He took the seat opposite to her with a file of papers balanced in his hands. There was a porcelain dish in the middle of them which held an array of sweet breads and small sandwiches. He put the file next to this before digging in himself to the delicacies that were presented before him. Henry savored the taste before turning to observe his partner. "Race car driver, you are always out here exceeding my expectations. I thought it would be quite a long time before you even got out of bed. Wu had the same thoughts when you decided on a natural withdrawal. I'd hoped that you'd not bother me too much for a week or two."

"A week? My my . . . . that would be a missed race, missed revenue, missed sponsors.h.i.+ps, missed training. That would mess up my schedule for months. I, even before racing, maybe it's genetic or something, but we Chens have this quality where we just bounce back super quick. I don't like to be out for too long. I just like to feel in my groove and in the moment. I don't like feeling out of the loop. But you know, it's not like I'm getting back on a track anytime soon. Today all I'm worried about is not finis.h.i.+ng this beautiful breakfast. Would you like some tea? It's herbal so there's no caffeine if you're thinking about coffee later. I had the kitchen make it fresh this morning." 

"I haven't tried anything new in a while so why not?" Ellie was quick as she poured in two cups with practiced ease. Henry wondered where she would have had practice with such things, but couldn't help admiring her profile. She was still too thin with a narrow waist that looked like she could easily get sawed in half, but there was still a great deal of grace in her form as she moved. The blusher in her cheeks was very faint so he could tell that the glow was not just from it. Her features were gaunt, but starting to fill in from the good food that was amply present around her. He was happy to see her farmer's braid that had little silver leaves tucked into it in places that s.h.i.+mmered and shone as she moved. The braid had not been secured so bits of wavy hair was unruly escaping here and there. She looked like she was a milkmaid in a high school drama production. Much younger than she'd looked when he had met her in a hospital bed.