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The question comes out of Phoebe with a slightly off tone, tiredness evident in her voice from just having woken up from a rest far too short, as she asks: "What's that?"
"Pasta." Zani answers, simple and efficient. A little happy too, Phoebe thinks, if the pitch in her tone had anything to say about it. "Fresh from the stove. I just finished cooking a moment ago."
Phoebe stares at her for a moment, not saying a word in response to her girlfriend.
The steam from the freshly boiled pasta has heated up their small kitchen area. The scent of the hearty meat sauce with cheese, sausage, and fragrant herbs is everywhere; coating her tongue in a way she can almost taste it and her belly fills with warmth.
But despite all that, no matter how delicious the sight in front of her may seem, it is still just …
“Three in the morning. Zani, it is the middle of the night, what are you doing up?” Phoebe asks groggily. The loss of warmth had awoken her from her gentle dreams of beautiful flowery fields spend together with their echo friends and a picnic basket as the early summer sun warms their skin. Now she feels cold in her thin linen nightgown.
“I couldn’t sleep, decided to be productive instead.” The horned woman says matter-of-factly, like this is an everyday occurrence. “Want to try a bite? I know you like my cooking.” she continues as she practically ushers Phoebe forward to sit on the barstool.
A steaming plate of food is placed in front of her, fork and spoon to each side and a glass of water at the top, portion just the right size for a late-night meal.
When the blonde looks up again, Zani is leaning against the counter. Anticipation to her reaction barely hidden by her usual nonchalant face; her finger tapping against the surface and tail stiff behind her.
She is worried about my reaction Phoebe muses. Why? Is this a new dish?
“Please?” Zani mutters. And with that, Phoebe grabs the utensils slowly to twirl up some of the pasta. The sauce is creamy but doesn’t appear too heavy and she can see chunks of tomatoes and bits of sausage.
After she takes her first bite, a sigh of content leaves her mouth as the flavours hit her tastebuds.
Zani’s face lights up immediately at the reaction. “Is it good?”. Another pleased noise from Phoebe as she chews slowly. "Colleen said, I should use the tomatoes she just got for pasta sauce, so that's where that came from. I didn’t want to wait too long and risk them going bad."
Ah, so that’s what it was. Phoebe thinks as she takes another bite. Colleen holds a special place in Zani's heart, almost like a sister she never had. And a gift from her must be cherished.
"Mhm. Almost makes me want to eat more even though it is so early in the morning." Despite saying that she takes another bite. “I don’t think I will have any space left for breakfast in the morning.”
“Is that so? I will just have to pack you a bigger lunch then, Miss Acolyte.” Zani continues with a gentle laugh. Phoebe won’t say no to that offer and scoops more pasta into her mouth.
She continues eating in silence, the only noise is the clink of cutlery on porcelain and their breathing; Zani not eating a plate herself as she rather watches her girlfriend enjoy her creation.
After a moment the taller speaks up. “You have some sauce by your lip." But instead of letting Phoebe reach up and wipe it off, she grabs her hand gently.
"Here, let me handle it." She says before leaning forward and catching Phoebe’s lips in a gentle kiss between her own. Instinctively, the Acolyte closes her eyes as a tongue sneaks out between their lips to lick the sauce off quickly.
"…You could've just said you wanted to kiss me." Phoebe breathes as they break apart.
"But this is more fun, isn't it?" Zani licks her lips. “I have to say, I was missing something when I tried it earlier, it must have been your flavour that perfected it now.”
The blonde looks at her with a rosy blush building on her cheeks. She shakes her head slightly. "I don't think I can sleep anymore."
Her plate is still half full, yet she still gets off the barstool. Grabbing the opposite on, Phoebe pulls it closer and places it right next to her own.
“Come, sit with me while I finish this.”
"Such a clingy girlfriend I have, cara mia, I'm all yours."
(It's not like she'd ever dare to say that the Laureate would ever lie to her face. Goodness, she could never imply such a thing - but forgive her for not being able to believe them at face value when they'd remarked about how lucky she was for having the mere chance of waking up to the smell of something that would remind her of the Pizza Classica at Trattoria Margharita in the dead of night.
"I mean, not that I would have minded being called over at three A.M. to give a friend in crisis some advice on love considering how well-off her cooking skills are." Rover had quipped, shrugging nonplussed, "But if you wake up around that time and she's nowhere in bed, she's probably off working her magic in the kitchen without a care in the world."
The thought of the Laureate finding themselves in an inconspicuous dining room had been rather hilarious to think about. Phoebe had to choke down a chuckle and - wait a second.
"Love advice, you say…?"
The bewildered expression she'd made at the realization must've been a funny sight, she thinks. "Oh, sweet, innocent Phoebe." They'd tutted and tsked like she was a child who'd misbehaved during playtime; might as well have laughed to her face at that point and Phoebe wouldn't have found fault in them for such an act, "Who do you think finally pushed her to ask you out after all those months you two spent teetering around each other?")