Arthur blinked his eyes open, wondering why his bed was hard and why the ceiling was so high. Belatedly, he realized he was on his couch instead of his bed, and he could smell a trace of alcohol in his clothes.
He hadn't even changed from the clothes he wore to the movie's sacrifi--pre crank-in party.
Frowning because it was very different from his usual self, Arthur attempted to get up--attempted--and met with a piercing headache. Ugh--how much did he drink last night? Arthur groaned and suddenly felt a disturbance in the air.
to be exact, a disturbance in his sacred kitchen.
He woke up feeling alarmed--because who was it who dared to invade his kitch--
And then he paused. And then he blinked. And then he screamed inwardly in belated panic.
Eugene!
Arthur pushed himself up and was assaulted by another piercing pain. He balanced himself groggily and turned around, blinking the bleariness away so he could see the kitchen with clearer eyes.
Right there, under the sunlight coming in from the kitchen's window, was the back of a rather tall omega. Dark hair slightly messy, and his sweater wrinkled heavily around the waist, Eugene stood in front of Arthur's coffee maker.
"Oh, you're up?" hearing the creaking sound from the couch and the grunt of someone with a severe headache and nausea, Eugene glanced back nonchalantly. "I help myself to some coffee; you don't mind, do you?"
Feeling like he was seeing a ghost, Arthur stood there with his mouth agape. His throbbing head was forgotten as he watched the omega pace around his kitchen, taking a mug and moving toward the water dispenser. The man even managed to find a jar of honey on his extensive spice rack.
"Drink some warm honey water," Eugene said while concocting said drink. He proceeded to open the fridge while talking. "Do you have lime? It'll taste even better with that--oh, you do. I'll put it in, okay? Just sit down."
As Eugene fished out a fruit knife to slice the lime, Arthur was busy recalling what happened last night. The memories of him grabbing and clinging to Eugene, demanding compensation like a petulant child, attacking him harder than the hammering headache.
Aaaaagggghhh!
Arthur wanted a trap door to manifest beneath his feet and dropped himself into a portal to another world. P-perhaps...perhaps his another world version would be smarter and less pathetic!
How? How could he do all that?!
Demanding the truth was one thing; there was nothing wrong with that. But everything he did afterward was unreasonable--even to his standard! He would never, ever, in his sober mind, demand something so...so childish and inappropriate!
He was no longer a teenager, damn it!
Thus, Arthur did the only thing he thought he should do. "I'm sorry!!"
A mug of honey lime tea in his hand, Eugene arched his brow as he stared at the alpha kneeling on the kitchen floor. "When I told you to sit down, I didn't mean on the floor..."
"I...I'm sorry!" Arthur clutched his hair as if he wanted to pull the strands and offered it to Eugene as an apology. "I sh-shouldn't do that!"
Eugene placed the mug on the kitchen island before tilting his head; the corner of his mouth twitched. "You mean trapping me in your place so you could sniff me while calling it compensation?"
Aaaaaghhh!
"...yes?" Arthur bit his lips in shame.
The corner of Eugene's lips curled up in a slight mocking--mostly teasing--smirk. "At least you know you were wrong."
"Yes..."
Eugene didn't really mind the pheromone sniffing since he was already found out anyway. But none of the compensation requests included being held onto until morning, and spending his supposedly free night in a foreign place.
For that, he had the right to feel annoyed.
"So, I'm using your kitchen as my compensation," Eugene pointed at the alpha, who was lifting his head at the words. "I'm in the mood for some fancy noodles, so I'll be raiding your fridge and pantry."
As a gourmet, Eugene believed Arthur had a lot of nice ingredients he could use. He had gleaned a few while looking for a lime earlier.
"Uhh...I don't mind," Arthur said as he tried to stand up. He wobbled from the throbbing pain again before he could fully straighten his legs, prompting him to grip the back of the dining chair. "But, shouldn't I be the one who makes it if it's compensation?"
Eugene looked Arthur up and down, didn't even bother to hide his skepticism. "I don't trust someone who can barely stand straight," he scoffed. "Just sit down and drink your honey water."
"...Yes," Arthur mumbled while lowering his head like a child who had gotten scolded one too many.
"Don't worry," Eugene smirked and turned around to continue his treasure hunting. "I'm pretty confident about cooking instant noodles."
Naturally, he wouldn't make fresh noodles from scratch in the morning--or anytime, for that matter. He just wanted to use instant noodles and their glorious seasoning packages, throwing some ingredients to enrich the broth, and adding some vegetables or mushrooms to make it more filling.
Even he wouldn't mess up something this simple!
Arthur, feeling the waves of headache returning, just nodded and sat down at the side of the kitchen island, and brought the warm mug to his lips.
Meanwhile, Eugene was having his own fun raiding someone else's pantry. He wouldn't be so brazen usually, but the moment he decided to treat it as his compensation, Eugene was bereft of any hesitation.
Thankfully, Arthur wasn't a pretentious gourmet who thought instant stuff was above his standard and swore off the glorious white powder of flavortown. Opening the cupboard, Eugene quickly found two large packs of foreign brand instand noodles. He could see all kinds of dry ingredients and canned food stored nicely in the back, too. This guy wouldn't die fast in the apocalypse--Eugene thought.
Not that he would die fast with that kind of physique...
Eugene's mind drifted to the memory of him waking up in this foreign apartment. It seemed like sometimes in the night, when both of them were fast asleep, they had slid down the couch and ended up lying down.
Finding himself waking up with a pair of arms around his waist and a face plastered on his neck, Eugene had almost smacked and kicked the alpha away, thinking it was someone else. Thankfully, the visual of the sleeping beauty alpha was enough to stop Eugene for two seconds and let the memories return before his fist connected.
Damn. It was true that people could easily forgive beautiful people.
It took Eugene a bit of effort to get out of Arthur's imprisonment. Feeling grumpy about getting spooned out of nowhere, Eugene did not hesitate to seek something to soothe himself.
Naturally, he drifted to the kitchen and made full use of Arthur's expensive-looking coffee maker after gulping down two glasses of filtered water.
This privilege brat. How dare he look offended when Eugene pointed that out? The omega scoffed in reminiscence as he pulled the instant noodle packs from the storage.
He looked at the packaging and narrowed his eyes in calculation. "Hmm...how many packs can you eat? You okay with spice?"
"Yeah," Arthur lifted his head from the steaming mug. "Uhh...you can just use everything there."
Everything? Eugene stared at the two packages of instant noodles, each of which contained 4 packs. So...eight portions? He recalled the alpha's appetite. Make sense.
"Sure," he shrugged and shifted to the fridge, rummaging through the freezer without hesitation. "Oh, clams--shrimps too? How nice."
Eugene smiled widely, sounding only slightly less energetic than the time he ate the blue madeleines. Arthur watched Eugene walk around his kitchen in disbelief, thinking that maybe he was still sleeping and everything was just a dream.
"Fancy eggs--heh," Eugene continued his harvest and pulled out ingredient after ingredient.
"Uhh...my grandfather insists we all only eat those kinds," Arthur said sheepishly.
Eugene nodded and took out a whole pack of eggs. "How would you like them? Stirred?"
"No!"
Eugene glanced at the alpha, who was gasping in horror as if he was just speaking a blasphemous thing, and snickered. "At least we have an agreement on that."
Phew...Arthur rubbed his chest in relief. He liked his broth clear and refreshing, thank you very much.
Since it seemed like they had similar tastes--at least regarding instant noodles--Arthur let Eugene have complete freedom in his cooking. He finished the warm hangover drink while it was still steaming, before heading up to the bathroom to wash his face and get out of the alcohol-reeking clothes. When he came out with a fresh face and fresh clothes, Eugene had finished a big pot of instant noodles.
With eight portions of noodles and various additional ingredients, Eugene had used the biggest cooking pot that Arthur had at his disposal. It looked as big as the beef stew one would make for a big family during holiday. Eugene, however, had no doubt that Arthur could eat everything by himself.
He took a big bowl and ladled two portions for himself, piling his beloved shrimps and clams, as well as a lot of mushrooms. So what if it was Arthur's ingredients? This was his compensation.
Anyway, he spared the short plate he was eyeing in the freezer earlier, so he was actually being reasonable!
"Ah, I'll just eat from the pot," Arthur said when he saw Eugene look around to find a giant bowl for the alpha.
It was nonexistent, anyway.
Eugene arched his brow before looking back at the pot and nodding. "Fair enough."
Arthur chuckled and grabbed the big pot to the kitchen island, having half-recovered from his hangover. Eugene sat on another chair as he glanced at the pot--it was still surprising even though he was the one who made it.
"Can you eat that much even with a hangover?"
Arthur shrugged while sitting down in front of his big pot of piping hot noodles. "I didn't eat anything last night, so..."
Ah, no wonder he ended up so drunk from a mere party...Eugene nodded in understanding. Alphas generally had a better tolerance than omegas or betas, so it was rare to see them that drunk.
Although they did act like drunkards even on a normal basis, sometimes.
"I should be the one treating you, but..." Arthur looked at the clear broth made of clam and shrimp heads, as well as bean sprouts and slices of green chilis. It looked refreshing and everything he needed to clear his head. "Thank you."
"Let's just eat," Eugene waved his spoon and let it float on the broth of his bowl as he watched Arthur take a ladleful of broth.
Eugene acted confidently earlier, but he was actually rather nervous since Arthur was a great cook. If he messed up the broth while using those expensive ingredients, he would be so heartbroken.
Arthur slurped the broth from his ladle and blinked. "Oh?"
Eugene gripped his spoon tightly as he controlled his voice. "How is it?"
Arthur blinked slowly and tasted another ladleful of broth. He opened his eyes wide as he looked at Eugene with sparkling eyes, blood coming to his pale face. "Wow..."
Despite his nervousness, Eugene let out a smirk. How about that? Sophie and Hannah should see that expression!