[It may not be able give and take or reciprocity anymore, but Albert finds this gesture enormous and won't let it slide by easily. His heart aches right now, equally because he's being faced with the food, and because Ignis is uncommonly good to him in ways he doesn't deserve. Again. As usual. As he always is.]

You can't go to the trouble of cooking me something from home and not accept something back in kind. I'll insist, even if all you let me do is buy you a fine bottle of wine.

[For some reason he is just... staring at the pastry instead of eating it, so the kiss is a welcome reprieve. The kiss lingers on Albert's part, chasing after Ignis ever so slightly when they part.

The words are like a dagger Ignis can't know he threw.]

...Thank you.

[He doesn't deserve happiness. None of the happiness he's taken selfishly here has been deserved. What borrowed time is he living on? When will he get the punishment he so dearly earned?

He picks up the fork and knife with hands that minutely shake. Maybe if he eats this, he can hold things together.

No. He has to hold it together. He can't tell anyone. He'll talk to Moran in the morning to absolve himself and start the cycle again.]

It goes with all kinds of meals. Usually you serve it with a meat or onion sauce, but I'd eat Louis' right out of the pan when I could.