Ruby/Sapphire

Mangaverse

Ruby could feel the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead by now; his nerves were really starting to get to him.

And she was doing nothing to make it better, by just being THERE every time he turned around.

He knew what she wanted. Knew why she was there, what she was after. He knew exactly why Sapphire kept looming so close behind him that sometimes he could feel her breath on his neck. To say it was unnerving was an understatement.

At the very least, he had to admit that at least she knew what she wanted. He had to admire that in anyone, especially the girl he was sort-of-kind-of-I-guess-that's-what-we'll-call-it dating. But it was, at this point, bordering on obnoxious.

"Is it done yet?" she asked for the fourth time that hour, sniffing the air. One arm reached past him toward the counter, and he batted her hands away from the baking sheet, glaring at her defensively, wielding his fork.

"I haven't even put them in the oven, how could they be done?"

"Can I lick the spoon, then?" she asked, and he tried not to meet her eyes. They were so wide, so sparkly, that he knew he'd have to give in, and that would be entirely counterproductive right now. The cookie dough had raw eggs in it, and she shouldn't be eat-

"HEY!" he shouted, grabbing her wrist before her finger could reach her mouth. She'd swiped it in the bowl and was about to lick it. "Okay, that's just gross." He tried very hard to ignore the pout now adorning her face, only to have her hand suddenly jerk forward, smearing the dough across his nose. "SAPPHIRE!"

She giggled, pulling her hands away as he let go to wipe his face off, grabbing the bowl from the counter and dashing off with it before he could catch her. "Mine now!" she half-cackled from the doorway, running her finger around the rim and sticking it in her mouth with a satisfied "yummmm..."

Ruby sighed, turning back to crosshatch the last of the cookies just as the oven beeped; it was done preheating. He supposed letting her eat what was left in the bowl wouldn't be too bad, though it would ruin her appetite probably. No sense in being a jerk about it. So he popped the oven open and pushed in the cookie sheet, standing to set the timer for the required 12 minutes.

It had only taken him about 15 minutes to mix the ingredients and put the cookies on the sheet, but Sapphire had gotten this impatient just from that waiting. And now she was licking the last of the dough from the bottom of the bowl, so that when she put it down, he noticed some had gotten on her chin... And she was staring at the oven impatiently. He'd have to find some way to distract her, lest she try to eat them all while they were only half-baked.

"I didn't know you loved cookies this much," he laughed, walking toward her to wipe her chin with his thumb.

"I haven't had homemade cookies in YEARS," she defended, pulling back slightly and blushing when he touched her face. "...So yours better be worth the wait, or else," she muttered, averting her gaze.

Ruby found himself smiling at her sudden change in demeanor, and chuckled softly, which only made her brows furrow and blush darken further. "You just had some on your-"

He was cut off by her noticing that he hadn't gotten all the dough off his nose, and, unlike his more tactful approach, licking it off.

It occurred to him that right now, her kisses would taste like sugar cookies, and suddenly he knew how to stay occupied until their baking was done.