Haru's putting chicken and potatoes on a sheet pan to roast for dinner when he emerges.

"Hi."

"Hi. All better?"

"Yes - uh. I am mostly too relieved about all the bad things I didn't do to be worried about the less bad things I actually did. Sorry for being so self centered though. And thanks for being so helpful and spending so much time on helping with -" Lucien gestures vaguely "- the everything."

"Least I could do. I had people with me my whole awakening."

Nod nod.

"...going to want to test out your powers any time soon?"

" - oh I guess I would have those now. Yes, that sounds fun."

"Conservative use won't get you anywhere near as much backlash as you were living with during awakening and if you're in a hurry to clear it anyway you can just kiss me."

"Um."

"...no?"

"I would really like to but um." Where are words.

"We aren't married??"

"That is true. We are not married." shoulda nope, did the right thing in every universe, just turns out this universe is an annoying universe.

"Or courting! Or even... dating that's the word right."

"That is the word."

"Yeah."

"Okay. Well, uh, dinner should be out of the oven in twenty minutes, if you want to stay for that."

"I do really want to um. Kiss you." Lucien says as if that will fix all the barriers to making it happen.

"...that was, you know, my guess, at the time I suggested it, was that you would want to."

Lucien is back to nodding.

Haru loads measuring cups and a cutting board into the dishwasher.

Lucien can help.

There's not really a lot of dishes piled up, it's not a complicated dinner. The knife wants handwashing but Haru's got it.