Sweet Madame || Zhongli x reader

Sweet Madame

" Zhongli! You have to turn the oven on for the food to cook! "
At least the man was giving it his best- it was quite the effort to get him to understand how to cut onions and not his fingers in the process, maybe this is why he'd forgotten the essential element of cooking- fire.
He'd only just started living like a normal human, his food only purchased or cooked for him, the only thing he knew to prepare was tea, after all.

You'd originally offered to help, but he was quite set on the idea of preparing the dish himself for you, which of course, made this even more exciting.

He flailed around trying to rearrange his cooking setup and trying to re-asses his way to go about this. Sweet madame, they said. It would be easy, they said.

He went into overheat as you sat there stifling your laughter, whilst he was spacing out and making realisations about life philosophy, you actually found it really amusing- and adorable.

"This is proving to be more troublesome than I had originally imagined, but, I haven't failed yet. Please explain also. Thank you. "

The most diabolic laugh escaped you- at this point you were bullying the poor guy. He enjoyed moments like these, you were always the type to tease him about different things, it was part of how your relationship worked. You stood up from your chair and guided him slightly, he had caught on very quickly, he even made his own addition of spices to the dish as you cheered on his every move. From the way he sprinkled the pepper, to the way he grated the lemon zest.

He placed the last few sweet flower petals onto the side of the plate and let out a breath.

The long awaited finale, the ruin guard, the eye of the storm, none would amount to the feeling you had right now. Perhaps you were overreacting, but this was one of the things he was truly determined about, his eyes sparkling each time he looked over at you for approval of his dish. He wouldn't usually get this excited about things, but the fact that it was the first meal he cooked for you made this even more endearing.

He set the plate onto the table as your hands were pressed together in excitement.

You were used to him having the slight upper hand in about everything, but now it was a little different.
The dish was greatly seasoned, perfectly roasted, and perfectly prepared.

He untied his apron and hurried back to the table, awaiting your final judgement.

Your eyes widened and you tapped your feet onto the floor, doing a little hilichurl dance as you showered him with compliments about his dish.

Relieved, he also indulged in his own meal and hummed, smiling to himself, flustered over your reaction.

" Zhongli- you have created a masterpiece! You'll have to teach me how to prepare this, seriously! "

He chuckled at your reaction, an evident pink tint over his cheeks, he was looking forward to spending more time with you.

You hurried on to wash the dishes, so that you could run some errands around Lyiue.
He soon came from behind you and lovingly embraced you, it was times like these where you could truly feel his warmth against your body. He placed kisses upon your neck and brushed your hair behind your ears.

He always knew how to make you flustered, he'd always been the romantic one, from the way he kissed you to the way he cared for you when you were ill.
He wanted to get everything right, because it was the first time he'd ever felt this way about someone.