How to Make a Sinner Sleep

76 | soul; to delight in affection

Kaden read the slip of paper, folded and creased several times, solemnly. That night, at the Circus, he'd mouthed to the snake woman as she passed, "I have information."

In return, he received a small and crumpled note.

"I have poor eyesight, so if your expectation was my ability to read lips, you were mistaken."

He paused, "......" 

Then, he continued reading after an unnecessary gap of white space.

"But I assume you have something to tell me, so meet me in the main cathedral in Corpus late evening within a week. The day doesn't matter—I'll know when you enter."

He'd silently stared and then pocketed the note as the other performers traded and exchanged information or goods. A person with a pet fish, kept alive in ways Kaden didn't want to understand, demonstrated tricks. Another revealed their boneless body, twisting themselves into a pretzel.

But there had been nothing left of value that night that interested their Misfits.

A body moved behind him, placing bowls onto the counter. He saw a black flutter of fabric loop over his head as Noah bent his head down, tying it into a neat ribbon behind Kaden's back.

He glanced casually at the slip of paper that hadn't been hidden away, and adjusted the apron on Kaden's back once more.

"You're not hiding it."

"I'm getting better at figuring you out, Bellamy." said Kaden cheekily, folding the paper and tucking it away slowly. "You don't want me hiding this."

"Is it dangerous? The one you're meeting."

"Possibly."

"Then don't hide it from me."

Kaden nodded, and glanced back at the snug string around his waist. "You're no longer choking me with it? Look at the development, dearest Bellamy. You're so kind now."

Noah raised his eyebrows, giving a stern experimental pull as Kaden sucked in a breath. "Don't get arrogant, Chauvet."

"It's your actions that allow my arrogance to flourish. What're we making today?"

A gleam of interest twinkled in Kaden's eyes as he asked, and Noah sighed helplessly, moving to the ingredients he'd spread on the table. He remembered, the first time he saw Kaden standing in the middle of the room, looking out of place.

Noah's first impression had been closer to awful than good. First, he suspected that Kaden was following him—it was a reasonable doubt, for a person who seemed to want to keep away, Kaden kept appearing around him.

That was why, with Kaden's unwillingness, Noah had assumed the man had a purpose. It wasn't impossible.

Then that fool had widened his eyes when paired with the dragon, fully displaying his unwillingness and desperation to escape. That had annoyed Noah.

And they cooked, and Kaden's ability was beyond lacking. The supposed murderous dog of the royal family gazed at the wriggling shrimp and refused to kill them. Noah had been conflicted, then.

That awkward, lonely fool buried in the layers of opinion that others burdened him with—Noah seemed to know that it was impossible to hate such a person.

"We're making laminated dough." It would take longer than the class alone, but neither had classes after, so Noah had decided to indulge in something more complicated. "We'll make pastries from them."

"Okay... what's the first step?"

"The dough."

"When I say first step, I mean exactly what measurement of what specific ingredient do I need, and what precise culinary equipment should I grab?"