The front door opened and closed pulling their attention. In stepped Zeven, looking significantly more tired than when he left. His footsteps were heavy and his shoulders were pulled forward.
"We're over here."
Zeven immediately perked up when Brennan spoke. He stood straighter and his face eased into a neutral smile. He offered the two of them a small wave and without considering if he could even see her, she returned the gesture.
He shuffled off to the kitchen, leaving without saying anything. Chris got up to follow him, but Brennan reached his hand out to stop her.
"He's fine. Heading home is usually pretty hard on him."
"Are you sure?"
"Just let him get a few cups of coffee in and he'll be up to his usual antics in no time."
They could hear Zeven searching around in the kitchen. It was taking him a long time to find what he was looking for, the sounds were becoming more frustrated as the gentle clinking turned grew louder.
"Damn it, Gunter! Where's the coffee?" Zeven yelled from the kitchen.
Chris remembered that Gunter had hidden the coffee a while back after she was abusing her caffeine privileges.
She was about to go help him look for it, when once again Brennan kept her from leaving. Silently he counted down on his fingers, when he hit one, he pointed to the upper floor.
"It's on the counter, you walked right by it."
Brennan took a little bow as Gunter spoke right on cue.
"This is a fairly normal thing."
The pair of them listen as Zeven stumbled about the kitchen, finding themselves amused by his conversion with the objects in the room. He poured himself a large cup of coffee before verbally thanking the pot.
"He needs a captive audience."
"I think he's found one."
Chris and Brennan chuckled quietly from the couch in the living room. His attention was drawn to the notepad sitting on the side table. Reaching over, he picked it up. Looking over it, it was covered with masses of information and ideas without any method of organization.
It was not the first time he had looked at notes she had made for herself. In most situations, her writing flowed in columns and was easy to follow; the exception being when she was in the throngs of thought. At those times, without her there to decipher it was almost impossible to comprehend.
The odd thing was the marked and edited phrasing. Sloppily written and slanting left, it was unmistakably Zeven's writing. He sighed, it only made sense that one mess could understand another.
He felt the coach move underneath him, when he looked over he saw Chris emphatically motioned with her hands. She was smirking as she focused on something behind him.
"What was that?"
"What was what?"
"That motion you just did."
"That is just me telling Zeven exactly what I think of him."
"What you think of him?!"
"He's a dumbass, and I tell him that quite often." Chris made the motion again. And Brennan followed her gaze to Zeven who was a ways off making the sign back at her. The two of them were caught in a cycle, each time they signed at the other it got bigger and more exaggerated until Zeven put his hands up signaling his defeat.
Brennan looked at them as they were lost in their own world for a moment. Both of them had silly smiles on their face. As he looked at Chris, he could see the full flush of her cheeks as they became apples. The pattern of her freckles as they marched across her face rounded her cheek bones, and there was a softer look to her. She looked beautiful, more beautiful than he had ever seen her. In all the time that he knew her she had never looked so happy.
While he was looking at Chris, she was looking at Zeven, and Zeven was looking back at her. And he realized in that moment, that her happiness is all he ever wanted, even if he was not the cause.
"Just so you know, that sign doesn't mean what you think it means, at least not when he's using it."
She didn't take her eyes off Zeven until he disappeared around the corner.
"Then what does it mean?"
He debated telling her for a second. Her face was still lit up with a smile.
It would be fine if he just told her what it meant literally, he'd leave the figurative to be infrared at a later date.
"He's actually wishing you well."
Chris's mouth dropped open, but the smile never left her eyes.
"Ooh he's good," Her face turned almost wicked as she ran her tongue across her teeth, "Teach me how to actually say Dumbass."
Brennan sighed, he hated to admit it but Zeven had met his match. And not being able to find a good enough reason to avoid it, he showed her the correct sign.
Chris mimicked him, a fist to her forehead before striking it to her palm. Her hair was falling out of her braid, and stray hairs caught on her fingers as she signed. Her eyes were alight and Brennan could feel the energy radiating off of her.
He wondered what he had just unleashed onto his oldest friend.
Zeven came back around the corner, holding two mugs of coffee. Fearful of the look in Chris's eyes, he quickly excused himself. As he stood, Chris stood with him.
"Chris, thank you for hearing me out," he extended his hand to her. Instead of taking it, she bypassed it and grabbed his forearm instead. Squeezing it gently she gave him a subdued smile.
"Any time. Take care of Mae."
He nodded at her. She released his arm and he walked over to Zeven. Since he had no hands to shake, Brennan slapped him on the upper arm shaking his head wordlessly.
"Good luck."
After that he swiftly made his way to the door and let himself out.
"Well, that was odd."
"It certainly was… do you think it's because I didn't grab him a cup too? He doesn't usually drink this late in the afternoons so…"
"Yeah, that's probably it."
He passed a mug to her and she took it, pulling it into her chest, enjoying the warmth as it seeped into her. Taking a seat on the couch, he patted with his hand for her to join him.
Zeven sat up straighter than a rod. Only his head was slightly bowed as he looked at the cup in his lap.
"I am moving the conversation to a harder topic."
"Thanks for the warning." Her eyebrows furrowed together as she looked at him. He looked tired, more than just tired, the circles under his eyes were nothing new, but now they were paired with a hollow look.
"Look, I have a favor to ask and it is not one that you will enjoy."
"What is it?"
"I can't say until you agree."
"Then it's not going to happen."
She began to stand up, but Zeven caught her hand.
"Wait… I'll bet you for it. It's a big favor, so you should pick what we do."
"What do I get if I win."
"Satisfaction?"
"You'll be my personal servant for the next week. Is that fair?"
"Unfortunately, that will be on par with what I'm wanting. So, yes. What do you want to bet over?"
"A game of chess."
Zeven gritted his teeth and gave a curt nod.
"Okay."
They got to work setting up the chess board, Chris could see the way Zeven's fingers turned pale as he tightly gripped the pieces. His chest rising and falling with each heavy breath.