1.2 | The Prince of Thieves

Chapter 37

A/N: The start of Part 2! Are you excited? I'm excited!

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They had left behind a freezing country and returned to a bone chilling one. It was forecasted that New York would be colder than St Petersburg this week; an occurrence that bamboozled her for his hometown was further North than their adopted city. But the zeroes and minuses meant nothing to her for tonight they were dining in the warmth and comfort of their own home. 

One of the first things they had done upon their return was to buy themselves a dining table that would fit by the bay windows. The rustic table with a black metal frame for legs sat eight comfortably around it, but they had removed a chair by the other end so they could dine with an unobstructed view of New York's skyline. She found herself pausing to admire the sparkly lights outside whenever she looked up from setting the table.

They were hosting Osuke, Haruki and Kai tonight – their double-date had been expanded to include her brother. Dinner would start off with her specialty, cream of mushroom soup with warm rolls of bread, then followed by a side of prawn salad that Leon had prepared. The salad sat wrapped in individual little platters in the fridge. The main dish, cod with miso butter was something she had recently learnt, and for desert, her husband had put together a berry trifle. He was good in the kitchen, she already knew, but his berry trifle had to steal the show. She couldn't wait to dig into the layered goodness of cake and cream and berries in the fridge.

Leon came behind her with his hands on her waist. His head dipped to her neck and she felt his lips on her skin.

'Looks wonderful,' he murmured appreciatively at the five sets of identical tableware and the two vases of dried flowers that she had set out. 'Still bloated?'

'Not so much,' she grumbled as she smacked a hand on her stomach as if that action could dispel the air. They had gorged non stop from Japan to Russia, and it seemed her stomach was taking a while to settle down. Leon had found her some Antacid tablets and she had chewed on one gratefully. 'I think it was all that shchi.'

Her involvement of his favourite soup caused him to burst out in laughter and tear himself away from her. Her eyes narrowed at him in annoyance. Did he really have to produce such a large reaction? Maybe it wasn't just the shchi, she had to admit. But it was the most obvious candidate for the cause of what she was feeling now.

'You're blaming innocent cabbage soup for your bloating?' he asked with an incredulous tone. His eyes danced with mischief as he settled down onto a chair and leant back in it with his long legs sticking every which way. Hana wondered what hosts did as they waited for their guests. They must have been very speedy for there was nothing she could think of to do now.

'Isn't that what cabbage does?' Hana sat herself on a chair opposite. Their guests were due in fifteen minutes. Her palms were clammy for some reason. 'Make you bloated?'

This set off another bout of chuckling, although more scaled down than the previous display of amusement. He held a hand out to take hers and lightly swung their joined hands across the dinner table.

'Well, yes,' he agreed more soberly. 'I guess so. But I'm not bloated.'

Hana childishly snapped her hand from his grasp. And she had fed him so much cabbage soup too! Then she stole a glance at him and wondered at his carefree demeanour. Did he get used to hosting over the years or was he just hiding it well? She couldn't be the only nervous one, could she? It was the first time they were cooking for anyone after all.

'That's because you're used to it,' she stated.

'I'm used to being bloated?' he questioned with one brow raised. He had pushed his face to hers, with a tick in his mouth as if it would soon give way to laughter.