"Yeah. Trade routes," Beatrid murmured, still maintaining eye-contact. "Keeping trade open is important." Oh shit, that sounded horrifically lame and stupid. But what was she supposed to talk about? She never had been the most prolific conversationalist, and the girl's cleavage was distracting. This had to be the most awkward meal she'd ever attended.
Mentally scrambling for something intelligent to say, she cleared her throat. "Well, I think you'll like it there. It's nice this time of year, agreeable. Very, uh...green." God she wished the girl would cover up!
"Oh, yes. Very." Adelaide really didn't want to be chatting about all of this boring stuff. That was for later, when she was stuck in stuffy rooms with stuffy people making sure they could trade without the barbaric murdering practices of Connlaoth getting in the way.
Determined to not be ignored, Adelaide shifted a little more, trying to not be, well, tarty about it, but she wanted Beatrid to notice her. She didn't have a lot of charms to throw around, but she was trying. Her mother had always assured her that some people did like girls with curves and the noblewoman was sending desperate mental waves at Beatrid that she would be one of them.
"Oh? Really? I've never been, never even seen pictures." She smiled, trying to gaze demurely through her lashes at Beatrid. She read about that a lot in her books and tried practicing it in front of mirrors and hoped she had it right, "Will you take me on a tour when we arrive? I want to see the city and you would be a wonderful escort."
"Well...of course. I didn't think you'd wanna lay around in your room all day," Beatrid said, trying not to puff up with pride too much. 'Wonderful escort'? Ansgar's beard, it was nice to be around someone who thought she was amazing for a change. But no, no time for patting herself on the back. She needed to remain professional. Even though this girl...was not.
It must just be a Serenian thing. Social norms were different everywhere, after all, and if Serenians were more flamboyant in their dress, obviously they would be in their behavior, too.
Still, it was difficult to shake the feeling that this girl was being flirtatious—which only further bothered her. Goddamnit, Beatrid, you're acting just like some debauched old man that reads sex into every friendly gesture. Stop it.
She cleared her throat.
"Besides, as an ambassador for your province, it only makes sense that you should see the nation your people are dealing with," she continued, "to better understand us and what we have to offer."
Adelaide's confidence was starting to crumble again. She really wasn't sure how she could be any more flirty without being down right common about it. And Beatrid just wasn't interested! How could that be? Beatrid was the one! She knew she was! She had to be!
Keeping a smile on her face, Adelaide nodded, keeping close to Beatrid, "Oh I agree. I want to know all about the people I'm going to be working with." Was she just not pretty enough? She had heard that in Connlaoth, you couldn't be with the same sex, but that couldn't apply with Beatrid! Adelaide refused to believe that!
"That can be arranged," Beatrid said, idly wondering when dinner would be served so she could wolf it down and escape this awkward set-up. She had never been comfortable in formal situations, though she knew proper etiquette and could act her way through it, but she didn't enjoy it and always felt horribly awkward. She would rather be dining with her fellow Mordecai, telling crude jokes and eating peasant food. It tended to have more flavor than the fancy stuff, and she didn't have to watch what she said, either.
"Part of my job is to fill you in on our customs so you don't do anything rude or offensive," she added. And she was certain the Serenian would be just a piece of work. Perhaps that was part of why she'd been sent to deal with all this—she was no-nonsense and got results, and though she was known among her fellow soldiers as an abrasive bitch, she also knew when it was appropriate to bite her tongue.
"So we'll be spending a lot of time together, anyway."
Adelaide blinked at Beatrid, slightly surprised at her comment. It was a little insulting that Beatrid was implying she was going to be rude or offensive. Frowning slightly, Adelaide responded, "Well, yes. Though I have been looking into Connlaothan customs..."
Was that the impression she was making on Beatrid? That she was some empty headed girl that didn't know how to behave in some other environment? Cheeks flushing slightly, Adelaide sat back in her seat, food finally arriving from the kitchens.
Her smile returned, trying to keep positive about the whole thing, "I look forward to spending the time with you Beatrid. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun together!"
Adelaide made sure to eat lightly with Beatrid around. As much as she wanted to devour the fish on her plate, everyone knew it wasn't attractive when ladies ate too much. Adelaide never really felt that way; she thought it was cute when girls had a healthy appetite! She watched Beatrid out of the corner of her eye, trying to guess her thoughts.
Beatrid only answered with a nod, uncertain as to how 'fun' this would be, but then their food arrived and saved her from having to come up with some polite verbal response. Finally! Her stomach had been growling for the last hour, at least.
While Adelaide ate daintily, Beatrid tucked into her fish with gusto, unaware that she was being studied. While she adhered to proper etiquette and ate neatly, she also did not adhere to that bullshit 'women shouldn't eat too much' rule. Fuck that! She was hungry, so she'd eat until she was stuffed, and the fish was so delicious it seemed a shame to do anything but finish it off. Men always cleaned their plates with no odd looks, so why not? Leaving food was wasteful.
Before long, Beatrid had cleaned her plate, leaving behind only a few leafy vegetables that were apparently common to Serendipity, but which she had never seen in Connlaoth.
