cooking with love.(a dead plate ff)

1.

It was an usual day at the bistro: Rody was serving the customers and taking their orders,while Vince was supervising the chef,everything normal,of course there were some rude customers but overall it was a normal day.
Rody's shift ended earlier since the christmas festivities were near,it's the least thing Vince could do since he would refuse to give him a raise.
Rody's shift ended at 6:15PM.
When he was about to leave,he felt a hand on his shoulder,which caused him to shiver.

???:"Rody." the person said,with a seemingly cold and demanding voice
Rody:"y-yes vin- i mean boss?" Rody said,he thought he was in trouble or Vince was mad at him
Vincent:"uh,tell me something,did you ever cook in your entire life?" he said,his voice and tone shifting to a more soft one,which made Rody slightly calm down
Rody:"yeah,i did a few times,but when i was a kid,i don't remember anything..."
Vincent:"okay then,come to my apartment,i'll teach you how to cook." he said very directly
Rody:"Oh!uh- sure?" Rody said confusingly,why did Vince invite him all of a sudden?whatever

Rody followed Vincent to his apartment after they closed the restaurant.
The interior was still...bad as before,or at least under Rody's eyes.
He followed his boss into the kitchen and they both stopped

Rody:"so uuh,what will i cook vinc- i mean chef?"
Vincent:"no,it's alright,call me Vincent or Vince if you want." he said,strangely his tone was softer than always,it wasn't rude,cold and demanding like always.
Vincent:"anyways,it's your choice,Rody." he said,the red haired thought for a moment and then spoke
Rody:"well,i always wanted to learn how to make pancakes!with you helping me it shouldn't be too hard,right?" he said,followed by Vincent nodding
Vincent:"alright,give me a moment,i'll get all the ingredients." he said.

After not much time,he came back with all the ingredients needed for pancakes with the right doses:
200g Flour
1 Egg
250ml Milk
65g Sugar
One tablespoon of Baking Powder
(yes that is an actual recipe,i use it to make pancakes lmao)
Vince set up the ingredients on the counter and started leading Rody,helping him step by step and making him learn essential things for cooking.
But while helping him,he got,a little bit too close.
For some reason,everytime they were THAT close,Rody would feel funny for some reason,yet he did not have an explanation for that,he tried to not think of it and continued listening to Vince.
After some minutes,the pancakes actually came out good! Rody was proud of it.
Vince wasn't.
But deep inside,he was extremely proud of him.
Vincent made him sit on a chair and put the pancakes in front of him so that he could taste them

Rody:"wanna try them?" he said,offering to Vince the fork with pancakes stuck to it
Vincent:"Rody,i can't taste shit." he said and sighed
Rody:"Oh!right i forgot,sorry...." he said and let out a nervous chuckle,then proceed to shove the fork into his mouth and taste the pancakes
Rody tried speaking but Vince shushed him
Vincent:"Don't speak with a full mouth,it's rude." he said,sounding slightly harsh,but also not at the same time,Rody just nodded.
When he swallowed the piece of pancake he spoke ecstatically
Rody:"These are the best pancakes i had in my entire life!" he said with tears of joy in his eyes
Vincent:"are they really that good..?well,i guess i did a good job at leading you then." he chuckled softly

This was the first ever time Vince smiled out of actual happiness,not in a way to make fun of Rody or anything.
Rody felt that again.
That warm feeling inside.
But why?
It couldn't be certainly love,after all he had eyes only for his beloved Manon,but why did he feel like that?
Maybe he was just happy about it since he never saw his real smile.

Vincent:"um,Rody?Everything's alright?You've been stating at me for a minute straight.."
Rody:"O-oh yeah im alright Vince!" he smiled in return and continued eating the pancakes.
He continued to eat them until he was done
Rody:"man,those pancakes were delicious!" he said and smiled

That smile.
It always made Vincent warm inside.
But he couldn't even deny it.
Vincent was in love with him.
Yet he already belonged to someone else.
But Vincent did not lose hope.
Yet he would not do any bad action or anything.
He would just hope and wait.

Rody had finished the pancakes.
He stood up with the plate in his hands to wash it,but got stopped by Vince

Vincent:"No,don't worry,I'll wash it." he said in a reassuring tone
Rody:"are you sure...?well thank you so much Vince!you know i think it's starting to get dark,i better start going home" he said and smiled,just to be answered by Vincent nodding
Vincent:"Alright,see you tomorrow,Rody." he smiled.

And with that,Rody left the apartment,leaving Vince alone.

_____________________________________

btw,quick background information!in this AU,Vincent doesn't go/isnt crazy,meaning that Manon is and WILL stay alive :3

word count:889