"I'll wrestle you for half," said Alex, voice laced with amusement. "Anyway, there's plenty of everything, especially if there's more coming in a bit. They really are taking it to heart that we're tired and need food to live."
"Everyone needs food to live, Alex," said Julian mock-patronisingly. "We just need a lot of it."
"So much," said Alex, starting in on his bowl of soup. "Mm, there's some nice apple in here."
Horace flew off once the kittens were done to start some sort of game with the four of them, where he would stoop down and boop noses while they tried to catch him. There was plenty of open space in the room for them to play, so Julian chose not to worry about it and just enjoy that they were entertaining each other so he didn't have to.
The salad was good, crisp and fresh with a rich dressing and more of those candied nuts, as well as slices of hothouse tomato, cucumber, and mushroom. There was more spinach in this mix and the whole thing was heartier than yesterday's salad.
"It's really good that I liked food even before my magic woke up," said Julian, finishing up the last bite.
"It would be a tragedy to be a mage that isn't that into food," agreed Alex. "I guess that's where research mages come from, all books and no magic."
Julian giggled and kissed him, finding his lips warm from the soup. "Good thing I married the other kind."
"Same," said Alex with a teasing wink, and then he slurped up the last of his soup by drinking straight from the bowl.
Julian rolled his eyes and exchanged his empty salad plate for his own soup bowl, while Alex did the opposite.
"Oh, this is a nice salad," said Alex, after a bite or two.
"The soup is delicious," agreed Julian. It was a squash-based bisque, blended smooth with a hint of tart apple and warm cinnamon in the creamy concoction. It was warm and soothing, and Julian could definitely understand the temptation to justdrink the stuff, though instead he grabbed a bit of bread and dipped it in the soup, which made a lovely combination since the bread was whole wheat with walnuts in it.
"Tastes like winter, but in a good way," said Alex. "This salad, too, despite the hothouse ingredients, the dressing has a nice wintery feel."
They went silent again for awhile after that, exchanging happy little feelings through their bond rather than using their words. The kittens and Horace eventually got bored with their game and all curled up in the kittens' basket, which had plenty of space inside, despite the greatly increased size of the kittens.
Julian felt something close to contentment.
He knew it wouldn't last, not with everything else going on, but for a moment everyone he cared about was safe, he had good food and his gorgeous husband, and that was all he needed.
Chapter 26
They were awakened by a knock at the door, this time the welcome cadence of an impatient Lapointe.
"You are so early!" yelled Alex, stumbling out of bed and not bothering with his dressing gown just this once. He yanked open the door and said, "What time even is it?"
"Eight," said Murielle, leading both Thomas and Smithson inside. "We got you breakfast."
"Then I might forgive you," said Julian from bed, yawning and stretching and sitting up. "Let us eat and dress?"
"I just need a quick rundown on last night's additional murder," said Lapointe crankily. "You can eat and talk."
"Fine, fine," said Alex, getting back in bed and letting Smithson fuss. The man didn't bother to say anything, just got them set up and ghosted out, closing the door after him. "Bruce Camellia, esquire, a minor son of a noble and a major pain in the arse, was poisoned with an item of opportunity stolen from a flower arrangement."
"Because the dumbass invited a murder suspect into his rooms for drinks," added Julian. "We don't know for sure about thatbit, of course, but it fits the evidence. Two drinks, one undrunk, one poisoned. Dead guy. Et cetera."
"You've gotten quite blasé about all this," said Lapointe, sounding amused.
"I hate to admit it, but you have all made me far too used to corpses and their circumstances." Julian took a long drink of the coffee that Smithson had poured for them both, then added a bunch of milk and sugar to his and drank again. Alex did the same, though the coffee was smooth enough that it wasn't as necessary as usual.
"It's very likely Camellia was chasing tail," said Alex bluntly. "Now go away and interview witnesses, because I'm terrible at all of that."
Thomas snorted. "It's nice to see you're back to your usual self, anyway."
"It was really quite a small dose," said Julian, "and I was able to chivvy it along since it was plant-based."
"Oh, is the coroner here?" asked Alex. "Just so I know if someone tampers with the bodies that it's likely them."
