Cooking hadn't always been an activity that Lucy enjoyed. Her mother was always too busy working or scolding one of her sisters to teach her properly, and all her sisters were always too occupied with homework from the school or doing house chores to take the time to teach her how to do anything other than toast and tea, and had thus from a young age been unable to prepare a decent meal and had been deemed unsafe to leave her alone in a kitchen without somebody's, or anybody's, specially an adult's supervision. When she came to Lockwood and Co. some time later, that didn't change much for a while - there wasn't a real need for her to be able to cook since the kitchen was George's territory - until the first time the researcher left her and Lockwood on they own for a week while he visited his mother and none of them had known how to do anything other than toast.
Lockwood's case was different than hers however; the idiot knew many recipes of food George had cooked by heart but no matter how hard he tried he simply seemed not able to follow them correctly. She on the other hand just needed a patient teacher. What she got instead was a demanding, demeaning, high-standardized ass to instruct her, but it was decent enough.
It took a long time, lots of effort, all her self control and even anger management techniques for her to manage to master cooking.
When it came to the culinary creations, George was as ambitious as he was perfectionist, with an critique as hard as a rock and an opinion heavy like a mountain, hard to digest and crushing to hear. Even the simplest of foods were a challenge to manage correctly when under his scrutinizing eye; he could tell when there was too much salt and when there was not enough oil, where something was undercooked and where it was burnt, when the ingredients weren't fresh and when they hadn't been sifted enough, how high or low it had been cooked and for how much time, and made sure to bark about the imperfections at her face.
It was true that the relationship between them had always been rocky at best, but when they entered the dietary territory - legend said it was like entering an endless, unceasing battleground. At least in Lockwood's words it was.
As much as it was hard to admit, Lucy had grown used to getting away to the kitchen whenever her drawing wasn't enough for her to vent her feelings, and after a particularly rough case she would always need more than just her sketchbook and colored pencils to emote. There were a couple of recipes that she liked to do whenever she was that stressed, particularly of sweets and baked goods, that she knew to perfection by heart. One of those was for sugar cookies.
As a kid, she'd always found them to be the perfect treat to go with a steaming mug of tea whenever she came back home late at night, when her mother and sisters were deeply asleep, too tired to tell her off for putting her rapier on the table, or for accidentally having some salt or lavender fall out of her belt, or any reason and she could just calm down from the hustle and left over dread from ghost haunting.
Now days she'd always bake them to calm down and vent any excessive anger. Like presently.
Cases were always stressing, no matter how small or easy they ended up being - most of the times they didn't end up like that and only went from hard to harder. As if if wasn't enough that she worried how they would come out from them, her boss' antics and stunts were never any help to her nerves. She was used to his every-night bullshit; the shameless theatrics at work, his overconfidence, the superfluous trust in their skills and superiority over any and all other agencies. All these always led to them getting in more trouble than they honestly needed, and lately that had landed them some bad outcomes on cases, many serious close calls and more than one complain from clients. She could only put up with his flimflam for so long.
Her arms were stiff, her shoulders tense and her stomach fidgety inside her as she preheated the oven and poured the cream butter and sugar into a bowl, beating them more forcefully than was necessary. She stopped when the batter got to the right density, ignoring the shuffling that closed in close to her.
"Whats wrong?"
She didn't look up, beating the ingredients swiftly with the whisk "nothing"
"Liar. You only bake sugar cookies when you're upset. What's wrong?"
Of course, Lucy knew that actions reflected emotions, and seeing just how much time they had known each other, how much hours they had worked together in cases, and how long they both had accompanied each other in the same kitchen it was no shock that he'd be able to read her so easily just from seeing her stir the contents of a bowl.
"I'm fine George, really"
He didn't answer back, not even after a few minutes. In silence, he fully entered the kitchen and looked through the pantry and the fridge, taking out a few items from both of them before bringing out a bowl as well and placing it on the counter, at the other side of the stove that separated the stone of the board. She didn't look back at him yet.
The room was mostly silent as Lucy added the eggs to the batter, and then when she proceded to mix the baking powder and salt with flour to add it to the mixture, feeling it stiffen in her hands. As she advanced on the recipe she could hear the very gentle rustling and footsteps of her companion as he moved around the room, getting and placing things around the shelves of the kitchen and then staying at the place of the counter in which he'd placed his things, eventually walking away from it again. He'd stop behind her from time to time and watch over her shoulder before saying something about the confection of the cookies; 'don't stir it too much', 'add another pinch of salt', 'put it in the mixer', his big, rough hands brushing against her lower back and resting on her side at some points.
Her back would shiver lightly with the soft touches, but she remained silent as the circle-shaped cookie dough pieces were placed on a tray and then shoved inside the oven. It would only be thirty minutes before they were done and ready to be sprinkled with powdered sugar. Although, if she took the time for it she could get some sugar frosting done in time for them to come out-
"Stop this pity party of yours" With barely any space to turn around in, Lucy's own walnut brown eyes were met with the gallant, glaring blue of George's sharp stare, boring into the appeased facade she wore. She limited to scowl back over the silence that followed "What happened wasn't your fault"
"I never said it was"
"It wasn't" He was so close to her she could feel their clothes brushing before them and her behind against the cold stone of the counter.
"Stop it" Her voice came out tighter and quicker, a blush spreading through her cheeks.
He took a swaggering step closer "It wasn't"
"George-"
"It wasn't your-"
With perhaps a little more force that was needed, Lucy smashed her lips fervently against his. She grasped the ugly green sweater he was wearing and pulled him against her, feeling the cool underside of his glasses just barely press against her nose. The kiss rapidly spiked from hungry to starved in seconds, lips moving against each other like they hadn't been in touch for more than a hundred grueling years. Groans and soft gasps were soon breaking away from their throats as their mouths opened and their tongues collided with each other.
Her teeth closed around his lower lip and pulled on it just roughly enough "If you don't stop talking, I'll shut you myself"
A growl rumbled in his throat "You'll have to then" his hands gripped on her hips and shoved them back on the counter, easily lifting her enough to push her on top of it, the remnants of the baking ingredients and utensils pressed back against the wall with her behind. Their lips connected once more, opening to allow each other to deepen it lustfully, their tongues fighting an electrifying battle for dominance.
The wool sweater she wore was driven up her frame as George's hands caressed her, over her soft stomach and up her sides, his rough palms sending shivers down her spine. Their patience wasn't strong enough to battle their need; Lucy's hands fumbled with the button of his trousers for a moment before quickly deciding against battling it any more and simply unzipped it, her hand feeling her partner's cock under the cloth of his boxers. George only pushed her shirt up enough to unhook her bra's front clasp, her breasts now uncovered as the cups fell to her sides, straps still hanging over her shoulders, and pulled down her leggings, not bothering with her skirt or panties, simply moving one up and the other to the side to leave her exposed.
The cold air of the kitchen made her whimper softly before she felt his finger brush against her lips, a shiver running through her back. She heard him chuckle.
"Already this wet, Luce? I haven't properly touched you yet"
"Sh- Shut up"
His warm finger ghosted over her clit slowly, small gasps escaping her as her own hand caressed him over his underwear, feeling as he hardened under her touch. Placing both hands on her thighs, he pushed her a little further back, her legs raised enough to rest over his shoulders. Watching him, she shuddered at the wall's coldness on her back, feeling as not a moment later he pushed inside her, all not too delicately.
"Ah...!" With an arm wrapped around his shoulder, her nails dug into the fabric of his sweater, no causing any real impact as he began thrusting rhythmically. One of his hands held her hip, holding her in place as she tried to push her rump back to meet his thrusts, the other hand reaching farther behind her, giving her asscheek a playfully rough spank. She cried out.
He picked up the pace, the hand on her hip moving down slightly over her skirt to rub her, sending a jolt up her spine with each movement, release building up inside them quickly. She pulled him closer to her, moaning and panting beside his ear. Lucy could tell he was coming close by the way his fingers dig on her waist, the other hand spanking her again, tearing another yelp from her.
"Oh- George...! I'm close-"
"I'm too-!" With a deep growl and a final, stronger thrust, he pulled out of her, the swift motion and sudden flick against her clit sending her off the edge. Her legs tensed and trembled around him and bucking her hips repeatedly as her muscles spasmed, crying out with her mouth on his shoulder. Her mind slowly rode down the high, panting as she came back to her senses.
"...goodness..." She leant against him, taking a moment to feel his release slowly dragging down her inner thigh, smiling.
"Feel better now?" He panted gently and looked at her, hinting a smile. She returned it-
And the door swung open.
"George, have you fini-"
Barely a step into the kitchen, Lockwood stared at them for a moment; a tired, worn out expression evenly taking the place of his initial bewilderment. George made a puny attempt to preserve some of her decency, tugging her shirt down enough to cover her breasts and the open bra again, his body shielding her lower half from sight. Lucy's cheeks tainted red as she still held on to the blond's broad shoulders.
"...eh, hey Lockwood-"
"Save it" their employer sighed deeply, the barest hints of a fond smile threatening to curl on the corners of his lips and break the stern facade he was trying to pull off "I don't want to know what it was about this time. Just clean after yourselves, alright?"
"Isn't that what we always do?"
"I don't know, I'm not going to find out" He turned to leave the room "Seriously, what is it about the kitchen that just does it for you two? Oh- no, forget I asked, I don't need or want to know that either"
She giggled softly as he stepped out of the room, feeling her lover press a soft kiss on her forehead, a rare display of affection from him.
"Should we feel guilty?" She snickered against his shoulder.
"I won't regret it if you won't" He helped her jump down from the counter, legs trembling exhaustedly under her weight, and began pulling her clothes upright, ignoring the still present feeling of his release between her legs and deciding to take a shower as soon as possible "oh, and Lucy?"
"Yeah?"
He leaned down slightly behind her to her level, taking a long sniff at the air before talking at her ear "I think those cookies are close to burning"
"Oh- you asshole!"
