Bread when I'm hungry, fire when I'm cold

[andhiswife]

Dated December 31st, 2017 / January 1st, 2018:

Attending the New Year festivities up at Kagura is out of the question, for several reasons. Firstly, Greta just doesn't want to chance it after last year's mess, especially with Saoirse in tow. Nor does she want to leave Saoirse with a sitter, in case whatever madness the new year unleashes ends up terrorizing the countryside while Greta's away. No, after all the busyness of the holiday, she thinks a quiet night in sounds far better than a mountaintop soiree that may or may not go horribly wrong at the stroke of twelve.

After a bit of waffling, she'd also invited Thomas over. Holiday preparations had become so all-consuming since the party that she hadn't seen much of him since then. She had stopped by his shop to give him a small gift: some high quality Earl Grey tea. Busy as they both might be, she wasn't about to drop off the face of the earth after their date had ended so agreeably. But while she'd been tempted to invite him for Christmas, she had also worried it would seem like a bit... much. Casually entertaining a pair of wayward near-strangers had been easier to contemplate than the thought of having Thomas over.

Perhaps she was worried about impressing him, after he'd all but literally swept her off her feet. Or perhaps she just didn't want to spend Christmas constantly squashing the urge to haul her guest off and do something Too Forward to him.

But as New Year's approached, there was no getting around the fact that she simply missed his company. Surely, she thinks, she can handle a quiet night in without embarrassing herself.

The preparations are far less overwhelming than they could have been. The cottage still looks charming; all the decorations she'd been scrambling to finish before Christmas are still up. She's got plenty of wood to keep the fireplace going throughout the evening (for the atmosphere, if not out of any real necessity). Even cooking doesn't manage to intimidate her; she's spent far too many months trying to please a manor full of fussy children to quail at the thought of making dinner for three. If anything, she's rather excited to make something that doesn't have to involve peanut butter or ketchup in some form. There's a fresh loaf of bread sitting out on the counter, and beef, potatoes, and vegetables in varying states of completion.

By the time Thomas arrives, the scents of roast beef and rosemary are already permeating the cottage. The dogs have been watching the proceedings with such rapt intensity that she half-wonders if a knock will even draw them from their posts, but they do end up scrambling towards the door.

"Saoirse, love, could you go welcome our guest?" Greta asks, glancing over her shoulder at the lass. Saoirse had been so keen to see Greta all dressed up for the party that Greta had spent the last week-and-change before Christmas frantically putting together a fancy little dress for her, so she could get in on the fun. For her own part, Greta has kept things rather casual, unwilling to wear anything that couldn't handle the rigors of the kitchen. She's in one of her nicer dresses -- just nice enough that she questions whether she ought to be wearing it to cook at all -- but there's an apron slung over it, and her hands are... rather a mess, actually. She wipes them off on a spare dishcloth, backing out towards the hall until the front door is in sight.

"Hello," she calls out, grinning at Thomas once he appears. "Sorry, I'm just a bit of a mess, but I'm fairly certain it'll be worth it. Saoirse can take care of you, in the meantime."

Comments

[selkiesaoirse]

Triumphantly, Saoirse takes the wine. It smells very grownup, and a weird mix of bitter and sweet that she's not sure she's ever smelled before.

She holds it for a time, not even drinking it right off. A part of it is just the ability to feel adult, to feel special enough to have it. It's New Years, after all. She ought to have something special for the special occasion!

Eventually, though, she takes a sip. The flavor is absolutely unlike anything she's ever had. It's lovely!

And terrible at the same time. But at this point, she doesn't want to be wrong, so she cringes through a swallow and looks up at Greta with a pinched sort of smile.

[very_sharpe]

Greta's wink brought a very faint bit of color to his cheeks. It'd been quite some time since Thomas had flirted with anyone in earnest, and it was rather nice. He managed to compose himself as Greta gave Saoise a little bit of wine.

Thomas tried not to laugh at the look on the little girl's face as she tried to drink the rest of the wine. She didn't look particularly enthused by the taste, which was probably a good thing.

Finally, he can't quite hold in a quiet laugh. "That was a good attempt," he teased Saoirse gently, giving her a kind look. "Far better than my first try at tasting wine."

He looked to Greta. "Shall I start getting things on the table? Is there anything else we can help you with while we're in here?"

[andhiswife]

For a split second, Greta worries that Saoirse might actually like the taste of it, but the girl's triumphant expression quickly turns into a wince as the taste fully hits her. She does force it down, probably out of stubbornness, which Greta can understand (she's done some silly things out of stubborn pride, too, especially when she was that age). It's not a terribly convincing smile Saoirse gives her, though, and Greta takes back the empty glass with a sympathetic, "Here, you can chase it down with something a bit sweeter." At this point, she doesn't think Saoirse's likely to object to glass of juice, instead.

"I think bringing over the roast is all that's left," Greta says as she brings over their wine glasses. She considers bringing the bottle over, too, but she doesn't want to make it easier for Saoirse to ask for seconds, if she gets it in her head to try it again.

She feels a faint thrill of apprehension as they all get settled. Not that she anticipates disaster; it's just that Thomas has never eaten anything she's made, before. Goodness knows the sort of meals he's had in the past, or where he sets the bar as far as quality is concerned.

And she knows he's been living differently in Darrow, and that his own situation was more humble than his title might suggest. But he was also perfectly comfortable at Magnus's party, and he must have traveled in circles where everyone was accustomed to the finer things. Besides, this is what she does for a living. She ought to be better than average, and it's hard not to worry that she won't measure up.

So while she manages not to stare outright as Thomas digs in, she does watch carefully to see how he reacts. He's so well-mannered that she doubts he'd breathe a word if he was unimpressed, but his expression still might betray something.

[very_sharpe]

Thomas quite enjoyed dinner, to the point where he was a bit embarrassed by his failure to maintain consistent conversation - it was just so good, and he'd focused on eating rather than following up on comments in a timely manner. He was a bit ashamed, really, and he gave Greta a shy sort of apology once they had all sat back from the table. When he did speak, it was usually a compliment, or he asked Greta how she achieved a certain taste.

"I'm sorry I wasn't much for conversation. You're a far better cook than I am."

He'd learned, of course, because it was frivolous to eat out every night, but Greta had a finer command of seasoning than he did.

"I think since you did all the cooking, it would be best if Saoirse and I cleared the table, at least."

[andhiswife]

It is impossible to take offense at Thomas's inability to maintain much of a conversation. In part, that's because she doesn't expect much in the way of dinnertime conversation to begin with. The most she can usually do is ask Saoirse yes or no questions, and she's such a little thing that Greta doesn't want to distract her from eating, so meals are usually quiet affairs. But more to the point: if her cooking is so good that it interferes with Thomas's otherwise unassailable good manners, that's really the highest compliment she could receive.

"It is my job," she reminds him with a pleased, bashful smile. "I spend more time on it than most. But thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it." More than she can say, really; she would've died of mortification if he hadn't liked it.

As Thomas and Saoirse clear the table, Greta takes the dogs out for a minute -- better to do it now, before they get distracted, and before it gets even colder -- then turns on the television and finds a channel covering the festivities at City Hall. She keeps the volume low enough to be unobtrusive, not wanting to actively watch it as much as she just wants to keep half an eye on the proceedings. She doesn't expect anything noteworthy to happen until midnight, if anything happens at all. But if something does go awry, she'd like to see it on the television before it ends up on her doorstep.

"Nothing so far," she informs them both as she goes back to the kitchen to check their progress. Her tone suggests to Saoirse that she's not missing anything exciting on the television; her slightly arched eyebrow tells Thomas that it'll be a minor miracle if things stay that way. "What would you like to do next?" she asks Saoirse. She doesn't really expect her to make it all the way to midnight, still some hours off, but that's all the more reason to do something she enjoys while she's still chipper. "We could read a story, or play a game...?"

[selkiesaoirse]

Saoirse nods at the mention of a game. She heads over to where they're kept so she can pick one out they'll all enjoy.

Dinner had been lovely, and like Thomas, her focus had been on the food. Greta is a wonderful cook. She'd known that, of course, but each meal sort of surprises her, because there's a part of her still used to Granny giving her things like nettle tea and nettle cupcakes.

Although she doesn't mean to, Saoirse picks a long-winded board game for them to play, and she sets it up on the floor in front of the television.

[very_sharpe]

"A game sounds lovely. Shall we keep the New Year's coverage on in the background?"

Some local celebrity was likely covering the festivities in town, and Thomas didn't see any harm in keeping up with it. If things got a bit dicey, they could just turn it off to spare Saoirse any trauma.

"You'll have to explain how to play to me," he said rather seriously to Saoirse. "No taking advantage of me just because I'm new to the game." Then he broke into a smile and winked at her before he looked toward Greta. "The same goes for you."

[andhiswife]

"Might be wise," Greta says, a bit drily, though not enough to worry Saoirse. At any rate, there's nothing much happening now; the evening hasn't even progressed enough for people to be carousing or anything. It's mostly footage of well-bundled but cheerful people milling about and listening to local bands.

It doesn't escape Greta's notice that Saoirse's chosen a game that'll have them in it for the long haul. Then again, that might be no bad thing: they have time to kill, and there are fewer diversions here than there were at Magnus Bane's party. If she lets herself think about it too much, she knows she might end up fretting over how domestic this is, compared to their last outing. And 'domestic' could easily translate to 'boring,' or even 'presumptuous,' as if they're skipping past all the more traditional stages of courtship and settling right into... well, settling.

Of course, it's impossible to explore some of the more exciting aspects of a new relationship when there's a seven-year-old sitting between them. That doesn't preclude flirting, though, and Greta raises her eyebrows. "I would never," she says loftily. "Honestly, what do you take us for?"

She sustains the mock offense for a beat, then smiles as she helps Saoirse set up the pieces. "It's all rather straightforward, don't worry. And if either of us did take advantage, I'm sure you could devise an appropriate consequence." She keeps her tone carefully neutral, though there's a sly smile lurking in the corners of her eyes.

[selkiesaoirse]

Saoirse imagines that the appropriate consequence would be tickling or the like, so she giggles silently as she makes sure her various cards and pieces are where they're meant to be.

She finds the instructions at the bottom of the box, and she can make out most of the words, but it's far easier to just give them to Thomas, so she does so with a helpful smile, then returns to her seat.

[very_sharpe]

"Something very appropriate," Thomas confirms as somberly as he can. But soon enough he broke into a smile and winked at Saoirse as she got the instructions and handed them to him. "Am I to read these out loud? Or is this strictly for my benefit?"

Thomas looked side-long at Greta, and she just looked so-- she looked wonderful. She seemed happy, and he couldn't remember the last time that he had felt so content. Maybe it was a terribly domestic way to spend an evening, but he was rather overjoyed to be doing it at all. It didn't hurt that Saoirse was delightful.

"I think you're conspiring to stay up late, you know. I'm on to you," he said gesturing from his eyes to her face.

[andhiswife]

"Oh, they're just for you," Greta says as she neatens a stack of cards. "Saoirse and I know exactly what we're doing, don't we?" She gives the lass a conspiratorial grin, even though truthfully, there's enough of an element of chance to the game that familiarity isn't much of an advantage. Besides, she has every intention of explaining things as they go -- both for Thomas's benefit and for Saoirse's, in case she's forgotten any of the rules since the last time they played.

If this is a conspiracy to stay up late, Greta isn't particularly worried. She still half-expects Saoirse to drop off around her usual time -- or, at most, hold out for an extra hour or two. But as long as she's awake, so much the better. Once Saoirse drops off, there are only a few ways Greta can imagine the evening progressing: something Too Forward will happen, or Thomas will feel compelled to excuse himself before something Too Forward can happen, or they'll just sit politely, as if under the eye of an invisible chaperone, and it'll finally occur to him that this is all rather boring.

She's probably being unfair. Thomas doesn't seem bored. She has no doubt that he could feign polite interest in a pinch, but this is different; he's not merely humoring Saoirse, and she doesn't think he's pretending to be relaxed. Maybe this really is enough.

Saoirse seems fully engaged as the game progresses, though by the time they near the end, she's starting to look a little bit flushed. Cu, fully aware of when bedtime ought to be, is sprawled beside her and appears to be patiently waiting the end of this odd charade.

"Bit tired?" Greta asks, fondly brushing back Saoirse's hair. "Maybe we should get you into your pajamas."

[selkiesaoirse]

She leans into the touch with a yawn, then nods. It's still not time to watch the festivities, so she pops to her feet and runs to the stairs. Her coach always says if she gets the blood flowing right, she won't feel so tired — she never said that to her, but rather to the other little kids that complain of being tired sometimes. So she even does some jumping jacks while she looks in her wardrobe for something to wear.

Properly energized, she changes, all by herself, and puts the clothes she'd been wearing into her laundry basket. Then she returns to Greta and Thomas for inspection.

[very_sharpe]

Thomas ended up rather engaged with the game, and a sly smile appeared when Greta, so very casually, noted that Saoirse was looking rather tired. She was, and Thomas realized they must but rapidly approaching her proper bedtime.

He can't help but laugh when the girl pops up and hurries upstairs. "Is she... jumping up there? Does she do that often? Should we clean up the game or do you think she'll be up for going on?"

When Saoirse returned in her pajamas, Thomas gives her an approving thumbs up. "Are you warm and cozy, at least?"

[andhiswife]

Greta's not expecting Saoirse to dash off with quite that much enthusiasm. If anything, she would have expected some sort of objection, if not an outright tantrum. Being overtired and being asked to do something she'd rather not is a volatile combination.

But there are some tell-tale thuds from upstairs, and Greta chuckles quietly as she realizes what she's up to. "I think so, yes. Trying to perk herself back up, no doubt. We'll see how well it works." She starts to straighten things up a bit, though she doesn't actually put anything away, in case Saoirse really does mean to go till the bitter end. Besides, having everything cleared away when she comes back would make it seem like they really were trying to usher her off, and Greta doubts she'd appreciate that.

"I'm not sure if she'll want to carry on, though. Maybe we could persuade her towards something a bit more relaxing." She throws Thomas a conspiratorial grin as an option occurs to her: "Would you be willing to read her a story? She'd probably love it." It doesn't hurt that Thomas's voice is pleasant to listen to. Greta wouldn't mind hearing him read a story, either.

Saoirse bounces back down the stairs, looking far fresher than she was five minutes ago, and Greta smiles approvingly. "Well done. Now, do you want to finish up the game? Or we could read a story or something."

[selkiesaoirse]

Saoirse points at the game, resolved to finish it. She can stay up just as late as they can, she's sure of it.

She barely makes it to the end of the game, though. Her eyes droop heavily, and eventually even she has to admit defeat. But she refuses to go to bed. A nap on the couch is all she needs. She wants to see all the midnight stuff on TV!