Part 3
Dinner continued coming together around them with almost effortless rhythm.
Theron stirred the enormous iron pot balanced above the stove while Ruby arranged bowls across the long oak table with practiced ease. Neither spoke much.
They didn't need to.
One handed over ingredients before the other even asked.
A loaf of bread appeared exactly when Theron reached for it.
Ruby passed him fresh herbs before he turned around.
He caught them without looking.
Years.
No...
Centuries.
Of working together had made every movement almost instinctive.
Adrian watched them for a moment.
"You've done this a few times."
Theron snorted.
"Only about eighty thousand dinners."
Ruby smiled.
"Closer to ninety."
Theron frowned thoughtfully.
"...Really?"
"You forget birthdays."
"I do not."
"You forgot your own."
"I remembered eventually."
Ruby laughed softly.
"Three weeks later."
Elena leaned comfortably against the window.
"I've missed this."
Theron looked over.
"You should visit more."
"I've been busy."
"We're all busy."
Ruby nodded in agreement.
"Being busy isn't a reason to forget family."
Elena's smile softened.
"...You're right."
Adrian quietly noticed something.
Neither of them had said friend.
They had said...
Family.
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't announced.
It was simply accepted.
Anyone welcomed into this home eventually became part of it.
No ceremony required.
A loud scraping noise echoed from somewhere nearby.
Everyone looked toward Mira.
The little elf had somehow dragged an entire wooden stool across the kitchen and climbed onto it beside Adrian.
She opened another notebook.
This one looked even thicker.
Across the front cover someone had carefully written:
Questions Adrian Could Probably Answer
Adrian blinked.
"...You made a notebook about me?"
Mira looked confused.
"Well..."
"You've done lots of interesting things."
"I've done a few."
"You fought a Warchief."
"I did."
"You built a town."
"...Sort of."
"You have a slime."
"I do."
"You came from somewhere nobody has heard of."
Adrian froze for the smallest fraction of a second.
Ruby noticed.
Only Ruby.
She continued quietly arranging bowls as though nothing had happened.
Mira leaned closer.
"So..."
She lowered her voice dramatically.
"...Question One."
Adrian smiled.
"I'm listening."
"Do slimes dream?"
Silence.
Theron stopped stirring.
Elena looked genuinely curious.
Even Ruby paused.
Adrian blinked twice.
"...I..."
He scratched his cheek.
"I have absolutely no idea."
Mira wrote something down.
Research Required.
She immediately continued.
"Question Two."
Adrian laughed.
"You don't waste time."
"No."
"If two slimes hug..."
She frowned thoughtfully.
"...Do they become one slime?"
Theron let out a loud bark of laughter.
Ruby covered her smile behind one hand.
Elena looked away toward the ceiling, clearly trying not to laugh.
Adrian thought about it.
Longer than everyone expected.
"...Possibly."
Mira gasped.
"I KNEW IT."
Theron pointed his spoon at Adrian.
"You were supposed to say no."
"I don't actually know!"
"You're the slime!"
"Exactly!"
He spread his hands.
"I've never met another one!"
The room erupted into laughter.
As the laughter slowly faded, Ruby carried a large ceramic bowl toward the centre of the table.
Steam curled lazily upward.
Rich beef stew filled with carrots, onions, mushrooms and herbs glistened beneath the warm glow of hanging lanterns.
The aroma alone made Adrian's stomach growl loudly enough that everyone heard it.
Theron grinned triumphantly.
"There it is."
Adrian sighed.
"...I was hoping nobody noticed."
"The stew noticed."
"I think the whole house noticed."
Ruby smiled.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You should."
Adrian looked at the meal before him.
"I haven't smelled food this good since..."
He stopped.
Earth.
Grandma Lilly's cooking.
Sunday evenings.
Simple meals shared around a small kitchen table.
For a brief moment...
His smile became quieter.
More distant.
Ruby saw it.
Only for a heartbeat.
She didn't ask what memory had found him.
She simply placed an extra slice of warm bread beside his bowl.
Without a word.
Without making it obvious.
Just...
Kindness.
Adrian looked at the bread.
Then at Ruby.
She offered the smallest smile.
"Travellers should never leave a table hungry."
He nodded gratefully.
"...Thank you."
Ruby's smile widened just enough to reach her eyes.
"You're very welcome, Adrian."
For the first time since stepping into House Sylvaris...
The lingering shadow left behind by Velcrest seemed just a little further away.
Not gone.
It would never leave that easily.
But here...
Surrounded by laughter, warm food, and people who expected nothing from him except that he enjoy a meal...
It finally felt small enough to breathe around.
The last rays of afternoon sunlight filtered gently through the broad kitchen windows, washing the polished oak table in warm shades of amber and gold. Outside, the surrounding forest swayed peacefully beneath a cooling evening breeze while somewhere beyond the orchard a chorus of crickets slowly began replacing the daytime birds. The entire estate seemed to move at an unhurried rhythm, one completely detached from politics, wars and monsters. Time itself appeared softer here, as though the forest had quietly agreed to let this single home exist untouched by the troubles of the wider world.
Theron carefully lifted the enormous iron pot from the stove with both hands before setting it proudly in the middle of the table. Steam immediately curled upward, carrying with it the rich aroma of slow-cooked beef, root vegetables, mushrooms, rosemary and fresh herbs gathered from the garden only hours earlier. Ruby followed close behind, placing baskets overflowing with warm bread around the table while Elena quietly helped arrange bowls and wooden spoons without needing to be asked. It wasn't the sort of household where guests were expected to sit and wait to be served. Everyone naturally found something to do, and somehow that made the entire room feel even warmer.
Theron rested both hands proudly upon his hips before admiring the meal with the satisfaction of an artist stepping back from a completed painting.
"There," he declared. "Perfect."
Ruby looked into the pot.
"You forgot the pepper."
Theron stared.
"...I absolutely did."
Without the slightest embarrassment, the giant elf reached across the table, grabbed a wooden grinder nearly the size of Adrian's forearm and enthusiastically added what Adrian suspected was enough pepper to season an entire village.
Ruby watched patiently.
"...That's too much."
Theron stopped grinding.
"...Is it?"
"You stopped counting."
"I never started."
"I noticed."
Adrian couldn't stop smiling.
"You two do this every day?"
Ruby looked toward him.
"Every meal."
Theron nodded proudly.
"It keeps the marriage healthy."
Ruby tilted her head thoughtfully.
"I thought communication kept the marriage healthy."
"It does."
Theron grinned.
"But arguing about pepper makes dinner more interesting."
Mira climbed onto her chair, still clutching one of her notebooks beneath her arm.
"I've written down every pepper argument."
Theron looked genuinely alarmed.
"...You have?"
She nodded enthusiastically.
"Thirty-seven."
Ruby smiled sweetly.
"Thirty-eight."
Theron sighed.
"I don't remember thirty-eight arguments."
Ruby reached across the table and gently slid the pepper grinder a little farther away from him.
"This one counts."
The kitchen erupted into quiet laughter once again.