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Babe stood in the kitchen, horrified by his attempt to cook. Staring back at him were blackened pieces of eggs and burnt pieces of toast, topped up with sausages which had turned a color of gray; something the alpha didn’t know was even possible.
For once, Babe had wanted to surprise his boyfriend by cooking him breakfast; because ever since Charlie had moved in, his boyfriend had cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner. With a smile on his face, Charlie would usher the alpha away and cook up a full-course meal without a fuss.
So for a change of pace, Babe intended to do the same.
The previous evening, his boyfriend had been out for a long meeting with a sponsor, and basically fell asleep in the car as soon as Babe picked him up. It seemed like the perfect morning to spoil the alpha, but along the way something had gone wrong.
Terribly wrong.
It had never seemed like a hard task whenever Charlie cooked, as he always did it with a smile on his face. Yet Babe wanted to rip his hair out as the overwhelming scent of burning filled his nose.
Curse his heightened senses and this dumb toaster.
“Maybe I can redo it?” Babe mumbled to himself and threw the frying pan in the sink to scrub the eggs off. Forgotten was his goal to be quiet to keep Charlie asleep until the breakfast was done.
Babe poured more than enough dish soap over the scraps and began scrubbing against it.
A slither of irritation went through him as the eggs remained stuck in place, integrated with the steel. Somehow, the alpha had created a thing which went against the law of physics because it just wouldn’t loosen up. Even though he furiously used the dish brush to scrape it off, putting all his weight into it, the thing wouldn’t rub off.
What. The. Fuck.
With a sharp intake of air, Babe tried to shake the irritation off. He couldn’t understand how Charlie could do this every morning without fail. His boyfriend had never provided him with anything less than perfection, and Babe wouldn’t let himself do anything other than the same.
“How is this even possible?” Babe cried out before he threw the dish brush into the water soaked frying pan. Water splashed up on the counter and the alpha bared his teeth at the soapy water.
His face flushed over his behavior. “Oh god, I’m trying to threaten water now. I’m losing it.”
A new pan was swiftly placed upon the stovetop, all to redo the process. A sizeable chunk of butter was placed in the cold pan as he waited for it to heat up. But the process was taking longer than he hoped, as the new dish was stone cold.
New eggs were cracked into the pan, before the butter had even melted, as Babe felt a creeping sense of itchiness over his skin. The sudden heat in the air combined with the harsh smells were putting him on edge, and he wanted the entire ordeal to be over quickly.
Babe had never been one with a lot of patience, and once again it was coming to bite him in the ass.
Maybe this was why Charlie was a better cook than me?, Babe thought before he shrugged his shoulders.
With the new eggs cracked, Babe grabbed new slices of bread and put them into the toaster. As he studied the machine, he found a knob on the side, with different numbers surrounding it.
Last time, the bread had popped up before it was toasted into a golden hue and Babe had pushed it down for another round, before he ultimately forgot the bread in the machine. It had come out with a black hue. Then the knob had been turned towards a three.
Weighing his options, he now turned the knob towards a five. Hopefully, it would be enough to make the bread toasted in one go.
A noise suddenly pulled Babe from his thoughts.
Quiet footsteps snuck down the stairs, barely heard over the popping sound of the butter finally melting in the frying pan. But the heartbeat gave the attacker away, speeding up the closer he got.
Babe remained focused on cooking, as he could already sense who was creeping closer. It was easy to tell who it was based on how clumsy his steps were, sounding like he could barely walk without swaying. It almost felt like Charlie never stopped growing; one moment he was shorter than Babe and the next he grew past him. But it came with its perks, as his alpha never got accustomed to his legs and continued to wobble all over the place.
As his boyfriend snuck closer, Babe put down the spatula in his hand and counted to three in his head. Before Charlie could scare him, the alpha surprised him back.
Babe turned quickly and extended his arms in front of him, inches from Charlie’s face. His face twisted into a frown and he yelled out, “Boo!”
At the sudden scare, Charlie jumped into the air with a squeak. He stumbled over his feet and Babe smirked at how the alpha’s face was coated in shock and his mouth dropped open.
Letting Charlie catch his breath, Babe turned back towards the stove and used the spatula to poke at the eggs.
Charlie’s arms snaked around Babe’s waist, his hands slipping underneath the shirt to settle over his naked skin. Babe melted back against the chest of his boyfriend, craving the contact.
“Hi,” Charlie sighed and leaned his head over Babe’s shoulder.
A soft smile graced Charlie’s face as he saw the food being made. But before he could ask about the food in the sink, Babe cut him off.
“Don’t ask,” the alpha muttered and fully concentrated on the new eggs. He loved the feeling of Charlie wrapping around him, but he had great difficulty flipping them over as his boyfriend didn’t let him go.
Charlie pressed a fluttering kiss to Babe’s neck before he let go.
“I wasn’t going to, P’.”
But Babe could hear the taunting tone in his voice, and threw him a glare.
“You should sit down and relax, then I will come with some food,” Babe said and tried to shoo his boyfriend away, but the alpha evaded his attempts.
“I’ll just sit here,” Charlie hopped up on the counter. His legs dangled over the edge as he swung them. “It’s hot seeing you all domestic like this.”
Babe just shook his head and looked at the pan, trying to contain the smile threatening to break out. It was hard to pretend like it didn’t make his inner alpha preen at the praise. Charlie never slowed down with his compliments, yet Babe never got tired of them.
He pressed the spatula underneath one egg and coaxed the utensil around until he could flip it. Somewhere between the time it was unlogged and in the air, the egg broke and fell into multiple pieces onto the pan.
“Are you making scrambled eggs?” Charlie asked, and Babe hummed in agreement, even though it hadn’t been his initial plan.
The other egg flipped over smoother, and Babe hacked against it with the edge of the spatula to make the eggs more consistent with each other.
“Did you sleep well?”
Charlie nodded and leaned his head in his hand. His hair was dishevelled from his deep sleep, and Babe found himself wanting to fix it for him.
“It was the best sleep I’ve had in ages. My whole body felt like it was ten times heavier, so falling asleep was easy. Even better when you cuddled up next to me,” Charlie said and leaned forward. “Thank you for picking me up last night, P’.”
With a longing look between the stove and Charlie, Babe decided fuck it and left. He nestled himself in between Charlie’s legs, his hands coming to smooth down the pieces of hair sticking up.
“Of course,” a soft smile came over Babe as he looked at the man he loved. His hands settled on his hands, playing with Charlie’s fingers. “It’s been really long since you didn’t spend the evening here. It felt kinda weird. Sometimes I forget there was a time before you, when the house was empty.”
Charlie’s hand went up to Babe’s cheek, settling on the cheek. “You’re really cute sometimes, P’Babe.”
Their eyes met, and Babe could almost fall in love all over again. Charlie with his big brown eyes, framed by long dark lashes.
Then Charlie leaned closer until their lips touched. The touch was gentle, nothing like the feverish kisses they experienced in their moments of passion.
No, this was domestic.
This was homely, something for just them. Something loving and tender, a side they never showed others. It was all theirs.
Babe’s hand moved up from Charlie’s waist and stroked over his arm, then continued upward to drape around his neck. He wanted to feel skin against his own, bringing more intimacy to their kiss.
Their lips moved against each other, with Babe nipping at the bottom of Charlie’s lip to be given access to the softness of his mouth. But the alpha kept him at bay, pulling back to press a few kisses against the corner of Babe’s mouth.
The alpha groaned and tried to pull his boyfriend closer, but the other alpha shook his head.
“Something’s burning,” Charlie muttered against Babe’s lips in between kisses.
Reluctantly, Babe pulled back and sniffed the air, almost choking on the stench. When he turned towards it, the slices of bread had popped up from the toaster completely black and the eggs were emitting smoke. But the sausages remained grey and cold, forgotten on a chopping board.
“Not again,” Babe complained, and felt his stomach sink.
As he attempted to detangle himself from his boyfriend, Charlie held him in place with his legs. “Should I make breakfast instead?”
Babe sighed and stared at the burnt food.
Having Charlie make food would have been easier, but Babe had told himself he would give his boyfriend a day free of domestic chores; and he couldn’t quit now.
So he shook his head.
“How about we order in, instead?” Babe offered.
“Sounds good to me,” Charlie nodded before he lightly pushed the alpha towards the stove. “Now turn that off before the fire alarm sets off.”
But it was too late; the alarm sounded through the air, mixed with Charlie’s loud laugh. “Told you so!”
Babe shook his head but couldn’t help the smile on his face. As long as Charlie was pleased, he would be happy too.