Work Text:
“Lena, what the fuck are you doing?” is what Amelie asks when she finds Lena leaning out the window of their apartment. Hearing her name, Lena leans back inside, her cheeks rosy pink from the cool winter breeze of Paris and her hair in tufts sticking out wilder than usual.
“You can see the Eiffel Tower all the way here!” she says incredulously. “I never noticed that.”
For a moment Amelie is annoyed at the British woman’s surprise. Of course it would be visible, like how the Big Ben was visible from every corner of London. But some sympathy strikes her when she remembers Lena would have never had a chance to see something as significant and far out from home as the Eiffel Tower-
Amelie drops the grocery bags onto the counter to join Lena at the window, who’s upper half of her body hangs out the window again. Her arms wrap around her middle and her front meets Lena’s spine. When Lena leans into the embrace, her arms fall from the windowsill to rest on the arms around her. She twists to properly face Amelie, cheeks still dusted pink.
“Errands any fun?” she asks for the sake of conversation. Amelie only nods and raises an arm to press a gloved palm to her lover’s cheek. Every corner of Amelie’s body is ice cold, but, for once, Lena feels colder. She snuggles into the palm affectionately and giggles when Amelie presses a kiss to the tip of her nose.
“I hope you didn't have to wait long for dinner.” Amelie says and lets her go to fix up the groceries she had bought. “Give me half an hour and dinner will be ready.”
“Will it go faster if I help?” Lena offers, reaching for a bag of wrapped vegetables. Amelie bats her hand away amicably.
“I believe we had an agreement, ma cherie.” Amelie says. Lena then pouts and reaches for the other groceries meant for shelving.
“Al-right then.” Lena says as she puts away the last box of cereal. “If you ever need anything though, just give me a holler, luv.” Lena then chirps and disappears into the hallway, undoubtedly towards the workshop.
Amelie swears quietly to herself when she remembers that she had forgotten to buy rosemary on her errandrun. They’ll have to do without it.
It had been extra room they were planning on saving for potential children, but some biological problems with Talon and the Slipstream left them with complications that bereft them of such responsibility. Amelie sighs.
When the pot begins to boil, she brings out select vegetables from the fridge and rinses them under cold water.
So then Lena had suggested that they turn it into a workshop. Lena had always been a tinkerer and one of Amelie’s many hobbies was fixing up her rifle so it only seemed logical to turn the room into something they could both use.
She chops onions, carrots, and some potatoes into sizeable chunks before tossing them all into the stew to broil for a few minutes. Not a moment later she heard Lena blink back to the kitchen.
“I'm gonna go out and grab a couple things. Be back soon though, so wait up!” Lena says. Amelie crosses the kitchen in two steps and hands Lena the keys.
“Tres bien. Be safe.”
“Always.”
---
As promised, Lena returns within the hour and they sit to eat dinner together in comfortable silence. Lena’s purchases lay haphazardly on the counter to be dealt with later. But as they laid on the couch cuddling together and sharing warmth while watching an old French classic Amelie insisted they watch, later became midnight. But as the movie comes to an end, credits rolling down the screen endlessly, and Lena as guides a half asleep Amelie to bed, later become tomorrow.
Amelie wakes in her own bed, alone. She doesn't feel Lena’s weight on the other side of the bed but she's not deterred. She could hear the ridiculously loud whirring of a power drill outside. Then a muffled curse followed by a thud. Amelie pads out the bedroom and into the living room to find Lena, yet again, leaning out the window.
She lets her work and prepares two mugs of coffee to start the winter morning off somewhat warmly. While she's mixing in cream into her mug and sugar in Lena’s, Lena pulls back into the room. She adjusts something outside to the left of the window and Amelie notices the vertical mirror on the right. Lena adjusts the mirror until the reflection of the Eiffel Tower hits the mirror she's adjusting. The reflection then hits the right mirror and Amelie could now see the Eiffel Tower from where she stood in the kitchen.
Lena makes final adjustments, screwing the left mirror into place and tests its stability with solid pushes against it. Satisfied, she closes the window and presses frozen hands to frozen cheeks. Amelie watches bemusedly as Lena squats then stands as tall as her could, then she leans left and right, testing the sight of the reflection of the Eiffel Tower, her palms still pressed to her cheeks. When she realizes that at almost every angle, the landmark is visible, Lena straightens and chirps to herself happily.
“Magnifique.” is all Amelie can say, sauntering towards her. Lena jumps a little and turns around swiftly, cheeks ablaze in embarrassment.
“H-How long have you been watching?” Lena squeaks. Amelie smirks and presses her palms to her cheeks, mimicking her movements earlier, hips swaying all over in the least attractive manner. Lena groans when Amelie sweeps her up in her arms. Despite her teasing, Lena nuzzles into her neck and breathes softly. The crook of Amelie’s neck feels warm in comparison to the frigid weather Lena had her head in all morning.
“Do you like it?” Lena finally asks, turning in her grip slightly to admire her handiwork.
“It’s wonderful.” and Amelie wasn’t lying. Even though Lena had roused her at an ungodly hour, to now be able to see the Eiffel Tower from her apartment window without having to lean outside was worth the extra hours of sleep.
So they lay on the couch together to make up for the time of sleep Lena and Amelie lost thanks to Lena’s project. Amelie strokes through locks and gnarls of unkempt brunette air while watching the winter sky slowly, very slowly, brighten. Lena mewls gently against her with a gentle suggestion: “Go to sleep, luv.”, and it, finally, beckons Amelie to waves to slumber.