His eyes fall shut at the contact, the simple gesture that shouldn't have undid him as much as it did. Letting himself get too close to opening up about things she shouldn't have to hear about could quickly go south.

"I'm sure your annoyance at me made 'em extra good," he flashes a grin, an actual unconscious reaction, before he bites in.

"Oh shit. Alright, kid. Touché, the boxed brownies are a hit."

(If he doesn't think too hard, he can see something lingering on the periphery of his mind, a favorite sister offering him chocolate batter on a spoon. But the second he tries to focus on it, it's gone.)