pers-books:

This post by @becketted yesterday got me thinking about the two occasions in canon when Coulson cooked for a member of the team: for S/mmons in 2:03, and for Daisy in 2:13.

In 2:03 Coulson cooks grass-fed steak, fingerling potatoes and organic kale for S/mmons, and they debrief on her undercover role at HYDRA. When he asks if she’s made friends, she mistakenly assumes he’s concerned for her well-being/feelings, but he’s actually just trying to establish whether or not she’s fitting in within HYDRA, explaining that “undercover is all about the relationships you make” and tells her that if she’s going to move up in HYDRA she needs to make friends. He’s in boss-mode throughout their dinner.

In 2:13 Coulson makes Daisy grilled cheese, then teases and flirts with her over its ‘secret ingredient’: “Don’t ask. I will not disclose.” (Steady on, Phil!), before talking to her about how she’s coping with the monitoring that SHIELD’s been doing post-Terrigenesis. When she mentions Trip’s death he abandons his seat at the table to come and sit beside her on her bed and tries to comfort her. The whole thing is very personal, despite his (kinda pathetic) attempt to revert to a professional tone following his flirty remark about the secret ingredient.

Everyone would have us believe that Coulson and Daisy’s relationship is purely platonic, but canon keeps tossing these ridiculously romantic tropes our way.