What had started as a bland stating of the obvious ended in something that couldn’t quite be called a smirk.

Quite.

His gaze lingered in their unannounced staring contest, but he was the first to finally look away. He had work to do – not to mention an audience of two people who could get him into irrecoverable trouble. One of whom seemed to notice the service more than her own peer...

He opened the oven, waved a hand through the blast of heat above the door, and grabbed the cookie tray with a mitt. Sliding it in and shutting it, he took a look at his watch before answering.

“Prefer soft cookies?” he said in English.