Work Text:
Arthur knows he shouldn't be nervous.
It's a fact, he's done this before. He's met new people before, he's gone to houses for meals and tea with only the most basic of pleasantries on his tongue and nowhere near enough knowledge of the individuals receiving them.
He should be used to this, and yet his hands are still fidgeting with the soft fabric at his neck, something that Parker had noticed the moment they left their office.
Parker's exasperated huff is quickly followed by a gentle, "Stop fussing Arthur, they're gonna love you."
Arthur lets his hands fall away from the tie he'd redone three times on the way over, still not quite satisfied with how it sat beneath his collar. It was too close to suffocating, and yet refused to sit right beneath his jacket. He presses a careful hand to the fabric for the umpteenth time as he scowls in response to Parker's redirection.
"Easy for you to say, you're not meeting them for the first time," Arthur replies shortly. He'd worried over his clothing for long enough that the wrinkles were steadily being created by his fretting rather than being improved; he chooses to ignore that fact as he runs his hand down the length of his tie again.
Parker gives him a solid pat on the shoulder in encouragement, enough to jostle him to the side. His voice is bright as he attempts to redirect Arthur's cynicism, "Exactly! Which means I know who they will and won't like. And I'm gonna say it again Artie, because you still aren't listenin' to me, they're gonna love you."
Arthur exhales slowly, resisting the urge to protest as he had been for the drive to Parker's family home. He doesn't see how Parker's parents are going to 'love him' considering all they knew of him was what little anecdotal evidence Parker had given them. It couldn't be enough to persuade them he was a well balanced and pleasant person to be around.
And yet they had invited him for dinner.
Even now, heading up the short walkway to a well maintained entrance, he felt an undetermined apprehension. The last time he'd been at a family dinner hadn't exactly ended on a high note, and he wasn't eager for a repeat performance.
"Besides, you already look nicer than some of the guys my sister has brought home," Parker gives him an eyebrow waggle that Arthur rolls his eyes at. Another point Parker had attempted to needle a few times now. One he was not interested in entertaining.
"And that's supposed to work in my favor?"
"'Course it is!" Parker grins, "Means you're already a step up in my parents book."
Again, Arthur isn't completely sure how that would work in his favor, but he knows enough about Parker to know that he'll be damned to lose Arthur's good opinion of him.
"Right, well, too late to back out now," Arthur mutters, smoothing out his suit jacket one last time and hoping he doesn't look as tense as he feels as Parker opens the front door.
"We're here!" He calls from the doorway, stopping Arthur before he could walk too far. Arthur realizes there's a shelf of shoes, a set of slippers off to the side. Parker sets one of the sets in front of him as he explains. "No shoes in the house, Ma just cleaned and will have my head if we track anything in."
"In the kitchen!" A woman calls, the house just large enough for her voice to need to be raised.
Arthur exhales, mentally preparing himself and trying very hard not to think of the last time he'd met someone else's parents. This was different, this was a completely fresh start with no… well, with less expectations. He still doesn't know what Parker told them to endear him so much already.
"They're gonna love you," Parker whispers once more, squeezing Arthur's shoulder before leading the way to the kitchen.
It was warm and bright, a savory scent filling the air from whatever was sizzling on the stove. Mrs. Yang turns to face the two of them with a smile. Arthur fights to keep his own smile relaxed as she hurries over.
"Ma, this is my partner Arthur Lester, Arthur, my lovely mother."
"Oh flatterer," Mrs. Yang has to brace a hand on Parker's shoulder and get on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek, but she does so quickly before offering a hand to Arthur. "It's wonderful to meet you officially, Arthur."
Arthur is secretly relieved she hadn't gone for a hug. He clasps her hand between both of his own. "You as well Mrs. Yang, Parker has been speaking highly about your dinners for weeks."
Her smile widens, smile lines creasing deeply around her eyes, "Please, call me Elsie. I'm almost finished here but if you two could take these plates to the table after washing up, Molly should be home here soon as well."
Parker hums thoughtfully, as he goes to wash his hands, moving out of the way for Arthur when he was done. "And Pops?"
"Also on his way," Elsie sighs. "Seems you two got lucky to beat the rush home."
"It is a Friday night," Parker shrugs, handing off a stack of plates to Arthur as he gathers together silverware. "Driving probably helps too, are they both still taking the train?"
"With the weather as it is, yes, they both complain of course," Elsie calls over her shoulder as she goes to tend the pots bubbling on the stove.
"Molly hates riding the train, says it's too small and too many people for her," Parker says in a stage whisper as he leads the way to the table. "Dad doesn't mind it as much, but complains it's too slow."
"I suppose it's impractical to drive as much in the city," Arthur allows, thinking of how long it'd taken them to find parking less than five blocks from the house.
"Oh yeah, you'd hate it," Parker grins.
"With the way you drive, yes I would," Arthur mutters this, but Parker laughs loud enough to cover Arthur's complaint before his mother heard.
"You're just too used to country driving, we need to get you in the city more," Parker elbows him in the ribs, lighter than he usually would but still enough for him to shuffle over a few steps.
They both start setting the table as Arthur thinks about it. He wouldn't consider moving so close to Boston, to New York. Far too many memories for that.
"I am quite content in the city we live in, thanks," Arthur replies stiffly, finishing with the last plate and watching Parker finish out the plates.
Parker shrugs, "I'll convince you to move out here with me one of these days. You know there are more cases in places like this-"
"That's grand and all, but I'd prefer to stay where it's familiar," Arthur cuts off, then winces at his rudeness. In their office was one thing, but while he was at home with Parker's mother within earshot he felt that he should at least attempt to be more civil. Parker brushes it off, as he does most things Arthur says out of turn and grins.
"Hey no sweat, I'll wear you down eventually."
"What are you trying to talk him into," Elsie asks with a hint of scolding as she brings in a steaming pot from the kitchen, motioning them to move away from the table as she sets it on a thick fabric place setting.
"Nothin' ma, just trying to tell him how great the city is," Parker replies, the picture of innocence with his hands in the air. "You always talk about how you want me to move closer to you."
"Not at the price of your business though," Elsie calls over her shoulder as she returns to the kitchen to bring out another steaming pot. Before Arthur could offer to help the door swings open, loud calls from who he assumes are Parker's father and sister.
"You're just in time!" Elsie yells from the kitchen, then hurries over to Parker, sliding her oven mitts off as she does. "Go on, introduce Arthur to them."
Arthur feels distinctly that he's being herded as Elsie waves and Parker more or less drags him towards the door. A whirl of motion draws his eye to where Parker had swept someone up in a hug, the woman letting out a high pitched laugh at the unexpected affection.
"Parker! Let me go before you drop me," She says with a slap to his shoulder, blushing as she adjusts her skirt to lay flat. Parker releases her with a wide grin, letting himself get tugged to her height as she hisses something in his ear.
"What? It's just Arthur," Parker protests, and that gives Arthur an impression on what exactly his sister was saying.
"Well, it's good to finally meet the man working with our son," Mr. Yang greets, drawing Arthur's attention away from the siblings. He takes the offered hand. "Parker Yang, although I know that can get confusing. Mr. Yang is fine."
"Pops," Parker says with a frown, "He can call me Peter, it's fine."
"No, no," Mr. Yang waves him off, "You took my name, you keep it."
Parker gives Arthur an exasperated look, clearly the result of some long-spoken argument that he's yet to win. "Well, this here is my sister Molly. Molly, Arthur."
"It's good to meet you," Molly says politely, and not-so-subtly kicking at Parker's ankle as she offers Arthur her own hand to shake. "We've heard a lot about you from Parker, it's nice to put a face to a name."
Elsie appears in the doorway to the kitchen, waving them all forward, "Come away from the door now, get those coats off, hands washed, and come get you a mug of something warm. Peter, help me get this food placed will you?"
Parker gestures for Arthur to precede him, allowing Molly and Mr. Yang to finish changing shoes and draping coats on the rack by the door.
Elsie meets them in the doorway, passing over a platter with a towel draped around the handles and giving Arthur a look before handing him a bowl of rolls.
"Ma usually doesn't let guests help but I told her you're basically family and family helps out," Parker says quietly in explanation. "Besides, this way we get to eat quicker."
"It seems like you all have a good system for dinner nights," Arthur observes.
"Oh of course, with how rarely we can have dinner together we prioritize our time," Parker shrugs. "I think the last time we were all able to get together was almost three months ago, which my Ma hates. If she could have us here every night she would. We call of course, but it isn't the same"
They both take another dish to the table, and Arthur wonders if they would actually be able to eat all of the food now taking up a majority of the space. There were dishes he recognized and others he didn't but could make an educated guess to.
There was enough room for six people at the table, and Arthur calculates where he'd end up sitting - before Parker points at a seat. "You're between my mom and I."
It would be a relief if he didn't already know that meant Molly would likely be sitting across from him. She seemed lovely, but even after the brief introduction at the door he worried over what the two Yang siblings had discussed about him previously. Surely Parker wouldn't be too pushy on that subject during dinner, but he was already mentally preparing for the conversation back to Arkham. He holds back a sigh as he nods, following Parker back to the kitchen. Mugs are pushed towards them, a pitcher of something steaming in Elsie's hands and glasses in Molly's as they all trail back to the dining room.
The mugs were filled with something fragrant, a slice of red apple and a dusting of cinnamon on top. It easily chased away the chill that had accompanied the last of them entering the home.
Parker gives him a quick summary of the food he didn't recognize - steamed pork and vegetable dumplings, a pot of egg drop soup, a dish of sauce that Parker dished out for him and promised would be good with the dumplings. Then there were more recognizable dishes of mashed potatoes, sliced ham, and bread rolls.
"Take as much as you want, whatever we don't eat will be leftovers," Elsie encourages as they begin serving themselves. She had clearly caught onto Arthur's modest serving sizes, but he wouldn't be convinced just yet to overfill his plate.
There's little chatter as they begin to eat, and Arthur finds himself enjoying the food far more than the half-hearted meals he and Parker would cook for themselves. Diners had their own charm, but it wasn't as fulfilling as enjoying an actual home cooked meal.
Honestly, he can't remember the last time he had home cooked food.
"You are skin and bones dear," Elsie scolds lightly when she notices Arthur's plate is empty, putting another serving's worth on his plate despite his feeble protest. "Do you boys cook at all?"
"Of course we cook Ma," Parker protests, "Now it ain't anything like this, but it's decent enough meals."
Doubt makes the corner of Elsie's mouth tilt down, but she hums thoughtfully, "Maybe the two of you should start coming by once a week. We miss seeing you anyway, dear, and to be honest it's clear you two could use some hearty food."
"That's far too generous Mrs. Yang," Arthur insists, "We get along fine and I wouldn't want to bother-"
"Oh it wouldn't be a bother!" Elsie waves off, "Ever since Peter moved further into Arkham it's been hard to convince him to come back and visit. It would benefit us more than anything else."
"Maybe not every week," Parker negotiates, "How about once a month."
Elsie smiles at the offer, "Oh that'd be lovely! It should be easy enough for Molly to clear her schedule for a day to join us as well ."
"You act as if I'll ever turn down a home cooked meal, you're lucky I'm not here every night," Molly laughs.
"And we would welcome all of you anytime!" Elsie says happily, "All of you. It's been so long since this house has been full for meal times, it would give me something productive to do."
An empty house was harder to live in, Arthur knew the feeling well. Parker offering for him to live with him in the apartment connected to the office may not have been the most spacious of options, but it far beat out the empty rooms he had returned to over the years.
"I'm sold, what do you say Artie?"
Arthur huffs, "Hard to say no to an offer like that."
Elsie claps her hands together excitedly, "Wonderful! It's the third Friday of the month right now, let's try to keep that schedule for the moment. Barring holidays of course, those I'm sure will be a quite different affair."
"And working around schedules," Parker says idly. "We can make that happen though, right Arthur?"
"Yes, I think we could make it work easy enough," Arthur agrees. Having something on the calendar to look forward to would be nice, he could admit that much.
"So! What brought you into the business, Arthur?" Mr. Yang asks as the meal begins winding down. Elsie excused herself to check on the oven which Arthur guessed held a pie of some sorts from the smell.
"Ah, Parker did actually." Arthur wasn't sure how to elaborate when he honestly couldn't remember much of that first case.
"He was in the right place at the right time," Parker jumps in easily, clearly sensing Arthur's lack of enthusiasm over how they'd technically met the first time. It wasn't exactly something to discuss over family dinner. "I asked him to come along on the case to make sure I didn't miss anything and it turns out he's a natural."
"Seems like the two of you work well together, you've certainly gotten busier since he started on," Mr. Yang remarks.
"Two investigators are more reputable than one," Parker shrugs, taking a sip of the cider. "Seems like the office we're renting has always had two names on the lease. Reputation brings people back after all."
"As long as it keeps a roof over your alls head and actual food on the table that's what matters," Elsie says, bringing with her the apple pie that had been baking throughout their dinner. "There's enough for everyone to have two slices."
At least there were no questions of what he did before he met Parker, or if he had a wife, or if he had lived anywhere other than Arkham, or any other pressing questions that he wanted to avoid. It was so different from the last family dinner he'd had to attend - there was no awkward greeting, no stiff shaking of hands, no prayers that it would be over soon.
When the meal is done, Parker and Molly lightly bickering over something one of Molly's university classmates had said, Arthur finds himself wishing they could stay in this warm house longer.
"Arthur, help me clear the table would you?"
Parker gives Arthur a wry smile but passes a few empty dishes his way which Arthur stacks with a sigh. He has a feeling he's about to get a talking to, but he's not completely sure what it could be about.
"Thank you for working with our son, Arthur."
He startles, nearly dropping the dish he was scraping. "It's no trouble."
"We worry about him," Elsie smiles sadly, "It can be such a dangerous business, and now that he's further from home it's harder to keep tabs on him. It's nice to know he has someone in his corner - not just a temporary help."
"Parker is an incredibly capable man, if anyone's doing the protecting it's him," Arthur offers, thinking of all the altercations he and Parker had been in so far - and how Parker was the one to finish it nine times out of ten. "He helped me tremendously, offering me this job."
Elsie's smile widens, "That's wonderful to hear Arthur. Now, I was being serious about seeing us once a month, don't let Parker talk you out of it." She lightly pinches his arm and laughs when he instinctively twitches away, "You really do need some meat on your bones - here."
Arthur rubs at his arm, watching as Elsie opens the fridge and pulls out a container, popping it open to show off neat rows of dumplings, clearly made fresh with condensation dewing on the doughy surface.
"Parker can teach you the best way to reheat them once they're steamed, but don't let him eat them all. They should last you three days at least," She secures the lid and passes it to him, hurrying to the cupboard and grabbing another tin. "How about these as well?
He finds himself ladened with jars and containers, enough that he sets them down and Elsie goes off to find him some fabric to wrap them in. Parker wanders back, carrying the last of the dirty dishes which he starts to wash.
"She seems intent on feeding you for the month we won't see each other," He laughs, "Gonna be able to carry all that Artie?"
"You're taking at least half," Arthur retorts lightly. In all honesty, it seemed like Elsie had cleared out her fridge for them - for him. It made something stick in his throat, a tightness in his chest that he can't quite force away with one swallow.
"But not actually," Elsie says sternly, swatting Parker's side with the fabric she had bundled under her arm. "If I find out you took all the leftovers I'll find a way to lock them up."
"Aw, I wouldn't do that Ma. You think I haven't tried to put some meat on his bones? It's like his body rejects it, he's been a stick since day one," Parker says plaintively, gesturing with soapy hands towards Arthur.
Elsie shakes her head with a small smile, efficiently gathering together the covered dishes and arranging them in two separate stacks, bundling them in the fabric. A thermos joins the pile, pressed into Arthur's hands as Elsie pushes the bundles towards Parker.
"Not kicking you out, but we don't want it to get too late with how cold it's been," Elsie says in explanation. "You have a drive ahead of you after all."
"This dinner was wonderful, thank you for having me," Arthur says gratefully, giving Elsie's hand a squeeze.
"You're welcome any time Arthur," Elsie says, "Molly's in the sitting room, see her off before you two go."
Parker gives his Ma a look over Arthur's shoulder that he chooses to ignore, leaving the thermos for a moment to grab his coat on the way. Both Mr. Yang and Molly look up as they enter, pausing their conversation to give similar sentiments of returning soon and not letting Parker take all the leftovers.
"Were you some sort of food thief before you became an investigator?" Arthur asks as they make their way out to the car, laden with food and a small bag of what Elsie called 'housewarming gifts'.
Parker barks a laugh, "Hey, anything left for five minutes is fair game, don't let them convince you of anything otherwise."
"Your family are angels, they would clearly never lie to me."
"Now that's a load of bull," Parker snorts. "But it was nice right? Spending time with them?"
"Of course it was, Parker," Arthur says immediately, finding it was the truth. "I wasn't lying about wanting to come back once a month."
"And you were so worried they wouldn't like you," Parker nudges him meaningfully as they load up the backseat of the car. The engine starts with only a little protest due to the cold, easily pulling off into the road as Parker takes them off the busier streets into the more familiar roads towards Arkham.
Arthur thinks they may get back to their office with only the tinny radio playing between them before Parker grins, ruining his hope for getting out of this conversation harmlessly. Might as well get ahead of the argument that will take them the rest of the way home.
"So what did you think-"
"I'm not going to date your sister, Parker."