Chapter Forty-Eight

The sun is beginning to set when Edmund slips into the room and clears his throat. “Dinner is ready to be served,” he says.

You’re the first one out of the room.

You plonk yourself down and bounce on the spot until everyone arrives and silently wish they would move along faster so you can get to the eating. In the meanwhile, you tear off your adorable ninja mask and drop it on the floor so that nothing will get in the way of your mouth.

Daphne takes the head of the table, and Abigail sits next to her with Charlotte on the opposite side. Then Pou-tine slowly creeps into the room, eyeing you with every step.

“Don’t be afraid,” Charlotte says. “No one will hurt you. Come, you can sit next to me.” She pats the chair next to her. “Or you can sit on my lap if you want.”

Pou-tine slips into the chair next to her, then stares across the table at you. Oh, he’s all new to this mortal stuff, so he must need a bunch of help! It’s a good thing you’re around to make things simple for him. “This is a fork,” you say as you raise the fork. “It’s for poking food so that your hands don’t get messy. And then when you’re done you eat it too. This is a spoon. It’s like a fork but less good at poking, but there’s more of it to eat. And this is a knife. It makes sure you’re good at eating because if you’re not careful it cuts your tongue out.”

Abigail and Daphne start giggling but you were explaining food so you missed the joke.

Next you point at the plate. “This is a plate. Mortals put the things they eat on it because, uh, they like circles and, uh, putting food in the middle of a circle makes it taste better to them.” You hope that your explanation is close enough to the truth.

Pou-tine eyes his plate, then pokes it. “They put me in a big circle that I couldn’t escape in that weird place,” he said.

“So they were going to eat you?” you guess.

Pou-tine’s eyes widen. “They were? But I don’t want to be eaten.”

Charlotte pats him on the back and then starts rubbing circles there when he tenses. “Don’t worry. No one will eat you anymore.”

“Thank you,” Pou-tine says as he ducks his head down.

“Oh, you are adorable.”

You glare across the table at Charlotte. You’re the adorable one, Abigail said so.

“So, Charlotte, Daphne, what are we going to, ah, do with him?” Abigail asks.

“He can’t sleep with us,” you declare. “There’s not enough room on our bed.”

Abigail smiles down at you and begins running her hand through your hair. “There’s no need to be jealous,” she says. “We can find a way to take care of Pou-tine without forgetting about you. You’re my Familiar, I would never abandon you.”

You smile the smuggest smile at Pou-tine because he’s not anyone’s Familiar.

Edmund comes in with a tray and begins placing small bowls of soup before everyone. You notice that the bowls he brings for you and Pou-tine aren’t the same as all the others, but that’s okay, they still taste nice and crunchy once you drink all the gooey soup within them.

Pou-tine eats a lot slower. He watches Charlotte eating hers, then copies the motions because he’s very silly and probably wants to act like the mortals that don’t get eaten.

“We still need to find a solution for our new guest,” Charlotte says as she wipes her lips with a napkin. “He could stay with me for a little while. The dormitory rooms aren’t too large but I have a couch.”

That reminds you that there are napkins, so you take one and stuff it in your mouth. It’s kind of cloth-y tasting, but the texture is nice.

‘I, I would like to stay with Miss Charlotte,'' Pou-tine says. “If she promises she won’t eat me.”

Charlotte giggles and pats him on the back again. “I promise. Though you might have to fend off the other girls. I believe they will be quite jealous that I have such a handsome guest over.”

“Do you know how to care for something like Pou-tine?” you ask Charlotte. It’s important that she does a good job treating your future snack-- no, Pou-tine isn’t for eating. You stare across the table at him until he starts fidgeting. But then, if he isn’t for snacking what is he for?

“Is it anything like taking care of a normal young man?” Charlotte asks.

You shake your head. “Nope. Not at all. He’s going to need a lot of pats, and cuddles, and you need to hug him really close when you’re sleeping.”

Pou-tine looks up from his soup, then stares at Charlotte for a moment before he starts reddening like when Abigail says something silly. “That isn’t true,” he says. “I don’t need hugs.”

Obviously he never got hugs before. It’s kind of sad. Equally sad is how he’ll never get Abigail hugs because those are all for you and sometimes Daphne.

Edmund arrives with the main meal, some roasted bird and potatoes and other vegetables and lots of sauce. Abigail hands you her half finished bowl of soup and warns you not to eat the bowl, only the juices, then you're served your portion of dinner and it’s eating time, not talking time.

“Abigail,” you say between crunches of bird bones. “Are we sleeping with Daphne again?”

Abigail and Daphne stare at each other, both pausing mid-eating and going strange colours.

“Goodness you two,” Charlotte says. “I’m certain Miss Daphne has more than one room in her home. There’s no need to push your little... relationship too far too quickly.”

“So we’re sleeping at Daphne’s but not with Daphne?” you ask. Strange, but it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t miss out on naptime. “Oh, Charlotte, you need to remember that naptime is very important for Pou-tine.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” she says.

You nod. You’re truly lucky to have so many good friends and also Pou-tine.