He shrugged. "You ain't accusing me now, sirs, and that's the important part."
"That's a good point," said Julian, watching as he pulled the tea strainers again and got the tray properly settled over Alex's long legs. "Still, we appreciate it, and will try not to be too obnoxious in our requests."
"You two are fine, you've no idea what sort of mad things some of these sorts get up to asking for. Never bring a noble anything more flammable than a candle, that one I've learned the hard way." Smithson shot them a cheeky grin.
"Oh, dear," said Julian with a laugh. "Well, it's all fine now, at least."
"Until someone else falls over," said Smithson darkly. "Anyway, I promise I watched this all the way and no one's had a hand near it, so you two eat up and catch our killer, yeah?"
"We will, thank you again," said Alex, pouring their proper tea first. The mint wasn't a terrible idea to help with digestion, Julian thought, just a little disappointing for his caffeine-addicted husband.
Smithson bowed and left, and they set to on their second giant tea in bed, finding that they were both hungry enough to eat as though it was the first.
Once he was much closer to replete, Julian went over to peek into the cat basket. "Are you three getting enough food?"
They sent him sleepy-sated feelings with a hint of 'go away,' so he took that as a good sign.
"They're not putting out much energy," said Alex. "Not much trouble to get into in the rooms, and no way they're going to be let out of here."
That got a little disgruntled feeling that Julian soothed with thoughts of home tomorrow, and their usual places to run and play and make mischief.
Horace also sent them a feeling of excitement for home, though with the storm passed he could go whenever he wanted. He preferred to go where his humans went when he wasn't being used for messages, though, so he stayed on their shoulders as they polished off every bite of food and sat sipping the last of the mint tea.
"So, four suspects," said Alex.
"Can't leave it be," said Julian with a fond sigh. "Yes, four suspects. Our affianced Miss Sabrina Periwig, who thinks ghosts did it; the single Miss Adelina Halliwell, who hasn't found much to entice her at this party either; Miss Katherine Berkelshire, who brought a date but doesn't seem too fond of him or anyone else; and of course our darling Baronet, Lady Sylvia Knapweed, the sultry blonde of the pair, who we assume is all for the ladies but might let her eyes stray."
"Or her hands, if they have that sort of relationship," said Alex. "Either way, no one who would consider either Wicket a prospect, nor Winterson a rival, so it's probably not about romance."
"Unless it is," said Julian. "Some people can get very deluded about flirtations, and jealous of the attention of others."
"They're not cats," said Alex, though he didn't scoff as he might if he was dismissing things outright. "They're all ladies, but none of particular rank, really."
"I mean, a Baronet isn't nothing," said Julian, "but it's not a lot, either."
"It's not enough to get her out of a murder charge, I bet," said Alex. "Wicket was a Baron maybe?"
"Can't remember," said Julian. "He definitely didn't care about his rank, only entertaining the ladies."
"Poor Tsukiko," said Alex with a sigh. "Losing her husband to something so random-seeming."
"I wouldn't let you die alone," said Julian fiercely. "You'd have to drain every bit of my magic, too, before you could leave me."
"Same here," said Alex, a soft little whisper that was sad more than angry. "I can't imagine life without you anymore."
Julian giggled softly. "I remember when you couldn't imagine a life with me."
"Past me was an idiot," said Alex, pulling him close for a kiss. "Let's set this stuff aside and snog."
"Sounds perfect," said Julian. They got the tray put outside and curled up in bed together, dressing gowns shed and attention only for each other. Julian knew there might be yet another interruption so they couldn't get too worked up, but at the same time he had nothing better to do just now than love his husband.
They twined their legs together, his shorter and Alex's longer, knees bumping gently and then finding their places as though they were made to fit together like this. Julian curled his hands over Alex's chest and then smoothed them out, stroking his lean body through the silk. Their kisses were heady and sweet as a good port wine, the perfect digestif to all the food they'd eaten.
Julian was just starting to think they might have time for more when there was a knock at the door and someone called, "There's been another!"
That chilled the mood immediately and they leapt out of bed, Julian answering while Alex swayed at the sudden change in orientation, still a little weak from his own poisoning.
Outside was a small pandemonium mostly centred around one of the open room doors, where Julian could see someone had passed out in front of it. Dr. Geoff came running before Julian could even gather his wits, while the servant who had roused them tried to corral the unnecessary people back into their rooms.
