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I posted a new chapter yesterday (Lights) but it didn't post correctly. I think I was able to fix it today. Thank you for reading!

Cookies
by imnotokaywiththerunning

The whole of downstairs smelled of sugar and ginger. Mrs. Patmore had been baking Christmas biscuits all afternoon, turning the kitchen into a room of temptations. She kept a keen eye on all of her baking, making sure that no one took any while she wasn't looking.

The spicy aroma had Elsie craving a gingerbread biscuit all day. She'd invited Mrs. Patmore to her sitting room for their afternoon tea in the hopes that the cook would bring some biscuits with her, but she had no such luck. The cook had grinned knowingly at her the entire time, forcing Elsie to reconsider their friendship.

It was after dinner service now, and the kitchen was growing quiet. The scullery maids were finishing up the washing while Mrs. Patmore went over tomorrow night's recipes.

Elsie sighed into her accounts. If she really wanted a biscuit (and she really did, damn Mrs. Patmore), she was going to have to bite the bullet and go into the kitchen herself and take some. With or without Mrs. Patmore's permission.

She rose from her desk to go face the wrath of any angry cook to find Mr. Carson standing in her doorway with his hand raised to knock. He stared at her wide eyed like a boy caught with his hand in the biscuit tin.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, taking two steps back from her door. "You're going up. I'll speak to you tomorrow."

"No, Mr. Carson. Wait," she called, half reaching out a hand to stop him. He turned back to her, waiting as she'd asked. She shook her head. "I was just going into the kitchen to talk to Mrs. Patmore, but it isn't urgent. What did you need?"

Mr. Carson turned reticent, seemingly unsure of himself and Elsie gestured to her side table where they always sat, hoping to instill some sense of ease into the man. He moved closer but still hovered in the doorway.

"It's not that I need something," he began, "so much as I wanted to share something."

Intrigued, Elsie guided him by the elbow to sit on the chair closest to the door. He placed a carafe of wine and a small tin box on the table. The wine was expected, but the box was unusual. It must hold some great significance to Mr. Carson for him to be so reluctant to approach her with it. She reached for the door.

"Is this a conversation that needs to be private, Mr. Carson?" she asked gravely.

"No! No, it's not as serious as all that," he sputtered, but then lowered his voice. "But you might want to push the door to. A bit."

Elsie's face slackened in surprise but did as he asked before taking the seat opposite him.

"My, my Mr. Carson. Whatever's in your box must be very precious for such secretive talk," she laughed. She smiled to see him relax at her teasing. He'd been too stiff since he'd walked through her door.

He grinned sheepishly. "Well, it's not so much precious as hard-won."

He opened the tin to reveal six of Mrs. Patmore's gingerbread biscuits. Elsie laughed in delight.

"How in the world did you manage this?"

"I have my secrets," he smiled, pouring them each a small glass of wine. He pushed the biscuit tin towards her. "I thought I'd shared my spoils this year."

Elsie paused with a biscuit halfway to her mouth and stared. "This year?"

"Mrs. Patmore isn't as observant as she thinks," he said with a satisfied grin, settling back into his chair with a biscuit of his own. "Besides, what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Their stifled laughter could be heard in the kitchen where Mrs. Patmore shook her head. She was glad that Mr. Carson had successfully "stolen" the extra biscuits she'd left out for them.