Though Cedric wasn't normally an exceptionally observant man, usually due to his nose being in a book or a cauldron most of the time, he had begun to take notice of something lately.

Random little... Things, had just started disappearing from his chambers as of late. At first it was negligible things that he barely even noticed, like a button here or there from his clothes, loose change, or a marble from his childhood that he didn't even remember having anymore. But then little parts from his equipment started going missing, like a little screw from his microscope, and a beaker from what was supposed to be a set of ten, but was now a set of nine.

Cedric took much closer notice after that, but he still just assumed that he had misplaced the objects, and that the screw must have gotten loose and rolled away. It wasn't until a few days after the strangeness had started that he finally lost something valuable enough to get worked up about it.

"Confound it! Where IS that diamond?!" Cedric downright snarled, turning over furniture to look for it. It was way out of his normal budget, but he'd come across a very tempting energy-for-a-week potion recipe that called for a single polished diamond to be added to the mixture, and Cedric had just been just about to start the cauldron for it, when the stone suddenly went missing from the EXACT place he remembered putting it!

He was about to start throwing books off of the shelves, when suddenly a child's voice exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! Is this a diamond...?"

Immediately, he rushed over to the source of that voice, looking out of his window and finding the little Princess Sofia in the garden below, with Wormwood perching on one of her arms, and a tiny little stone in the outstretched hand of the other.

"Hey! You wait just a minute!" He called from the window, causing the girl and the raven to look up at him. "Rrr-Just wait right there!" He added, before rushing out of his chambers and down the stairs, to the garden below.

When he finally reached them, Sofia was bashfully holding out the diamond for him. "Hello Mr. Cedric-"

"Just WHAT has been going on here, young lady!" Cedric snapped back, putting his hands on his hips.

She pouted deeply, which caused some of his anger to dissapate, replaced by guilt at having yelled at her. Handing him back the diamond, she explained, "Wormwood gave it to me..."

"Wormwood?" He repeated in confusion, glancing down at the bird on her arm, who gave him a sort of 'I don't care'-stare right back. "Why on Earth-?"

"Have you perhaps been forgetting to give him extra snacks lately, Mister Cedric?" Sofia inquired, causing him to look back at her. "He started coming when he noticed me giving bread to the other birds, you see... He was stealing from the others, so I just started giving him his own share. Not long after that, he started bringing me little trinkets. I thought they were just junk, but..."

With a blush, she reached into her pocket, and when she pulled her hand back out and held it out for him, in her cupped palm there were three buttons, a couple of coins, his favorite old green and blue marble, and the tiny screw. Over by the tea set that the Princess had waiting for her by a nearby tree, the missing beaker was resting next to a tea cup.

Bashfully she inquired, "Are they yours...?"

He still glared at her, but it was a much softer expression than a moment before. He abandoned the scolding on his tongue, and instead sighed, "You know, some people consider it rude to feed other's pets. How do you know I didn't have Wormy on a diet? He HAS been getting fat lately, actually, although I'm sure now that it's due to you!"

Wormwood cawed at him abrasively and turned his head in disgust. Sofia, in turn, kindly translated for the obviously offended raven, "He says if you want to be a skinny little bean-pole, that's fine, but he wants to be fat and happy."

A blush errupted on the sorcerer's face. "What! I am NOT a bean-pole!"

Sofia bit back a shy smile. "No offense, but you kind of are, Mister Cedric... Have you been eating much yourself lately? You've been locked up in your room for days, have you been remembering to eat and sleep enough too?"

He stopped to consider it, and his stomach took the chance to rumble loudly. Come to think of it, had he remembered to eat that morning? He had not, in fact. Perhaps that was why those energy potions had been tempting him lately...

She smiled patiently up at him, "You know, I have plenty of tea and biscuits, if you feel like having a break?"

He glanced over at her tea set and restrained the urge to scoff. Plenty? She had enough cake and cookies to feed a small army. Looking away stubbornly for a minute while he considered it, Cedric finally grumbled a moment later, "...Are those macaroons?"

"I have coconut and cream-filled~" She tempted him further in a sing-song voice.

"...Oh, alright!"

For a skinny bean-pole, Cedric managed to pack away quite a few of those cookies, and by the time he was done, he was yawning openly and stretching his arms to stay awake.

"You look awfully tired, Mister Cedric..." Sofia mentioned as she began putting away her tea-set. "Maybe you should take a nap before going back to work? Under this tree is my favorite spot to nap."

He had already settled his back against the trunk, and tiredly mumbled back to her, "Perhaps just a short nap..."

"Here." She added, before he fell asleep completely, and tucked the missing buttons, screw and diamond into his front coat pocket. But then she shyly inquired, "Can I keep the marble? It's pretty~"

One of the few rare friends he'd had from childhood had given him that marble, he suddenly remembered. As he recalled, that had been his friend's favorite marble, but he gave it to Cedric anyways, because they were friends, and friends share with each other... "Hmm... Yes, alright... You can keep it..." He told her, just before his head started to lean onto his shoulder, and his eyelids started to slip down.

She smiled and tucked the marble away in her pocket, then threw the picnic blanket over Cedric's lap. Wormwood briefly squawked in disgust at his master's laziness, but Sofia shushed him. "Come on Wormwood - There's some crusts of sourdough in the kitchen with your name on it!"

The raven gave her a reluctantly tempted sideways glance. "...Oh, alright! Squawk, squawk..."

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