She might have been teasing him with the remark about today's performances being less distracting, but Ford decided immediately that he didn't mind. There was something about her tone and the smile she wasn't quite showing that made him feel as though they were both in on the joke, rather than her making one at his expense. Maybe it wasn't her tone or her smirk at all, actually; maybe it was just something he'd gathered about her personality in general. She approached many of these things with the same attitude he did, a sense of general exasperation and befuddlement at the way rich people acted that Ford often felt but rarely expressed. They were just cut from the same cloth, which made it easy to be comfortable around her. It didn't even occur to him to be nervous about letting his guard down. He just liked her.

"There's something in the way it smells, for sure," he agreed as he fell into step next to her. He hadn't been able to put a finger on what it was, but when she said like outside he nodded immediately, glossing over the inelegant phrasing. That was right. He probably wouldn't have ever gotten there without her prompting, but now that she'd said it he could see it: a faint scent that reminded him of cool, foggy mornings on the Black Lake. He couldn't have picked out any of the scents individually that conjured up that image, but that was definitely what it reminded him of. That, and the familiar faint floral scent he still couldn't name. "They probably tried to make the flavor a lot more complex, but didn't account for how the fruit would just take over everything. But it's still good," he said with a quick smile. He was glad she was enjoying it; since he'd picked it out he would have felt a little responsible if she hadn't liked it.

---