Chapter Text
Cade’s maybe the only one in the House that Jaiden wholly trusts to cook for her. She’ll always trust Jacob, of course, since they’ve lived together for so long, and sometimes Void or Fyrus or someone— but now Cade’s here, and he… actually knows how to cook.
And he’s quite good at it! Compared to everyone else in the house, at least. It’s a breath of fresh air to come down the stairs and smell his cooking, as opposed to smelling… Fungle Juice. Or whatever it was that they called it.
It’s comforting, Jaiden thinks, to always be able to enter the kitchen and find him up to something. What, exactly, she’s never really sure, but she likes to sit on the counter sometimes, strike up a conversation. Watch him as he chops up various ingredients, stirs them together, separates them…
This morning is no different. It smells of cinnamon, she notes, as she enters the kitchen. Cade is stirring up some kind of batter, and the oven is preheated, warmth emanating from that side of the room.
“Hi Jaiden!” he greets, glancing back at her. She hadn’t said anything yet— it must've been her talons against the tile that alerted him. A rather recognizable sound, she supposes.
She gives him a raspy chirp in reply, coming up to his side and leaning against his arm. He laughs a little, and wraps that arm around her shoulders, while continuing to work on whatever it is he’s making.
Jaiden’s tired. Hungry, yes, but tired. She only just got out of bed, and she’s yearning to go back, to nestle underneath the covers again, to let the soft embrace of sleep envelop her once more.
And having Cade’s arm around her shoulders is almost the same. But she can’t exactly… relax like this. She has to keep herself upright, standing.
She shakes her head, and pulls away. This isn’t what she wants.
Cade seems to pause, confused. He turns to her, and opens his mouth, as if to say something— but Jaiden’s already climbed up his back, settling on his shoulders.
It’s a little awkward, from how little leverage she’d had on the floor, but she makes it work regardless. Her talons dig into his shoulders a little to help her steady herself, but then her grip loosens— she’s good.
Cade hasn’t moved, still— he must be… processing, or something. But eventually, he just hums, and gets back to work — which Jaiden coos at, content.
At first, she’s just watching what he’s doing, head resting on top of his and peering down to see his hands. But eventually — her perch shifts into a sit, talons falling around him rather than on him, and she relaxes.
Jaiden finds herself getting sleepier and sleepier by the minute, soothed by the scent of cinnamon and the radiating warmth of the oven. And she doesn’t want to fall asleep, not really, but… it calls her anyway.