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30 Days of Prompts, Day 12:
A Terrifying Noise is Coming from the Kitchen
“Honey, I’m home!” Leon called, toeing off his shoes and hanging up his jacket.
“Welcome back. I’m in the—” The last part was lost to a crash, followed by a string of muttered cursing.
Leon didn’t hesitate and all but sprinted in the direction of the noise. The kitchen. Once there, it turned out he should have been more worried about the state of the kitchen, than Chris being injured.
“Are you ok?” Leon asked.
Chris was standing in front of the stove, fortunately far enough back to have escaped the splash zone. He pulled his gaze away from the pan on the floor, which had seemingly contained a mushroom cream sauce, and looked at Leon almost forlornly.
“It’s alright, babe,” Leon smiled, coming over to rest his hand on his husband’s arm.
“Some welcome home, huh?” Chris sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
Leon surveyed the kitchen. There were a couple of pans and a skillet on the stove, all at various stages of cooking and the kitchen was littered with all kinds of cooking equipment.
“I wouldn’t say that. You clearly went to a lot of trouble,” Leon soothed his husband, turning him gently so he could plant a tender kiss on his lips. “I’m sure we can make a new sauce.”
“There are no mushrooms left,” Chris sighed, “I used them all.”
“Then we’ll just have to make something else,” Leon smiled gently. His smile only widened when Chris managed a small smile back. “Why don’t you go check the fridge, and I’ll clean this up?" Leon suggested.
“No, this is my mess. I’ll clean it up. Could you check the fridge?”
“Yes Chef,” Leon teased, watching as Chris’ eyes darkened the same way they did when he called him Captain or boss. He took note, but ignored it for now.
“What are we having?” Leon redirected Chris’ attention, making his way to the fridge.
“Chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli,” Chris answered, as he began the process of cleaning up the spilt sauce.
Leon hummed in response as he looked through the fridge carefully.
“Is it ok to use some more of the white wine?” Leon asked, assuming that the end of the opened bottle was to go with dinner, “I don’t need a lot.”
“Sure,” Chris responded from his spot on the floor.
“Alright,” Leon grabbed it and a few other items from the fridge and finally the honey from the cupboard, “Honey and Mustard sauce sound OK?”
“Sounds great,” Chris responded, straightening up, still seeming a little disappointed about the ruined sauce.
“Come on, I’ll show you how to make it.” Leon carefully instructed Chris, letting him do most of the work, and was pleased to see his husband was definitely more upbeat by the time they’d finished.
“Perfect,” he smiled as he tried it.
Chris wasn’t a bad cook. He tended to go for simple fare, but he definitely had skills and his mashed potatoes were easily the best Leon had ever tasted.
They ended up deciding to put the chicken into the sauce to heat back through and let it absorb some of the flavour, which also gave Chris time to cook the broccoli.
“That was delicious. Thank you,” Leon complimented as he set down his knife and fork.
“You’re more than welcome,” Chris smiled. “But you deserve some of the credit too,” he pointed out as he collected both their plates and put them in the sink.
“I only helped a little,” Leon protested.
Chris just shrugged. “I couldn’t have finished dinner without you.”
Leon was about to protest that Chris would have figured it out without him, but the words died in his throat as Chris came back round the counter that separated the kitchen and dining room with a familiar box.
“Chris, you didn’t…” Leon trailed off. He didn’t want to think about the time his husband would have had to get up in order to drive and wait in line to get him his favourite cheesecake, on top of cooking him dinner.
“I did,” he smiled, clearly happy that his gesture had gone over so well. He placed the box in the centre of the table and set down the knife, dessert forks and plates he’d brought along too, before retaking his seat.
Leon returned Chris’ smile. It always amazed him that after all the years they had been together that Chris had never lost his romantic streak. He was always doing little things for him. It was Chris’ way of cherishing him, of treating him the way he deserved to be treated as he’d once said.
It was also a giant turn on. Something that Leon had never realised that he could find so attractive. So, that was why he got up and went to put the cheesecake back in the fridge.
“Dessert can wait,” Leon declared at Chris’ bewildered look. “I think I would like a saucier welcome home,” he all but purred as he sauntered towards Chris, “What do you say Chef?”