Work Text:
Adore has been trying very hard for the last hour to not get in Dela’s way, and she would probably be more successful if she just sat still in a different room, but she loves watching her girlfriend in the kitchen. And even more than that she loves helping her girlfriend in the kitchen. The singer can admit she’s an awful fucking cook on top of being a giant clutz, she just doesn’t allow either of those things to stop her. Tonight is very special though, as they’re throwing a dinner party to christen the new house they’re renting out together.
It’s a small house, only one bedroom since they really don't need a ton of space. The big appeal lies in that it’s near each of their jobs and the parts of town that they frequent the most. By no means was it an easy find, but it’s perfect for them. Adore loves that she gets to have her own home with the person she is fairly certain is the love of her life, who is currently flying about the kitchen in a frenzy trying to get everything ready.
They have one more hour until all four of the people they invited start arriving and Adore is getting worried for Dela. The older woman is clearly stressed, wearing a nervous frown as she completes each task as best as she can. While Adore knows she’s not really being helpful trailing after Dela like a dejected puppy, she’s not sure what else she could do.
“ Babe…” Adore whines, big pleading eyes looking down at Dela with a very convincing pout, “I wanna help!”
Dela sighs from where she’s standing at the counter, knife in hand as she cuts the mushrooms for her vegetable medley, “And you already set the table?”
“Yeah!” Adore nods eagerly.
“And did the dishes?”
“All the ones you gave me,” Adore says earnestly.
The older purses her lips thoughtfully, “I need to do some touch ups for tonight. Do you think you can cut these and put them in the pan?”
Adore grins, realizing she’s worn down on Dela, “Yup! Go take care of yourself baby, I’ve totally got this!”
Dela smiles softly, “Alright, but be careful. Remember what happened the last time I gave you a knife?”
“I’ll be fine!” Adore insists, shooing her girlfriend back towards the bedroom, “I’ll yell if I need help.”
“Alright…” Dela relents skeptically, quickly disappearing into their bedroom to freshen up for the evening.
She loves Adore, a lot, but her girlfriend is nothing less than a walking disaster. No matter what it seems she manages to find a way to wind up with a new set of scrapes and bruises everyday, even though Dela begs Adore to be more careful. Still, most nights Dela finds herself forcing Adore to put a bandaid on a particularly bad cut, or put ice on especially nasty bruises. While Dela worries and is often frustrated by Adore’s unusual habit, she loves being able to take care of her.
It didn’t take long for her to come to that conclusion. However, it did take a while to become completely comfortable with that conclusion. She feels all warm and soft inside whenever Adore gives her a kiss and a ‘thank you’ after she takes care of her. Though what she loves most is knowing that Adore is safe, and healthy.
Just minutes after starting to redo her hair, Dela hears a loud yelp from the kitchen. She quickly sets down her hair brush and heads back to the kitchen, a worried shout of “Adore?!” on her lips.
This has to be a new record, Dela thinks, a little amused at the thought but mostly concerned for her disastrous girlfriend.
The first thing she sees upon entering the kitchen is Adore hunched over the cutting board, one hand gripping the other tightly, long hair covering her face, and her shoulders visibly quivering.
Dela runs up to her and wraps her arms tightly around the taller girl, then reaches out for her clearly injured hand. There’s blood dripping from her hand onto the cutting board and all over the mushrooms, the sight of which causing Dela to feel a little sick and very worried.
“Let me see,” Dela says, attempting to pry Adore’s hands apart so that she can survey how bad the cut really is. She hopes it’s not actually very deep, that Adore is just being dramatic, but there’s really no telling quite yet.
“I’m okay,” Adore says through clenched teeth, not letting Dela look at her hand.
“Honey, please,” Dela begs softly, moving Adore’s hair out of the way to look into her eyes.
Adore sucks in a sharp breath and slowly reveals her hand to Dela, whispering a very quiet, “I’m sorry.”
Upon gently taking her hand to inspect it further Dela discovers that the cut is surprisingly shallow, it’s just deep enough to bleed a lot but not deep enough to mean any real damage was done. She sighs in relief, and kisses Adore’s cheek softly. She’s mostly just glad that Adore isn’t severely hurt, as that would not make for a fun evening for any of them.
“Accidents happen, but maybe I shouldn’t leave you unsupervised in the kitchen anymore,” Dela reassures her teasingly.
Adore giggles wetly, rubbing roughly at the tears collecting in the corner of her eyes with her good hand, “Yeah, that’s… that’s probably a good idea.”
Dela pulls Adore over to the sink, carefully eyeing the way Adore grips her wounded hand, “Sweetness, I have to clean it.”
“I know,” Adore pouts, “It just hurts even more when you do though!”
“I’m sorry, I know,” Dela soothes, turning on the sink faucet and guiding Adore’s hand underneath the warm, low pressure water.
After rinsing it with water thoroughly, Dela pours hydrogen peroxide over the wound, shushing and soothing Adore the whole time. The younger whines and grumbles through the whole thing, and Dela feels terrible for it, she does, but she knows how necessary it is and doesn’t allow her girlfriend to pout her way out of it. She pats it dry with a paper towel, presses a cotton pad onto the wound, then wraps that in medical grade tape from their first aid box.
“There!” Dela finishes with her signature smile, “All done.”
“Thank you, baby,” Adore says, leaning forward to kiss Dela. It lasts a few more seconds than she had planned, but in no way does she complain.
“Anything for my girl,” Dela murmurs.
It’s an exciting way to start their new life in this new home, Dela can’t deny that it’s very… them, though. She knows the rest of the night will be fun, and that Adore will animatedly tell the story of why her hand is all wrapped up with all the excitement of an eight year old. Dela loves that she knows her girlfriend so well. She loves that they trust each other so thoroughly, so deeply.
Dela has never had anyone like this in her life before, someone to take care of and someone that will gladly take care of her. Like any other couple, they need different things from each other. That’s part of why they are so perfect together. Dela is certain this is what she wants for the rest of her life. She’s certain she wants this.
Adore grins at her with love and confidence, with warm and heart, and Dela knows that this is what she wants to. It works. They work. Perfectly, just like this.