If there was ever any doubt as to how seriously Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) took our playful jab about her use of a certain commercial fried-chicken chain as gambling currency, it totally dissipated after Hagan’s aides arrived at our offices bearing gifts of deep-fried bird and buttery country biscuits.

Those of you who’ve been closely monitoring Bojangles’-Gate should know: HOH cannot be bought (at least, not with fast-food).

And while we appreciated the grand gesture by the proud North Carolinian, we stand firmly behind our original critique that there’s nothing particularly novel about something anyone can get from the Union Station food court.

But we digress.

Hagan staffers delivered the aromatic bird — our co-workers’ heads suddenly shot out from their cubicles as if the office were a giant Whac-A-Mole game when the oversized box of goodies arrived — along with a handwritten note from the Senator:

“Dear HOH,

Given your recent interest in the N.C.- based restaurant, I thought the staff might enjoy taking some BO TIME for lunch today. In N.C., it’s what we call the taste of VICTORY!

Enjoy,

Kay Hagan”

Pleasantries were exchanged. Incriminating photos were taken. Chicken was devoured.

Just for the record: Nobody at HOH headquarters is registered to vote in North Carolina, nor do we encourage the consumption of Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ’n Biscuits.

So if you see us in a Bojangles’ or Hagan billboard on the road to the Outer Banks, be advised: Free eats do not imply endorsement.

As we wrapped up the episode, a Hagan aide noted that the order for their little charm offensive wound up snowballing. They’d only counted on securing enough fried chicken with which to shame us. Once their fellow staff members figured out what they were up to, they had to pick up another batch and deliver that one to their ravenous colleagues back in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.