Work Text:
Ryan adjusts his t-shirt for the umpteenth time and takes a quick glance at his reflection on the glass panel of the door. He holds his breath, as if preparing to look at something terrible. But, he looks the same, since the last time he checked, which was only a few minutes ago. Just as still waters run deeps, his cool and collected demeanour shows no signs of the bubbling nervous energy that seems to radiate off of him — at least whenever he was going to see Hunk. His reflection makes him wonder if he should have worn something more formal to see Hunk, but it would have been weird to deviate from what he usually wore when he came over to cook with him.
Taking a deep breath, though he has absolutely nothing to be prepared for, he rings the doorbell. There’s a short pause as he contemplates his reason for coming again, but Hunk could have already guessed that he would pop by again sooner or later.
The door opens and standing before him is Hunk. It’s a sight that never fails to take his breath away. With a beam as warm as the sun’s rays, Hunk waves a whisk at him — a whisk that belongs to no one else but Ryan himself. “And you’re here because you left yet another utensil at my place?”
Ryan smiles sheepishly at his tease, running his fingers through his hair. He shrugs a little, making Hunk roll his eyes. Hunk continues to beam as he opens the door further, motioning him inside. “Since you’re here, you might as well join me.”
Inside, Ryan pumps his fists in triumph as he gets to cook with Hunk once more. Initially, he had asked Hunk for advice about cooking when Hunk decided that he may as well give him a whole lesson instead. From what was a simple tutorial, turned into time that both of them had to just chill out by trying new dishes and recipes and cooking for their friends and teammates. In Ryan’s opinion, it was honestly kind of awkward if he had asked Hunk if they could hang out and cook. So, he began coyly leaving behind some of his own kitchen utensils at Hunk’s place just to be able to drop by to ‘collect’ them. At first, he told himself that it was because he loved cooking in Hunk’s wide kitchen because it always had the latest cooking gadgets and it was light and airy but deep down, he knew that there was something more. But, knowing him, it was bound so tightly in his heart, he doesn’t even want to unlock it for himself.
“What are we cooking today?” Ryan asks, rubbing his hands together. He lets Hunk lead them through his spacious apartment to his kitchen, which is a mixture of earthy tones and white marble. With a big space for experimenting with dishes using new state-of-the-art kitchen equipment, Hunk had everything and more that a chef could possibly ask for in his kitchen.
“Well, I’ve been trying to make these sweets.” Hunk points at a cookbook laid open on a marble countertop. “But I just can’t seem to figure out what ingredient they’re asking for as a sweetener?”
“Did you try sugar?” Ryan suggests. They sit across from each other at the island, sunlight pouring in from the wide windows facing the kitchen. Outside the kitchen, blooms Hunk’s garden — one of his new hobbies.
“It’s definitely not just regular sugar, I think. Some icing sugar is involved but that won’t be one of the main ingredients.”
“Hmm, let me see,” Ryan murmurs. He spins the book toward himself and tries to read for a second only to realize that it’s not written in English but Altean. “Wow, okay. I don’t think I can read that,” he says with a laugh. He raises his hands in surrender, before spinning the book back to face Hunk.
“It literally only says ‘sweetener’ but nothing else? I thought instructions of how to build, ignite and fire blasts of energy from an old Altean journal with frequencies that are seemingly impossible to replicate was hard, but this… this really takes the cake.”
Ryan stifles a giggle at the pun and Hunk rolls his eyes. “Yes, I get what I did there. Very funny.”
“You know if you didn’t like space or cooking that much, you would be a great comedian.”
“Yeah, and you would be the only one as my audience.”
“At least you have me cheering you on at every show across the universe.”
Hunk can’t help but smile, making Ryan’s heart pump harder and faster against his chest. They pause for a moment, the silence settles in the kitchen comfortably as both of them think.
“Honey,” says Ryan finally, thinking out loud.
“Huh,” Hunk murmurs, glancing up from the table. “Honey?”
“Yeah. As in we could use honey for the sweetener,” Ryan quickly clarifies. For a moment he panics, wondering if Hunk thought that he had called him honey. That would have been a little awkward, but somewhere deep down, he wishes that was what he could call him.
Hunk ponders for a moment. “Oh my god, you’re a genius! Honey could do the trick and I think I should have some in the kitchen somewhere.” He begins to search through the cupboards and the drawer until finally, he finds a medium-sized jar and presents it proudly to Ryan. “Ta-da!”
Ryan had never expected this from Hunk — the closeness and familiarity. It took him some time to get along with the rest of the MFE pilots as he had considered himself a lone wolf most of his life. That might have explained his quiet persona; something he reasoned that could have stemmed from the belief that only things needed to be said should be said. But, when he was with him, he didn’t have to hold himself back. Hunk filled silences with his own thoughts or humming and there was something about that felt inviting to Ryan. If opposites attract, maybe that was what pulled him closer.
“What would you do without me?” Ryan teases and Hunk beams in response. They get started on the recipe, working together as though they’ve been doing it their entire lives.
For a brief moment, Ryan lets himself imagine it — what it’d feel like to continue cooking and baking with Hunk when they were older. He should have known better than to jump to fantasies that he’ll never have, but sometimes it felt better to be in a fantasy than reality. And Hunk, Hunk had made all the impact.
He’ll tell Hunk about his feelings soon, hopefully, that is if he ever musters up enough courage to do so.
And, soon just happens to be fourth minutes later when the sweets go into the fridge and Ryan and Hunk are sitting around the island, playing around with the balance of white icing sugar on the table. They really should have been cleaning up, washing and packing away their cooking utensils but instead, they sit like little kids with their elbows on the counter as they trace out shapes and swirls of animals and things.
“Hey, um, this is pretty awkward to say but, uh,” Ryan says before pausing. He doesn’t know how to continue. The pounding in his chest feels so loud, he’s afraid it’s reverberating throughout the house.
“Dude, it’s just me. You know you can tell me anything.” Hunk’s voice reassures him and Ryan can only guess that it’s another of his amazing talents.
“Well, I…” Ryan squeezes his eyes shut, as if the universe was going to collapse when he revealed his feelings. “We’ve been spending a lot of time together — you know, just the usual cooking and hanging out, but I’ve come to realize that…”
“That?”
It was now or never for Ryan.
“That I think I like spending time with you because I like you.”
Silence. Not a word except for the sound of destruction in Ryan’s mind.
He opens his eyes slowly, not daring to look at Hunk. Swirling his finger in the powder, he heaves a sigh. His feelings for Hunk are out and he can only continue swirling through the powder with his finger, as if trying to summon a wormhole or any hole, in fact, to swallow him whole.
A hand touches his own lightly, but it’s charged with enough electricity to restart his whole body. He doesn’t dare look up because he’s afraid that if he does, he’d have to face the truth — that Hunk doesn’t feel the same way.
“I like you too.”
“Huh?” This must be a dream, or a huge mistake of him not being able to comprehend the disappointment.
“I’ve liked you for a while now, but uh… never knew how to say it without being… you know… weird,” Hunk admits, casting his eyes downward but his hand still on Ryan’s.
“I knew it when we first started hanging out together. And, I know how cheesy it is, but man, it felt like the first spark igniting flames.”
“You can probably guess how much I like cheese,” Ryan murmurs. The corners of his lips turn upwards, creating the tiniest smile. Hunk gives his hand a squeeze and it’s enough for Ryan to finally look up.
His eyes bore into Hunk’s and in his head, he knows this whole dream is too good to be true. Hunk likes him. Hunk likes him back. The realization hasn’t fully sunk in yet, but they’re both beaming so widely and with such warmth, it would have been able to bake anything with them.
Their white hands suddenly didn’t matter at all, as Hunk traces Ryan’s jawline with his fingertips. They don’t stop until Hunk cups Ryan’s chin gently, tilting his face towards him.
“I’ve never felt this way for anyone else in a long time,” Ryan whispers. “And I think I’m dreaming.”
“Well, you better start believing it because you’re the apple of my eye. And you’ll know this isn’t a dream when I do this.”
Ryan closes his eyes, feeling Hunk’s lips tenderly brush over his. It should have been quick but it seemed like eons had passed by the time his lips were alone again. But now, it was his turn to get the powder onto Hunk’s face and neck as he goes in for a second one.
Although the small kitchen alarm clock clearly doesn’t agree, ringing with a chirpy tone to signal the time they should remove the sweets from the fridge.
Never taking his eyes off Ryan, Hunk silences the alarm and they both pull apart slowly, relishing each other’s touch.
Although, it isn’t long before they’re wolfing down their new creations.
“It’s sweet,” Hunk says, mouth full of their sweets. At the rate they’re going, it’s a wonder if they’ll have any left in the next hour. Despite his remark, Hunk shows no sign of refraining from eating any more.
“Mhmm yeah, maybe we added to much honey there.”
“There can never be too much honey.”
“Sure, there can be. But I think I know the reason.”
“You’re not gonna leave me hanging are you?” Hunk’s eyes are wide and his expression makes Ryan like him a little more.
“Well, duh, because you made it. And you’re clearly as sweet as honey! Your answer is pretty obvious.”
Hunks can’t help but laugh and Ryan joins in too. Both giggling at their lame jokes and food puns the rest of the day.
They weren’t the perfect ingredients for every single dish but when they’re combined together, nothing in the universe could beat their combination.