Pairing: Dino x Haru
Prompt: Gifts
Summary: If she had to say then Haru would describe the scene that she returned home to as being something akin to a horror movie.
Word Count: 1034... or something.

Hm. My first het pairing ever and it's this crack one. Written for the fourth round of the KHR writing contest.

If she had to say then Haru would describe the scene that she returned home to as being something akin to a horror movie. To begin with it was deathly silent in the flat that she shared with her boyfriend which was odd in itself because the walls were thin and as soon as he heard the key turning in the lock Haru usually found her personal space invaded by an overenthusiastic blond greeting her before she had even managed to toe off her shoes.

Speaking of which, Dino's own shoes were still tucked safely away which meant that he must have been in the house somewhere. The most logical place to look first would be the living room where he would be more often than not, either with his laptop working or just watching television while he waited for her to come home.

There was no inane babble from the television as she made her way down the hall towards the main room and somehow Haru could not shake off the feeling of paranoia, like everything was completely out of the norm and something was going to just jump out at her. As she had half been expecting the living room was empty and was pretty much the same as she had left it that morning. Frowning slightly she almost jumped out of her skin when there came a clatter from the next room.

The kitchen?

Turning on her heel she headed back out into the hall and towards the kitchen where she pushed open the door, which had only been half opened.

What she saw was a complete disaster zone.

There was mess everywhere; pots and pans scattered all over the various work surfaces and filled with all sorts of unidentifiable, half mixed ingredients. There was icing sugar and flour spread in little intermittent blobs everywhere (even up the walls, she realised) and if she didn't know any better she would say that a bomb had hit. Only, of course, it hadn't.

And right there in the middle of it was Dino, blond hair dusted with so much flour that he looked prematurely grey and cheeks smeared with frosting. He was bent over something, eyes narrowed and tongue sticking out in immense concentration.

"No! Don't come in!" Dino didn't even look up from what he was doing. "Just close your eyes please."

Bemused but more than a little curious Haru did as she was told and shut her eyes, listening to the sounds of Dino clattering his way through the cupboards and rattling through all of the cutlery drawers. Finally there were footsteps crossing the kitchen until they stopped right in front of where she was standing.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now."

The cake was ordinary sponge by the looks of things (and more than a little lopsided, the analytical part of her couldn't help but note) and was smeared thickly on top with chocolate frosting. Across the top of that was a message in swirling white icing sugar, obviously the thing that Dino had been concentrating so hard on doing when she had first come in.

'Haro
Happy Anniversary
Love Dino'

"You do realise you spelt my name wrong, right?"

Dino laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. It was a very Japanese habit that he had picked up during his times over there but at times like this it came in very useful. "Enzo distracted me and my hand slipped when I was icing it."

Haru raised her eyebrows but set about cutting a slice from the cake anyway and lifted it to her lips. Dino watched her chew happily for a moment before her chews started to slow, her nose wrinkled, and immediately he knew that he had screwed something else up. He could tell that it was only through momentous effort that she swallowed at all and so when she turned her attention onto him he cringed instinctively.

"It tastes… like salt."

Dino looked positively mortified and whirled around to root his way through the carnage on the counters before realising that, yes, he had indeed poured in what must have amounted to about 2 cups full of salt into the cake. He turned back around guiltily and when Haru caught sight of the salt packet in his hands she burst out laughing, having to lean against the counter to steady herself.

When her laughter had finally subsided enough she wiped her eyes, turning to face Dino once more and attempting to put a serious expression on her face.

"You know, I don't think much of your seduction tactics."

The look on Dino's face at that comment was a mixture of embarrassment and hurt masculine ego, his eyes averted to the floor, though Haru could tell from the dusting of pink across the other's cheeks that it was more the former than the latter.

"…Oh."

"Yeah," Haru continued glibly. "There's far better ways to seduce someone."

Dino looked mildly confused, forehead furrowed, and Haru rolled her eyes at how indescribably dense some people could be. She stepped forwards, noting how Dino's gaze flickered up at her briefly before returning to the ground, before grabbing hold of the front of his shirt and hauling his face down to meet hers.

"…Oh."

Omake

"I have something for you as well~!" Haru chimed later on that night and Dino watched as she slid off the bed and sauntered out of the room, sashaying her hips just because she knew he was watching.

Dino settled back against the pillows again, tucking his hands behind his head and waiting impatiently for her to return. She took a little longer than he had been expecting and so by the time she returned he was dozing, eyes half closed. He jolted into awareness when something hit him smack in the face, blinking stupidly down at the object in his lap. It was a cloth but not only that, when he looked up in confusion it was only to realise that Haru was also holding a bucket of water and a mop.

"Here you go." Haru's grin looked positively devilish. "Now you can clean the mess you made in the kitchen."