A midnight meal
Faulorn, the now long-retired Dragonborn, was up late reading in the library when he realized he was feeling peckish. He sighed, placed a bookmark in the saucy novel he was reading before he put it away and made his way down the many steps of the castle to the kitchen.
The kitchen was empty, but the hearth fire was still warm, and in no time at all, Lorn coaxed it to a nice blaze.
He went to the cold larder and pulled out some of the leftovers from the day: a nice chunk of roasted venison, a small chunk of leftover beef tail, and some cold chicken. He also found himself some hard cheese, some jellied meat broth, and some full-fat milk.
He took everything back to the kitchen and put the meats, jellied broth, and some salt in a pot. After a few more moments, he shrugged and also added some peppercorns and some soup herbs to the pot. It wasn't traditional to the recipe he grew up eating, but after he left home so many years ago and abandoned his adherence to the green pact, he grew to appreciate the lovely nuance the fancy plant seasonings added.
It wasn't long before the meat jelly melted into a rich, silky broth, and the meats began to flake into bite-sized chips. Lorn fished the herbs out of the soup and discarded them into a little bowl. To the soup, Lorn added the milk and the cheese and let it simmer for a little while longer to thicken and blend.
"What are you making, my dearest? It smells good."
Lorn tensed a little in surprise before he relaxed, realizing the voice belonged to his mate, the Baron of the Castle, Trildyn.
"I've made a slightly modified version of my childhood midnight snack. It's a meat and milk soup. I used some herbs and spices to make it a bit more to my taste nowadays." Lorn said, turning into his husband's arms and cuddling up under his chin.
"Why are you up so late, Cap?"
Cap was an old nickname from long past, but for Lorn, it felt more intimate than just 'my love' or some other pet name.
"I was taking care of some unexpected paperwork, and after I was done, I realized I was quite peckish. I was going to make some steamed saltrice with some ash yams on top." Trildyn replied between leaving some affectionate kisses on his smaller mate's head. He ran his fingers through Lorn's surprisingly soft hair.
"Do you want me to help you cook, love? If you put the pot and water on the fire, I'll go get the saltrice and the yam from the larder."
"If you would be so kind, Dearest. Can you also bring some butter as well?"
"Of course. I'll be right back." Lorn croaked as he left The Baron's arms.
As Lorn wended back to the larder, he frowned a little. He grabbed the ingredients his spouse wanted, plus some honey and lemon.
Lorn's voice had gotten rather hoarse and croaky over the years, but thankfully something about the continent he now resided on seemed to agree with him, and his issues with his voice were thankfully lessened to a large degree. So this sudden croaking was a bit irritating.
He returned to the kitchen to see Trildyn standing next to the stove, watching the pot and waiting for the water to boil.
"It's not going to boil if you stand there looking at it, Cap," he rasped.
Trildyn chuckled and turned to Lorn, going to take the ingredients from his arms.
"You are amusing, my Heart. The water will boil regardless of whether I watch it or not because of the he- umph!" He tried to explain to Lorn before he was cut off with a kiss from his mate that was a very clear message to shut up, affectionately.
Trildyn smiled into the kiss and let out a little sarcastic noise of annoyance.
"Well, regardless, thank you for gathering the ingredients."
"Of course, Cap." Lorn said with a wheezy laugh as he placed the honey and the lemon on the table.
As the Baron went about making his own midnight snack, the retired Dragonborn sauntered over to the china cabinet, which of course held no china, and instead held a variety of well-made but rather plain dishes. He retrieved four slightly large rice bowls from one of the shelves and brought them over to the table. He then sat down at the table and watched T prepare and cook his part of the meal.
Trildyn wasn't the best at cooking; he struggled with some of the fine motor skill aspects of it. He was an accomplished swordsman and a brilliant mage, but he severely lacked dexterity. Lorn smiled fondly at Trildyn as he thought back to this morning when he had helped his husband button his shirt, like he always did. His husband would always try to button his own shirts but after a bit would lament to Lorn about how troublesome these small things were. And of course, Lorn would always smile affectionately at the Baron before he quickly buttoned his lover's shirt, gave him a kiss on the jaw, and told him to just ask for help next time.
Trildyn was focused on his cooking while Faulorn reminisced about the morning. They sat in a comfortable silence, aside from the crackling of the fire and the soft "tock tock tock" noise Trildyn's knife made as he diced the yam. Soon, the Baron put a measure of salted rice into the boiling water, stirring it quickly before adding the yam cubes. At the last second, he tossed in the soup herb bundle Lorn had used earlier.
"Should add a bit of extra flavor," he said quietly to himself as he placed a lid on the pot and moved it to a cooler area of the stove, next to Lorn's now softly simmering soup. Their meals would be ready in about 20 minutes.
Trildyn walked over to the kitchen table and sat down next to him on the bench so that their knees and shoulders touched. The Baron leaned over and rested his head on Lorn's shoulder. Lorn wrapped his arm around his husband's waist and affectionately petted his hip and side.
The two of them sat quietly for a while, just enjoying the peace. Right now, it was just them. No kids, no staff, and no irritating politicians who would not take no for an answer. Just the two of them.
Lorn let out a raspy purr of happiness when Trildyn began to rub his back a little bit.
"It's nice to be with you like this, Faulorn, my love."
"That it is, Cap, that it is."
The two of them snuggled for a while and before long, the saltrice was done, and the soup was rich and thick.
Lorn got up and filled the four small bowls, two with the soup, and two with the rice. The rice was topped with a pat of butter, and for Lorn's portion, a drizzle of honey and some lemon slices.
Lorn brought the bowls over to the table where he and his mate began to enjoy their midnight meals.
Both of them felt nourished, not only their bodies but their spirits as well. They both sighed happily as they ate, and before long all their food was gone and both of them were full. Together they cleaned up their mess in the kitchen and, shortly after, walked hand in hand up the stairs and down the long hallway to their bedroom where the two of them were soon in bed, happily slumbering in each other's arms.
