Polite Dinner Conversation
Back inside, we hear a knock from outside and the doors slide open, “We have brought you dinner, esteemed guests.”
Multiple Elves enter our room with different trays full of small plates with different types of food. There are sliced meats, fish, seafood, fried foods, vegetables, soups and some white grain. They also don’t seem to have any cutlery, instead they brought us wooden sticks.
“Please enjoy your appetizers, esteemed guests. We will bring you the main course in thirty minutes.”
Rayla looks at the food wide eyed, “Wait, that's just the appetizer!? Sher Aka do Elves eat this much normally!?”
Sher Aka chuckles, “No I believe this has more to do with the price range of this room.”
Another knock on the door interrupts our talks and the door slides open once more, this time Ser Adin comes in, “I see you have already settled in well.”
She seems to be wearing a slightly more loose fitting Kimono than before and has her hair down, if it weren’t for the sword she’s carrying I’d think she came here to relax.
She sits down at the end of the table and motions me to sit down next to her so I do. Scarlet seems visibly tense but so far she’s just quietly observing as she sits down next to me.
“Please, no need to be so tense. Sit down and eat.”
Everyone else then sits down too but no one seems to have enough of an appetite to eat right now and instead just watch as Ser Adin and I begin to eat.
“Wow, this is sooo good.”
“Well, we do employ cooks with hundreds of years of experience.”
I then suddenly feel a hand on my chin as Ser Adin turns my head to her and gets her face close to mine, seemingly inspecting it thoroughly, “So you are the one that changed Shara Seleen…What’s your secret? How did you manage to melt a frozen heart like hers?”
“Uhm…I don’t think I have one. Uli has always been a nice person. She just doesn’t show it much to others.”
“Really? How would you describe her?”
“Hmm…She always puts up a front of being a cold and intimidating person but she’s actually a bit of a softie. She always tries to help people weaker or less fortunate than her and she always works way too hard. Her entire office is just paperwork that she works on diligently day in and day out. A lot of it isn’t even from the guild but from projects she supports or volunteers for. But no matter how busy she is, she always had an ear for me when I came by. So I can say with confidence that she is a genuinely good person even if she has some flaws.”
Looking at me with an unchanging polite smile similar to the one Sher Aka tends to have on her face, she answers, “Fascinating…Utterly fascinating…You are aware that she hates Dragons with a passion, right?”
“Yeah…I know that she can’t forgive Dragons. It also hurt a lot that her first reaction to finding out that I am a Dragon was to cry…”
Sher Aka covers her mouth as she hears that and Rayla asks, “She did that!?”
“Yeah…But she still accepted me. Regardless of her hatred she was still able to say that it doesn’t matter and I think that shows how great of a person she is.”
Ser Adin puts her hand on my shoulder and says, “You poor thing must have lived a horrible life if that little bit of compassion makes you get attached to people.”
“What?”
“I have more or less been informed of your story. Cursed street urchin growing up in the slums for two years, instantly getting attached to the two people that show you a bit of kindness and making friends similarly quick along the way. You’re just like a little abused puppy that goes around making friends with those that give you a bit of food and kindness, doing their bidding no matter what they ask of you.”
“I…I am?”
Rayla slams her hand on the table, “You’re going way too far. Thoma is his own person and he is not just doing ‘our bidding’ either.”
She grins, “Oh? That’s a lot coming from the so-called ‘sister’. How long have you known him now? A little over half a year? Aren’t you just taking advantage of him at this point? I’m not sure what you’re getting out of this relationship but it doesn’t seem normal that you got attached to him this quickly. Were you perhaps just trying to get something from his connection to Shara Seleen?”
“Of course not! I like Thoma for who he is not because he has any connections!”
“And yet you don’t even seem to call him by his name. It’s Thoma Ahad not ‘Thoma’.”
“As for you,” she then looks at Sher Aka, “Do you enjoy surrounding yourself with emotionally vulnerable young men?”
“If you’re talking about my brother and my friend over there then yes I do.”
“Isn’t this just a pastime to you? That ‘brother’ of yours is going to grow old and die long before you do and as for Thoma Ahad, when you befriended him he was just a human having maybe 60 years or so left. Doesn’t it annoy you that your puppy is going to grow up alongside you now? I mean, when do you intend to ditch him? After you made some money as a Dragon Tamer perhaps?”
John interrupts her by clapping his hands together loudly, “Right, that’s enough. At first I thought you might have had a point to make but at this point you’re just rambling on trying to live out your hobby as a third rate diss track writer. If this is a test, then yes, we do care for each other, congratulations on finding that out. If it isn’t, stop boring me with your sadist hobby. Thoma Ahad already has enough inner turmoil, he doesn’t need you to add more fuel to the flame of his own insecurities. So, unless you have something of importance to say, please leave, if you don’t we will.”
Ser Adin smirks and pulls out a letter, “In this are instructions on how to pray to Holly. I thought Thoma Ahad might have a chance to receive a gift so he should give it a shot.”
She then snaps her fingers and two Elves bring in a small potted and decorated Holly tree. Afterwards she stands up, bows and says, “Have a nice stay,” before leaving.
As the doors close, I turn to look at John who gives me a kind smile, “No you’re not like that Thoma Ahad.”
“How did you know I was going to ask?”
“Please, it’s obvious, as for you Rayla no you’re not like that either. I don’t know why but she tried to get under our skin. This was obviously just some bullshit to play with our own insecurities. But you know where she fucked up? She didn’t take the John-factor into account.”
Rayla groans, “Really? The John-factor?”
“Yep, now come on, let's eat before it gets cold.”
We then eat but Rayla seems to have a lot of trouble with the chopsticks, getting consistently more frustrated before slamming them on the table, “Does anyone have a problem with me eating with my hands? No? Good.”
Sher Aka chuckles, “Would you like me to teach you how to use them?”
“No, if even Thoma and Scarlet know how to do it there's obviously something wrong with me. Also what’s with the white grains? Are they some sort of porridge?”
Sher Aka gets a bright smile on her face, “That is rice. The lifeblood of all Highelves. One of the most important and delicious foods in the world!”
“Really? It didn’t taste that great to me.”
“Can I have it then, ane? I’m already done with mine.”
“Sure.” She hands me the bowl of rice and I quickly devour it.
Scarlet also hands me her bowl and says with a smile, “You’ll enjoy it more than me.”
We keep eating and shortly after I’m done the main course is brought in, together with some regular cake and a fish shaped cake filled with sweet beans as dessert. Quickly I devour all of it, not stopping at just my own but also reaching over to Scarlet’s side chomping down on it without asking.
—------------------------------
Rayla asks concerned, “Thoma are you okay?” but he doesn’t seem to answer.
Scarlet answers for him, “She’s in a feeding frenzy. It happens when you eat too much too fast.”
“Okay, what should we do then?”
“Easy.”
Scarlet holds out her arm in front of Thoma Ahad’s face causing him to bite down on it in full force.
—-----------------------------------------
Feeling something squishy in my mouth that I can’t chew through I come to my senses again. Looking down, it seems like I’ve bitten into Scarlet’s arm.
Panicked, I quickly let go of her, “I’m so sorry Scarlet, are you hurt!? I don’t know why I did that!”
“Pfft it’s fine. You didn’t even leave a mark, look.”
Looking at her arm it seems she’s right, it doesn’t look like she’s hurt at all.
“B-but still that must have hurt! I’m so sorry!”
“Kikikiki, don’t worry Rose. You couldn’t hurt me with those baby teeth of yours even if you wanted to.”
“But still…I’m sorry.”
She gives me a hug and puts her tail around me, “I accept your apology.”
We then finish our dinner and John picks up the letter Ser Adin left us, “Hmm…This seems legit. Do you want to try it, Thoma Ahad?”
“Doesn’t Holly only give presents to children?”
“Yeah, it would be nice to find out if you are one right? You were wondering too.”
“I guess that’s true…But doesn’t Holly only give presents to children that have done no wrong? Do you think I qualify for that?”
Rayla, John and Sher Aka chuckle and John answers, “I don’t think you have to worry about that. Here, just sit down next to the tree and say this prayer.”
“Uhm…Okay. I hope Holly won’t be offended if I don’t qualify…”
Rayla brushes through my hair, “Don’t worry silly. It’ll be fine.”
“Okay…If you say so…”
Taking the instructions, I sit down next to the Holly tree and pray, “Dear Holly, Goddess of children everywhere, thank you for looking out for me and everyone else. Please look over what I’ve done this year and praise me if I’ve been a good kid. Bye bye…Are you sure that was the right prayer, John?”
“Yeah, it’s made for children so it makes sense it’s written like that.”
“How do we know it worked?”
“We’ll know if we find a present under the tree tomorrow.”
“I’m kind of excited now…Rayla can we go to bed early today? I want to get to tomorrow quicker…”
“Pfft, sure. We’re turning in early guys. Good night!”