Archive of Our Own ^beta

Suletta couldn’t sleep for most of the night - her mind was too busy thinking about how much she loved Miorine. She could feel Miorine’s arms wrapped around her now as they lay in bed, her dainty fingers curled around Suletta’s back, and her head resting just above Suletta’s chest. Suletta felt her heart swell even more as Miorine nestled herself deeper into her arms, which was just as much a source of comfort for her as it seemed to be for Miorine.

Miorine had been persistently helping Suletta throughout her recovery, alternating between harsh and patient when the situation arose for her to act either way. Suletta would have likely recovered regardless, but Miorine’s constant motivation seemed to make the process go at least ten times faster - in fact, it made the entire experience enjoyable save for the moments of frustration she experienced throughout it.

When Suletta finally did fall asleep she was happy to find that, when she awoke again, Miorine had rolled onto the other side of the bed and was holding her pillow instead. Suletta’s favorite part of the morning was waking up with Miorine in her arms, giving eachother small kisses and talking about anything and everything - but today, she was thankful Miorine was a far enough distance away so Suletta could sneak out of the room without waking her.

Now, as the clock read 7:00 am, Suletta would surprise her with a small thank you before she started her day at work, not only for her invaluable help with rehabilitation but for making Suletta feel happy every day, knowing Miorine would be forever at her side. 

Suletta began mixing the ingredients together. She’d pulled up a few videos on the internet about how to make the perfect pancakes - even just “really good” pancakes would’ve been wishful thinking for Suletta as she wasn’t particularly well-versed in the art of cooking, she would try her best to make them as pleasant as possible following whatever instructions she was given by the skilled chef in the video.

As she successfully made her way out to the kitchen without waking Miorine and began working on the surprise breakfast, Suletta noticed her body was handling the careful movements much better than they had in the past, but some part of her was still struggling to carry out the actions she needed to. Sometimes Suletta got angry about the whole thing, as she missed the days where she didn’t have to think before completing these types of activities. Still, the sacrifice had been well worth it for the chaos she had prevented from occurring.

Okay, make sure the dry bits of batter have all been covered, Suletta thought as she fought to stir the remaining bits of batter that hadn’t smoothed out yet. She turned the dial up to three once the batter was ready, anything more and she would be racing to flip the pancakes over before it was too late. This would take more time, but it would ultimately be less stressful in the end.

Three burnt pancakes later and Suletta had created the near-perfect shade of golden brown shown in the videos for one of the pancakes. Just a few more to go now. She plopped it onto the plate, when suddenly, she heard Miorine’s voice from the other room - 

“Suletta?!”

“In here!” Suletta called out. Oh no! Miorine wasn’t supposed to be awake yet. Yet Suletta felt the excitement building up inside of her anyway, as she couldn’t wait for Miorine to see what she was making. Just a few more minutes and she would enjoy breakfast in bed. Pancakes, butter, strawberries, and chocolate chips - Miorine’s favorite.

Just then - Miorine’s figure appeared at the frame of their bedroom. She was making her way into the kitchen, her eyes only partially open as she rubbed them and yawned - she’s so cute, Suletta thought suddenly.

“Is everything okay? Why are you up so ear - “ Miorine stopped as she saw Suletta flipping the next pancake that had now reached the color of golden brown she’d been hoping for on the bottom, a shocked smile crossed her face.

“I thought it would be nice for us to start the morning with a nice hot breakfast. You know, like in all those movies where they eat in bed and it’s all romantic?” Suletta mused.

“Suletta, you didn’t have to - “ Miorine shook her head, the smile on her face growing larger. “That is so unbelievably thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

“I wanted to do something special,” Suletta said. “Just because I still can’t move as well as I used to, doesn’t mean I can’t do things like this for you.”

“Well, between the flowers you bought me last night and the surprise trip to the blueberry field, you are spoiling me,” Miorine said in awe. “What did I do that was so special?”

“You deserve it for being you, Miorine,” Suletta said. “Now, go back to bed. I’ll be there soon.”

“No way. I want to stay out here with you,” Miorine said, walking over to Suletta and looping her arm around Suletta’s waist. Suletta bent down a little as Miorine reached upwards to place her head on her shoulder, then she gave her a small kiss. 

Time to slice the strawberries, Suletta grabbed a knife from the silverware drawer and her grip froze suddenly as her wrist cramped up, she closed her eyes as the uncomfortable sensation washed over her. Of course it had to happen while Miorine was next to her. “Are you sure you’re okay? This might be a little too much, maybe in the future - ”

“I’ll be alright. It’s the strawberries that are giving me the most trouble,” Suletta explained. The fine motor movements seemed to be trickier than the broader ones. Not to mention, she’d been making breakfast for almost twenty minutes now, her muscles were likely tiring.

“Here, let me help with that,” Miorine said, reaching for the knife in Suletta’s hand, but she pulled it away.

“No, that’s okay, I can do it,” Suletta said, unable to quell the frustration she was feeling.

“You could cut yourself,” Miorine said bluntly, worry evident in her voice. “What does it matter if I prepare the strawberries, look at everything else you did?”

“I won’t cut myself, trust me. I want to finish this for you,” Suletta said. “You don’t need to worry so much.” She reached for another kiss. “I love you. Now go on, I’m almost finished.”

“You really want me in that bed, don’t you?” Miorine asked, raising an eyebrow. “Alright. Fine. But that means you owe me.”

“I do?” Suletta asked.

“Uh-huh. Big time,” Miorine said. Suletta had gained the ability to identify when Miorine was teasing now, which she deemed a helpful skill to have, especially in times like these where she may have been confused if she’d not known her better.

“Okay. What will I owe you?” Suletta asked, playing along.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” her voice mysterious and commanding. Suletta nearly dropped the knife from her hands as she imagined what Miorine may have had in mind, but she needed to focus on the meal she was making - 

She watched as Miorine sauntered back to the room, which did nothing to help keep her sudden thoughts at bay.

A few minutes later, Suletta had assembled all of the breakfast items onto a small table and began carrying it across the kitchen. She could feel her arms starting to wobble - come on, this won’t be any good if I can’t actually give her the breakfast. This was one of those times where she would have to decide whether it was worth it to ask for help, her grip certainly wasn’t going to last - 

“Miorine, could you - “

“Of course,” not a moment later and Miorine had raced into the kitchen and grabbed the plate from Suletta’s hands, helping her carry it over to the bed. “There we go. No problem at all. And wow - it looks and smells delicious.”

“I hope it is,” Suletta said, watching with bated breath as Miorine took the first bite. She closed her eyes a little, not ready to see how she felt in full force, when Miorine suddenly gave her a small push -

“What are you so nervous about? That was amazing! Here - try some - “ Miorine held her fork up with the next bite of pancake and strawberry. 

“Where have you been hiding this cooking talent? Maybe I should have you cook for us more often rather than ordering in so much,” Miorine teased. It was true that they did order in often, especially given how busy they were, but Miorine had proven to be an admirable cook when she had the time to do it, Suletta hoped she could contribute someday too.

“Well I certainly do want to start cooking more. I hope I can, sooner rather than later. After all this time - I shouldn’t still be struggling to carry things - “ Suletta shook her head, angry with herself. It was embarrassing, and she didn’t want Miorine to have to take care of her as much as she did. She almost felt useless sometimes.

“Stop that right now,” Miorine said. Her grey eyes intense as she spoke, “The expectations you’re giving yourself are ridiculous. Do you remember how you were when we first started? You wouldn’t have been able to open a box of pancake batter, let alone made an entire breakfast and brought it most of the way here. You should be proud of yourself!” Miorine said. “This breakfast you made is incredible. I am so happy you did this for me.”

Suletta smiled. “I’m okay, I don’t know why I’m upset, really,” she admitted. Suletta was frustrated and disappointed, but this felt like an extreme reaction for something she’d been experiencing, and improving with, for so long now.

“Another thing is, it’s a miracle you’re even alive. That day when you stopped Quiet Zero, I almost lost you - ” Miorine shook her head, almost as if she was reliving the moment. “I don’t care how long it takes, or if you never fully recover. Every second I have with you is a gift.” She paused for a moment, clearly debating something with herself, until suddenly, “in fact, today is the perfect day to take a personal day at work.”

“You can do that?” Suletta asked, though the sound of a large portion of the day spent with Miorine was a dream come true.

“Of course. It’s my company,” Miorine said with a shrug. “My schedules been a little hectic the last few weeks. We haven’t had a proper date in that amount of time. It’s well past time we said ‘screw this, let’s do what we want’.”

“That - sounds amazing!” Suletta said. She could call into work too, she had quite a few sick days saved up, this was more than worth taking one.

“And, I’m going to cut back on the amount of times I work late. I don’t want to be one of those couples who don’t spend enough time with eachother,” Miorine said suddenly.

Suletta had been feeling the lack of quality time with Miorine - they had gone from having dates frequently to having them on rare occasions as Miorine’s job responsibilities had risen in the past few months. They still always made time for eachother, but it wasn’t the same as it was before.

“I don’t want you to feel bad about that at all,” Suletta said. “You have done so much good. If it wasn’t for you, Earth wouldn’t be the same as it was.”

Miorine smiled, “still. I think Earth can wait a day. I’ll tell the team to call me if there’s an emergency, otherwise…this day will be just for us.”