Eirian found Chenzhou and Mingzhe already seated as the kitchen maids set out dinner. Brendan was in Chenzhou's lap, and they seemed ot be having a rather intense conversation with lots of eye contact and nodding and a serious little pout on the child's face.
Eirian raised an eyebrow at them and looked to Mingzhe for an explanation as she chose to take a seat between them, instead of at the other end of the table.
Mingzhe had a faint smile on his face, and all he did was shrug before nodding in thanks to the last of the kitchen maids, who deposited carafes of wine and coffee on the table.
To her surprise, the maids excused themselves without serving anything, closing the doors behind them. It must have been Chenzhou's instruction she realised, locking them away from the world like common families could do without expecting to be interrupted by the responsibilities of power.
He'd blossomed a bit, she realised, watching him with the child. They'd blossomed together, Chenzhou and Brendan, a father without a child and a child with an absent father who'd been lucky enough to find one another in this vast world.
Mingzhe poured wine for all three of them, and he and Eirian both sat back and relaxed, content to watch Chenzhou and Brendan finish their conversation.
"They're good for one another," Mingzhe whispered into his glass.
Eirian couldn't help but nod in agreement, leaning to the side to press her shoulder against his. Chenzhou was a natural parent; he didn't seem to get tired or bored or frustrated with the small creatures that couldn't clearly communicate or who lost interest halfway through something and abruptly changed subjects.
"Where's Finn?" Normally, he ate with Eirian when he wasn't off with Emmy and Patrick, and in their absence, he'd been clinging even more.
A small smirk flitted across Mingzhe's face. "Passed out. Apparently, one small child has more energy than three grown adults. The maids found him fast asleep on the floor and covered him with a blanket."
Eirian smothered a chuckle behind her hand. She could easily imagine Finn sprawled out on the floor, snoring, since he frequently forgot which family he belonged to. The Vermeers were known for their elegance, but Finn was a black sheep in more ways than one.
Mingzhe's smile said he was thinking along the same lines, and Eirian felt the inexplicable urge to start telling him about everything that had happened today and just barely managed to stop herself.
Yuze was right. Nothing could be shared with Chenzhou and Mingzhe until the investigation was over or they could both be implicated.
Eirian hadn't fully considered that when she'd decided to oversee the investigation, although she still thought that was the right choice. Yuze was trustworthy, but Kai Low was not. Yuze had been part of the Camelia for decades, and there was a chance that someone would be so frightened by his questions that they would hurt him, and since he was still recovering, he needed someone to watch his back.
Again, Kai Low wasn't trustworthy in that regard, if only because Eirian had caught his eyes wandering to parts of Yuze that weren't acceptable to stare at in public according to proper society.
There was no way Yuze hadn't noticed, and it made her wonder what he'd left out about his time as a prisoner of the Bandri. He hadn't shied away from the details, but Eirian could imagine that what he considered important and what she considered interesting were probably different.
Kai Low was way too interested in Yuze for it to be just a matter of enemies.
And Yuze's suspicions that he was Fox's brother…
Eirian was not the person to ask him about it, but hopefully, Yuze would get the chance. He deserved closure if nothing else.
Brendan and Chenzhou finally finished their conversation, but Brendan showed no sign of moving and started reaching for the heaping dishes at the centre of the table.
Chenzhou couldn't reach the boy in his lap, so Eirian and Mingzhe stood and filled everyone's plates. The kitchen had gone all out, it seemed, roast, potatoes layered with cheese and onion, a variety of vegetables in a bright red sauce, and light and fluffy bread that smelled so heavenly Eirian's mouth started to water. It was the type of food meant to put meat on your bones, which made sense as so many of the Camelia were still recovering and could use all the help they could get.
Eirian managed to put aside her worries from the day as they ate. Bredan's joy was infectious at having the attention of all three of them at once, and he kept up a steady stream of chatter as he ate. Eirian even managed to engage him in conversation for several minutes when they both got excited over the bread.
Mingzhe even managed to relax enough to laugh when Brendan got too excited and accidentally sent a piece of roast flying through the air.
And Chenzhou never lost the gentle patience that seemed to keep the whole thing steady. Solid and dependable and capable of putting people at such ease that Eirian envied the skill, even if she had no interest in being at ease herself.
It was far too much fun whirling about in different directions, constantly buzzing with things to do. Eirian couldn't imagine life another way, but she thought she could safely say now that she'd lived long enough to understand that others felt differently and that neither way was clearly right or wrong.
It seemed a great deal of life was dedicated solely to finding whatever it was that brought you peace in life, if you could figure out what that was, of course.
~ tbc