"That would be much appreciated," said Jones. "Ta."
The door opened then and Father Stephen ducked into the space, taking up the seat next to James with a pleased smile. "It's good to see you alive and well after your near miss."
"I'm harder to kill than that," said Alex. "Murderers find it terribly annoying."
"I find it incredibly comforting," said Father Stephen. "Just as I find it comforting that the Guardians are always willing to send someone to care for you in such situations."
"We're lucky James and Jacques were free," said Julian. "One of these days it'll be some random pair and everyone will be so confused about how to deal with one another."
"Everyone settled?" asked Jones, and they all assured him they were ready, Jacques buckled in front and the rest of them snug in the car's very fancy spell zone to keep limo riders from having to buckle up. Not to mention Alex's fancy amulet pair still on the car and Jones, keeping everyone safe together.
"We're always happy when we can help you two," said James. "We had another boring politician a few weeks ago, he wassodull, and I swear his kids were the most vapid teenagers I have ever met."
"They even saidCastleswas so five years ago," said Jacques, sounding offended on their behalf.
"It probably is, Thomas doesn't really keep up with the new stuff," said Julian. "We talked about it a little, but sinceCastleskeeps up with the cool DLC he's pretty much a loyalist. He has other games he plays, but less obsessively."
"That's okay," said Alex. "I don't mind being a little old to some teenagers."
"You are a little old," teased Julian, poking him through the bond and snuggling in to kiss his chin from underneath.
Alex chuckled. "I am robbing the cradle with my lovely younger husband, I suppose," he joked right back. "Good thing for you that I can't throw you over as soon as you hit thirty."
"Good thing for you, you mean," said Julian, giving him an actual poke to the side this time.
Everyone laughed at them, and then Jones was pulling up at the front entrance to the Atrium. He assured them he had the card to feed himself out back with the other drivers, and they all went inside to find they'd been given a round table for five under one of the trellises with out-of-season roses scenting the air.
"What a lovely setting," said Father Stephen as they all got seated around the table. "They keep the flowers blooming all year?"
"Yeah, they keep the environment all night and day with spells and heaters and such," said Julian.
"It's a pretty cool combination of spells and technology," said Alex. "Not to mention having a Grower on staff who coaxes the best out of every plant."
"They thought they might want some charms from us, but we haven't had time to finalise the order yet," explained Julian. "If Alex and I make them together, we can do a whole big batch ofcharms to keep plants healthy in the bloom of spring all year round."
"I'm pretty excited about using both of our talents together," said Alex. "Probably more than you need to hear about."
"I always find your work interesting, you know that," chided Father Stephen.
"Yeah, but we want to hear about your work this time," Julian protested.
Before that could go any further, a server came by and got drink orders and made sure they all had their menus, a subtle hint to actually look at them and have their choices ready when she returned.
"Oh, there's a lovely looking filet mignon this time," said Julian. "I could just go for two of those, maybe."
"I'm going to get the eel pie and a steak," said Alex, closing his menu again. "I want a little variety."
"You two eat like Guardians," said Father Stephen. "I believe I shall have the filet as well, the asparagus with it also sounds lovely."
"Two steaks for me, too," said James with a nod. "The rest sounds good but there's something about a good filet I can't resist on a cold day like today."
"I'm going to have eel pie and a steak, just like Alex," said James.
"May I suggest French onion soup for everyone?" said the server, who had returned while they were talking.
They all agreed that sounded amazing for a cold winter's day, and soon enough they each had tea or fizzy drinks as was their wont, and everyone had ordered and assured the server they'd all want dessert later.
"I do like the tea here," said Alex, taking a nice big drink of his cup. "Plus the cute sugars are charming.
