Christmas Lunch

[adifferentlife]

The best way to celebrate any holiday is to share it with people that one care's about, Sybil is sure of that. It's why she's organised this, a luncheon for any and all that she's friends with. It's not something she's done before, and it feels very adult to be hosting a party within her own home. It's not something she ever imagined doing in such a small space, or without a staff to support her, or even before she was married with her own home, but those aren't things that are considerations here.

Instead she's let everyone know when to come and to bring something to share with the others. She's ordered in the main part of the meal, a roasted turkey instead of a goose and a roast of lamb as well. There's champagne and wine, and she has the record player Kaine gave her in the corner playing christmas carols by Bing Crosby. There's a small tree of real pine with strings of beads strung through its boughs and little elecric lights twinkling. Henri has helped her to decorate and do the cooking that she's tried, even if most of the cookies she made needed to be thrown our they were so burnt.

Once people start to arrive she relaxes, allowing herself a glass of wine once she's sure everything is in order and things are going well. At some point there is nothing else she can do, other than talk to her guests; her friends. It's nothing like a Christmas at Downton, but her second one here in Darrow and it feels like the Christmas it's supposed to be.

Comments

[jaimemieux]

"Then more wine you shall have." With a dip of his head he took Prouvaire's wine glass, and went to seek further refreshment for them both. Combeferre missed his friends terribly, but there was enough joy in this room to keep any shred of melancholy at bay.

[badtotheclone]

"It's about as opposite of Europe as you can get," I say. It's not necessarily a bad thing, the people of Houston are pretty great. It's just a completely different culture there is all.

"When are you from?"

If I know that, I can have a better idea of how to explain it to him.

[jaimemieux]

“1832,” Combeferre answered, still puzzled by the response, and curious if Kaine would offer further explanation. True, plenty of people from his own time would have called America - especially its further reaches - the opposite of Europe, but not, he suspected, for the reasons this fellow means. “As I said, no Texas yet. Barely a United States. ‘More freedom, more ease, and less misery,’ Jefferson said of it."

[adifferentlife]

Her reaction takes a moment longer, reading the words of the poem that he's had framed, her lips moving each. "Jehan. Did you write this?"

[radicalize]

"Oh, yes, very," Lucy says with an emphatic nod and a grin, just a little sly. Enjoyable's one word for it. Probably not strong enough, in her opinion, though still accurate. "And it's not too hard to stay relaxed, no, if it's someone you're comfortable with. Just... be sure it's what you want. That helps, too." She pauses a beat, then adds, still not entirely sure of what Sybil knows and what she doesn't, "You know, there are other things you can do, too, before you go all the way."

[radicalize]

"I just work as a waitress," Lucy says, shrugging. It's hardly impressive, but it's work, which can be hard to come by, and it pays decently enough, and she likes the people she works for, so she can't let herself mind it. Even if it isn't where she imagined she would wind up, where she would have wanted to, it serves her well enough. She hasn't got a clue what she would do instead, anyway, the goals she'd once set for herself having shifted considerably. "That's nice, that you have someone from home here. That helps a lot, at least for me."

[adifferentlife]

"I picked up a magazine," Sybil admits in a rush, her face heating beyond anything imaginable.This is the sort of information that she's after, and the sort that has been in extremely short supply in her life. Even the jokes and whispers of the other nursing students hadn't educated her much. "The ones with fashion in them, and that sort of thing. It suggested 10 things to do in bed to drive him wild and I thought it might help? But it was all about teasing and taunting and wasn't at all practical."

[badtotheclone]

"It's generally more conservative than the rest of the world," I say, then I realize that 'conservative' might not have the same meaning in his time. I probably shouldn't have even started this discussion because I'm not really sure how to describe it.

"At least about some things. It's just very different cultures. Like... city life versus country life."

[jaimemieux]

“You only make me more curious to see it,” Combeferre said with a chuckle. “Though I will confess, the wilderness of America did not appeal to most of my countrymen in my own time, so perhaps less has changed than we would like to imagine."

[badtotheclone]

"Well, it's not too different from here," I admit. Every day life in Houston isn't a whole lot different than life in Darrow. It's just when politics comes up that Texans really start to get up in arms. Darrow doesn't have a lot of politics that I've noticed.

[petit_poete]

Jehan looked up from his scarf, cheeks colouring as he nodded. "Oui. And did the art, as well. I hope you don't mind a handmade gift." He smiled hopefully, trying to gauge her reaction.

[adifferentlife]

"I don't mind at all. It is truly beautiful," she says, hugging it to her chest. "thank you."

[radicalize]

"Oh, God, yeah, stay away from those," Lucy says, wincing slightly. She isn't too familiar with them, but she's skimmed a few on occasion, out of something like curiosity, and it always seems to end with her drawing the same conclusion. "How they think those are tips is beyond me. I don't think any of the guys I've been with would have liked it if I tried all that." Almost conspiratorial, she then adds, "They can be kind of funny to read, though."

[adifferentlife]

That is something that even Sybil has to admit to, embarassment warring with humour for the first time since she started this conversation. "They are, in a way, if also just strange. Does anyone find them helpful? I don't understand how so many wish to read those things."

[petit_poete]

He brightened at her words and nodded. "De rien. It was my pleasure to make it for you."

[radicalize]

"I couldn't tell you, actually, if anyone finds them helpful, though I doubt it," Lucy says wryly. If anyone does turn to them for help, she has a feeling that it does more harm than good. Some of the things she's happened to read about look more like they'd be painful or pointless. "Especially not as a starting point. It's better to... figure out what you both like first."

[adifferentlife]

"I enjoy when we kiss, and the touching?" She's flushing a deep red, she's sure of it from the way her skin burns. "Henri... He has a very nice chest."

[radicalize]

"Well, that's good," Lucy says, grinning at the way Sybil blushes. This really isn't a position she ever thought she would find herself in, but it really is kind of fun, if she doesn't think about the fact that it's been almost two years since she slept with anyone. "And once the two of you do, you know, have sex, you can figure out what you like as far as that's concerned, too."

[adifferentlife]

"But..." This is the hard part, the part that Sybil has been afraid to ask but needs to. It's not like she hasn't seen a male body as a part of her classes, but this is something entirely different.

"How does one 'have sex'," she asks, her hands folded tightly in her lap. "It was just always assumed that it would happen on one's wedding night. We never spoke of it."

[radicalize]

"Right," Lucy says, nodding, almost sheepish, a hand curling around the back of her neck. "Alright, so... first, how much do you know about how guys' bodies work?" Sybil's in medicine, she knows that, and has at least got to be familiar with anatomy, which saves her an even more awkward conversation, but especially when she barely knows how to do this at all, she might as well figure out just how much there is to tell. She wonders briefly if Henri has any experience, if he might be better to talk her through this, but she doubts Sybil would want to go into anything clueless. She can at least give her friend something to work with.

[adifferentlife]

"I do, mostly. We've discussed it in class, and I've seen the models and the cadavers." The models, however, were plastic, and the cadavers weren't alive. Even worse were the live men she'd seen who were hurt from war; sent back from the lines to recieve care and to heal, only to be sent out to fight again. "Sometimes when the soldiers first came into the hospital we had to bathe them as well. We tried to preserve their decency, but it was difficult, depending on the wounds."

[radicalize]

"Alright," Lucy says again, nodding slowly. It's reassuring, if not entirely surprising. Much less than that, and she doesn't know what she would have said. As it is, there's still no way this isn't going to be supremely awkward, at least at first. Once she's gotten the really difficult part out of the way, that might be a different story. "And you know what happens when they're... sexually aroused?"

[adifferentlife]

"I-" She starts to lie and say that she does, but eventually shakes her head, lips pursed. "When we've... Been together, it's sometimes obvious things are different?"

[radicalize]

"Different how?" Lucy asks. Before she gets anatomical, she really wants to find out exactly where they stand, and as ridiculous as it feels to be continually asking questions, she won't be able to figure anything out otherwise.

[adifferentlife]

Sybil reminds herself that she asked to have this conversation, and that she needs to put aside all embarrassment and act as if this is a class or the hospital. Professionalism will carry her through, she tells herself, squaring her shoulders. "We were kissing, and when he pressed against me, there was more pressure," she says, indicating beneath her waist.