Family Dinner

After Random gets everyone's attention he speaks, in a loud voice that cannot quite be considered a shout. "Okay! It's dinnertime. Buffet style in the old north dayroom, that's the family dining room to you sprogs. Don't leave once you get your food, it's a family council session, and you're all expected to participate.

"Alright, enough talking. Last one there has to carve the pig. Hey, mind the royal toes!" Random jumps back and windmills his arms.

Gerard has wheeled himself to the doorway and anyone who has not previously done so now considers the advantages the strongest man in the universe has when using a wheelchair.

This leaves Aisling smirking, as she makes her partings from Cambina (or not, whatever) and drifts over towards the Vialle group.

[Brennan] gives Martin an 'Interesting dinner bell we've got, round these parts,' glance, listens to Random, then leaves a, "We'll talk later," and a dissipating smoke outline of a Brennan as he strides behind Gerard for the dinner line.

As people begin to move Vere silently regards the room for a moment, and then steps into a brief opening between two people, allowing the natural flow of movement to lead him with a minimum of fuss, and apparently without any planning on his part, to Solange's side within a matter of seconds. He extends an arm. "Sister," he says. "Might I serve as escort?"

"Of course," Solange says, taking his offered arm.

Conner smile and offers his hand to Paige. "Come my cousin. If we are quick we can travel in Gerard's wake." He chuckles.

"Cousin, we've been doing that since the Sundering," she retorts with a grin while slipping her hand in his offered arm. "Someday we'll have to start stepping out into the big blue world all on our own."

"Oh not the Big Blue World." Conner makes a face. "I much prefer other shadows." He smiles. They walk to a corner of the main table and Conner drops his jacket over a chair to claim it.

Paige allows him to help her with her wrap and sets her clutch on the table at the setting to his right and then they join the serving line.

With Gerard gone, Merlin offers Folly his arm. "May I escort you to dinner, cousin Folly?"

Folly hesitates for the barest instant, but then smiles broadly. "Thank you, cousin," she says as she takes his arm. "I am honored to accompany you."

"It is my pleasure," says Merlin, and escorts Folly away to the dining room.

Bleys steps over towards his sister, but waits for the approaching King.

"Sister," Bleys says, "we should go to the dining room, so their majesties can compare notes before making their entrance in the dining hall."

"Of course," Fiona replies. "You may escort my daughter if Ossian will do me the honor."

Ossian agrees to the proposition.

"The pleasure is mine." Ossian says, offering Fiona his arm.

If Random or Vialle considers this over-formal, neither betrays such an opinion.

Bleys offers his arm to Brita.

Brita cocks her head slightly with a "what am I supposed to do with this?" slight arch of a brow. She then places her hand on Bleys arm - almost, but not quite clutching the sleeve - and proceeds into the dining room with Bleys.

[At about this time, Aisling arrives at the group around Vialle.]

Bleys shifts his arm lightly under Brita's, and her arm falls into a natural position for walking with him. He smiles at her, not unkindly, and she can see the resemblance to her mother in him.

Bleys lets Ossian and Fiona lead the way, and follows them out of the room. He falls far enough behind to be out of earshot of the others and says, very quietly, "My dear, you are a granddaughter of Oberon and a daughter of Fiona. Never let them see you sweat."

Another arched brow. "Sweat, Uncle Bleys? Jerod and Conner see me sweat all the time when we spar. It is a good workout."

And he gives her a grin, as if this whole dreadful boring debacle were some great amusing game, which Brita suspects it is, to him.

Caine approaches Cambina and she takes his arm. They walk into the dining room with the first rush. Those near them notice that they converse the entire way in low tones.

Reid doesn't exit immediately, instead continuing to make small talk with Benedict. After a few people have cleared out he notices Flora across the room and excuses himself from his uncle's company before approaching her.

"Florimel, I don't believe we've had an opportunity to speak yet. I am Reid. Osric's son. May I escort you to dinner?"

He offers his arm to Flora.

And Aisling finishes her drift in time to catch the last sparkles as the comfortable buffer of people around the royal couple shatters like a marble hit with a hammer.

She rallies. With a slight bow to them, she suggests, "Would your majesty care for the pleasure of escorting two ladies off to dine? I should, of course, be honored to then assist you to a seat, Queen Vialle, whilst your husband wades into the brotherly buffet fray..."

Random looks after Benedict and the departing crew of redheads and says, "After Bleys went to such trouble to let me talk to my wife alone, I wouldn't dare disappoint him by not doing it."

How pleasant that there are only two people in the room who can see Aisling flush faintly.

He looks around the room, sees that the lone man remaining is his son, and calls him over: "Martin?"

"Yes, Dad?" The younger man moves to join the small group.

"Will you walk Aisling in to dinner?"

"Sure thing, Dad."

"Oh, and how about we have breakfast tomorrow? It's the only time on my schedule that's not full of people."

Martin pauses for a moment, then says, "I had plans in town, Dad, things I had to do ... but I could cancel." He looks at his father, some emotion fleetingly visible in his face.

And at the same time, Vialle says brightly, "Breakfast? Yes, Random, we should make it a family affair."

"No, take care of your business," Random replies to Martin. "You've got my Trump, right? Call me and I'll work you in."

Martin nods once, then says, "I'll do that." And he turns his attention to Aisling, offering her his arm.

Aisling ducks her head to the king and queen with a genteel wave of her hand, and politely takes Martin's arm. Perhaps he can start a scrapbook of "times Aisling and I have come into contact when every bit of her is an edge."

"Benedict suggested the funeral gathering Chaos would be like," she mimics with keen accuracy, " 'a Rugby scrum at a wake in a minefield.' The closest thing to minefields in Chaos are the lacy edges of Places, where being casually moves into nothing, and if you drop into a hole you will never return," she remarks grimly.

Martin makes sort of an amused snort. Aisling can't tell whether it was her description of Chaos or her mimicking of Benedict that provoked it.

Then she sighs slightly, lifts her chin, and says, "I'm sorry if I queered an attempt you might have been making to get in a word with him."

"You," says Martin, "didn't queer anything. Dad and I will talk later."

Dinner is laid out buffet-style in what has become the family dining room, the one with the sitting area attached where the Amberside crew had breakfast with Random a week ago.

The long table in the dining room seats twenty, which should be sufficient for most family dinners if not everyone is in residence. Tonight, there are too many, so some people will have to make shift for themselves in the sitting room. One of the chairs has been removed so that Gerard can be seated at the dinner table.

Against every foot of wall not required for a door somehow are sideboards, which are all groaning tonight with food prepared for the returning warriors. Sadly, there's no such thing as warming lamps in Amber, so those who eat last are probably going to eat somewhat cold.

Brennan, it should be noted, will not be eating last. He might not be able to trample Gerard out of the way, but the last non-gruel he had was well before the Patternfall Battle, and I can't think of a time this game day when he actually managed to eat anything.

The boy is hungry.

For meats, there is the promised roast pig, ready for carving, and a similarly ready-to-carve roast beef. There are also sausages for the more finger-food inclined. Another sideboard has a profusion of breads, with a large, cool crock of butter. A third has large bowls of rice, beans, and vegetables of various sorts, and yet another a huge plate of fruits and cheeses for dessert. The food looks more like enough to feed sixty or seventy than thirty, yet the suspicion that more will be needed is not unwarranted.

Brennan is, not surprisingly, not shy. He loads down a plate as though the first time through the line is the only time. On the other hand, he's more than generous with the knife (if he's near the first in line) always carving a good deal more than he takes for himself, and putting generous portions on plates that are held nearby.

He takes a few compulsory carbohydrates, mainly for show, but it's the pig and the cow he concentrates on. He likes his cow medium raw, too.

There is another bar, with perhaps a dozen carafes of wine and a samovar of coffee. The residents all know that additional cups and wineglasses are stored within the cabinet.

And coffee. But Brennan brought his own coffee cup, so that's the one he fills.

Paige takes small samplings of most everything other than dessert, concentrating on the veggies. She pours a healthy glass of the burgundy for herself and anyone else at hand, most notably Conner, who wish it.

Conner fills his plate with a few select dishes,more meat than veggies, and happily accepts the glass of wine.

In the sitting room, there are a number of chairs and couches, plus two single-person window seats. The tables are low, more suited for holding drinks than dinner, but people can eat cocktail-style.

With whom do people try to seat themselves? Where do people want to sit?

Brennan would like to claim Benedict, inasmuch as that's possible. Failing Benedict, then Jerod (ideally both), then Caine or Bleys. If Cambina joins Jerod and/or Benedict, so much the better. No one that Brennan's spoken to is unwelcome, though.

Jerod's polite enough not to shove in order to get into line, though it'll be a cold day in hell before someone gets in line in front of him...:)

The majority of the food that Jerod collects is oriented towards being edible when it's cold. The gossip factor, combined with the strategy session, means likely that a good quantity of it will be cold by the time people get to it, unless they ignore those around them and chow down. And the fact that there is likely to be seconds has not escaped his attention...so people can grab, reach, squirm and generally make themselves look foolish if they'd like to get first helpings, and he'll get the plate of seconds on the way in...:)

As for sitting, he's more interested in something comfortable, as opposed to scrambling for a seat beside the king. So he'll collect a good comfortable chair, preferably with others around it in the sitting area, and make himself at home. As for who he sits with, he leaves that open to whomever is interested.

Paige is hoping that her father will join her and Conner, but is sure that anyone this evening will be fine company, even Jerod. Aunt Fiona is specifically asked to join them if she's not already occupied, but anyone's welcome.

Whereas Conner for his part asks Brita to join them if she is so inclined.

She keeps her eyes open for Folly, making sure she seems OK. Paige hopes that the troubador doesn't retreat to the "kid's room" as she did last time, but is understanding if she does.

As she enters the family dining room, Lilly will take the time to decide the most expedient route to gaining food. Like so many others, she is famished. Still, she manages to maintain portions that look only slightly un-lady like.

Once her plate is filled, she helps herself to a glass of red wine and heads to the sitting area. There was this large part of her that liked the idea of being just outside the main discussion area. From here, she could listen, and absorb without feeling obligated to actively contribute.

Again taking advantage of the natural tides of people in mass movement, Vere gracefully moves himself and Solange swiftly through the crowd of relatives, and as they arrive in the dining room he glances swiftly at her to judge where she would prefer to sit. With a minimum of fuss he leads her there, inclines his head slightly, and says, "If you will take your seat, I will be back with food as quickly as possible."

He then joins the line at the buffet, and soon returns with an assortment designed to perfectly balance his sister's preferences with what he thinks she needs to eat after she has spent such a strenuous day, and with so much still left to do. Leaning over her as he arranges the plates in front of her he murmurs in a low voice, "I have informed the King, in a somewhat roundabout manner, that Father's health is my top priority, and will take precedence in my actions in the future. His Majesty was ambiguous in his response, whether because that is his nature or because I was too subtle I have not determined."

He smiles at her as he straightens. "Is there anything else I can get for you at the moment?" he asks.

Lucas will attempt to get a seat near Martin. Failing that, he doesn't really care.

Martin will be one of the last to leave, so if Lucas goes early he'll have to be one of the last as well. Martin isn't interested in the stampede and either isn't worried about getting enough to eat or planning on another meal afterwards. (Given his prodigious appetite, likely the latter.)

He appears to be having some sort of conversation-by-glance with Jerod as the latter heads out of the room.

Then Lucas will delay as well. He isn't particularly concerned about feeding his face like the rest of the family.

[This is going to be the first in a sequence of posts that will tell you where the NPCs are going and in what order. It may take us a couple of days to get to everyone, so be patient.]

Gerard is almost certainly the first person to make it to the dining room. (Stairs don't matter; they mostly have boards on them now to make them ramps.) He needs help to reach some things, and another early arrival, probably Brennan, will have to carve meat for him, but otherwise has no problems getting around.

He takes his spot in the dining room, the one from which the chair has been removed; it will be, if Random and Vialle seat themselves at the ends, a place of honor to the right of one or the other of them.

Just to note, Brennan is more than happy to help out Gerard with the serving. Since Gerard, in a wheelchair, managed to beat long-striding Brennan to the buffet table, Brennan will assume he's hungry. Brennan will therefore just load Gerard's plate down with the desired morsels of food while making small talk, until such time as Gerard indicates he's got enough.

Likewise anyone else around having difficulties. If one of those is Benedict, he'll just ask him to save him a seat when he sits.

Merlin will assist Folly in filling her plate and join her wherever she wants to sit. Her impression is that he would be happier in the sitting room, but he will follow her lead.

Folly heads to the sitting room, out of concern for her cousin's needs. At least, that's what she tells herself.

She seats herself on one of the couches, offering Merlin the spot beside her.

Corwin escorts Llewella in to dinner, neither rushing nor particularly tardy. He helps her through the buffet line, but they part company afterwards. She takes one of the window seats in the sitting room and he seats himself at the main table.

Corwin, by the way, is another one of the hearty meat-eaters.

Caine takes a plate, topped high with meats, and heads off to sit near Llewella.

Cambina looks at the table, seeing who is sitting where and looking for a vacant spot.

Upon arrival, Reid offers to take carving duty from Brennan, and suggests to Flora as he helps her with her plate that she save a seat for him at the main table.

Brennan accepts Reid's offer; the piling of his plate, buttering of bread, and dolloping of horseradish thus complete, he offers the knife to Reid, handle first, with a flourish.

He then accompanies Benedict to a seat.

Benedict is going to be one of the last ones in, so Brennan is either going to have to wait or decide where to sit without him.

Once [in the dining room], Brita will wait patiently until most have gotten food - indicating to Bleys that he can go before her if he wishes. She will then take a small plate and put some meat in one quarter, veggies in another, and some kind of starch in a third. She notes Conner taking a seat near Paige and heads towards that end of the table.

Since Brita and Bleys will be among the late arrivals, they will have to wait. Bleys indicates that Brita should precede him in line; he helps her fill her plate in the same way some of her other male relatives are helping some of her other female relatives. For all that the styles of dress may not be formal compared to what Brita expected, this may be the most formal family occasion the castle has hosted since Brita's arrival.

Brita so does not need help filling her plate. When Bleys puts the first item on her plate, Brita will frown at it in confusion and then push it into an appropriate quarter on her plate.

Bleys is happy to join the redheaded cabal at the main table.

Conner watches Bleys and Brita with an amused look and a shake of his head. "I suppose I should have given her a crash course in family formality." He says to Paige with a smile.

"Perhaps, but it's almost fun to watch the Troublemaker try to recover," Paige says sipping at her wine.

If Bleys had continued the formality, Conner and Paige would have seen Brita take some asparagus and deftly flip them onto Uncle Bleys plate at some point during the buffet....

Ossian small-talks Fiona all the way to the dining room. In the dining room he mentions to her in a low voice. "Funny. I was certain Jerod wanted a place at the main table."

In some way Bleys and Brita manage to beat Ossian to the last pair of chairs at the main table, so: "I guess you want that last place at the table, my lady?" Ossian asks "I will withdraw into the sitting room."

In the dining room, Martin assists Aisling in filling her plate...

Quite an endeavour, should Karen's ealier assement of Martin's eating habits be correct, since Aisling's not taking anything less. She is quite greatful indeed. She helps where she can.

...and escorts her to a seat wherever she prefers. Counting seats, there are only three left at the main table: one that Flora has saved for Reid, and one at each end. Martin knows better to place Aisling in either of the latter.

As he and Aisling enter the sitting room, Martin catches Folly's eye for a moment and raises a (non-Julianic) eyebrow at her.

Merlin and Folly and (who else is out here?)... Could be a whole hell of a lot worse. Aisling's fine with sitting near them.

Folly, who had been busying herself with trying to make Merlin feel more at ease, lets Martin catch the barest glimpse of her true emotional state -- which seems to be a confused jumble -- before she covers it with a bright smile. "Oh, I see you've signed up for the 'Adopt a Chaosite' program, too," she says gleefully. "Perhaps you should both give me some pointers -- I fear I'm mucking it up horribly."

For all that she's pretending to be more cheerful than she is, Folly does seem genuinely pleased that Martin and Aisling have come to join them.

And she still has an origami cat perched on her shoulder.

So does Lucas manage to score a seat next to Martin?

[Sure, but we're glossing dinner conversation, so it seems irrelevant.]

Well in the sitting room Ossian will try to find an uncushioned chair near his current favourite cousins. Aisling, Folly and Merlin, that is.

[We're moving forward past dinner at this point. If there are any important conversations, they can go ahead; if there's something a PC needs to convey to a dinner partner before the briefing that can be handled in summary, you can do that too.]

Then let the record show simply that Brennan ate like an extremely civilized starving man. Which he is, of course. Prodigious quantities of beef and pork, carbs and cheese disappear into his belly at a very generous clip.

In no way does this impede his ability to keep up his end of whatever elided conversation took place with the Clarissi Cabal, or Benedict, or both.

Only his trips for second helpings do that.

The conversation on and about the couch turns to Caine's return from the dead, thanks to Aisling's interest, perhaps due to a simple question like, "Do any of you know how it was that Caine's body was dead, and now he is alive again, throat intact?"

Merlin says, "Cousin Aisling, I have been taught that it is improper to discuss certain topics at the dinner table, such as elimination and the physical aspects of death--"

Martin swallows his bite of food and cuts him off, "Merle."

There's a moment of awkward silence, and Merlin says, "Yes, Martin." It's an answer, not a question. Merlin sounds not resentful, but reflective.

Jerod smiles just a little as he takes a drink, listening to the conversations around him (and given the sitting isn't that big, the acoustics would be good enough to eavesdropping on all but the most quiet of conversations).

"Indeed," Aisling answers Merlin agreeably, sparkling away the moment of silence as best she can, taking on any onus of disrepute with diplomatic nonchalance. "I merely was unsure about whether revenance fell that category, never having encountered it before." And she continues on her course of using eville Chaosite empathy to try to set Merlin as much at ease as possible.

She also wants to bring Lilly into the conversation, and hell, Caine and Llewella as well; I hope they had a capital time in such rare company.

Folly's only dinnertime action of note is to introduce herself, briefly, to the people in the sitting room she hasn't met yet: Caine, Llewella, and Lilly.

After-dinner wine has been passed around, and while there are remnants of the fruit and cheese that was served with it, there are only scraps left. If Bleys is going to send the threatened doggie bag to Julian, there's not going to be much in it.