Work Text:
If there was one thing Jigen was bad at, it was cooking. Steak, toast, scrambled eggs, it didn’t matter what the dish was—if Jigen made it, it was probably going to taste terrible. As such, it was a rare instance when he cooked for the gang.
The one thing Jigen couldn’t ruin, however, was instant ramen. It was easy enough to make, and, as far as he knew, it was impossible to burn water. But with the lifestyle of a thief, it was impossible to live off of instant food. Thankfully, Lupin was always eager enough to provide them with either his own excellent cooking (a la Lupin Family Cuisine) or by dragging them out to some restaurant in whatever city they were in for the week.
So it came as a surprise when, one day, Lupin strolled into the apartment they were currently holed up in, a mischievous smirk upon his face and announced something Jigen never wanted to hear.
“You want me to what?” said Jigen, leaping up from the threadbare couch.
“Aye-yi-yi, calm down, Jigen, you’re going to break your back if you get too excited. I said I want you to cook dinner tonight,” Lupin repeated, that Cheshire-like grin remaining fixed in its place.
Jigen blinked a few times before shaking his head in disbelief. “Are you going to be busy tonight or something?”
“Nope.”
“Where are Goemon and Fujiko?”
“Out doing research. They said they’ll be back after dinner.”
There was silence for a moment as Jigen sunk back into the sofa. His eyebrows knit together as he rubbed the side of his face.
“Can’t you cook tonight?”
“Sure, but I’ve gotta prepare some gear and go over some blueprints for the heist tomorrow. You’re the only one who’s not really doing anything.”
Another pause. Jigen stared at Lupin, wary of his motives—he hated the fact that the thief was so hard to read sometimes. Lupin almost never asked him to make dinner unless he was busy with other things. And even when he was busy, he usually had something for himself to eat to spare himself from Jigen’s horrendous cooking. “You do know that I can’t cook for shit, right?”
Lupin cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward a bit, putting his hands on his hip and making a small ‘tsk, tsk’ noise. His grin had disappeared. “Not with that attitude. Besides, anyone can cook. I’m sure there’s something good you can make.”
Jigen squinted, folding his arms and letting out a huff. “Then you’re okay with having instant ramen for dinner?” he grumbled.
“Jiiiiigen-chan, I’d be happy with whatever you make tonight, even if it’s dog shit on toast.”
That prompted a small snort from Jigen, though his expression remained somewhat disgruntled.
“If you insist,” he said, getting up from the couch again. “It’s your funeral.”
Jigen then proceeded to search the hideout for any cups of ramen Goemon had brought with him and, thankfully, produced two from a cardboard box filled with various other instant food. He figured that cooking ramen in boiling water was about the same as putting the water in the container, so he tentatively prepared a pot filled with water and put it on the stove to boil.
He had just dumped the contents of two cups of ramen into the simmering water when Lupin poked his head over Jigen’s shoulder, blueprints in hand. He glanced down at the pot for a moment before raising an eyebrow.
“You’re not even going to add other stuff to it? Jeez, Jigen, you’re definitely a lot plainer than I thought.”
“Shut up,” Jigen growled, nervously tapping his fingers against the counter. “I told you I can’t cook.”
“And yet, there is a pot on the stove full of delicious noodles!” Lupin spread his arms out wide in mock amazement, taking a step back from Jigen. “C’mon, you’ve gotta have some faith in your own abilities, yeah? Wipe that grumpy look off your face, or I’ll do it for you.”
The only response he got was a grunt. Jigen took a pair of chopsticks out of the drawer to stir the contents of the pot. After a few seconds, Lupin rolled his eyes and stepped towards the sullen gunslinger, wrapping his arms around his torso. Tilting his head to the side a bit, he planted a quick kiss on Jigen’s cheek.
The corners of Jigen’s mouth twitched upwards into a small smile. Lupin pulled away, grinning triumphantly.
“Hah! See, I told you I’d do it!” he crowed loudly. “Lupin the Third always does as he promises!”
With a spring in his step, Lupin made his way over to the couch and flopped down, unfolding the blueprints and scrutinizing them. “Now, finish cooking your ‘terrible’ ramen—I’m starving here!”
For the rest of the evening, Jigen couldn’t stop grinning.