Jude’s gaze was level and expectant. His sweets pilferer definitely looked like the barn cats in his childhood, purposefully poised, and always up to something. Having him on a table near so many mixing bowls and bags of ingredients was a dubious situation at best, and a dangerous one at worst. That innocent smile did nothing but keep him incredulous.
“Right. Sure.” And those free sweets sounded just as fake. As if Mog would allow anything for free, no matter how freely Jude would give out his baked treats. He didn’t remember giving this one anything for free in the past few hours. “Y’mean pilfered, right? Snatched ones. How can you like eating those straight, anyway? They’re real bitter outside-a cookies.” If Jude was going to just eat straight up chocolate, he wouldn’t be eating the chips. They were called “semi” sweet for a reason.
Well, whatever. Jude sighed and nodded, rolling his eyes in a way that may have been too obvious. “They’re really not bad. I’ll eat ‘em if you don’t.” It was mostly surface charring, thank god. How, he didn’t know, but he would thank the baking gods. “But if you don’t want any…”
And there it was. Of course the catty man would demand one after looking so put out. Jude picked up one of the cooler biscuits and put it in the outstretched hand, patting it decisively before going to nibble on another cookie himself. “Don’t say I’ve never been nice to you.”
Scandalously enough, Jude seems perfectly immune to Lauriam’s sweet smile. The nerve. Is he not aware of how much effort goes into being perfectly charming? He could at least seem a little more enthralled by Lauriam’s dedication to flirting his way into free sweets. Hmph.
Luckily, Lauriam is not one to be put off by a little challenge. He bats his lashes prettily. “Pilfered? Oh, Jude, I’d never steal from you!” He pops another chocolate chip into his mouth. “Hmm? These? I like them.” Not as sweet as he’d prefer, certainly, but they are his hard-earned prize and he intends to devour them. His attention diverts, briefly, to the mixing bowls he shares a table with, as if searching for anything else he might be able to stick his fingers into. Nothing presents itself, but at least Jude is willing to share his charred cookies.
He gives it a careful test-nibble and is pleasantly surprised to discover that even Jude’s burnt food tastes great. Lauriam decides to linger around. The poor boy will need help eating all those biscuits, yes? “Ah, you’re always nice to me,” he grins, free hand delving into a pocket and carefully withdrawing something -- a little flower, pink petals and pretty scent. He offers it to Jude with another pretty lash-flutter. “For you. Now you can’t say I’ve never been nice to you, either.”
