The door creaked as it opened—Kronii clicked her tongue, reminding herself to get that fixed. It had been annoying her for months, and she kept promising she'd do something about it, but there was just never any time.
"Anon?" The only sound from inside the apartment was the TV set on low—some cooking channel, or something. Her boyfriend was nowhere to be seen, however—which was a little worrying. "I'm home!"
Nobody answered. She stepped into the living area—the only sign that her boyfriend had been here at all was the small blanket balled up on the couch. Fuck. "A-anon?"
It'd been a month since he moved in with her—had he just left? Finally realized—No. Stop that. She took a deep breath, centering herself. Her therapist went over this with her every week. Stop these lines of thinking before they start. He was probably out getting groceries, or something.
Stepping into the kitchen, she gasped—it was like a storm had gone through here. There was white powder all over the floor, like something had exploded—a trail of footprints led outwards, and she could spy a half-hearted attempt to clean it up at the edge of the kitchen, started but not finished.
At the table, though, sat a sleeping man, his head leaning against his arm, bits of flour coating his apron and face—it was a bit adorable, actually. Still, he had worried her.
A ping made her jump—the oven had suddenly switched off, letting out a noise to indicate whatever was inside had finished baking. Even so, the sound wasn't enough to wake her partner—he grumbled and shifted, but didn't open his eyes. She stepped through the flour gracefully, pulling open the door to the oven carefully.
"Bread?" She caught a giggle in her throat—he'd been talking about wanting to bake a loaf or two for weeks now, but he'd never mentioned actually doing anything about it. Had he been trying to surprise her with freshly baked bread?
"Rrrmmm…" The napping baker let out another noise, sensing Kronii's presence. "…love you." Again, her breath hitched, not expecting the sudden sweet words, and she felt a stupid grin growing on her face. God, he was too good for her. She blinked, wiping a happy tear from her eye. Way too good for somebody like her.