Half an Hour Is Enough to Eat, Not Enough to Assign Seats

The second day at dusk, a long table appeared in the back courtyard.

The table came from the old eatery next door, with thick wood and rounded edges, except that one leg at the rear right was half an inch short.

Metagross supported the table corner with one arm, while Pancham lay on the ground, stuffing wooden chips underneath. It stuffed one, then climbed up to shake the tabletop; finding it still uneven, it went back down to add another.

By the third time it stood up, the tip of its nose was smeared with dust.

Zorua immediately used an illusion to turn that smudge of dust into a pair of mustaches.

Pancham was still earnestly shaking the table, completely unaware.

Xia Che sat on the threshold and watched for a moment. "Put a shim on the left, too. It looks even."

Indeedee handed him the measuring ruler.

"I can just watch."

The ruler moved forward another inch.

Xia Che had no choice but to get up.

When Bibi Dong brought Absol to the shop, the table had just been steadied. Metagross withdrew its arm, its pair of red eyes sweeping across the four table legs in turn. As for Pancham, it placed a fruit pit on the tabletop and watched it slowly roll half a circle before finally coming to a stop.

It nodded in satisfaction.

Bibi Dong looked at the fruit pit. "Inspecting the table again today?"

"Dinner," Xia Che said.

"This seat has only half an hour."

Indeedee immediately fetched an hourglass and placed it beside her seat.

Bibi Dong glanced at it and raised no objection.

Eight chairs were set on either side of the long table, along with soft cushions and food bowls of various sizes on the ground. Indeedee had originally assigned positions according to height, but as soon as everyone sat down, the arrangement was instantly half in disarray.

Eevee wanted to lean against Hu Liena, yet also wanted to press close to Absol, ultimately dragging its little cushion right between the two of them.

Magby felt that being close to the wall was too cold, so it hugged its bowl and moved next to the charcoal stove. Worried that it was too close to the fire, Yan had just pulled the cushion outward when Magby pushed it right back.

Pawniard's spot was the easiest to arrange. Xie Yue sat down, and it stood beside his chair, not even touching the soft cushion.

"Sit down and eat," Xie Yue said.

Pawniard lowered its head and looked at its own legs.

"Right. Stand."

Zorua had already occupied three positions. There was one Zorua on the left, one on the right, and a black tail wagging back and forth hidden underneath the table.

Indeedee brought out the soup, and at just a single glance, all three Zoruas sat up straight together.

She collected the empty bowls two of them were holding.

The illusions dissipated, and the real Zorua crawled out from under the table, obediently returning to its own cushion.

Yue Guan sighed in admiration nearby. "She's getting better and better at managing them."

Indeedee placed his seventh custom cup of tea in front of him.

"I only just got here today."

The bill from the previous few days was pinned beneath the base of the cup.

Yue Guan silently picked up his tea.

In the end, only the spots for Bibi Dong and Absol remained. Indeedee had originally placed her chair at the far end of the long table, where it was spacious and best suited the Pope's status.

Instead, Absol walked over to one side near the back door and lay down. That place caught the breeze and offered a view of the front hall's activity.

Bibi Dong picked up her chair and placed it right beside the Pokémon.

Yue Guan looked at the vacant host seat and was about to sit down there.

Gui Mei placed his tea there first.

"Are you going to sit in the chair?" Yue Guan asked.

The shadow by the wall gave no reply.

That chair ultimately remained empty, save for an extra cup of tea that occasionally vanished on its own.

Metagross did not lean against the table. Its body was too broad, and squeezing in forcibly would only cause the entire table to lose half a side of seating. Indeedee had already laid out an extra-thick square cushion in the corridor, with the largest metal dining plate placed next to it.

Xia Che looked at his own bowl, then at that plate. "Its dinner is more than mine?"

Rotom flew down from the door frame. "Today it moved the table, leveled it, and arranged eight sets of tableware. Metagross completed seventy-one percent of the work, Rotom."

Pancham immediately raised both paws to indicate that it too had crawled under the table three times.

"The rest is yours," Xia Che said.

Indeedee had already placed a round bowl in front of Pancham, and the portion was equally generous. It touched the dust on the tip of its nose, finally discovering the mustache Zorua had conjured.

Zorua turned and bolted.

Pancham chased it for half a circle, but seeing Indeedee begin to ladle the soup, it immediately returned to sit properly by the door, resuming its guard duty. As long as one ignored its eyes constantly straying toward the dining table, this earnestness was quite believable.

Indeedee took out another stack of small wooden tags and had everyone pick a mark for their own cups and bowls.

Magby chose a flame, Eevee chose a round fruit, and Pawniard picked out a small, silver square piece. Absol did not pick one; it rested its paw on a crescent-shaped wooden tag and gently pressed down.

"That clashes with Xie Yue's name," Yan said.

Xie Yue looked at his blank cup. "I didn't choose one."

"Then you pick a blade."

"Why would you carve a blade on a dining cup?"

Yan thought for a moment, pulled the flame wooden tag closer to his chest, and decided to stop offering suggestions for others.

Bibi Dong picked up the crescent wooden tag and placed it beside Absol's shallow bowl. Her own cup remained blank, and Indeedee didn't chase after her to ask.

Zorua crept back quietly and shoved a fox wooden tag beside Xia Che's hand.

"This is yours," Xia Che said.

Zorua shook its head and nudged it again.

"I don't have a tail either."

Zorua used an illusion to add a fluffy black tail to him.

Everyone at the table looked over.

Xia Che accepted the fox wooden tag. "Let's eat first."

The tail vanished then.

Indeedee served dinner. The stewed meat sat in the center, flanked by roasted Berries, boiled vegetables, and the round bread A-Li had brought that afternoon. She had prepared a suitable portion for each Pokémon, and even cut the fruit chunks for Pawniard with exceptional neatness.

Xia Che picked up the bread, tore off half first, and placed it in his own bowl.

Pancham reached out and tapped the table with a paw.

"I'm testing the flavor for you."

Pancham kept tapping.

Xia Che returned the other half to the bread basket.

Dinner officially began then.

Magby liked the roasted Berries best. Every time it ate a piece, it warmed it in its palm first, and if it felt the aroma wasn't strong enough, it would blow a small puff of fire at the fruit skin.

Yan watched closely. "Only one breath."

Magby finished blowing and held it up for him to see.

The fruit skin was golden, the edges intact.

Yan turned to Xie Yue. "Did you see that?"

"I saw."

"It can control it already."

"I said I would watch."

Yan was satisfied and took a piece for himself. Magby hurriedly pressed down on his hand to signal that humans didn't need to blow fire on it first.

On the other side, Pawniard used the outer edge of its arm to steady a fruit chunk, and with a gentle swipe of its blade, cut it into four pieces of nearly identical size. After watching, Xie Yue pushed his own portion over as well.

Pawniard looked up.

"I can't cut them this evenly."

It took the fruit chunks over.

Hu Liena originally wanted to feed Eevee a small bite of stewed meat. Eevee sniffed it first, turned its head, and chose the sweet fruit puree next to it.

"You were eating meat just the day before yesterday," Hu Liena said.

Eevee licked the fruit puree clean, then lowered its head to sniff the meat on her chopsticks.

Hu Liena smiled and placed the meat into its little dish. "You want both?"

Eevee's tail wagged rapidly.

Bibi Dong did not join in the lively atmosphere at the table. She ate quickly and quietly with her utensils, but Absol, sitting beside her, still hadn't touched anything.

It sniffed out the scent of each dish first, and finally looked only at a plate of purplish sour Berries.

Indeedee picked up a small piece and placed it in its dish.

Absol tasted it, its expression remaining calm, yet its tail gently tapped the edge of the dish.

A second piece arrived quickly.

After it finished eating, its tail tapped it again.

Yue Guan noticed the pattern and pushed the whole plate of sour Berries in front of it.

Absol immediately pulled its tail back and looked up toward the courtyard wall, as if those two previous times had merely been accidents.

"It really likes them," Hu Liena said.

Bibi Dong picked up a piece of sour fruit and placed it on Absol's plate. "Eat if you want."

Absol lowered its head and ate it.

After a moment, it used its paw to push the plate half an inch toward her.

Bibi Dong tasted a piece, the tips of her brows twitching imperceptibly.

It was very sour.

Yue Guan asked, "How does it taste?"

"You can try."

The moment Yue Guan picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, his entire face wrinkled. Zorua found it amusing and immediately used an illusion to conjure a full plate of purple sour fruits in front of him.

Gui Mei's voice came from beside the head seat. "It suits you very well."

"How does it suit me?"

"It keeps you quiet."

A few chuckles sounded around the table. When Bibi Dong put down her chopsticks, the fine sand in the hourglass happened to reach the bottom.

Indeedee prepared to take away her bowl.

There were still two pieces of sour fruit left on Absol's plate. It ate slowly, carefully biting open each piece, completely unaffected by the hourglass.

Bibi Dong watched it for a moment, then flipped the hourglass over.

"Add another half-hour?" Yue Guan asked.

"Let it finish eating."

Xia Che leaned back in his chair. "You said yesterday that leaving work is up to you."

"Today as well."

Absol finished the last piece, licked the plate clean, and then stood up and walked to her side.

Bibi Dong stood up immediately. "Let's go."

Indeedee blocked the doorway, handing over a packed food box. Inside were the sour fruits for tomorrow morning and a portion of plain meat, with a small note on the side specifying which to eat first.

Bibi Dong took it. "It's going to be like this for all seven days?"

"It's easy to forget the first few days," Xia Che said.

"This seat won't forget."

Absol looked at her.

"Nor will there be any missing."

Only then did it step out the door.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei remained until the last. Yue Guan looked at the two empty cushions, then glanced at Hu Liena and the others' partners.

"Now even Your Eminence has a fixed spot," he said.

"You have one too." Xia Che pointed at the teacup pinning down the bill.

"I mean a partner's spot."

Gui Mei picked up his cup from beside the head seat. "Come tomorrow morning."

Yue Guan turned his head. "You're applying too?"

"I wrote mine a day earlier than you."

Xia Che's just-closed eyes opened again.

The table had only been repaired for the first day, and tomorrow they would probably have to add seats again.