Sleeping was nice.

Beeping, on the other hand, was not.

Alibaba slapped sleep-loose fingers against his dresser, keening in frustration when he missed the snooze button on the alarm clock. His fifth try forced him up to actually see what it was he was hitting, getting struck by blinding sunlight the moment he did so. New curtains soon? Yes. Mental note: get Hakuryuu to take a detour to IKEA later. Alibaba smacked his lips and grimaced at the sensation of morning mouth. It was never pleasant, and never would be. He was seized with the urge to wash up, and shook the bare shoulder peeking out from under the blanket.

"Wakey wakey!" he lilted, jiggling his bedmate more aggressively. "Eggs and bakey!"

Hakuryuu mumbled something that sounded like 'I didn't do it,' but Alibaba couldn't be too sure. He snuggled deeper into the covers instead of responding, and it quickly became apparent that the other man would not be getting up anytime soon. Casting a last glance back at his boyfriend, Alibaba slithered out of bed and into the threadbare bunny slippers to his side (Morgiana had gotten him them as a gift last year- Hakuryuu had laughed at him for weeks. Alibaba personally found their googly-eyes and pink pom-poms very endearing.)

Alibaba was admittedly not a morning person at heart, but they had fallen into this routine after they had moved in together. Hakuryuu worked as a nurse from dawn 'til dusk, so all the extra sleep he could snag was precious. Alibaba, on the other hand, was a QA tester, and therefore had significantly more freedom with his work times than his boyfriend did. The first week had Alibaba being woken by the other's early morning bustling, which quickly became wearing on his patience. The seventh day had Alibaba crying from exhaustion; he wanted sleep, damn it!

Hakuryuu had suggested that he fix his sleeping schedule and work habits to help him to adjust to his own ("You'll be healthier that way, too! Routine will get rid of that flab you're packing for sure!"), and with reluctant agreement from Alibaba it was decided that while Hakuryuu would make dinner, Alibaba would make breakfast and lunch. Though he mourned losing Hakuryuu's cooking for two meals of the day- two!- he did agree that it was for the best.

Admittedly, Alibaba missed his abs from high school. They had been glorious, and he had been eagerly appraised asGreek statuesque by his little brother, Aladdin, before university swooped in and took a bite out of his soul. As he brushed his teeth, he slipped a hand under his shirt to pat at the softness there. Just a little more, he assured himself, and his sweethearts would be peeking out again.

A spit, rinse, and towel-off later, and Alibaba was skipping out the washroom and into their kitchen, feeling more awake than ever. Turning the television on was more out of habit than anything. He only kept half an eye on the morning news as he started stirring eggs to make omelettes.

Hakuryuu may have been the one with the heart of a master chef, but Alibaba could cook up a mean omelette. The recipe had been passed down through the Saluja family for generations, and he always ensured no one was around to snoop when he prepared them. Saluja family secrets were meant to be just that: secrets.

Up went the omelette until it returned to the pan on its watery side, releasing a satisfying sizzle. Alibaba clenched his fist and hissed to himself, "I am the master of flipping omelettes."

He wished his late mother could see him now. She would be so proud.

It was around when he was swaying his hips and lip-syncing to a catchy song he vaguely remembered hearing once that Hakuryuu emerged, eyes bleary. A 'morning' was mumbled as he quite literally toppled onto the couch, apparently still not entirely awake. Alibaba rolled his eyes and continued supervising his omelette. It was starting to brown at its edges, so he scooped it out and slapped it onto a plate. It lay there sadly, empty and golden, waiting for something to come accompany its delicious fluffy eggy goodness. Alibaba was about to help the poor thing out by giving it some rice, but the tupperware he retrieved from the microwave was not in fact rice, but curry. Last week's curry, to be exact. He squinted at the sauce, looked to the omelette, and shrugged. If his ancestors were shifting in their graves at the violation of their family recipe, they didn't let on, as Alibaba was able to layer the egg and curry sauce on toast without repercussion. He stuck a leaf from one of their many houseplants in the middle on artistic impulse.

"Voilà!" Alibaba brandished the plate at his boyfriend, currently hidden by the couch. "Breakfast is served!" Hakuryuu did not get up to get it, so Alibaba set it down on the table with a gentle clink and busied himself with preparing his own curry omelette toast. He suspected that the other had fallen asleep again- he could sort of recall him slipping into bed at around one in the morning.

"Is that Zagan in there?" asked Hakuryuu, sounding scandalized. Alibaba whipped his head around to examine the plant he had torn the leaf from with wide eyes. Sure enough, there sat Hakuryuu's favourite plant, the place where one of its leaves had been sticking out like a sore thumb. He laughed nervously.

"Uh, oops?" Alibaba stared holes into the egg he held in hand.

"I can't believe you." Disappointment: it was thick in his tone.

"I love you," blurted Alibaba, spinning around to throw himself on his disgruntled boyfriend. He stroked at silken black hair clumsily, the other hand plucking the leaf from its curry throne and tossing it over his shoulder. "I love you so much. My sweetpea. My angel. Please don't make me apologize to a plant at five in the morning." The last bit was thrown out as a precaution. Houseplants in their apartment may as well be housemates, with the way Hakuryuu religiously watched over them. He even crooned at them when he watered and fed them. If there was anything about the brilliant young man that Alibaba found off-putting, it would have to be his devotion to all that was inanimate and green.

Hakuryuu wrinkled his nose in confusion, though he let Alibaba pet him. "Oh. Uh. I love you, too. And... just don't do it again, okay?" There was a sigh of resignation, and Alibaba relaxed, letting his arms fall to Hakuryuu's shoulders. Hakuryuu, too, leaned into his embrace and wrapped his own arms around the other, nose pressing into his neck.

"You need to eat your breakfast!" Despite of his protest, Alibaba tangled his fingers in long black tresses and let Hakuryuu's hands wander lower and lower, until they finally stopped at his hips. Alibaba let out a breathy sigh when Hakuryuu slid his fingers to his front, spreading over his ribcage. Suddenly, they were at his stomach, pinching at the flab there.

"Hi, I'm Flabbybaba and I put houseplants in my boyfriend's breakfast." The high-pitched imitation of his voice made Alibaba squawk and slap the offending hands away, snatching Hakuryuu's plate away as he did so.

"Oh," gasped Alibaba, red in the face and an offended tear threatening to leak from his eye. "My god. No more breakfast for you! It's Alibaba's breakfast time!" Snatching up the toast, he made a show of eating it with relish.

"Alibaba." Hakuryuu protested, pawing at his shoulder even while he held back snickers. "Babe. I'm sorry for calling you flabby. Please give that back."

"No." Alibaba licked a finger. Revenge was delicious. He continued to eat even as his boyfriend pressed small apologetic kisses to his free arm.

Hakuryuu sighed again, good humour apparently spent for the day, and reached over to grab the toast back. The scandalized look on Alibaba's face went ignored as he poured himself some tea, toast in hand. This time, Hakuryuu licked his fingers and shot an exasperated look at Alibaba over his shoulder. "Thanks for the food," he said genuinely, warmly.

Alibaba resignedly poured himself a glass of orange juice, ears ablaze. "No prob."

A/N: Hi. This is kind of old, and was written in like one hour. Given that I haven't written shit in like 5 years, this is pretty bad. My mourning before the more recent chapters didn't know the meaning of patience (or practice).This is also on AO3. Have a nice day; my middle name is 'confused.'