Chapter Text
Breakfast in bed is usually something Jude does for Cardan. Being the one who knows about the human love gesture, she’s the one who does it the most.
She doesn’t do it often, just usually after Cardan drinks too much or gets himself into a stupid situation that causes him trouble.
Other times she does it is when she makes a stupid mistake during an argument and she doesn’t get to apologize before they go to bed. which doesn’t happen often since Cardan prefers to solve the issue before falling asleep so he doesn’t have to sleep on his side as far away from her as possible.
Jude is insecure sometimes about the comparison between how much affection she shows Cardan and how much Cardan shows her.
On one particular day, she decides to do something about it. To remind Cardan that she loves him too. (Which he knows very well, but she is overthinking and refuses to believe it.)
The problem is that Jude isn’t quite familiar with romantic things. She doesn’t know what to do for Cardan. She wants it to be something unique, but how is she supposed to be unique if she doesn’t even know what basic is?
Jude sinks into her royal couch in their shared bedroom in self-pity. She sighs deeply, almost a thousand times, as if that will make anything better.
She grumbled, crossing her arms. She lays in her horrible position and then looks down at a letter on their table.
The letter simply states, To Jude, From Vivi. Jude, surprised she hasn’t read it yet, reads through.
It’s nothing much, just an update on her life in the human world. She talks about how she and Heather are doing, how she’s doing, and the small details of her day.
Jude realizes then that she hasn’t been to the human world in a while.
It’s not like she goes a lot; she enjoys it every once in a while, even if Cardan doesn’t like it too much.
It’s just that the part that really sparks her interest in the letter is the part where Vivi talks about how she and Heather are doing.
One part of it reads:
-and then we got into a fight... It wasn’t big or anything, just not well. It was a fight. I made it up to her by giving her the traditional box of chocolates and apologizing—she forgave me.
‘Traditional’ Jude thinks. Faerie have some traditionally romantic things, but not like what humans have.
Which means Jude can bet Cardan doesn’t really know the human romance thing.
Something unique, and something Cardan won’t expect. Jude’s mind races through all the things she’s seen in the crappy magazines; she’d once in a while snag to do the quizzes on them.
It feels like her head just turned on the brightest light bulb when making breakfast in bed for Cardan pops into her mind.
It’s too late in the day to make him breakfast since he’s out somewhere and the light is slowly appearing in the sky.
Jude decides she will have to wake up early to prepare, so she slips out of her clothes one by one. Walking bare to their bathroom to soak in a bath that has been sitting there waiting for her to slip in.
Jude slowly rubs her eyes and looks out the window—the sky is still a bright light, which means she’s up really early. Jude looks over to her side, seeing Cardan sleeping peacefully by her. His hand is loosely touching her waist and slips off of her as she gets up.
She yawns as she makes her way across their room, and she throws on clothes that are suitable for the day. Throwing her hair up into a quick bun, Jude slowly opens their door and shuts it just as quietly.
The servants aren’t in the kitchen, as they aren’t expected to be cooking at this moment. Jude searches through the cabinets to find the simple ingredients she needs. It takes her what feels like 20 minutes to sift through the large, unknown space when she finally has 2 eggs, 2 slices of bread, butter, salt, pepper, and peanut butter.
Jude, who is finally truly awake, makes her way eagerly to the drawer that holds the pans. She grabs a large one, places it on the burner, and waits for the flame to appear.
Jude cracks an egg into the pan, but its shell falls into it. Jude tries but fails to pick the tiny piece out. She plates the egg and looks at it in minor frustration. The shell isn’t noticeable to anybody but her.
Defeated, Jude pops the slices of bread into something she thinks is a toaster. She sets the timer to 3 minutes.
She goes back to fry up the second egg, which surprisingly goes well. As she plates it, she sprinkles some oregano she found along with the salt and pepper.
Jude flinches as the toast pops up and makes her way over to the (non-toaster) toaster. She grabs the toast and spreads a thin layer of homemade peanut butter.
She plates her masterpiece of breakfast and garnishes it with a random flower. Slowly, she carefully makes her way towards their chambers. The door creaks as it’s opened as softly as possible.
Jude notices Cardan stirring slightly but is now fully awake. She tiptoes towards their bed and sets the plate down near him.
Quickly, she runs down the hall back to the kitchen. She grabs a glass and pours orange juice into it. She slides her way back to their chambers, so she makes it just in time to see Cardan awake.
Jude doesn’t like to show much of her excitement, but she feels the big grin on her face as she waits for his reaction.
He slowly wakes up, rubbing his eyes and stretching or cracking his neck. Cardan yawns, and his eyes slowly wake to see Jude standing in front of him.
"Goodmorning.." He mumbles. He's still horribly tired, as he’s not a morning person like Jude.
"I have something for you.” Jude says it with a noticeably bad, fake straight face.
Cardan’s curiosity has him opening his eyes fully way earlier than he usually would.
Jude grabs the plate, glass, and a thin wooden board. She sets the wooden board on his lap and sets the plate and orange juice on it.
He looks up at her curiously and asks, "What’s this?”
"Breakfast in bed. It’s a romantic human tradition. I thought I could do it for you.” Jude says vulnerability is seeping into her tone.
His eyes soften, and his mouth curls into a small smile. He takes the board and slowly starts to dig into the breakfast. Jude sits on the side of their bed as he takes a bite of the egg.
Part of Jude still feels weird doing all these affectionate things. She was used to hating Cardan most of her life in faerie, and now she loves him deeply. It feels odd how such an emotion can change.
Part of Jude still hates Cardan. He says that he makes her feel so vulnerable and open. She is so easy to read by him, and she can never hide behind an expression from him.
The whole time, they settle into a comfortable silence as he eats his breakfast. Jude grabs a book and reads while occasionally glancing over at him.
Cardan eats more slowly than normal, as if he needs to cherish every bite that enters his mouth.
He’s soon finished, and he wipes his mouth with a napkin. Jude, fully immersed in her book, doesn’t realize it yet. Cardan smiles at her like a lovesick fool.
"I love you,” Cardan says.
Jude’s eyes lifted up from her book, and she smiled back at him.
"I love you too.” She shuts the book and lays down on the bed with him.
They took a break that day, cuddling up together and whispering sweet things.
Jude makes a note that she should start doing more of the little things.