Kyra brought the juices and the bread and Louis thanked her. "Now you can bring me...Some soup would be fine. For two as well. Or actually, for three. And bring another juice like this, please."
Kyra nodded, looking at him a bit oddly. Three? Was he expecting someone? Was it a woman? Was it his girlfriend?
Gwenn was slightly confused. Was Louis expecting someone else, or was he simply that hungry?
When Kyra left with the order, Gwenn waited for Louis to answer the questions he'd asked. But Louis stood up, told Gwenn to wait, and walked towards another table, making his target clear from the beginning.
Gwenn looked over, curious to see who had caught Louis' attention. But when he saw who was sitting there, he gave out a small groan. It was that apprentice of Kay's! And it looked like Louis was going to ask her to join them.
Whether or not Louis was purposely avoiding a discussion of business, inviting her was a perfect way to keep the topic from coming up again, since Gwenn had no intention of discussing compensation with _her_ around. Trying to be patient, Gwenn composed his face and waited Louis' return.
When Louis reached Anwyn's table, he smiled down at the girl. "Why don't you come over and eat with us? I bet eating alone isn't your favorite habit."
At first she wasn't sure how to answer. Those brown eyes of his seemed to be looking right through her. Did he KNOW that she wasn't here by accident ? But he didn't seem to be mad at her for spying on him and that boy with the Welsh name. *Maybe he DIDN'T notice me following them*, Anwyn giggled silently to herself, *in which case I should be able to get away with pretending that I WASN'T ...*.
Thinking quickly, she gave Louis her most innocent-looking smile. "You're right about that, Doc ! I saw you and that boy come in earlier, but I wasn't sure whether you two wanted company. He doesn't seem to like me much", Anwyn claimed.
"Well, I suppose we can't blame him...", Louis said, smiling. Anwyn shrugged. "Maybe I'm just too inadequately-socialized for my age group ... I don't do that social-conformity thing, and I'm terribly-precocious for my age too, you know ... ", she grinned, deciding to tease him back by pretending to take it as a compliment. At least Louis wasn't as much of a prude as that MacConnall boy (who acted like a middle-aged man fussing over his only hope for grand-children).
As a further distraction from any inquiry about how long she'd been there, Anwyn added with a dissapointed pout, "But then again, after everything got quiet again this afternoon, nobody ELSE wanted me around either. They were all too busy doing other things, just like back home".
Louis couldn't help but pitying the girl. He sighed, but said nothing. Anwyn's ears didn't miss the sound. So he was even more soft-hearted than she had thought. But she wondered how much of it was simply because she was Kay's student.
Her pout then turned into a small hopeful grin as she asked Louis "Do you REALLY want me to join you ... or were you just trying to be polite ?". If she was welcome at their table, that would provide even better entertainment value than eavesdropping.
"Damn, you discovered it!", he said, then grinned at her. "Of course I want you to eat with us, do you think I'd pay more just to be polite?"
This won him a very appraising sort of stare. There was a very distinct pause before Anwyn replied in a very calculated manner that seemed ill-fitting for someone so young. "I've noticed that some folks think politeness is better than honesty; especially if it's to their own advantage to do so", she state flatly, "But somehow I don't think that you're that type of person ... and I kinda like that".
Then Anwyn grinned mischievously and added "So I'd be delighted to join you two". And with that, she got up and strode over to the table where Gwenn was sitting.
"Hey MacConal", she said teasingly as she settled herself into an empty chair, "Don't look so sour, or people might mistake you for a monk who's given up all the pleasures of the flesh . ... Haven't YOU ever done anything irresposible ? Or have you always been so prim, proper and prudish all your life ?".
Gwenn almost replied that he doubted anyone would mistake him for a sandle-wearer, but then remembered MacDougal, Finn, and the incident in the barracks bathhouse. "I've been too busy fighting off bullies who acted prim and proper around adults to do anything irresponsible." Gwenn managed a polite smile with difficulty; only the knowledge that Louis was his host and Anwyn another guest kept him from being terribly impolite and then leaving. "Besides, I have a family to provide for."
Louis sat again. The third glass of juice was already there, he noticed. Taking a sip oh his, he interrupted. "Well, you know Anwyn, there's nothing _wrong_ in being 'prim, proper and prudish' once in while." He grinned at the girl, sure she had understood him.
Anwyn blushed a very deep red when she realized that Gwenn had taken her seriously. Once again, her big mouth had gotten her into trouble. He was _SUPPOSSED_ to laugh and tease her back -- like Kay would have done. And now she'd just made a fool of herself.
When Gwenn's frown turned into a very neutral look, she felt even worse. Here she had just been rude to him, and he was making her look even more immature by acting all grown-up about it. Looking down at her feet, Anwyn mumbled to Gwenn, "I'm ... sorry ... I was only joking ... you must think I'm a totally daft little immature brat, just like my siblings usually do ... sometime I have poor impulse control ... I didn't mean that you WERE a sandal-wearer; just that you were frowning like one".
Now it was Gwenn's turn to blush. He'd supposed that this Terranan youth was simply more rude than most of the older Terranan that he'd met, Kay being the one exception. Now he realized that she was being as familiar as a younger sister, although he couldn't imagine _why_ any stranger would act in such a manner, unless it had something to do with Anwyn's relationship with Kay. But before he could apologize as well, Louis spoke....
The doctor turned to Gwenn. "Though I have to admit you take things _very_ seriously. You're just like Kay, in fact..."
"Aye," Gwenn replied, "An' there's one I need more free time tae take care of. Runnin' wild and gettin' intae fights like a...." Gwenn broke off, remembering just in time that Anwyn was there.
Anwyn's ears perked up as she waited to see if Gwenn would finish his sentence. She was disapointed when he didn't. But she didn't dare to ask what he'd been about to say. And she'd probably be in even MORE trouble if she dared to say that she though that Kay's bit of wildness had been kinda cool in a scary sort of way.
Instead, she grinned at Louis, commenting wryly "Kay's a SCOT ... and EVERYONE knows that they're all more stubborn than donkeys". Then a mischievous thought occurred to her. "And from what _I_ hear, you've seen even more of her temper than _HE_ has ... ", she added, indicating Gwenn.
Then she turned back to Gwenn, and stated flatly "Good luck trying to tame a Scot. Your life would have been so much quieter if you'd stayed home".
"But then, had I nae come here to join the guard, I'd nae ha'e met her, so I'll just ha'e to pray to the merciful dark lady that she willna' get me intae a duel I canna' win", said Gwenn.
Anwyn's eyes opened wide with shock "You guys DUEL ? No way !! REALLY ? And not just for fun, with blunted practice weapons ?", she demanded, "But don't people get HURT doing that ?".
Anwyn's astonishment caught Gwenn completely off-guard. "Aye," he replied, his surprise evident on his face. "How else would ye settle disputes and matters of honor? An' how would blunted weapons settle anythin'? Ye could fight 'til ye both dropped of exhaustion an' neither side concedin'." Briefly, Gwenn tried to imagine how anything could be settled any other way, but stopped before he developed a headache. "An' usually men don't get seriously injured; most duels aren't to the death."
Anwyn just stared at him again. This was waaay too bizarre ! She simply couldn't wrap her mind around the concept. "You SHOULD have magistrates to make sure that justice gets done. Fighting over it isn't FAIR", she protested, "Winning a fight doesn't make things RIGHT if the winner was the one who was in the wrong! That goes against EVERYTHING that _I_ ever learned about morals.".
She paused, then frowned and added stubborly, "Sure, I'm not an adult yet. But, back home, even the LITTLE kids know that Might-makes-right doesn't make any sense. It only leads to a bunch of nasty-minded bullies ruling over you -- treating you like puppets and beating you up if you disagree with them. So if _THAT_ is your idea of _NORMAL_, then maybe Kay is _RIGHT_ about the Comyn being corrupt".
Perhaps she'd had been a little bit too harsh, Anwyn thought to herself, feeling a blush spread across her face as she saw Gwenn and Louis' reactions to what she'd said. Normally she wouldn't have DARED to even CONSIDER saying such things in public. But there was something about this boy Gwenn that reminded her of her many siblings. She simply could NOT resist the temptation to be more honest than polite. And anyways, she'd found herself growing more and more bold ever since those reish-brained Big Ship pilots had delivered her to the wrong damn planet and she'd met Kay. Wasn't it BETTER to be a brat than a mouse ?
"An' how do ye come tae that conclusion?" Gwenn demanded, shaking a butter-knife at Anwyn. "If I didna' fight for my honor, why should I think that someone else would protect it? An' I dinnae ken what a magistrate is nor how he'd know who had the right o' it, but it dinna sound any better ta' me. An' the Hali...Comyn are nae corrupt! Leastwise, none o' the ones I've met are. They've all been honorable." Gwenn took a bite of bread and drew his brows together as he stared at Anwyn. Then, realizing his rudeness, he dropped his eyes to his cup as he took a drink. "'Sides, who said life was fair?"