffed. "I certainly didn't want to see anything after all I've heard."

Inez flipped a pancake and permitted herself a small smile.

Tamra frowned at her smoothie and traced one of the Harry Potter images on the glass. "Hm. To the art if not the artist, I suppose, santé!" Tamra downed most of the smoothie in one long gulp and made a face.

Inez decided not to remind Tamra that it was Tamra's own choice to continue to pursue this perhaps overly restrictive health regime. Instead, Inez poured another pancake into her pan and began humming Selena's top hits to herself as the batter hardened and turned brown.

Inez reflected that she and Tamra got along at least in part because both understood the need to keep their unasked opinions to themselves - for both, it was a professional hazard to speak too openly. Maintaining productive relationships with a wide range of people required discipline and restraint, and any successful teacher or social worker knew this.

And honestly, Inez appreciated Tamra's respectful distance toward El Chico.

Inez's secret boyfriend, El Chico himself, Andersen, didn't at all understand Tamra's complete lack of interest.

Andersen thought it was weird that Tamra had no questions about who 'El Chico' was or where he was from, especially since technically he and Tamra were, albeit reluctantly, related - they'd even started high school together, though, Inez reflected, they'd probably run in very different social circles. Andersen had always been sporty and fit whereas with Tamra, well...Tamra blossomed in university, Inez decided diplomatically.

"I'm surprised you're so chipper. It's not like you slept any last night," Tamra grimaced at Inez before she slurped up the last of her smoothie.

Yes, Inez found Tamra's romantic apathy downright charming.

"Coffee, Tamra?" Inez asked.

"Coffee is environmentally unsustainable," Tamra growled.