Please Do Not The Cookie

Apparently, Quinn required neither food nor water to survive. In fact, she required nothing at all - the perks of being a spiritual being incarnate.

She firmly shut down his offer to cook her dinner.

“No. You rest now.”

He smiled gently.

“How about dessert?”

She blinked.

“Dessert?”

He stared at her.

“You don’t even know what dessert is? You poor soul.”

She frowned.

“My soul isn’t poor. It’s very rich.”

He sighed.

“Do you want to try some cookies?”

Her tail immediately began wagging.

“Sayang’s cookies?”

He nodded and walked to the kitchen island, where the ribbon-wrapped tin still waited. She followed without protest, seemingly unbothered by his sudden productivity, and watched closely as he unwrapped the ribbon and lifted the lid.

He tilted the tin toward her, expecting sparkling eyes.

Instead, she leaned forward and inhaled sharply.

Like it was a controlled substance.

A visible shiver ran down her spine.

“Ohhh… that smells so good.”

He stared at her, caught somewhere between shock and amusement.

“What in all that is holy was that?”

She scowled.

“There was nothing holy about that. And I’m part wolf. What did you expect me to do?”

He shrugged.

“Fair enough. Want to try one?”

She nodded rapidly.

He plucked the topmost cookie and handed it to her. She sniffed it again - deeply - before taking a careful nibble.

She held it with both hands, taking small bites like a cautious woodland creature. There was barely enough to chew, but her eyes lit up instantly, and her tail picked up speed.

“I love dessert! What does it do?”

He took one for himself.

“It doesn’t do anything. It’s just for pleasure. You don’t really gain much from it.”

She considered that.

“Not much gain… would you consider eating dessert to be productive?”

He blinked.

“Productive?”

“Does it contribute to a greater good?”

He scratched his head.

“If my enjoyment counts as a greater good, then yes. Otherwise… no. It’s pretty pointless.”

She frowned thoughtfully.

“I don’t know if that counts.”

His mind kicked into gear.

“Well, if you eat too much dessert, you become more lazy. So I’d say dessert directly assists your mission.”

Her ears perked.

“It does?”

She glanced down at the half-eaten cookie in her hands.

“This little thing makes you lazy?”

He nodded solemnly.

“Do you feel like working when you could be eating cookies?”

She smiled and took another bite.

“No.”

“Glad to hear that,” he said. “I couldn’t bear to lose them.”

She giggled.

Then, without warning, she stuffed the rest into her mouth.

Crumbs cascaded like snowfall as she devoured it so quickly there was no possible way she tasted even a single grain of sugar.

A second later, she blinked at her empty hands. Crumbs clung to her lips.

“…It’s gone.”

He suppressed a laugh.

“You ate it.”

Her eyes grew wide. Shiny. Trembling at the edges.

“Can I have another?”

He handed her a second cookie, chuckling openly now.

“I thought a demon would just take it.”

She paused, processing his words. Then she scowled.

“I did just take it. I… ordered you to give me one.”

He grinned.

But she was already inhaling the second cookie like oxygen.

Her puppy eyes returned the moment her hands were empty.

“Can I have-”

He shook his head and closed the tin.

“No. Or there won’t be any left for tomorrow.”

She scowled.

“Give me another cookie, human.”

He was trying very hard not to laugh.

He was not succeeding.

She growled.

“What’s so funny?”

His lips pressed together, twisted with the effort of restraint. Instead of answering, he reached out. She stiffened slightly as his hand approached, confusion knitting her brows together.

He gently brushed the crumbs from her lips with his knuckles, letting them fall to the floor.

Up close, he was momentarily surprised at how warm she felt - how soft her lips were against the lightest graze of his skin.

Her scowl didn’t fade.

“I can do that myself.”

He nodded, finally regaining control.

“I know. But I couldn’t take you seriously like that. Sorry.”

She harrumphed and tilted her chin upward.

“I don’t mind. But always remember that you’re beneath me. Understood?”

Her personality seemed to flip every ten seconds. The thought nearly triggered another laugh, but he swallowed it and nodded obediently.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She smiled sweetly.

Then held out her hand.

“Cookie, please.”

He shook his head again.

“Sorry. If you want more cookies, you’ll have to make them yourself.”

Her eyes sparkled.

“You can make cookies?”

He stared at her, trying to determine whether she was teasing him. She wasn’t.

“Do you not know what cooking is? Baking?”

She nodded quickly.

“I know what those are. I just thought you could only make specific things! I didn’t know you could make cookies!”

He chuckled.

“Well, not these cookies. You can make other ones.”

Her ears drooped slightly.

“Why not these ones?”

“Only Aunty Sayang knows the recipe.”

Without hesitation, she marched toward the door.

He lunged to intercept her.

“Woah! What are you doing?”

She planted her hands on her hips.

“No, what are you doing? Get out of my way. I’m going to get the recipe.”

He sighed.

“I’ve lived next to her for five years and she still refuses to tell me. What makes you think she’ll tell you?”

She lifted her chin proudly.

“Because I’m the Demon of Sloth.”

His brain kicked into overdrive.

He’d grown oddly comfortable with that fact. But could anyone else be? A sudden, irrational protectiveness flared within him.

Only he was allowed to know.

“If you force it out of her, you’ll make her your enemy,” he said quickly. “And she might give you the wrong recipe.”

He was improvising wildly.

To his surprise, she paused to consider that.

She groaned.

“But I want cookies.”

“Then you’ll have to wait until she makes them again.”

Her lower lip trembled into a dramatic pout - but eventually, she relented.

“Fine.”

He exhaled in relief.

“Why are you so desperate for more, anyway?”

“Because they taste-”

She stopped herself.

Just for a second.

“Because I want to make you lazy. And these cookies seem to do a very good job.”

He grinned.

“Aunty Sayang will be thrilled to hear that. You should tell her next time we see her.”

She nodded thoughtfully.

“If I do that, will I eventually get the recipe?”

He shrugged, despite knowing the answer was absolutely not.

“Maybe.”

She smiled brightly.

“Okay!”

He smiled back.

But even now, he could tell-

Training this wolf-demon was going to be far more of a handful than he’d anticipated.

He just hoped it wouldn’t get much worse than this.

How wrong he was.