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 Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 4:49 am
Without another word, the man headed out of the kitchen to ventured into the outside world, something he knew Lydia knew little about.
Lee was laying in the grass in the backyard, letting Ki Du roam for a bit while she waited for dinner. Rory certainly was taking his sweet time. Well, she supposed she should give him some credit. He was working on a meal for four alone. Who knows, maybe even a multi-course meal, too. The leash tied around her wrist tugged at her arm, flopping it in one direction, then in the other, the girl assuming the dog was chasing after a rabbit or something, not really turning her head to see.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 4:58 am
Rory finished finally preparing the meal and located some servants to set the dinning room table, fetch the Katans, and serve the meal, giving specific instructions to not take the plates away until he and the Katans were quite finished with the course. He also showed the servants where he'd put the extra food he'd made in case they wanted some later. Satisfied the servants could handle the requests, he ran upstairs to change into his nicest jeans and a fresh linen button-down shirt.
Ki Du was running back and forth chasing a squirrel. Or at least attempting to. Reaching the end of his leash, the puppy yapped at the fluffy rodent and whined that he couldn't pounce on it. Movement caught his eye and Ki Du was off, trying to chase the ducks that the Katans kept. He didn't have any more luck with that than he'd had with the squirrel. Eventually, the puppy bounded back over and flopped down on Lee's chest, panting in her face and giving her a big puppy grin.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:07 am
Laughing lazily, Lee rubbed the puppy's head before rolling over, letting the puppy plop on the ground while she pretended to gnaw at his belly, making crunching sounds and all. Cute, little Ki Du. She was interrupted from feasting on the dog's organs by a servant, patting the puppy's belly as she stood to head inside and upstairs, on her way to change.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:09 am
Rory'd already raced back downstairs, darting past the backdoor before Lee saw him, and disappeared into the dinning room to wait for the family.
Ki Du followed after Girl, crawling up the stairs and wriggling his little bottom happily. Girl was happy and that made Ki Du happy. Happy enough not to wonder where Boy was.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:16 am
Lee changed as fast as she could, not wanting to keep everyone waiting any longer than they already had. Letting Ki Du stay behind in her room, she was trusting him not to tear up each and every shoe she had, though figured she'd come back to a wreck. Hopping down the steps, she saw her father wander into the dining room before her, and as she reached the room, noticed her mother had made it there before her, as well.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:19 am
Rory smiled as they came in, already holding out a chair for Mrs. Katan to sit in. "I'm glad you all didnae mind me cookin' dinner fae you. I usually cook at home fae me an' Lee an' I wis kinda missin' gettin' t' prepare me own meals an' t' cook fae Lee."
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:32 am
"I wasn't told you'd be making my meal..." Mrs. Katan took her seat, giving her husband an unsure look, hoping he'd protest a bit. But he didn't, instead, taking his own seat and nodding to Rory, a pleasant enough smile on his face.
Lee managed into her own chair, finding it adorable that Rory was always holding her mother's chair out for her, as unappreciative as she was. What she wanted to know, though, was what was for dessert. Sure, she'd just had ice cream a bit ago, but that didn't keep her from wanting more. Then again, surprises were fun, when she knew they were good surprises.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:37 am
Rory gave Lee a look as he sat beside her, a little hurt she hadn't waited for him to help seat her, too. Leaning over, he kissed her cheek, nuzzling her a bit.
Soon the servants brought out the salad, setting down the bowls of green leaves and herbs--which looked like Rory more or less had used lawn clippings and weeds--with strawberries and tiny orange slices. Each bowl was accompanied by a smaller dish of poppy seed dressing for the Katans and Rory to used if wanted. Rory, of course, poured the whole little dish of his dressing on his salad.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:55 am
Cocking an eyebrow down at her "food", Mrs. Katan glanced up at Rory, clearly unamused. "Rory... It's not that I don't appreciate the effort, because... I... do... somewhat. But I can't eat this."
Lee ignored her mother, not caring so much what the salad looked like when there were strawberries and oranges in it. Picking out and eating all the fruit first, she reached for her dressing, pouring it over the rest of the salad and continued, happily munching.
Mr. Katan watched both Lee and Rory with curiosity, nearly as wary as his wife, but at least willing to give it a try. He reached forward, as both his daughter and Rory had done, and poured the dressing on top, taking the first bite and... "This is actually good, Rory." He nodded with satisfaction, taking another bite.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:58 am
"Thank you, sir. It's th' rocket tha' really makes it an' th' dressin'," Rory said, taking a bite of his salad. "Th' dressin's a well-known recipe around th' camps. Goes well wi' both th' greens an' fruit." He looked at Mrs. Katan, clearly a little sad she didn't want to try it. "You can just pick th' fruit out, ma'am, if you donnae like th' greens."
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:07 am
Mrs. Katan sighed, watching how everyone else was perfectly fine with what they were eating. Lifting her fork, she did as Rory had suggested, picking out the fruit. Once or twice, she may have accidentally picked a few leaves up with it, though wasn't about to give Rory the satisfaction of watching her eat the salad he'd made, not making any attempt to reach for the dressing, either.
"So, Lee, has Rory mentioned anything about college to you today?" He kept the grin that was trying to sneak onto his face away, taking another bite of his salad and wanting to seem as casual as possible. He didn't want to pressure her too much, and didn't want her to say "no" just because she knew he wanted her to do this.
Lee blinked, looking over to Rory with slight confusion before shaking her head. College? Were they still on that?
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:13 am
"I didnae really get a chance t', sir," Rory answered sheepishly, finishing off his salad. He looked at Lee. "Your da here's offered t' help me get int' a good school after graduation so I can get a degree in business."
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:27 am
Lee shrugged, leaning in a bit and speaking softly as she said, "You really dun have to go just 'cause he wants you to..." Poor Rory, getting pressured like that.
Mrs. Katan stopped eating her fruit, cocking an eyebrow over to her husband. "What is he talking about, Herbert? Please tell me this is some kind of joke." When the man shook his head a bit and continued eating, she scoffed, blinking rapidly in an effort to get him to understand he was a silly, silly man. "Who do you think will accept him, hm? Kendel won't, that's for sure. Don't expect an acceptance letter from Valeray, either. Besides, you're not paying all that money for some pikey's education. It's not like he plans to do any good with his degree."
"I didn't say I'd get him into the best schools, but what's wrong with your future son-in-law getting himself an education? He wants a business degree, you heard him. You wouldn't be able to call him 'just some pikey' anymore, and neither could anyone else. It might be an insentive for others to get themselves an education as well..." He was clearly hinting at Lee, but the girl was far too uninterested in the conversation to have noticed. Just her parents bickering back and forth... Actually, that was pretty odd for them. Was this better than silence or idle chatter?
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:34 am
"Oi, yeah, I'd be some pikey wi' a business degree," Rory told Mrs. Katan, grinning at her. He looked at Lee. "Your da's not pressurin' me, lover. I want t' gae. I always hae. Just donnae hae th' money on me own t' do it. I'll be runnin' th' stables when me da retires, true, but when Keagan passes on, who d'you think will be runnin' Farstep? Faolan cannae do it. Me da an' me, we're th' next closes male relatives." He put a hand on Lee's. "An' I think you should attend wi' me. Get whate'er degree you want."
One of the servants poked a head in to see if the family was ready for the next course.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:44 am
Mr. Katan laughed nervously as he cut in, "Well, no, not literally any degree you want, I mean... psychology is out of the question, of course, but--"
"I think I wanna get a degree in psychology," Lee stated casually, somewhat glaring down at her salad as she finished her last bite.
"Come now, Lee." The man looked at her pitifully, knowing full well she was just being obstinate and rebelling against him for the sake up upsetting him.
Mrs. Katan just looked at the scene before her with disbelief, not knowing what to say to keep her husband from wasting his money.
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