Scolex One-shots.

Experiments

A/N - This was supposed to be short, but I got a little bit carried away. I saw it suggested on tumblr and who am I to decline?! Enjoy x

Scott grinned at the email notification on his phone, "I can't believe I'm doing this" he muttered.

"I can" Scott jumped at Mitch's voice, just next to his ear and was surprised he hadn't noticed the scowling brunette's presence. "You're so in love, it's honestly disgusting" he joked.

"Wow, okay" Scott rolled his eyes, scanning the email for details, before grabbing his coat and wandering downstairs, hoping to make a stealthy escape.

"Where you off to?" Scott was startled yet again, and turned to see Alex stood in the corridor smiling at him.

"Oh just, uh, out" Real smooth, why didn't you think of a reason first.

"Can I come?" Alex enquired, sounding slightly like a child asking their parents if they could go to work, and it broke Scots heart to say no, especially after being away for so long. It's for the best.

"I'm just going to the studio, just a few things to clear up, you know, gotta be professional and all that"

Alex could see straight through Scott's lies, but knew well enough that these kinds of elaborate stories always masked something sweet, so he let him off with just a slight eye narrow, and a "okay, see you later, I guess"

---

After being practically doused in flour, a serious burn on his hand, and a multitude of little cuts and grazes from various kitchen utensils, Scott returned to his house, exhausted but with a recipe in his back pocket and determined expression on his face. He'd asked his roommates to keep Alex preoccupied for an hour, so they divvied out secret Santa names and gone shopping for awhile. Theoretically the painfully simple chicken dish should take Scott 30 minutes at most, but he didn't have high hopes.

"Ok chop vegetables – I can do that" Scott wandered around, muttering, working and singing to himself, satisfied once the chicken and leeks were sautéing the pan. He giggled to himself "to fry quickly in a little hot fat"; the only piece of kitchen related knowledge the poor chef taking the class hadn't had to teach him.

Scott cursed under his breath as some of the stock in the pan sloshed over the edge and on to his skin, dashing to the tap and letting the cool run over it, listening to the rush of water as it hit the sink. Scott felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and used his uninjured had to reach for it and read the 3 minute warning text. "That's okay, everything's under control for once!"

However it would appear that today, the world was out to get Scott, and the deafening squeal of their ridiculously sensitive smoke alarms rang out through the house. Scott whipped round to see a small whisp of smoke coming from under the lid of a pan. The bacon. I forgot about the bacon. He shut off the tap, realising he had been too busy listening to the water and his own little tune he hadn't heard the sizzling of the bacon. The volume of the alarm only increased as he took the lid off the pan, releasing more smoke out, and once he turned off the heat, he jumped on to the countertop and manically waved the tea towel at the smoke alarm.

As if on que his housemates entered, all laughing at Scott's misfortune, except Alex, who came sliding into the kitchen calling "are you alright, what's--" stopping at the sight of his boyfriend flapping his arms (to some success, the alarm had stopped now). He looked around at the general madness in the kitchen and crossed his arms, grinning up at his boyfriend, "were you trying to cook?"

Scott sighed, getting down from the table and standing face to face with Alex but avoiding eye contact, instead scratching the back of his neck embarrassedly. "yeah, that's where I was today, I went to a cookery class?" he met Alex's surprised eyes with his own then, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment, "it was going so well too, I was going to be all ready to impress you, but" he sighed dramatically, practically drowning in self pity "I was supposed to cut up the bacon and put it in with the leeks but I completely forgot so it just sat there burning" he winced at the flashback.

"And you didn't notice?" Alex chuckled, but his eyes showed nothing but affection.

"Well, at the time I'd burnt my hand so I was running it under the tap and, I guess I got a bit... Distracted?" Alex couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips as he pulled the other man into a bear hug, unbelievably flattered that Scott would go through all that stress for him. He turned Scott in his arms to the both faced the mess that was their kitchen, resting his chin on Scott's shoulder, feeling him sigh.

"Hey, I'm sure it's nothing Chef Kirk can't fix" Alex jested. In reality he wasn't much better but perhaps he could rescue some of whatever concoction was in the other pan.

Only a few minutes later they sat next to each other eating the, admittedly delicious, remnants of Scott's attempted dish, and despite not being sat at the expertly laid table out on the terrace, there was something strangely comforting in sitting together at the worktop, surrounded by mayhem. "You've gotta admit it, it does taste pretty good" Scott suggested, unashamedly fishing for compliments.

"mm yeah," Alex took another forkful, "something distinctly...smokey?" he grinned at Scott who sat in fake shock.

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

"You're right. Because I made it, you have to do the washing up." he giggled at Alex's incredulous face, "Sorry, I don't write the rules." And with that he planted a kiss on Alex's cheek and giggled as he fled the kitchen, knowing full well he'd be returning, guilty, in bare minutes.