There's a soft hum of silence as Ashton works on the pancakes, elegantly moving from pan to bowl back to pan back to bowl and--wow, as Jin smells the kitchen from his place lazily lounging in the living room on the other side, he almost moans in joy, already excited to eat breakfast, which is often unusual for him, given his cooking abilities.
Jin huffs, lazily flickering through channels on his t.v. remote as he focuses on some random news channel foretelling the recent massacre mess as not a demon hunt, but something about a big hurricane or something that destroyed buildings and killed people in its turmoil--it's usually like this. After Co has their hand in cleaning up devil messes, especially ones this big that killed many people, Co ends up somehow being able to do the cleanup swiftly, usually by the forms of memory manipulation.
How, you may ask? Co and the government are tied hand by hand, pretty closely under the government's Supernatural Sub-division, which means as Co receives a big budget and big support, Co needs to be able to keep their T's crossed to make sure there in goody-goody terms with the Japanese government. In translation? Jin knows Boss got quite a earful for the shit storm that's transpired due to Ashton's awakening. And as funny and appealing as it sounds to Jin that Boss most likely got chewed out, Jin still ends up on losing end, so.
There's the sound of pans and silver wear maneuvering and chairs being moved, both sounds that cause Jin to lazily throw his head back and look behind him. His glasses slightly slide down his slim nose, but his black eyes are able to still focus on Ashton's form as he turns his head towards Jin, his pinkish red eyes meeting Jin's own as he awkwardly shifts between his feet.
"What?" Jin asked, twisting his body enough for his arms to hang on the couch's arms.
"Where are your plates…?" Ashton ask, his rough voice leaving his lips, his soft accent plucking each of his words as he faces Jin with a bit more confidence. "I need to plate the food."
"Ah, it's at the cabinet at the top." Jin said, pointing up with a eyebrow raised. "Can't miss em."
Ashton opens his mouth to say something else, but he looks away and softly huffs, waving Jin off to almost dismiss him, which almost causes Jin to open his mouth to say something smart, but he huffs, turning his head back to the t.v., flickering through the channels boredly.
There's the sound of a chair scratching the floor. Jin raises an eyebrow, forcing himself not to fully turn around but to peak slightly behind his shoulder. Jin blinks, turning his head fully, watching Ashton lift a chair, drag it to the cabinets, and roll his sleeves as he readies himself to climb.
Jin snickers as a smirk slides on his face as he quietly stands up, shoving his hands in his pockets as he cockily walks over to Ashton, pointedly tilting his head up as Jin watches Ashton lift himself on the chair with a larger smirk on his face.
"You could have just asked." Jin said. Ashton quickly turns his head, squinting his eyes in a tight glare, but Jin's eyes wonder to Ashton's ears, which are a soft bright pink.
"I can get my shit myself, thanks. Broccoli fucking tree." Ashton said, quickly turning his head and reaching for the plates, but Jin is faster, swatting Ashton's hands away as he grabs two plates for them and turns around on his heels, shooting a large grin over his shoulder as Ashton gawks.
"You know, I can get use to this." Jin said, a cocky grin sliding right on his face. "Being the bigger person, small fry."
Jin ignores the various of cusses directed at his back.
…
This man can fucking cook.
Jin swallows another pancake down his throat, tearing up each soft layer with his teeth like it's A-1 steak. He chews and swallows, not stopping to slow down at all, but insists on stuffing his face with more fluffy pancakes and drowsing his pancakes with more syrup and butter.
"You…you can slow down, you know…?" Ashton said, a grossed-out expression clear painted on his face as he cringes, but slowly cuts his first pancake, lightly drizzling syrup on his food. "I…I made more than enough."
"Holy fucking shit." Jin swallows, licking his pink lips as he throws his head back, swallowing down a glass of water to clear his throat for another round of these angelic fucking cakes! "Jesus, I thought this would suck ass, but like holy crap you can fucking cook! This is the best shit I've ever had!"
Ashton opens his mouth to speak, but he quickly shuts it after, slowly dropping his fork and looking away. Jin clears his throat, readying another round of pancakes to his throat, but he suddenly stops, realizing that Ashton's ears are a brighter shade of pink than before, and his shoulders are hunched, his hands on his lap as he grips his hands tightly.
"I-uh…" Ashton said, swallowing heavily enough for Jin to watch it slowly travel down his throat. "…t-thanks…"
Jin opens his mouth to speak, but he suddenly feels his pale ears slightly burn, so he huffs, quickly turning away and slowly eating another piece of pancake.
There's a soft, awkward lull of silence filled with the sound of plates and utensils moving until it's Ashton who clears his throat, speaking again.
"…cooking…" Ashton suddenly mutters, his eyes forcing themselves on his plate. "You…don't cook often…?"
Jin raises an eyebrow, looking at Ashton with a knowing look.
"You clear have seen my skills." Jin said, letting out a heavy huff. "Unless Killer Brigade comes over, I usually just order takeout. Ah…sometimes Vinci brings some stuff over since he knows I'm a lost cause too. Formalities, I guess."
Ashton nods his head, and he opens his mouth to say something else, closes his shut, but then he opens his mouth to try again.
"…for you…" the words come out so softly, Jin almost does a double take.
"Hah?" Jin said, raising a eyebrow as he lifts another pancake to his lips. "Didn't hear you-."
"You said…you said we'd be living together for a while, right?" Ashton said, his eyes focused on his plate as he twist a piece of pancake dosed in syrup. "I-well-how is that gonna work?"
Jin pauses, clearing his throat as he puts his fork down and goes to take a swing of water.
"Fuck if I know." Jin said, shrugging his shoulders. "Just got the order. I'm assuming until shit settles, but all the agents usually have roommates. I was a special case since-uh-my devil is a bit of a special case."
"I see…" Ashton mutters.
"Hm, yeah—great—which means I guess we're roommates until further notice. Lovely." Jin mutters, letting out a short huff as he hugs his cheek in his palm.
"Do you like, pay rent or something?" Ashton said, raising a thick eyebrow, his bright eyes finally meeting Jin's. "This place is quite nice, I'm sure it's expensive..."
Jin blinks, taking his time examining the spacious apartment—the white walls, fur carpet, newly furnished cabinets, small baclony hidden behind the sliding doors to his left. Jin knows that his apartment is nice as fuck, and he knows the cost of how nice it is. In fact, it reminds him daily of how much his devil is valued, and how any day, on any mission, he can die.
"Co makes a fortune, they pay for it." Jin said, forcing his eyes on his hand that covers the top of his glass. "I hate owing people shit, though, so I still chose to pay rent. I make enough anyway."
Ashton blinks, his eyes roaming around the room, holding so many questions in them Jin can guess a handful of them, but he doesn't try to answer them, not at all. He just watches Ashton suddenly avert his gaze, his shoulders become stiff as he opens his mouth, clears his throat, and lets out a soft sniff before he speaks.
"…I'm assuming I'd eventually be paid for all this too, right?" Ashton asked, his voice hesitant. "If you pay for all of this, shouldn't I-?"
"It's technically free for you, so don't even bother." Jin said, raising his hand, his eyes focused on Ashton's surprised expression. "Could care less about the money. Plus…technically wasn't your choice. It's whatever."
Ashton's eyes widen, and Jin almost freezes, realizing that Ashton's eyes shimmering like they speak themselves, and their actually kind of pretty-.
Jin, what the fuck?
Jin squints his eyes, confused at his own, sudden thoughts, but Ashton's voice suddenly interrupts his inner thoughts.
"…then if that's the case, I can do the cooking for you—us—however you wanna put it." Ashton suddenly said, his eyes avert, but his ears a flushed red. "I-well-uh-I don't like owing nobody either, and…well…it wasn't your choice either so. I can contribute. That way. I'm good with cooking, you know? House stuff. Cleaning. That stuff. I can do that then."
Jin's eyes widened and he blinks, his right eye almost twitching as his brain racks to translate what he just heard.
"Huh?" Is the intelligent thing to come out of Jin's mouth.