Title: Toast and Other Romance Languages
Pairing: Reid/JJ
Prompt: you can have this heart to break via
cm_het_drabbleRating: PG
Warnings: Toast? And buttery-thick schmoop. One naughty word.
Spencer purses his lips thoughtfully as JJ uses a fingertip to pry the bread from the smoking slots of the toaster.
"Shit!" She half-shrieks, half-laughs as she flips it onto a plate, then uses a fork to inspect the damage. After a few moments, she divides it up between them and sets the dishes onto the table. "Sorry," she says with a grin as she slides into her seat and rolls her eyes. "I've been meaning to replace that thing for like, three months now. I'm tempted to take it out back and put a bullet in it."
Spencer smiles at her, small and slow, and rips his toast in half with his fingers. He doesn't say anything at first, just watches her wrinkle her nose at the mess in front of her and smear a good tablespoon of butter across each slice in an attempt to salvage it. When she finally takes a bite, he finally speaks. "Hey, JJ?"
She looks up at him and raises her eyebrows in answer.
"Are you... do you love me?"
She nearly chokes on the burnt bits in her mouth and takes a swig of coffee to wash it all down.
"I'm sorry!" he says. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."
"What?" Her eyes are wide and her eyebrows are pulled together, and it's a strange - but not unkind - expression.
"I just..." He smiles a little, nervous, as she gains her composure back and wipes at her mouth with her greasy napkin. "My mom? She always used to tell me... she said... she said that you can tell a woman loves you when she keeps the burnt toast for herself and gives you the good piece." His eyes dart back and forth between their plates, and when he looks up again, JJ is holding her coffee cup halfway between her breakfast and her mouth, staring at him over its rim with a mixture of affectionate disbelief and amusement. "I'm sorry," he starts again, but she shakes her head to cut him off.
"There was no good piece," she notes, taking a sip of her coffee through near-laughing lips.
"Well. There was a better piece," he says. "You gave it to me."
"I did, didn't I?" JJ smiles. "I suppose if toast be the language of love, then..." She shrugs and shoves the knife at him across the table. "Butter on."