Chapter Text
“More.”
“You can’t even see how much I-“
“Did I stutter? More.”
Chase sighed, drizzling extra chocolate sauce across the brownies. The humble little kitchen wreaked of chocolate. It always did lately, yet it was ever enough for the greedy little jerk atop his head.
Nox splayed out his limbs, sinking into Chase’s hair. He kept his eyes closed against the bright overhead lights above. If he wanted to, he could fall asleep like this. Could doze off to Chase’s soft humming, the shifts and movements below him rocking him just so. The soft bed of gold. The scent of Chase’s shampoo slowly giving way to that of baked goods as his hours in the kitchen unfolded.
He wasn’t doing this for the money any more. He’d found a better paying part time job as the years passed, one that allowed him to spend more time at home. In his home kitchen, baking whatever he desired. No longer under the supervision or demands of another. Sort of.
It was finally finished. Drenched drizzled to perfection, two beautifully plated brownies. A movie awaited in the next room. One they would curl up to on the couch and turn on, but likely not watch more than ten minutes of. It had become nightly routine whenever Chase returned home from work.
He would come home, decompress with a couple hours in the kitchen. Then if there was any stress possibly left over, it would crumble into nonexistence by the time he and Nox were in the same bed.
Chase’s humming paused, his hands slipping under the plates. “You awake?”
Nox rolled around onto his stomach, scooting forward ever so slightly. Some days he would fall asleep like this, but tonight he chose to consciously savor every second. It felt too right to let pass him by with sleep. He pressed his cheek against Chase’s scalp. Murmuring something for the two of them, planting a gentle kiss.
Chase giggled as he made his way to the living room. The care he took when sitting down never went unnoticed by Nox. The way he never dared bend his neck or make a single hurried movement. Chase, the embodiement of chaotic energy. Bouncing off the walls at any given moment. Babbling. Playful. But oh so careful. Chase, with the energy of the sun itself, alongside the gentleness of the same rays that nurtured the flowers to bloom.
He set the plates in his lap, blindly reaching up to find Nox. Nox watched the looming hand, reaching forward a bit to touch it. And it found him. Wrapping around his body, pulling him down into a soft, lingering kiss.
Nox returned it.
There was only one thing in the world, he found, that was sweeter than milk chocolate. Warmer than fresh hot cocoa.
Not that he’d ever tell anyone of this discovery. A chef’s secret recipe, a secret he would keep to himself. Something hidden deep in his heart as he leaned into smiling lips.