"Well... you know me? Once I get baking, I just can't seem to stop myself. But here..." He sweeps his hand out over the selection, "Let me list them off for you."
He'll hold a hand over each one as he goes through them. Lemon, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, butterscotch, red velvet, carrot cake, spice cake, mint chocolate, and a marbled swirl mixture of chocolate and vanilla together. Half of them have buttercream frosting on them and the other half cream cheese. He's really gone over and above for this.
"Now, you don't have to eat the whole thing. Just take a bite out of each one or you'll be sick."
He will wait for Edgar to get some sugar in him before he starts in on the second reason he called the man here.
"Oh! Sorry! Of course." It really shows how off his game Max is that he's forgotten the most basic element of hosting. No drink? What is wrong with him?
"Here you go." He says as he passes the cup over to Edgar.
"So, while we're on the subject of birthdays, I was wondering if you'd given any more thought to what you wanted to do for my party?" That was the conversation they'd had at Lioriley's door. A decent segue into the topic, he hopes...
"Oh," he says indistinctly, mouth full of butterscotch cupcake, and then chews and swallows before continuing. "well, definitely coming for the first part, and ... still working out the second part, sort of?"
"Oh, yeah. I understand. And, it's still no pressure. I promise." Ugh. Okay. How does he do this...?
"That reminds me. Have you heard from Lioriley lately? She's been so busy with her new, uh, boyfriend lately I've not gotten to catch up with her." Was that smooth? No, that probably wasn't smooth.
Edgar pauses with the red velvet cupcake in his hand, and slowly puts it down. He's studying Max's face; his own expression is an uneasy combination of misgiving and putting-the-pieces-together.
There's a pause, the kind that stretches.
"Okay," he says finally, "was that the bad news then, or are you still working up to it?"
"No," Max heaves a big breath, miserable with himself for being such a colossal failure all around.
"No, it's really not. And I'm sorry for being..." like this. "... for trying to set you two up just to have everything I do make things worse. And now this."
He waves one hand around while keeping the other pressed over his face. "Can we just go back to eating cupcakes and forget I said anything."
"Beleive me," Max almost wants to laugh, "I did not set them up. It's uh... Astarion, by the way. I don't know if you've met him?" God, Max kind of hopes not. He doesn't see the two of them getting along. At All.
"And... Point taken. I won't try to be... I don't know what I was trying to be, actually. But, from now on. I'll just come out with it. Okay?"
Edgar shakes his head. He hasn't met Astarion, and ... he isn't sure how to take Max's tone of voice about him. It's tempting to hate him sight unseen purely for being the guy Lioriley prefers to himself, but for fuck's sake, Edgar, you're not fourteen anymore.
(It's partly his own voice he hears in his head saying that, and partly Curtis's, and that's a lot harder to ignore.)
"Okay," he says, and hesitates a moment. "D'you think I ought to ... you know, walk wide around her for a little while? Stay scarce?"
Max doesn't want to influence Edgar's opinion any more than he already has, so he will stay buttoned up tight about the rest. Astarion will just have to handle that introduction himself.
And god help him if the vampire spawn thing comes out first. After the way Edgar reacted to finding out about Max's master, well.... But what can he do? Max isn't touching that topic again with a 60 foot pole.
"No!" he hurries to say. "No, that's the last thing she'd want. She really likes you as a good friend and she'd be so upset if you did that."
He sighs, and gives a rueful eyeroll and smile. "Least if I do want to make myself scarce, it'll be a sight fuckin easier here than it ever was back on the train. Could probably go days without ever even being in the same room."
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He'll hold a hand over each one as he goes through them. Lemon, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, butterscotch, red velvet, carrot cake, spice cake, mint chocolate, and a marbled swirl mixture of chocolate and vanilla together. Half of them have buttercream frosting on them and the other half cream cheese. He's really gone over and above for this.
"Now, you don't have to eat the whole thing. Just take a bite out of each one or you'll be sick."
He will wait for Edgar to get some sugar in him before he starts in on the second reason he called the man here.
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Somewhere between chocolate and butterscotch he realizes he's going to need something to clear his mouth between tastes. "Can I get some water?"
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"Here you go." He says as he passes the cup over to Edgar.
"So, while we're on the subject of birthdays, I was wondering if you'd given any more thought to what you wanted to do for my party?" That was the conversation they'd had at Lioriley's door. A decent segue into the topic, he hopes...
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"That reminds me. Have you heard from Lioriley lately? She's been so busy with her new, uh, boyfriend lately I've not gotten to catch up with her." Was that smooth? No, that probably wasn't smooth.
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Edgar pauses with the red velvet cupcake in his hand, and slowly puts it down. He's studying Max's face; his own expression is an uneasy combination of misgiving and putting-the-pieces-together.
There's a pause, the kind that stretches.
"Okay," he says finally, "was that the bad news then, or are you still working up to it?"
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Max's heart does a panicked tap-dance inside his ribs. Wow. Once more, he has really bungled this. Why did he think he could do these things again??
"I-I'm sorry. Edgar I... no. No, there's no other... jesus..." that ends in a frustrated sigh, leaving him hanging his head into his hands.
"Sorry."
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Edgar sighs, and circles around the counter to put a hand on Max's shoulder. "'S okay," he says, gently resigned.
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"No, it's really not. And I'm sorry for being..." like this. "... for trying to set you two up just to have everything I do make things worse. And now this."
He waves one hand around while keeping the other pressed over his face. "Can we just go back to eating cupcakes and forget I said anything."
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He gives a slightly crooked smile. "Except next time, try something like I've got cupcakes and I've got bad news, which one d'you want first, maybe?"
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"And... Point taken. I won't try to be... I don't know what I was trying to be, actually. But, from now on. I'll just come out with it. Okay?"
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(It's partly his own voice he hears in his head saying that, and partly Curtis's, and that's a lot harder to ignore.)
"Okay," he says, and hesitates a moment. "D'you think I ought to ... you know, walk wide around her for a little while? Stay scarce?"
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And god help him if the vampire spawn thing comes out first. After the way Edgar reacted to finding out about Max's master, well.... But what can he do? Max isn't touching that topic again with a 60 foot pole.
"No!" he hurries to say. "No, that's the last thing she'd want. She really likes you as a good friend and she'd be so upset if you did that."
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And he doesn't, he really doesn't, it's just ... hard not to feel a little bitter about that right now, considering how he feels about it.
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"Well..." Max puts a hand on Edgar's shoulder now, returning that comforting touch. "If you need some time, I'm sure she'd understand."
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Max looks Edgar over seriously. "You know I'll be here if you need anything. Any time. I mean that. Anything at all."
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"I know, man. I do know."
okay to wrap this one soon-ish?
He pats his friend on the shoulder, then motions his chin at the still uneaten cupcakes.
"Did you want to keep trying those out or save it for another time?"
yep!
"Might as well see if delicious cupcakes can make things feel any better, huh?"
done!