Notes: I am not a culinary person at all I once almost burned down my apartment heating up a frozen dinner please forgive any shame I have brought upon the craft please and thank you.

Spoilers for Rody's quirk but that's pretty much all. This is meant to be a continuation of Fourth Finger, but you can read it on its own if you really want to!

A recipe for

Sometimes Rody really wished that he could throw Pino into a fucking birdcage.

Unfortunately, Pino was a quirk, not a normal bird. If Rody did try to lock him in a cage and leave him somewhere, even just a few rooms away—and trust him, he had tried—Pino would simply disappear from his prison and re-materialize at Rody's side.

Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time, it wasn't a problem. Rody liked Pino, so it wasn't even worth thinking about. Sure, it was a bit inconvenient to always have his deepest emotions on full display to anyone who knew the true nature of his quirk, but Rody was in his twenties now. He had long since learned to cope.

What he could not cope with was Pino intermittently letting out frazzled peeps for hours on end, like a smoke detector in need of a new battery.

"Quit it," Rody growled, grabbing the bird around the head and torso, effectively clamping his beak shut. A temporary solution, because Rody needed that hand to finish preparing dinner. "Just calm down, idiot. It's not helping."

Of course, Rody knew those words were better directed at himself, as Pino was only channeling his own frayed nerves. Calming down in his current situation was far, far easier said than done, though.

Dropping Pino back onto the kitchen counter, and resigning himself to yet another round of broken smoke detector simulator, Rody turned back to the meal in progress. It wasn't a particularly difficult set of dishes he was preparing, really; all things considered, it was relatively simple. Humble, even. But it was the context around the dinner that made everything so, so much different.

Almost a year earlier, as Rody was relaxing before a flight, Roro had called him up unexpectedly. Apparently the teenager had started to go through their father's effects, venturing into their childhood home that had been left abandoned for more than a decade and recovering long-forgotten artifacts that they had left behind.

"I found Dad's recipe file," was what Roro determined pertinent enough to mention immediately.

"Oh, awesome!" Rody had responded, a grin expanding across his face. "Was his paella recipe in there? I still haven't figured out all of what he used to get it to taste just right..."

"It was, I'll send it over. But..." Rody was so busy pumping his fist in celebration that it took him a moment to realize that his brother had trailed off. "Um, Rody?"

"Hmm?" He turned his attention back to Roro's voice. "Yeah, what's up?"

The other end of the line was silent for a moment longer before Roro posed his question. "Are you planning to marry Izuku?"

"Marr—?!" Rody fumbled with his phone, dangerously close to letting it shatter on the floor of the flight crew lounge. After getting his bearings again, he returned the phone to his ear. "What— Why would— What brought this on all of a sudden?! I mean... sure, I've thought about it, but we haven't discussed it yet or anything..."

"Thought so," Roro muttered. "I'll send over something else with the paella recipe too, then. So you can use it if you want, whenever that time might be."

Rody narrowed his eyes at his phone screen, as if the caller icon showing Roro grinning with his secondary school mates would react to his glare. "What is this 'something else,' exactly?"

"You'll see. I'll email it all to you later. You're probably busy getting ready for your flight, though, so I'll leave you be. Bye!"

Before Rody had a chance to get another word in edgewise, the line was cut.

The "something else," it turned out, was an old note detailing their father's own plans from when he had proposed to their mother. Most notably, it contained the recipes for the entire home-cooked dinner that Eddy Soul had prepared for his then soon-to-be fiancée.

Rody had disregarded it, at first. It wasn't that he didn't want to propose—there was no question in his mind that this was the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with— but Izuku was amazing, wonderful, awesome. He deserved something better and way flashier in the way of a marriage proposal. A simple home-cooked meal wasn't going to cut it.

But as the months went by, the ghost of the idea lingering in his mind, Rody became more and more aware just how much Izuku enjoyed his home cooking. The way Izuku's eyes brightened whenever he came home from work to see Rody working at the stove; that soft, satisfied smile he gave when he took the first bite, every single time; the way that he seemed to be even more excited for Rody's poor attempts at katsudon than anything that they could ever order from a restaurant.

"It's just not the same when you're overseas," Izuku would laugh. "I try to cook for myself when I can, but it can't compare to what you make, Rody."

"You've just been too coddled," Rody would shoot back, poking his boyfriend's forehead teasingly. "I have half a mind to let you starve one of these days, just to force you to learn to cook better."

"Aww, don't do that! Even if you did, I'd just go to Mom's place."

"See what I mean? Coddled."

Rody's cooking really wasn't anything special; it was just a skill he picked up out of necessity. But it was undeniable that Izuku enjoyed eating what he cooked. Still, it just seemed so... plain, for a man who was anything but.

So, just to help him make the final decision on how to propose, Rody decided to ask for advice.

"Why the FUCK are you asking me?!"

Rody had already pulled away his phone to arm's length, anticipating that reaction. It was half the reason he had called in the first place, honestly. Grinning, he brought the phone back to cradle it against his shoulder. "Aww, come on. You've known him longer than anyone, Kacchan," he cooed.

"Don't call me that! You're dead the next time I see you!"

"You'd really leave Izuku bereaved before we can even tie the knot?"

"Should have thought of that before you dug your own grave, Birdbrain!"

Rody chuckled as he leaned back in the recliner. He wondered, briefly, why he seemed to always take these kinds of calls in the crew lounge, but on the other hand, it was one of the few places he could relax without the risk of Izuku overhearing. "Seriously, though, what do you think?"

"What, the proposal? You really think Izuku's gonna care whether it's some over-the-top flyover or a skywriter or whatnot? Just cook him the dinner and call it a day, that shit's easy."

"Somehow I'm not entirely convinced you're suggesting the more meaningful route."

"If you're just gonna reject what I say, why did you even call?!"

"Never said I would reject it," Rody said smoothly, "just objecting to the implication I should take the easy way."

"Just 'cause something's easy doesn't make it meaningless." Katsuki scoffed, a sharp burst of air crackling in Rody's ear. "Doesn't matter what you do, really. Izuku's an emotional piece of shit who will blubber out a pathetic 'yes' through his tears regardless."

"I have another objection, your honor."

"Shut the fuck up."

Rody chuckled. "Ah, but let's try another tack. What would you do to propose to Ei?"

The abrupt beep of the line disconnecting was the only response he got.

So, he had settled on the idea of dinner. At first Rody had worried that he might not be able to find all the ingredients in Japanese grocery stores—before remembering that duh, he was an international pilot.

His father's plans laid out a meal that was homey, not just a far cry from what Rody might prepare for an everyday dinner, just with subtle special touches. An appetizer of mozzarella and arugula on baguette toast, topped with jamón ibérico; ribeye steak seasoned with a rub made of brown sugar and chili, served with garlic herb butter and a side of asparagus and roasted potatoes; French chocolate mousse garnished with raspberries for dessert, and red wine to drink. Rody had made some version of most of that for Izuku at least once before, though he'd never brought Iberian ham into Japan before, so that would be new. And Izuku tended to abstain from alcohol in general just in case he was ever called upon for an emergency rescue. But this was... well, a proposal, right? A marriage proposal?! Surely that called for a little bit of wine!

And if and when Izuku said yes, Rody wasn't planning to let go of him for the rest of the night anyway. Not even if the rest of the world was burning to the ground.

But that was a thought for after the fact.

With his mind made up, Rody spent months going over the plans in his head, practicing one or two of the dishes for himself whenever he ended up in a hotel room with the proper amenities, meticulously planning every word he wanted to say. The scanned PDF of his father's notes that Roro had sent became one of his most frequently-opened files, to the point that his phone would actually suggest looking at it around dinner time every day—and, more times than not, Rody would oblige. Even if he wasn't actively cooking one of the dishes—even if he was, he soon had the recipes memorized anyway—it was comforting to connect with his father from a time when he had gone through the same experience, to see the handwriting overflowing with the same love that Rody felt for Izuku.

Finally, the timing and the ring and Rody's own resolve had perfectly aligned and he was ready to propose to the man he loved more than anything in the world.

If only Pino would shut the fuck up already.

He heard the front door open, immediately followed by Izuku's familiar footfalls and his voice calling out, "I'm home!"

Acting quickly, Rody grabbed the tiny bird and shoved him into their silverware drawer, slamming it shut with a rattling crash just as he opened his beak to let out another anxious tweet. "Welcome home!" he called back, meeting Izuku with a calm smile as the pro hero padded into the kitchen.

"You're making dinner already?" Izuku came around behind Rody and wrapped his arms about his waist, resting a freckled cheek against the taller man's shoulder. "You just flew in around lunchtime, didn't you? I'd have thought you'd want to rest a little more before cooking."

As if his jittery nerves would let him rest even if he wanted to. "I'm fine. I can't let my favorite hero go hungry, can I?"

"Jeez..." Izuku pouted, letting his eyes rove over the ingredients laid out on the counter. "Steak tonight?"

"Yup."

"You're putting... sugar on it?"

Rody bopped him lightly on the head, some of the rub covering his hands falling into Izuku's wavy locks.

"Hey, Rody—!"

"Go take a shower, Hero," he said, grinning. "I'll finish cooking dinner while you get cleaned up."

"Are you sure you don't want me to help with anything first?"

Rody gently, if not a little reluctantly, pulled himself out of Izuku's embrace. "Nope, I'm fine. Just go and—"

"Pi!"

Rody stopped short, internally panicking, trying to think of some explanation for the muffled chirp that just came from their silverware.

Mercifully, Izuku only glanced at the drawer, but didn't try to open it or even ask why Pino was in there before smiling and stepping towards the kitchen door. "All right, then. I'll go get washed up."

"Yup, you do that!" Rody leaned over for a quick kiss, then waved his boyfriend out of the kitchen before turning back to the task at hand, just as Pino managed to force the drawer open and fly out again. "Don't you dare ruin this, you goddamn thorn in my side," he mumbled, poking a finger on the top of the bird's head.

"Pi!"

"You better make that the last 'pi' out of your beak for the rest of the night."

"Pi!"

Rody's plan wasn't anything extravagant. They would sit down for a nice, comfy meal together; just a normal dinner, casual yet intimate. Then, as Rody would stand up to get their dessert from the fridge, instead of heading directly for the kitchen he would take a detour to Izuku's side of the table, take out the ring he had finally received from Hatsume a few weeks earlier, go down on one knee, and pop the question. Then Izuku would cry and probably (hopefully) say yes and they would live happily ever after until the inevitable stress of planning a celebrity wedding.

Simple. Foolproof. Aside from the Pino factor, but there was nothing to do about that really. The little bird was starting to calm down a bit, anyway, nesting comfortably in Rody's hair as his mind cycled through the familiar routine he had perfectly planned over the months. It was just a simple proposal at home. No room for disaster, no need to worry about inclement weather messing up a skywriter or about over- or under-dressing—indeed, when Izuku came down from his shower he was wearing shorts and an oversized hoodie, and Rody thought he looked absolutely perfect.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Izuku asked, looking at the spread of dishes on the counter. "Or... it looks like you're pretty much done now, huh?"

"Just about," Rody said, arranging the potatoes and asparagus just so. "Could you set the table, though?"

"Sure thing." Izuku opened up the silverware drawer, wordlessly flicked away a pink feather sitting among the spoons, and got to work.

The origin of that feather was beginning to fidget again with Izuku back in the room, so Rody grabbed Pino and stuffed him in his pocket. Maybe tasking the bird with guarding the little box he had in there would curb any possible disturbances. Turning back to Izuku, he forced an easygoing grin and asked, "Ah, could you set out a couple wine glasses, too?"

Izuku gave him a pointed look, but turned towards the glass cupboard anyway. "Wine, huh? Is there some special occasion?"

"Occasion? Haha, nah," Rody said, trying to keep his hands from shaking before he dropped the plates he was carrying. "Just, you know... one of the flight attendants gave me a nice bottle and I figure why not make use of it? It should pair well with the steak."

"Hmm. All right, then." There was a hint of a smile playing on the edges of Izuku's mouth, but he didn't question any further and began setting the table in their dining room as Rody set out the food. "It all smells really good, by the way."

"Even though I put sugar on the steak?"

Izuku puffed his cheeks indignantly. "Jeez, I wasn't doubting you, just asking..."

Rody laughed, a light breath of air that eased his nerves just a little, and quickly placed a feather-soft kiss on one of those adorable cheeks. "Let's sit down and eat before it gets cold."

But as soon as he sat, the box (and bird) in Rody's pocket jutted into his hip, and his breath caught.

Oh shit. Oh shit, this was happening.

Izuku had clapped his hands together for that "itadakimasu" ritual that had long since become normal to Rody, but upon noticing that he was the only one doing it, he tilted his head questioningly. "Rody? Are you okay?"

"Huh?! Oh, yeah, I'm great! I just— ah!" He snapped his fingers and stood up from the table with a nervous laugh. "I forgot the wine!"

"You forgot it? It's fine if we don't have—"

"I mean, I have it, it's just in the kitchen! I'll go get it, you can start eating." Without waiting for a response, he dashed out of the dining room and as soon as he was out of sight he emptied his pocket onto the counter, Pino giving a frazzled trill.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck," Rody mumbled under his breath, then took the ring box and tossed it back and forth between his hands, hoping that some sort of repetitive motion would help calm his nerves. "This is too real, how the fuck am I going to— goddammit, Pino," he groused, swatting at the bird who was circumnavigating his head and letting out an endless string of uneasy chirps. "This is worse than the smoke alarm shit, can you please shut it?!"

He took a long, deep breath and ran his hands over his face, brushing his bangs back. "Okay... okay, I'm fine, I can do this," he huffed, grabbing the bottle from the small wine rack in the corner—it really had been a gift from a flight attendant, albeit not a particularly recent one.

With Rody's breathing under control, Pino settled on his shoulder, mostly quiet but trembling slightly. That was probably as good as it was going to get.

Steeling himself, Rody hid the ring in his pocket again and turned to re-enter the dining room. "I'm back!" he announced, grinning.

"Welcome back! Everything okay?" Izuku asked, laughter in his eyes.

"You haven't touched your food," Rody pointed out, choosing to ignore the question.

"Come on, I couldn't just start without you!"

"Jeez..." Rody popped the bottle of wine open, filling both glasses with the practiced ease of a former bar assistant, and nudged the plate of mozzarella toast towards Izuku. "At least give this a try. This ham's famous, you know?"

Obligingly, Izuku picked up a piece of toast and took a bite, his eyes immediately lighting up in that way that Rody loved. "Oh, wow!"

"Right?" Rody sat back down in his seat, grinning.

"That ham is really good! It's smooth and... a little nutty?" The set of his brows as he tried placing the flavor profile was absolutely adorable. "Where did you get it?"

"Eh, Spain."

"I feel like you said something really amazing just now as if it was nothing..."

Rody laughed and snatched Pino out of midair when his swirling, overpowering affections caused the bird to try launching himself at Izuku. "Nah, not a big deal, really."

Izuku eyed him curiously as he finished his piece of toast. "Seriously, though, is it some sort of special occasion?"

Pino gave another loud peep, so Rody tossed him onto the floor. "Just wanted to treat my Mr. Number One a bit, that's all."

Izuku flushed slightly, but didn't argue.

From there, they fell into comfortable conversation, enjoying each other's company and the good food—or, well, Rody tried to enjoy the food, but his attention was quite firmly focused somewhere besides his taste buds. His boyfriend was distractingly gorgeous, his bird was distractingly annoying, and the knots tying up his stomach weren't doing any favors to his mental state or his appetite.

Izuku, of course, didn't take long to notice that he had barely touched what was on his plate. "Rody?"

"Hmm?" He forced a smile. "What's up, honey?"

"You're not really eating."

"Hah? Sure I am."

Izuku quirked an eyebrow. "Won't you at least eat the steak? It tastes good with the sugar, you know."

"Stop saying I put sugar on the steak!"

With a laugh, Izuku reached over and gently took Rody's hand that was resting on the table, twining scarred fingers with work-calloused ones.

Rody's heart stuttered in his chest before revving up full throttle. Entranced, he couldn't bring himself to do anything to stop Pino when he began flying laps around the dining room, tweeting a nervous rhapsody.

Rody grimaced, feeling as if he were exhaling at least thirty years' worth of his lifeforce with the weight of his sigh. "Ignore Pino, please," he grumbled.

"I'm not looking at anyone besides you, Rody."

If Rody's heart had been thudding a mile of minute before, now it felt like it had simply stopped—the man sitting across from him, who held his hand so gently, as if they were never meant to be apart, who smiled as if he had been blessed by every angel in heaven, was just so amazing, so perfect—

With his free hand, Rody squeezed the box in his pocket.

"I-Izuku!" he forced from his throat, almost like an aborted cough, and god he was so uncool and the edges of the box were digging into his fingers and Pino was damn near causing a racket, but Izuku just kept smiling, tilting his head inquisitively.

"Yeah, Rody?"

"I..." Oh fuck. Oh fuck, what was he going to say? "I... I love you," he said lamely, his mind full of the name of the emotions threatening to overflow but not much else.

Izuku chuckled. "I know. I love you too."

He had had this all planned out, didn't he?! But now that it was coming down to it, he was drawing a blank. What had all those months of practicing and reciting been for?!

Wait, wasn't he going to wait until just before dessert?

Shit, he wasn't even down on one knee!

"Rody," Izuku said gently, his smile warm and thumb rubbing comforting circles on the back of Rody's hand. "It's okay. You can ask me."

The words were so loving, so soft, they felt like home, and the sweet warmth filling Rody's chest finally overflowed, becoming words spilling from his lips. "Will you marry me?"

Izuku's smile only widened, his eyes shining like the brightest jewels, shining like—

"Shit, the ring!" Rody stood up to pull the box out of his pocket and fumbled to get it open. "Sorry, I forgot to take it out before I— Here, it's— Wait, you're not crying."

The smile in Izuku's eyes changed to mild puzzlement as he blinked up at Rody. "Am I... supposed to cry?"

"Katsuki said you would cry."

"I'm not going to cry just because Kacchan said I would..."

Rody studied Izuku's expression, his brow furrowing as something occurred to him. "You're not surprised," he said, more of a statement than a question.

That, at least, seemed to catch Izuku off-guard. "Huh? Oh, uh, I mean..."

Groaning, Rody dropped himself back in his seat. "This wasn't a surprise. You knew."

"I..." It was Izuku's turn now to laugh nervously, red coloring his cheeks. "Well, you see..."

"I should have known." Rody buried his head face in his hands. "Stupid Pino giving everything away..."

Izuku made a soft, hesitant noise. "I, uh... I know you well enough by now that I didn't really need Pino to be able to tell..."

"God. Was I really that obvious?"

"Um... Do you want the truth?"

Rody groaned even louder, wishing that it was possible to burrow even deeper into his hands.

Izuku gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh, so, if it makes you feel any better, it probably wouldn't have been as obvious if—"

"What?"

"...Rody, will you please look at me?"

Knowing full well that his face was red and his mouth set in a pout, Rody dropped his hands and looked at his boyfriend, who was fidgeting on the other side of the table.

"Um, well..." Izuku put a hand into the kangaroo pocket on the front of his hoodie, and out of the folds of fabric he produced—

A ring box.

Rody blinked, slowly. He looked at his own hand, just to make sure that the box was still there—yes, he hadn't handed it over to Izuku yet. So why was Izuku holding it if he hadn't—

"Wh— wait, what...?!"

Izuku laughed bashfully, opening the box to reveal a simple, silver ring—similar, but decidedly not the one created by Hatsume. "I, uh... was kind of planning to propose, too. So I could tell."

"Wha—?!"

"I would have asked you earlier, honestly, but once I figured out what you were up to I wanted to let you have a chance..."

"Don't tell me that, jeez!" Rody hid his face again. "So what you're saying is that I'm slow, huh?!"

"Not at all!"

"But we would have been engaged earlier if it weren't for me?"

Izuku was silent for a beat. "Actually, about that..."

Rody removed his hands again. "What?"

With a cheeky grin, Izuku pointed out, "Neither of us has actually answered the other yet, you know."

Rody stared at him, and Pino all but shrieked in excitement. He sighed. "I guess that's answer enough, huh?"

"Nope. I'm only looking at you, Rody." Izuku's smile was soft and sweet. "I want to hear it from you, not Pino."

Feeling his face grow warm again, Rody cleared his throat and straightened his posture, presenting the box properly before him as he tried to recover his poker face. "Well, then. How about on the count of three?"

Izuku looked like his cheeks might burst with the force of his smile. "Sounds good. So... three, two one..."

""Yes!""