Work Text
Cooking was
not
Lucien's greatest strongsuit, yet here he was, cooking an entire meal for a romantic Valentine's dinner that
his
dumbass offered to do.
Why did he do that???
That question seemed to ring through his head after every step, fumbling over spices, not remembering what he had and hadn't put in, stressing over whether the food that was already in the oven was overcooking or not, overall, not a fun time! Yes, he spent most of his childhood being the head chef of his house, with his dad being constantly at work and his sister still being so small that she couldn't even see the top of the stove, but those were all simple meals, his greatest feat was stir fry with instant ramen noodles. Now, he was scrambling to make fettuccine alfredo, his dad's signature schnitzels, and homemade garlic bread with cheese, which should've been easy.
Spoiler, it was not.
Luckily, Lu bought extra bread loaves in case he screwed up the garlic bread, which he did, forgetting it was in the oven while he prepared the alfredo sauce, and burning it so badly he couldn't even pretend he could save it. The next loaf came out better, as the poor man spent every second reminding himself it was actually in the oven and he had to take it out after eight minutes. The alfredo sauce took
multiple
tries, either coming out bland, powdery, or just—not suitable for human consumption, but he did eventually get it to a point that didn't have him fearing he was about to insult Ben's ancestors. Thankfully he had made his dad's schnitzels before, having sat with him and helped him out when he used to make it, yeah, he was a lot younger, but things like that stuck.
Finally, dinner was ready.
Ben, who had been ordered to absolutely not leave the bedroom until instructed, sat somewhat impatiently in the bed. He'd be lying if he said there weren't a couple times he nearly walked out to check on Lu, whether it be after hearing metal clanging or from the exasperated gasps of a man that sounded three seconds away from slamming his head in the oven door; but, Ben held strong. The clanging and stressed Lu noises seemed to quiet down to nothing, giving Ben the feeling that either dinner was being set out, or Lu did actually set himself on fire. Luckily, it was the former. After about five minutes of this quiet, Lu opened the door, he looked—stressed, to put it lightly. Once straightened and brushed out hair was now in a half assed ponytail just to keep it out of the way, the makeup he had put on beforehand was a little smudged, especially around the eyes, and yet Ben still thought he was the most beautiful person in this universe.
“Dinner ready?”
“Indeed.”
The shakiness in Lu's usually smooth voice told Ben all he needed to know, this poor man was so nervous he was about to implode. Honestly, if it weren't for the pity he felt, Ben would find this kind of cute, the way Lu knew how important food was to him and his family, and therefore putting this much effort into a meal that would only be shared between them. Rising to his feet, Ben stepped forwards, taking Lu's hand and giving him a little reassuring smile,”I'm sure you did great, Lu,”
Stress escaped Lu in the form of a long sigh, looking to Ben,”Fuck dude, I hope so,” After taking a moment, Lu led Ben to the diningroom table, which he had set up to be nice and pretty. This part he was confident in, Lu had always found aesthetics and appearance important when it came to decoration, the once bare table now had a deep red tablecloth over it, white placemats where both of them would end up sitting, he even took out the fancy kitchenware he hadn't touched in months because it felt too nice to be used. The food sat in the middle, waiting to be served, as well as a bottle of Bailey's, since neither of them were exactly wine people. Considering the amount of distress Ben heard from the kitchen, the food looked good, like, really good.
Based off the anticipating look Lu was giving Ben, he'd probably explode if he didn't voice that soon.
“It looks good, Lu, you did good,” Ben's tone of voice was gentle, giving Lu's hand a squeeze before he was quickly led to his seat and made to sit down. Blue eyes watched as the anxious man plated the food, hands a little shaky as he did so, but stable enough to do it without making a mess. Once everything was served, Lu sat down in his own respective seat, but it was to do anything
but
eat, instead watching Ben's every move as he twirled pasta around his fork. He was about to go in for the bite when he looked up, seeing the nerves on Lu's expression and sighing before placing the fork down so he could reach across the table and take his hand. “Hey, it's just food, Lu, I'm sure it'll be great.”
“I-” The once puppy like nervous look on Lu's face turned a little more serious, grey hazel eyes directing down to his own plate,”I just.. I'm trying really hard to get the hang of this whole cooking thing but every time I try it seems harder than the time before, and I'm an
adult
, I should know this like the back of my hand by now..”
Suddenly things made sense, this was about more than just pleasing Ben, and his ancestors, this was about feeling like a ‘real adult’, something Lu had been struggling with for years. The amused yet soft look on Ben's face quickly turned to warmth and understanding, tilting his head as he let out a breath. “I get that, but you had more on your plate growing up that you had to worry about, no pun intended,” soft skin ran under Ben's thumb as he began to rub it in small circles against Lu's hand,”You're learning now, and that's what matters and is completely okay, you're doing a lot better than a lot of other people I know.”
The other people being Kenji.
It took a moment, but Lu finally accepted this, nodding before taking in yet another breath,”Okay, thank you, for that and for dealing with my… theatrics.”
“That's one way to put it.”
The sarcasm in Ben's tone made Lu huff, pulling his hand away and stink eyeing him,”Eat your food before I take it away.”
A laugh escaped Ben at the sudden tone switch, nodding before picking his fork up, the pasta from before still wrapped around it, and bringing it to his mouth. The seconds it took for Ben to finish the bite felt like forever to Lu, still nervous about whether or not he got it right, since this was one of the recipes that was second nature to Ben.
“It's good!”
“Actually? You're not just saying that—”
Ben scoffed and shook his head,”My mother would kill me if I lied to you about that, yes it is genuinely good, Lu, you did really good.”
The sigh Lu let out was filled with pent up emotions, leaning back against his chair for a second before readjusting so he could actually eat as well, deciding to start with the pasta as well.
“Shit I did do good—”
The snort that escaped Ben had him nearly choking on his food, his hand coming up to cover his mouth while he swallowed back what was in it. “Did you not test it beforehand?”
“I did!” Lu quickly put his hands up in defense,”I just didn't know if it was actually good or if I was gaslighting myself so I wouldn't have to do it again.”
Ben rolled his eyes so hard it nearly hurt, though the smile never left his face,”You're adorable,” he sighed out before getting back to eating, ignoring the huff that came from across the table before Lu too got back to his food. The rest of the dinner went well, everything turned out nicely, no, Lu wasn't the next Gordon Ramsey, but for a home cooked meal by a man who only got his first nonstick pot at 20, he was doing well. After the meal was done, Ben sat and watched as Lu put the leftovers away, he offered to help, but was quickly shot down, as this was his day to relax, whatever that meant. Luckily for Ben, this meant he got to stare lovingly at Lu, something that had become one of his favorite pastimes over the last few years, his chin in his palm while bright blue eyes followed the blond's every move.
When it eventually came time to get changed into their pjs and lay on the couch with a movie, things were a lot calmer than before. Ben sat with his back against the arm so that Lu could lay with his head on his chest, scarred fingers running through soft, golden locks as Tangled played on the screen.
“Thank you for dinner, love,” Ben took his eyes off the screen long enough to look down at Lu, who quickly looked back up at him, not moving from his spot.
“Of course, thank you for not spitting it out or calling me a donkey.”
This time the laugh that came out of Ben was sharp, a bark of a laugh that Lu could feel against his cheek. The grin on Ben's lips lingered as he rolled his eyes,”I've eaten so much worse, Lu, you know that just as well as I do.”
Lu sighed,”Okay but those were life or death situations, doesn't count.”
“Oh, so you forgive me for the boot now?” Ben raised a brow, holding back a snicker.
“Okay— don't take it too far.”