Caspian gave Silvia a bright smile when after a few minutes, it seemed like Asher had also been sucked into whatever void that had gotten the others.
"Please give me a moment," Caspian rose to his feet with delicate grace, his disapproval clear to see despite his bright smile.
"Take your time," Silvia replied generously, relaxing despite herself.
Caspian hurried out of the room, full lips in an angry pout as he marched to the kitchen. He hoped to get a clear explanation for why they were still lingering in the kitchen.
"They’re in the study," Katya ratted them out as soon as he showed up at the door.
Caspian already guessed this, so he just strode forward without slowing down, slamming open the door. He was so stunned by what he saw that he forgot to be angry for a moment.
They were all crowded behind Patty’s laptop, and it made him regret not finding out what they were doing the first time he came around.
"What’s going on here?" He demanded, crossing his arms as he walked in.
He only managed to briefly catch the attention of everyone else, his mate didn’t even look up. This made curiosity eat at him, walking around the table to take a look at what they were doing.
Patty also gave a response, having the decency to be sheepish. "A-Asher is trying to beat Jael’s high score." She reported, stumbling over using her Mafia King’s name.
Caspian watched as his mate played puzzles with a focus he didn’t even reserve for a gun fight, too baffled to be properly upset. "Well, wrap it up and come down to the dining room, we have guests waiting." He relented, leaving the kitchen all by himself.
Without guests, he would have stayed back to find out the winner, and maybe try his luck at getting the best score... maybe they could do that after dinner.
When he returned to the expectant guests all alone, Caspian couldn’t ignore the silent questions in their eyes as they stared him down.
"Is something wrong?" Silvia broke the silence, a hint of concern in her voice.
"They’re caught up in a little matter..."
"...Cas!" Rosie slammed the dining room doors open with a bewitching smile. "Asher won!" She announced.
Patty was right behind her, not at all sharing in her glee. She was already scheming to delete the game, even Rosie’s failures weren’t enough to comfort her anymore.
Caspian wore a look of pleasant surprise, staring past her in hopes of catching a glimpse of his mate. "He did? They’re not settling it with a shootout out back, are they?" He frowned when Rosie and Patty settled down, but Jael and Asher were nowhere to be seen.
"I would prefer if exchanging bullets were kept till after dinner," Silvia muttered.
Caspian nodded in approval, "It’s just a puzzle game, and dinner has been delayed enough."
"And if it would help, I could beat their high scores to put an end to everything." Silvia offered.
Caspian’s eyes sparkled, his opinion of Silvia improving in leaps and bounds in such a short time. "I was thinking the same thing! How about we both give it a go after dinner?"
"Give what a go after dinner?" Asher asked as he walked in, disgruntled.
"Hurry up and take your seats," Caspian immediately scolded, "Dinner has been delayed enough."
Angelo remained quiet all this time, whiplashed. He had always had such a larger-than-life view of Mafia Houses, but this seemed just like a big family to him, complete with the antics and everything.
Caspian didn’t waste any further time with dinner, only relaxing after everyone was served and dinner was underway.
Despite the numerous delays, it went on without a hitch, the conversation mostly revolving around the food being served.
Angelo knew well that Silvia couldn’t cook, so he was thoroughly surprised by her over-the-top interest in Caspian’s recipes. He remained quiet, and no one spoke to him, so he just observed from the sidelines.
The attention of everyone at the table drifted to him when Silvia gave him her slice of pie. She had done it instinctively, not thinking anything much about it, but Caspian was concerned.
"You don’t like the pie?" The Omega spoke up. A few seats away, Rosie stared greedily at the slice of blueberry pie that might have been hers.
"I’m sure the pie is lovely," Silvia rushed to say, "It’s just Angelo has a sweet tooth and I’m not a big fan of sweets." She tried to explain, contemplating whether she should just take her slice of pie back.
Rosie had a look of approval on her pretty face as she glanced at Angelo. Anyone who could appreciate blueberry pie was alright in her books.
"Thank you," Angelo’s quiet voice spoke up as he took the offered slice of pie, ending the conversation.
"There’s more pie in the kitchen if you want," Caspian generously offered.
"I want-" Rosie already spoke up before he got all of his words out.
"Not you," Caspian cut her off, his sweet smile never leaving his face.
Angelo ducked his head and focused on eating, not used to being around so many people. Dinner was already coming to an end, and he was looking forward to returning to the quiet of his room. He didn’t take Silvia at her word that she would be playing puzzle games after dinner, he doubted she even knew how to play a game.
"There’s some leftover pie," Caspian spoke up as dinner was all but over, "I’ll have the kitchen pack some up for Angelo." He said to Silvia, ignoring the puppy dog eyes Rosie gave him.
He was well aware of her going through his kitchen like a tornado and munching on everything she could get her hands on. He would rather she didn’t make herself sick by eating too much.
Silvia rose to her feet as well, "We would love that, thank you." She smiled easily now, dinner had been great... it had been more than great, it had been genuinely nice. "Do you want to come along, Angelo?"
Angelo silently rose to his feet, his braid swaying. He didn’t mind either outcome, but it was easier to have Silvia do the talking for him so he would stick to her.