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“M’lady?” Adrien’s voice rang in the air as soon as Marinette heard the front door close.
“In here!” She called out to him. Whenever she was home first, she'd normally welcome him at the door. So she didn't want him to worry.
“It smells like… “ He said from the kitchen doorway, still in his coat, nose sniffing the air. No doubt he’d caught the garlic smell. “Oh,” he exclaimed, a smile splitting his face into two, when he saw what she was doing. He shrugged off his coat and went to hang it in the hallway.
“You deserve a treat,” she smiled, still chopping the ham. “No bacon, unfortunately,” she said, following his gaze to the cutting board once he returned.
“It doesn’t matter. But you really didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” he said as he went to wash his hands.
“Adrien, you had a long and hard day. Of course I can make your favourite meal for you. It’s nothing,” she said calmly. The moment she’d heard his voice on the phone earlier, she’d known that she needed to do something for him. As luck would have it, she had most of the ingredients so it had been a no-brainer.
“It’s not as if you’re not tired yourself.” Of course he didn't need to ask to know that she'd come home not long ago. Otherwise, dinner would be ready.
“Still less tired than you, kitty, so shush.”
“Can I help?” He said, wrapping an arm around her waist when he was done washing. She could smell the winter air in his hair and him, the most comforting and familiar smell in the world.
“This kind of defeats the purpose of me cooking for you, doesn’t it?” She teased him.
“I don’t care,” he said, a small kiss landing on the side of her neck and making her giggle.
“Careful, I’m holding a knife,” she reminded him. “Ok, drop this in the pan,” she added, handing him the cutting board when she was done.
A timer dinged as she took the eggs out of the fridge and cracked them in a bowl, so Marinette went to fetch the pan with spaghetti to take the water out. She then joined Adrien by the stove, adding the pasta to the ham while he stirred. Then she returned to add cheese to the eggs.
Adrien moved to the counter and she added the egg and cheese mix to the pan, while he took the tongs to mix it all in, adding some cooking water from the pasta.
They were in perfect sync as usual, moving around without getting in each other’s way and just knowing what the other one needed. This was why Marinette never minded when they cooked together, in fact she enjoyed it immensely. Usually the problem was finding the time for it.
“Ok, our calorie bomb is ready, can I have a kiss?” Adrien asked as he took the full plates to the table and added some more cheese on top.
“Just a second,” Marinette said, taking a bottle of wine out of the fridge.
“Pinot Noir?” he laughed as she handed it to him to open. She just winked at him as she waited for him. Then he was done and pulled her into his arms.
“This is exactly what I needed,” he sighed, resting his forehead against hers. She knew that this was an exception, that he took care of himself and didn’t overwork himself. But it still pained her to see him like that.
“You haven’t eaten yet,” she reminded him, lifting a hand to brush hair away from his face.
“But it was great to cook together with you and to have this wonderful meal to look forward to,” he smiled. “But first..”
He didn’t need to finish, because by then she was already kissing him. No matter how long and hard their days were sometimes, as long as they had each other to get back to at the end of them, it was fine. And sometimes it was only knowing that they had that kiss to look forward to that made it bearable.
Marinette let him go with a smile as he reached for the bottle of wine.
“Bring the glasses,” she said over her shoulder as she headed to the table.
It was partially because they had cooked it together and partially because they got to eat it together, but it was the best meal they had had in months. And the wine was just the perfect addition to it. This had been an award for Adrien’s hard day but it had ended up feeling like one for both of them. Which made it even better.