"Ah, hello," Jingyi says, and if it is a little subdued from his usual enthusiasm, that is mostly because he is mirroring her. He still offers her a bright smile, though, because he has never found a smile too harsh for someone who does not seem to be feeling their best. It is a lesson he has learned from Zewu-jun and he can only hope he manages something even close.
"I brought you--" he hefts the platter, remembers it is covered, and uncovers it with a quick motion that has him almost bobbling the plate right out of his own hands.
There are...well. They might be brownies. There was an attempt.
"That's very kind of you." They might not look the best but they're certainly recognisable as brownies, leading to her taking the plate from him.
"Come in." The offer is made out of politeness, not wanting to send him so quickly away after he'd been kind, not wanting to seem rude. She'll lead him back to the kitchen to place the brownies down, finishing making the coffee that she'd been in the middle of making when he'd knocked.
"What made you stop by?" Aside from bringing her brownies but why randomly bring her brownies?
"I am not sure what those were supposed to taste like," Jingyi says, a little worried, as he follows her inside and to the kitchen. "Although they do not look like the pictures either. Hopefully you will be able to eat them? They are supposed to go well with milk? Ah--I do not cook much. Or at least not unusual things like this."
He is not actually avoiding telling her why he is here--he really is just very concerned about the brownies. But after he has seen them safely to the kitchen and spoken his piece about how they might need to be nibbled with caution, he leans against the counter.
"Ah, I am here because you seemed to be a little sadder than normal when I was here last time for dinner. I looked up what was good for sadness, but since I did not know what type of sadness it was, I did not know exactly what to bring."
Her instinct is to play it off, to try and avoid and ignore it, to pretend that everything's alright, though if he's already noticed that she's sad he might figure out she's lying given how she avoids looking at him for a moment.
"I'm fine. But I do appreciate your concern."
She's not fine, not really but it's not a thing that she wants to talk about, doesn't know how to talk about.
"Why don't you share some of the brownies with me?"
"Sure," Jingyi says easily. "You have to promise not to hate me if they are terrible, though."
He is not going to say no, is he? He is fairly sure she will politely see him to the door if he does not agree, even though he knows (he knows) that literally anyone else would have been able to make more edible brownies.
But that is not the point.
The point is that he is concerned. "You are clearly not alright," he points out, and there is no judgement behind the comment. "But I know better than to ask. I am actually here to distract you. I thought I could take you out of the house if you wanted to go."
She'd stepped away to get two smaller plates out for them to put their brownies on, pausing just before putting them down, that enough being an acknowledgement of the truth of his words. She wasn't really okay but she was grateful he wasn't asking about it.
"Distract me? How were you thinking?"
The idea of a distraction was actually very appealing, something that she wasn't succeeding in by staying home where her thoughts were with her. And one brownie will make it onto his plate, a second on hers.
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"I brought you--" he hefts the platter, remembers it is covered, and uncovers it with a quick motion that has him almost bobbling the plate right out of his own hands.
There are...well. They might be brownies. There was an attempt.
no subject
"Come in." The offer is made out of politeness, not wanting to send him so quickly away after he'd been kind, not wanting to seem rude. She'll lead him back to the kitchen to place the brownies down, finishing making the coffee that she'd been in the middle of making when he'd knocked.
"What made you stop by?" Aside from bringing her brownies but why randomly bring her brownies?
no subject
He is not actually avoiding telling her why he is here--he really is just very concerned about the brownies. But after he has seen them safely to the kitchen and spoken his piece about how they might need to be nibbled with caution, he leans against the counter.
"Ah, I am here because you seemed to be a little sadder than normal when I was here last time for dinner. I looked up what was good for sadness, but since I did not know what type of sadness it was, I did not know exactly what to bring."
no subject
"I'm fine. But I do appreciate your concern."
She's not fine, not really but it's not a thing that she wants to talk about, doesn't know how to talk about.
"Why don't you share some of the brownies with me?"
no subject
He is not going to say no, is he? He is fairly sure she will politely see him to the door if he does not agree, even though he knows (he knows) that literally anyone else would have been able to make more edible brownies.
But that is not the point.
The point is that he is concerned. "You are clearly not alright," he points out, and there is no judgement behind the comment. "But I know better than to ask. I am actually here to distract you. I thought I could take you out of the house if you wanted to go."
no subject
"Distract me? How were you thinking?"
The idea of a distraction was actually very appealing, something that she wasn't succeeding in by staying home where her thoughts were with her. And one brownie will make it onto his plate, a second on hers.