A/N: The idea for this came from a prompt from otpprompts on tumblr. I'd put it here, but since it'd spoil some of the drabble, I prefer not to. If you're curious, just ask me and I'll send it to you. Betaread by lunarshores! Thank you :)

Marco reached the conclusion that it was an unusually quiet Saturday afternoon. Beside the sound of the television coming from the living room and the usual noises of cars on the street, there wasn't anything else disturbing the peace of the apartment.

He couldn't say he minded it.

Marco sighed and rested the knife on the wood cutting board, eyeing all the vegetables and chicken he still had to cut. He rolled his shoulders and raised his right arm above his head until he heard a satisfying pop. Leaning against the counter, he took his time to look at the clock and calculate how long it'd take him to finish cooking, before glancing at his left arm with a frown. Despite it not being his dominant side, some things were still hard to complete without both arms, and he couldn't wait to get the cast out. If only…

Marco shook his head and turned back to cutting. It'd do him no good to keep dwelling on what had already happened.

He continued automatically for a while, until he heard a stomping noise. It started getting louder as it grew closer, and Marco chuckled in amusement when it stopped at the entry of the kitchen. He continued chopping and soon enough, two hands snaked around his waist until two arms surrounded him in a loose hug.

Marco turned to his right with a smile and planted a kiss on Ace's temple just as he leaned his head against Marco's right shoulder.

"Hey."

"Hey." Ace kissed his cheek back. "How's lunch?"

"It's going fine. It'll be ready in half an hour or so."

Marco both felt and heard Ace hum in understanding, and smiled as he noticed him move slightly until there was a hot puff brushing on his neck right below a cold spot.

"Your nose is cold."

"It's a cold day." Ace huffed.

Marco rolled his eyes. "You should probably wear something warmer then."

"Hm-uh, I'll make sure to do that."

When Ace didn't move from his position, Marco shook his head, hearing Ace chuckle as he tightened his hold.

They stayed quiet for a while, the only audible noises being their breaths and the knife hitting the wood cutting board, and Marco only noticed his shoulders had been stiff when he felt them slowly relax. It was a peaceful morning, indeed. The first one in two messy weeks that had seemed longer than they should.

Marco wondered if it was a sign things would finally fall back into their old familiar pattern, but before that he needed to know something.

"So, about your new habit…"

"What habit?" Ace leaned a bit back, so Marco was able to see his confused expression.

He sighed. "Your habit of being unnecessarily noisy. I don't recall you stomping while walking nor you talking loud when you went through the apartment."

"Ah, that…" There was a strange tone on Ace's voice, and it made Marco still in worry. He put the knife down and turned his full attention to Ace to hold his face between his hands.

"What's wrong?" Marco ran his eyes through him, trying to spot any sign of anything out of normal. When he didn't find anything, he looked back at his face, passing a thumb over some freckles, and wondered if maybe he was exaggerating by getting so concerned.

"Ah, no, no. There's nothing..." Ace exhaled, the sound tired. He took his time opening and closing his mouth a few times, and turning his eyes to everything in the kitchen but Marco, and Marco was just about to interfere when Ace glanced back. "It's just…"

Marco blinked in surprise at the soft blush that suddenly colored Ace's cheeks. "What?"

"I was worried." Ace's hand fell above one of his, and he slowly moved his finger in a circling motion. "After the accident and the doctor saying it'd be normal if you were overcautious with getting surprised, I didn't want to risk, you know… doing something that might upset you."

"And being noisy was your solution?"

"Well… You have been jumpy recently, so… yeah?"

Marco breathed out, having figured out Ace would notice he had been skittish, but this was just… He couldn't help but laugh then, and he only managed to stop when Ace started sputtering something, cheeks darkening in color.

"Ace," he interrupted him. He planted a soft kiss on his forehead before doing the same on one cheek, the other, the nose and chin until he finally reached his mouth, delving into a deep kiss. There was a comfortable warmth swelling inside his chest, threatening to crawl up and take his breath away.

When they separated, he felt Ace release a relieved breath before a small but sincere smile grew on his face, lighting it up. It was endearing, really, and Marco could only smile back, a storm of emotions creating a lump on his throat.

He pressed his lips on Ace's forehead, then on his jaw and on his nose, and Ace shivered slightly against him.

Marco was so lucky to have Ace.

"Thank you," he breathed.

The bright grin and glinting eyes he received back were all the answer he needed.