"And of course there's plants," said Julian, going over to check the giant monstera in its pot. It was flourishing hugely, but kept to its promise not to overhang the bed and potentially get damaged in someone's sleep.
The cats' basket also lived in this room, including today since they loved James and Jacques to bits. It was empty now, as they still had a lot of their own energy to work off, but Nat had put it in its usual spot between two big pots under the window, where they could open it and bask in sunlight if they so chose.
"Who do the cats sleep with?" asked Con curiously, poking around at the plants in the way of an earth sprite.
"Whoever they want," said Julian with a laugh. "Usually us, but they nap during the day a lot in here, or in a sunbeam, or wherever. They make mischief half the night, too."
"As cats are wont to do," said Con with a wise nod. "It's good they trust ye enough t'sleep wi' ye."
"Yeah," said Alex with a fond little smile, "It is. Though it'll be less good when they're fully grown and crowding us out of the bed."
"Shoulda bought a bigger bed," said Con wickedly.
"This suite has a nice bathroom, lots of sunlight and plants," said Julian. "We wanted our guests to have the big tub to soak in the way we do, so the two suites aren't as different as you might think."
"We don't need our own suite to be too elaborate, since we mostly do sleep there," said Julian, showing off the hanging plants by lifting Con up to see them, which looked absurd but Alex would never mock, it was such a kindness.
"Ye've taken good care of yer plants here, too, at least," said Con, as he was put down. "Show me your own space, then."
They went into their room, which had pulled-back green curtains and shelves and dark wood, with the quilt of colourful velvet patchwork atop their nice big bed. There were plants here, too, things that didn't love sunlight so much, but got a little when Nat opened the curtains for the day. It really wasn't much bigger of a room than the guest room, although it had a walk-in closet rather than the little wardrobe that they'd put in for guests. That was the real difference between the two, and of course the secret nook with its hidden stairs.
"There's more plants in our bathroom, many of the same sort as the other suite, and the things in here are more shade-loving," explained Julian. He could feel all those plants radiating happiness, too, just as the other ones had, everything up here getting plenty of energy from them both these days, not to mention sunlight and water and all the goodness a plant needed.
Con paced around, examining all the plants here and then in the bathroom, and giving them a Look that suggested he knew there was a secret but he wasn't going to call them on it. "Ye've done well for yerselves, that's fer sure," he said, tapping at the jewel safe that contained all their most valuable heirlooms. "This's warded a mite better than your side table once was."
Alex laughed. "Yeah, well, I have heirlooms to care about, now," he said, "and those wards were sabotaged. You couldn't get through them once I fixed it."
"Ye do good work now," said Con, emphasis on the last word in a teasing, friendly way.
"I think that concludes our tour," said Julian with a snort. "Come on, let's see if there's at least tea for us, or if we're to be left to wilt."
Chapter 36
The three of them had a lovely bit of tea and telling the short version of the poison drama once again. Eventually, James was kicked out to join them with the assurance that it wouldn't be too much longer.
"Me and Jacques both is a lot of shoulders for one kitchen," said James with a shrug. "I helped some, though."
"I'm just dying to know what's for dinner," said Alex. "And I think today is a good day for whiskey in my tea."
"It's always a good day for that," said Con with a chuckle like rocks in a polisher. "Will we be doin' that before or after dinner?"
The honeyed whiskey came floating out of the kitchen on cue, and right over to Alex for pouring.
"Now, it seems," said Alex, plucking it out of the air. He set his cup down and uncapped the whiskey, putting a healthy slug into first Con's cup and then his own, and then James and Julian's as well when they held their cups up.
"I'm not on duty, I can have a little," said James with a smirk. He sipped and sighed, "Oh, that is good."
"We've really gotten addicted to the honeyed kind," said Alex. "I can only hope they never discontinue it."
"Emmy tells me we drink about half their output between the two households," said Julian with a giggle. "I think she was exaggerating, but she does use it for guests a lot, and Chef likes it for a couple of his marinades."
"Emmy entertains more than we do, too," said Alex. "Either way, we'll have it for as long as we can."
"That's very good news," said Con, saluting him with the cup before taking another big sip. The little fae had the ability to make tea and whiskey vanish almost as fast as a human, which had always bemused Alex a little, but not enough to comment on.
Fae metabolism was beyond the scope of anything he wanted to get his magical fingers into, as it were.
Soon enough their food drifted out, chicken glazed in whiskey with carrots and out-of-season green beans that must be from some hothouse but tasted amazing in the buttery, honey-sweet glaze. There was a side dish of some kind of purple elven potato mashed with butter and cream and herbs, and another of turnip greens cooked to tenderness in lemon and garlic. Everything was rich and delicious, and Alex had to wonder how much butter had gone into the meal to make everything so very good.
