Ficlet O'Clock Promptfest
Oct. 8th, 2017 09:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scribblemyname Add prompts and/or fills to your heart's content. For prompts, you can include canon/fandom and characters or ships, if desired.
I'll be coming back a little later today to add my prompts.
I'll be coming back a little later today to add my prompts.
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Date: 2017-10-08 05:33 pm (UTC)Zoya and Alexei
Date: 2017-10-08 10:46 pm (UTC)Zoya walked into the house, almost slamming the door shut in frustration. Sometimes she loved her job. Sometimes it was perfect, just what she needed, and she was good at it. Sometimes it wasn't. It was horrible, frustrating, and the worst possible role for someone who couldn't speak words everyone else understood.
Every time it was one of those days was worse than the last, it seemed, and she was tired of them. It wasn't just that she thought by now her coworkers understood and should have more patience, or even that she was mad about having some idiot demand to be called instead of emailed or something.
She hated feeling like she was being punished again for things that were not her fault.
She closed her eyes, and the smells from the kitchen came over her, making them open right back up again. She swallowed, crossing the front room to where Alexei was, hunched over a pot and very much in his own world.
She tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked up at her. “It's not ready yet.”
“You cooked.”
He frowned. “I'm not sure why that's such a surprise. I thought my official role around here was kitchen slave.”
She couldn't explain why it mattered, or even why she'd been so sure he wouldn't be here when she got home. He did keep threatening to leave, yes, but that wasn't all of it, and she didn't know why this simple gesture—something he always did, Alexei cooked, that was his thing—meant so much to her.
“Thank you.”
“Okay, that look says you need a very special dessert. What happened at work today? Was it bad? Or did they try and hassle you about your family again? Because if they did, I think we can set Khrystyn loose on them again. They probably even deserve it.”
Zoya almost laughed, stopping herself before she made that horrible choking noise she hated. “No. Leave Khrystyn out of it.”
“Only if you're sure. No one needs that kind of harassment.”
Zoya nodded. “What do you mean by special dessert?”
He smiled. “Nope, not telling. It'll be a bit of a surprise. You go ahead and... I don't know, shower and wash off the day, and when you get out, the food'll be done and I will have the extra special treat in the oven for you.”
“Why do that for me?”
He laughed. “Zoya, cooking is what I do. It's about the only way I've ever been useful. And I know you sometimes still get suspicious of what I make, but I promise you'll like it.”
She eyed the pot and him and twisted her lip. “That looks familiar.”
“It's a variant on something I made before, but you liked it, so it should be good,” he told her. “I'd almost guess it was a favorite of yours, but I'm not sure.”
She frowned again.
“That's not why I made it. I just wanted to try something new.” He started to fidget. “Would you just go so I can start on your secret but special dessert?”
She smiled, again tempted to laugh as she turned away. She might not have expected Khrystyn's brother to come into their lives or stay like he had, but one thing she wouldn't complain about was his cooking. It was, she thought, surprisingly nice to come home to, not that she'd ever admit it.
Re: Zoya and Alexei
Date: 2017-10-09 03:32 am (UTC)Re: Zoya and Alexei
Date: 2017-10-09 04:14 am (UTC)So, yes... lots and lots of this in the book, even though there's supposed to be a plot and stuff... there is mostly this. Comfort food and lots of hurt/comfort because they're both very damaged people.
Re: Zoya and Alexei
Date: 2017-10-09 04:27 pm (UTC)Re: Zoya and Alexei
Date: 2017-10-09 07:25 pm (UTC)Re: Zoya and Alexei
Date: 2017-10-09 07:35 pm (UTC)Re: Zoya and Alexei
Date: 2017-10-09 08:02 pm (UTC)