Tolly huffed quietly as he returned the kiss, offering a soft hum of agreement as he made his way into the bathroom. Soon the quiet pitter patter of falling water and smell of body wash were filling the small apartment, and not long after that the water was off again and Tolly was emerging with a towel wrapped around his waist. "Need any help, hun?"
While Tolly showered, Cas started the breakfast. Since they were going to have dinner for breakfast, Cas had made a mental mini menu in his head. But the restrictions of ingredients and spices forced him to narrow down a few of his initial choices. He found a few potatoes and pasta. Along with some spices and some cheese he found, he decided on some simple pasta with a good cheese sauce and some roasted potatoes on the side. He had just put the tray of potatoes into Thebes oven when Tolly came back. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled softly, a light blush on his cheeks. “Uh sure! I just put the potatoes in the oven so the pasta is next. Wanna make the sauce for it?”
Tolly had slightly more in his fridge than the average college student might—last week had come with a string of good tips, so he found himself with a little extra cash on his hands—but nothing fancy enough to make a huge meal. What little meat he had was carefully packaged and set aside for use in future meals, each portion sectioned away in a small tupperware and labeled so he wouldn't accidentally use it.
The house smelled amazing when Tolly stepped out and he didn't hesitate to say so, plastering himself up against Cas' back as he surveyed the kitchen. "Sure, what sort of sauce are you thinking about? 'cause normally I'd do up something real fancy but I dunno if we have enough time for meatballs to cook all the way through or anything."
He laughed and reached up, running his hand through Tolly's damp hair. He pressed a kiss to his jawline and leaned into his warmth. “Meatballs would have been great with this, maybe next time? As for the sauce, I was thinking of a white cheese sauce? Kinda like a fondue?” He suggested, waving a few wedges of cheese he had found
Tolly melted as Cas ran through his hair, tucking his face into his boyfriend's shoulder with a rumbly hum of pleasure. The shower left him relaxed and more awake than before. His hair smelled like flowers. "Mm, next time then." It took him a few moments to pull away, but at least he was moving. "Fondue sounds good for now, you just set aside the stuff you want me to use and I'll get right on it."
Cas purred softly in response to Tolly’s hum and gently nuzzled his hair. He breathed in his scent with a pleased little smile. “Alright, it’s not that complicated but it can burn pretty quickly so don’t get distracted.” He said with slight tease, passing him the cheeses as well as some spices And herbs to put into the sauce
Tolly returned the nuzzling with a bright smile, rubbing his cheek against Cas' affectionately. "I know how to make fondue, I'm not completely useless in the kitchen." He set the everything aside as they were passed to them, separating them out into the right categories. "Though I… ah… I can't promise I won't be distracted. You're kind of gorgeous, it gets my attention."
He laughed softly and nodded “then I’ll let you get to it.” He replied, finding a pot to boil water with a bit of sat for the past. The light blush came back and Cas tried his best to hide it, leaning against tolly’s Shoulder as he waited for The water to heat up. “I’m glad both of us in agreement then, neither of us can concentrate when the others is around.” He mused, pressing a kiss to Tolly’s cheek as he poured in the pasta.
Tolly grinned over at him, returning the soft peck before he got to work. "Hey, at least your task doesn't need concentration." The quiet clanging of pots accompanied his words as he pulled a saucepan from the cabinets, and then there was nothing but the soft hiss of the burner as he got the cheese in. "You've just gotta boil water, I actually have to pay attention to my cheese."
“Mmm, true, but over-boiled pasta is terrible.” He laughed lightly, stirring the pasta and turning down the heat a bit so it didn’t over boil. He hugged Tolly and rested his head on his back, his hand lightly tracing Tolly’s abdomen.
"Sure, but it won't burn." He kissed Cas on the cheek with a warm smile, one that only got warmer as soft patters were traced into his skin. "And you don't have to stir it all the time, I'm gonna be moving this cheese around until my hands fall off."
“Nah, that won’t happen. Let me know if you do get tired and we’ll switch for a bit.” He said, reluctantly letting Tolly go to check on the potatoes and to try some of the pasta. “I wonder how Cait and her new roommate are doing.” He mused absentmindedly going back to hugging Tolly once he had made sure everything was alright
Tolly smiled over at him as he returned, wrapping an arm around his waist to hold him close for the moment. "I will, don't worry about it." He kissed Cas on the temple with a soft smile. "And Cait's pretty amazing, but she gets on people's nerves sometimes. I'd say it's an 80% chance that she's got a new best friend and a 20% chance that they're mortal enemies."
Cas smiled sweetly and rested his head on Tolly’s chest, watching as he stirred the cheese sauce. He chuckled lightly and shook his head “that poor girl, I do hope her and Cait get along well and don’t become enemies. She seemed really nice despite what she’s went through.” He said, glancing over at the clock to make sure they weren’t running late
Tolly sprinkled in a few pinches of spice every now and then, but for the most part he was content to stir and press the occasional kisses to Cas' cheeks and hold his boyfriend close. "Who, Cait or her roommate? 'cause either way, I think they're gonna be just fine. Even if they do turn into mortal enemies or something, they probably won't rough each other up or anything."
“Her roommate, (completely forgot her name) but yeah you’re right. Though I think I’d rather have them be friends than enemies.” Cas leaned back into Tolly’s secure embrace, enveloped in his affection and warmth, the aroma of the food filling his senses. “We need to do this more often.” He murmured softly, reaching up Andy peppering Tolly’s has and neck with kisses.
(lol, me too.)
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"Well of course, but they're probably going to be more dangerous if they're friends. Next April we're gonna be living in prank central if Cait get's somebody to tag along with her plans." He returned the kisses happily, tilting Cas' chin up so he could press kiss after gentle kiss to his lips. "Dude! That sounds amazing! We should make it a weekly thing, cooking night or cooking morning or whatever."
“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that….there’s not a possible way we can avoid them for April is there?” He asked, eyes fluttering shut as he kissed Tolly. “We can do that, might have to drop by the store to burly some things to add variety but it’s definitely doable.” He replied pulling away again to drain the pasta and pull the potatoes from the oven
"Not the whole month, no, but if we isolate for the first week or so we should avoid the worst of it." He gave Cas one last kiss before they pulled apart, attention refocusing on the cheese sauce. It was mostly done by now, he just needed to keep stirring to make sure it wouldn't burn. "Great! Then we should plan next week's recipe, so I can be prepared."
“What was the worst thing she did?” He asked over his shoulder as he poked at the potatoes with a fork, making sure the larger ones were cooked through. “We can always go through the recipe cards mom sent for ideas.” He said, putting the potatoes aside And then setting the pasta near Tolly for when he was ready to add the sauce
Tolly thought for a few moments. "She can get kind of mean about her pranks, but my favorite is still the time she made me help her hang Levi up on the flag pole." He smiled a bit at the memory, fond. Levi had gotten revenge by taping him to the ceiling, so then he'd hidden all Levi's underwear in increasingly baffling spots, and it had been an intense war for like a month. "Oh! Recipe cards sound nice, it'll be cool to see what kinda stuff your family cooks."
Cas’ eyes widened “a flag pole?! Like at the top of one? How’d you even get him up there?” He let out a laugh and shook his head, glad that he wasn’t on the receiving end of the pranks. He nodded in agreement and checked the time “I’m gonna have to leave a few minutes early to go home and change.” He said, pressing a kiss to Tolly’s cheek as he watched him stir the cheese
"Yeah, up the flag pole. He fell asleep in jeans so we hooked the little flag hook things through the loops and just… pulled him up." He leaned into the kiss with a soft laugh, stirring the cheese for a few more moments before he tapped his spoon off on the side of the pot. "In that case, we should probably get this cheese on the pasta, right? We've gotta eat in like fifteen minutes."
“I can’t imagine his reaction when he found out he was up a flagpole and not in bed.” He chuckled lightly and nodded. “Yep!” He found a few plates from the cabinets and found some mugs to set at the table as Tolly finished up the pasta. He set the large tray of potatoes on the table as well as a serving spoon
Tolly laughed quietly. "Yeah, it was really something. Hence the revenge pranks in retaliation." He took his plate of pasta with a grateful smile, spooning on a generous amount of cheese sauce. "Wasn't this supposed to be a simple meal, too? Last I checked simpel meals didn't have fancy sides."
“Hey, if you can eat and omelet and hash browns, you can eat pasta with roasted potatoes.” He defended with a smile, heaping on some of The potatoes as well as the cheesy pasta. “It’s allowed to be a little fancy.”
Tolly pretended to give the potatoes a dubious look before he piled them onto his plate alongside the mountain of pasta. "It's a simple dinner! It's supposed to be simple, the potatoes get a pass because they're gonna be delicious."
“Alright, next time we’ll make a box of Velveeta Mac and cheese. I don’t think it can get simpler than that.” He teased, digging into the meal. He nodded after a while, a satisfied little smile on his features
"It doesn't have to, Velveeta mac and cheese is the food of gods." He took a big bite of pasta, letting out a happy sound. It was really good pasta, especially since the sauce had been cooked just right. "Sides would just be insulting."
Cas just rolled his eyes with a laugh “as long a shot you enjoy it, I’m happy.” He tried a few of the potatoes and smiled softly “I don’t know, the potatoes are pretty good.”