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As Jack approached the kitchen of their shared appartement he frowned at the abundance of ingredients spread out across their counter. “Nico, what’s all this?” he asked, a skeptical look on his face. “I thought we were ordering takeout tonight.” Jack had really been looking forward to just relax on the couch, watch a movie and eat take out.
Nico grinned as he stirred a pot of simmering tomato sauce. “Change of plans. I thought we could try making lasagna together.”
Jack's eyes widened. “Lasagna? Like, from scratch? Nico, have you even ever made lasagna before?”
“How hard can it be?” Nico shrugged, trying to maintain his confidence. “We've got a recipe, and two of us. It’s gonna be—” he stopped for a moment as his brow furrowed in thought. “What’s that expression? A piece of uh—cake. Yeah, it’s gonna be a piece of cake.”
Jack raised an eyebrow but couldn't suppress a smile. “Alright, I'm in.” Apparently Nico had this whole idea planned out, taken into account he had all the groceries ready. Jack had to admit that the whole thing was kind of endearing, especially considering that he did in fact really love lasagna.
Nico smiled happily as Jack agreed, his dimples showing as he handed Jack an apron. “You can be my assistant,” he said as he gestured to Jack’s shoulder which was still in a sling from his surgery.
So they began by chopping onions and garlic, or well Nico did the chopping and Jack watched. He had hopped onto the countertop, feet dangling in the air. As he watched he couldn’t help but cringe internally as Nico’s chopping style sent bits of onion flying across the counter. Jack bit his tongue, taking a deep breath. He wasn’t going to comment, Nico thought out this whole thing wanting to have a nice evening. He could handle a few stray pieces of onion. But it turned out he couldn’t because not even a minute later he heard himself saying: “Maybe...a little slower with the knife, Nico?” he added a small smile for good measure.
Nico chuckled softly in response and nodded. “Sure, sure.”
Once the chopping was done they moved on to the next steps of the recipe. Jack took on the 'easy tasks,' like stirring the sauce and measuring out ingredients, while Nico started on preparing the ricotta mix.
“Do you think we should add more salt?” Nico asked, tasting the sauce Jack had been stirring for the last few minutes.
Jack leaned over, taking a taste himself. “Maybe a pinch more. And some pepper too.”
As they worked, the kitchen grew messier. Tomato sauce splattered on the stove, bits of cheese littered the counter, and flour dusted the floor from their earlier attempt at making fresh pasta. Jack's eye twitched slightly at the sight of the chaos in front of him, but he tried his best to keep his cool. Jack watched as Nico messily chopped the onions. It’s fine, Jack told himself. It’s just a little mess. He’d tidy up later. He repeated that to himself like some sort of mantra.
“Okay, time to assemble,” Nico announced and tore Jack from his thoughts as he started spreading a thin layer of sauce in the baking dish.
They took turns layering pasta, sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella, their hands moving in a rhythm. Nico couldn't resist sneaking a few bites of cheese, earning an exasperated but amused look from Jack.
“You're like a kid in a candy store,” Jack teased, nudging Nico with his elbow.
Nico grinned, holding out a small piece of ricotta in front of Jack’s mouth. “And you're the candy store owner, trying to keep everything in order.”
“Touché,” Jack shrugged before taking the piece of ricotta from between Nico’s fingers.
“Uh, Jack?” Jack tore his eyes away from the mess on their countertop humming softly in response. “We forgot to preheat the oven,” Nico said a little sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Jack looked between the quite perfectly—even if he did say so himself—assembled lasagna and the oven. “How did we miss that?”
Nico laughed, shaking his head. “I guess we're not as good at this as we thought.”
Jack sighed, looking around the disaster zone that was their kitchen once again. “Well, we can turn it on now and just put the lasagna in. Maybe then it’ll only take a little bit longer.”
“Sounds good,” Nico agreed, turning the oven on and placing the lasagna neatly in the middle of it. “Now we just have to wait.”
Jack looked around the kitchen, shaking his head. “And clean up this mess.”
Nico followed his gaze, grimacing at the chaos they'd created. “Right. I'll help.”
As they began cleaning, Jack had to admit he was having a bit of a hard time. Nico’s idea of helping involved shoving things into the dishwasher haphazardly and wiping counters with a single swipe and using the same cloth over and over without rinsing it. Jack, on the other hand, needed everything to be back exactly where it came from.
Then as he watched Nico place a pot in the wrong cabinet he felt the overwhelming urge to fix it. He could feel his pulse quicken, and bit his lip nervously. “Neeks baby,” Jack started as he moved over to his boyfriend, curling his good arm around Nico’s bicep. “Why don’t you let me handle this? You did most of the cooking, after all. It’s only fair I do the cleanup.”
Nico turned to face Jack, a smudge of flour on his cheek Jack only now noticed. “You sure? I don’t mind helping.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Jack insisted almost a little too eagerly.
There was a small twinkle in Nico’s eyes that Jack didn’t notice, too preoccupied by fiddling with the bottle of all-purpose cleaner. “But you can only use your one good arm, it’ll take you forever. It’ll be way faster if I help you.”
“No really, I’ve got this. You go relax.” Jack tried again. He could just tell Nico the truth but he really didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
Just then Nico grinned, stepping closer to Jack and planting a quick kiss on his lips. “Alright, if you say so,” he smirked.
And then Jack finally caught on. “Oh you are one sneaky bastard Hischier,” he said and playfully shoved Nico’s chest. “Did you put those things back in the wrong place on purpose?”
“Maybe,” he smiled mischievously. “I was really waiting to see how far I could go before you would say something.”
“Even not washing out the cloth?” Jack asked as he scrunched up his nose in disgust just from the thought of it.
“Wait, that’s a thing?” Nico asked seriously and at that Jack had to roll his eyes.
“Okay shoo so I can clean up,” Jack said and gently pushed Nico away from the kitchen in the direction of the living room.
“Aye aye.” Nico chuckled pretending to salute before he winked and disappeared into the living room.
Jack watched Nico leave the kitchen, feeling a mixture of relief and affection. Nico didn’t seem to mind his quirks, and that made Jack’s heart swell. As he meticulously cleaned, Jack’s actions were interrupted by the oven timer beeping, not much later. It was signaling that the lasagna was ready. He pulled it out of the oven, the cheese bubbling and golden brown as he put it on the trivet that was already set out on the counter.
"Moment of truth," Nico said, reappearing as he too had heard the oven timer. He grabbed a knife from their knife set and started cutting into the lasagna to serve two plates.
They sat at the table, taking their first bites in unison. The lasagna was a bit uneven, some parts a little overcooked and others slightly under, but the flavors were there.
"It's...not bad," Jack said, surprised.
Nico nodded, grinning. "Not bad at all. We did it." Nico reached across the table, squeezing Jack's hand. "Maybe next time, we'll try something a little less messy.”
Jack laughed, squeezing back. "Sounds like a plan.”
After dinner, they curled up on the couch, satisfied and Jack a little bit sleepy. He blamed the pain meds, they always made him a little droopy. He rested his head on Nico’s shoulder. Jack felt a sense of contentment as Nico scrolled through Netflix, happy that he got his relaxing moment on the couch after all, only minus the take out.
"You know," Nico murmured into Jack’s hair, "I think we should make this a tradition. Cooking together, even if it turns into a mess,” he said waiting for Jack’s reaction.
Jack smiled at Nico’s teasing and pressed a kiss to Nico's hair. "Mhhh I can handle a bit of a mess if it’s the aftermath of a nice evening with you."
Nico chuckled and smiled fondly at Jack. closing his eyes. "We'll become master chefs in no time and maybe I’ll even become a master cleaner, you already are.”
Jack laughed softly as he let Nico hold him close, only one arm wrapped around him sideways, still mindful of his painful shoulder. "We'll see about that."
As Jack drifted off to sleep, the scent of their homemade lasagna still lingering in the air, he felt so grateful to have Nico in his life. Even if he was a bit messy.