Dinner Etiquette

Meike hurried along with me, until we came to something that I could identify as a kitchen. There were other elves running around, and the air was heavy with the heavy aroma of meat, fish and spices. She dragged me to a relatively calm corner, and glared at me.

"Üm dat klaar to stellen," she hissed, "Ik mag di nich. Ik. Mag. Di. Nich."

'I don't like you' was probably the right translation. I nodded. That much was clear.

"Aver ik will darüm nich opgeven," she continued, crossing her arms. "So lang du wat doon wullt, will ik di helpen. För Prinzessin Nela."

Once again, I nodded. She would help me, not for me, but for Nela, if I understood correctly.

"Thank you," I said, then tilted my head, "Danke?"

She huffed. "Goot, du lehrst. De Spraak will ik di aver nich lehren."

I tilted my head in confusion. That was a little much for me, still. Meike sighed, and adjusted her words.

"Du maakst dat goot. Aver de Spraak," she gestured to her mouth, "is swaar. Nich eenfach."

The language is... not easy? Maybe she wanted to tell me that she couldn't teach me it, not like what she wanted me to teach. Why did she drag me here, anyways?

"Dat is Tied, di Manieren to lehren," Meike added.

She waved her hand around as if to show me the whole kitchen. Aside from the wonderful smell, there were quite a lot of fires, some real, some magical, while ingredients were either transported or floated through the air to their designations. The clatter of metal pots and pans mixed with the happy chatter of the chefs, while others made sharp sounds with their knives slicing through vegetables. It was warm and cozy, if slightly hectic. But it did make me feel more relaxed, if not for the fact that Meike was staring right down at me.

"Sorry," I said. I shouldn't get too distracted. I was here to learn.

With a sigh, Meike turned around, and grabbed various knives, forks and spoons, as well as plates, before she returned to me. I got up and held out my hands. If anything, I could at least help her carry it all, right?

She narrowed her eyes, but at least, she let the cutlery fall right into my hands. Suddenly, I had to make sure that I could catch it all, while she went on ahead and guided me to a small room nearby. Here, we were out of sight of most people, while a window still showed us the sight of a little enclosed garden, where people were walking around.

"Acht!" she said, and I immediately snapped to attention.

That's what Nela uses when we’re gaming, I thought. Here, it meant something like 'attention' instead of ‘danger’, if I understood correctly. It was a different kind of danger, still, when it came to Meike.

I watched as she took the cutlery from my hands, and built an impressive array with it and the plates. The sharp prongs of the forks gleamed in the low light. I had no idea what I was looking at.

Why are there so many different variations? I wondered.

And four plates. Four. Plates. Why would I need so many plates? A small growl escaped my stomach, but I ignored it. With all the food around, it was normal, right?

Meike slammed her hands on the table, and I twitched.

"Hey, you don't have to do that," I protested. "I'm listening."

"Ik verstah di nich," she said.

Sure, she didn't understand. I tilted my head. How could I say it?

"Ik..." I held my hand to my ear, making what I hoped could be read as a listening motion.

"Ik höre," she said. "Goot noog."

"Ik höre," I repeated with a nod.

"Goot," she said once again.

Good, I thought. It's nice to hear that, especially from her. But I couldn't enjoy that very long. Meike immediately began her lecture, pointing at the various forks and knives, the spoons and plates, clearly explaining their use, but my head spun. Apparently, there was a spoon meant for the entry soup, and another for the main soup, and a third for a later soup? That was entirely too much soup. Just like how there was a fork with two prongs for [fish?] while one with three was for the main course, but the smaller one was for dessert. And then there was another fork, but its use eluded me entirely. The knives were special, too, and only to be used for one exact purpose. I knew some of the words she threw at me, but after a moment or so, I couldn't stuff any more information into my head.

"Stop," I said, "Stop, please."

Meike's voice lowered, until she completely stopped. My head hurt immensely, and I staggered to the window to get some fresh air.

"I'm sorry," I gasped. "It's... too much."

What's that in her language again? But the thought only made my head hurt more. I felt sick.

Meike stood there next to me, her arms crossed. She still glared at me as if I had insulted her, or at least inconvenienced her. That was probably the case, since she was helping me, but I really couldn't do anything at that moment.

"Hallihallo!"

A cheerful voice greeted us, and I blinked awake again. Who would come talk to us? I didn't think there was anyone except Nela who actually liked me. So a friend of Meike's, perhaps?

But it was that blonde elf that stood near the Queen. Sören something? His hair shimmered in the sun, and he looked surprisingly elated to see us here. He waved at us—at her?—and then leaned over the opened window.

"Hallo," he said again. "Wat maakt ji denn schöön hier?"

His question seemed open-ended, but he was only looking at Meike. I glanced at the two of them. He did seem interested in her—maybe that was how he could take Nela's rejection so well?—but Meike clearly wasn't. She bristled like a cat, and I could see her ears twitch. No matter how slow I was or what I did, she never did that in reaction to me! I glanced back at Sören, who looked pretty happy with himself. Meike, on the other hand, looked like she was close to murdering him.

"Oh, Tischetikette?" he said, as he got a glance out our table getup. "Dor kann ik nich mit helpen." He shrugged, as if it was beneath him to know such things.

"Aber, junge Mann," he said, and gave me a playful jab to the shoulder, "Ik kann di dat Danzen lehren."

"Danzen?" I repeated. It sounded dangerously similar to ‘dance’.

"Danzen!" Sören made a few elegant motions and spins, dancing to some unheard music. It drew quite a few eyes, but he only looked for Meike's reaction. She simply continued to glare at him.

When he finished, he came over to the window again in one simple, elegant motion. He ended it with taking Meike's hand and planting a soft kiss on it.

"Ik bün en goden Lehrer," he said, withstanding her glare.

‘Lehre’ seemed to mean something like teach, if I understood correctly. So, was he offering to teach me how to dance? I didn’t know why he would do so, but I knew I needed all the help I could get.

"Great!" I said. "Uhm, I mean... Danke."

The words were still not easy on my tongue, but I was getting better. And he gave me a playful laugh.

"Denn is dat klaar! Ik..."

Meike shoved him away.

"Danke, aver nich vondaag," she growled. "De Dag is för Leo trech."

It sounded like my lesson was over, which I was glad for. I needed to learn more, but right now, my head was full with new information. I looked at her, at Sören, at her again. No matter what I did, I never got her to look like she wanted to murder me this badly. And... was she blushing?