too, but grinned at the woman.
“Don't believe him, it was only about ten hours and we stopped every two. He must have eaten three times. Even Count Thomson was satisfied with the amount of food and he's a giant. Now me, I haven't eaten since noon and really could use some food. I…” He looked around, noting for the first time that nothing was on the table. The room wasn't blistering, being dark outside already, but surely they weren't expected to get the food from the kitchen themselves, were they? If as a guest he was supposed to do something like that, well, hopefully Rolph would fill him in, because it was very different than what they did back in Two Bends. There everything would have been sitting ready on the table, that or the kids would run to get it. Here… well, he and Rolph were the kids, so that could be it. He made ready to get up if Rolph did.
A small clap by the hostess caused a flurry of activity, and no less than six people, three men, and three women, walked in to the room, all dressed far too warmly to be comfortable it seemed to him. He felt a little melty, being out of his room as he was, and the cooling field there. Each was dressed in fine, brightly colored green velvet, the women in dresses and the men in full outfits of the stuff. After a second he realized that they were dressed to match the room. Who dressed to match a room? It looked good, sure, but seemed like a huge waste of resources.
Tor blinked and made himself keep his mouth closed. Was this supposed to impress him particularly, or was this just normal here? Maybe all dining rooms were done in green and it was just what servers wore here? It was spectacular in a creepy sort of way. He would have been happier if they'd walked to the kitchen and gotten the food themselves, but different ways and all that. Tor made himself relax and smile slightly, just like Rolph was doing. This wasn't his place, so it was up to him to follow along, not anyone else to cater to his backwoods mentality.
Oddly enough both his mother and father had sat him down separately before he left for school the first time and told him almost exactly that. It was his part to adapt, even if it made him feel less than comfortable. Sometimes what other people did might be strange or off-putting, but he needed to make them feel at ease about it, and not get all preachy or judgmental. That advice had pretty much saved him at school in the first year.
Each carried a heavy looking platter, covered with a metal dome that had a handle. They were quickly set down along the table, and a set of plates were brought out, carried by a boy that looked to be about twelve or so, followed by a girl of near the same age with another set of plates. Both dressed like the others in rich green.
One of the men, an older fellow with dark hair that might have been black or a brown too deep to tell the color of in the lamp light bowed towards the head of the table.
“Salad mum?” He asked, his voice rich and serious.
At her nod he loaded a small plate with a pile of green leaves. Rolph grudgingly accepted a plate as well when he was asked, but made a face at Tor. At school he tried to avoid vegetables like the plague. Apparently at home they were required. Tor took a plate as well and began to eat when it was put in front of him. Everyone in the room froze as he took the first bite.
At first he thought that he was being rude eating first, something like that, or that he'd used the wrong fork, but… They'd only given him the one. He swallowed and hoped they weren't supposed to pray first or say a blessing. Rolph never did at school and hadn't mentioned it at all. Then he never ate salad there either. He set his fork down on the edge of the plate and looked at Rolph plaintively. He was supposed to tell him things like this so he didn't mess up!
Picking up his own fork Rolph took a large bite of salad and looked at his mother with a smile. Chewing carefully until he swallowed. He followed this with a wink.
“Food's safe.”
The woman at the head of the table performed a slow seated half bow towards Tor and smiled herself. “Honored,” she said, then took a bite of her own salad.
The rest of the meal went like that, until the dessert course, which Tor let Rolph try first. No one seemed upset that he'd eaten first, but it seemed like a big deal, special instead of just being greedy. By dessert he was just too full to continue. He didn't want to waste food, but his stomach felt almost over full and short of the mid- winter feast for Noram Day he couldn't remember ever eating that much before.
He explained this to his hostess, and realized to his embarrassment that he didn't know her name yet. Rolph had never mentioned it before, since he called his mother “mom” when he referenced her. Tor did the same thing even though at home he called his mother “ma” like everyone else.
The woman brushed her long hair back with a wave of the hand. It moved as if a single piece, so tied back or something, Tor guessed. Smiling she looked at him and chuckled.
“Constance, but everyone around here just calls me Connie. Well, not in public, except for Alphonse here, but that would be good enough, since we're all friends.” Her voice had a playful lilt to it, light and pleasant. Then she was probably used to making small talk with stogy businessmen and women, so being nice had to come easily to her.
Tor nodded. It was a little weird calling her by name instead of “Rolph's mom” the way he would if he'd been at home, or “ma'am” like he would at school, but this was a different place and he was, if not a full adult, old enough that people would be expecting him to learn their names. He was old enough to sign contracts and make business deals even. Or get married, being over fourteen.
After the dessert course the small talk began, which was mainly Connie asking him about his life at home and about how her son “Alphonse” was doing at school. Not his grades or anything, but how he fit in, what trouble he'd gotten himself into and the like.
“Home is… a lot different than here. For one thing, no servants at all. No one has ever served food to me except my mother…” It sounded stupid when he said it and he blushed, but Rolph shook his head.
“Not true! I distinctly remember Trice serving you on more than one occasion, even feeding you with her own hand…” He made it sound sly, as if there had been meaning to it other than the girl thinking he was too weak or inept to do it for himself.
Without missing a beat Connie's eyebrows shot up.
“Oh! Well, if Patricia already has a claim on him you might want to talk to your sister. She confided in me already that she intends to skip the arranged marriage her father and I set her with Raul Peterson and pursue Mr. Baker here instead. Karina, not Varley. It seems that your friend has already been plying them both with lavish gifts…”
Tor blushed and ducked his head. He could tell they were only teasing, much like his own family would have, but the fact that girls didn't have much use for him was a bit of a sore spot, even if Connie couldn't possibly know that about him yet, unless Rolph had told her, which didn't seem likely. Or maybe she got it just by looking at him? After a few seconds of this Rolph held his hand out and asked what the gifts were, probably trying to change the subject a bit.
Connie smiled. “A set of those room cooling and warming plates each.” Her tone held, not amusement, but a sense of being impressed. Tor didn't get it, unless handmade stuff was valued here for some reason? Like when his mom seemed no more thrilled about a new coat from the store as she did a picture drawn by the youngest child and given as a gift? Probably what it was, he realized, looking around the room a little. Even to rent such a space would take more money than Tor could imagine spending, and given that he was, well, just him, he doubted that was the case. They didn't rent this to impress him, it was something they already had just sitting empty and waiting. It was just convenient to store him here for them.
Really, they could have fed him stale bread and had him sleep in the corner of Rolph's room and he wouldn't have blinked. He doubted that he would have even noticed, except that he'd have offered to make some fresh bread for them. So this was… normal for these people? It boggled his mind more than a little. A lot more.
Connie let them go shortly thereafter claiming to be tired. Probably a bit bored with him, Tor realized, which was fair enough. They didn't seem to have a lot in common. She seemed kind, obviously willing to go out of her way to make her son's friend feel comfortable, but that didn't mean his nattering on about school would interest her for long. It was nice, how she put him at his ease like she had, like he was a real guest or important. He'd have to come up with a gift for her too. Rolph didn't know what she might want when asked, but Tor had an idea anyway, since the heat was so bad here and she seemed to be locked in to wearing a heavy dress all the time, at least in company.
Once back in his room he started building the field he'd already planned out, it was similar enough to others he'd made before that it didn't take that long to finish, only about ten hours. Then another two to make a full batch
