Reginald Keystone
Location: The Ferry (Elite Deck Dining Area)
Skills: N/A
"Ah, well that may be just the thing then, Miss Ridgeway." started Reginald. He suddenly stopped, took to thought one of the things that Lauren had just said about herself, and veered off of his train of thought for a moment.
"Wedding, you say? Ah, I believe you had mentioned something to the like previously. I have been addressing you with the honorific of a maid, which is quite ungentlemanly. If you would please forgive me, Mrs. Ridgeway... Drat it all, now where was I?" Reginald mentally went over the last bit of their conversation before continuing,
"Ah yes, insomuch as you left our group a little early to attend to Mr. Zalil, I tarried a little later at the table. Perhaps it was within this time that some other arrangement was suggested." The Lord Major shrugged,
"Well, nothing to be done about it now." Dinner was just beginning to be served.
"If you would forgive any condescension, madame, but for a refresher? That smallish plate is for bread only, that tiny fork most likely indicates an ocean-based dish coming in the near future, and the small bowl to the side is only ever used to clean one's fingertips - do not make the mistake of one of my Lieutenants from once upon a time and drink it." He smiled and shook is head at the memory, permitting himself a moment.
"Ho, ho... he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, that one. Pleasant enough boy, though I daresay his father purchased his commission for him. Pity. I should say that even my Corporal deserved a merited commission before that one. Hmm. But I digress - otherwise, just start with the outer flatware on either side of your plate and work your way inward as the courses arrive. If the staff is properly trained, they shall remove what is necessary as service continues." His words were meant kindly, despite his predisposition toward haughtiness with things of this nature. Reginald might have considered himself more like the common man than most of his family, and indeed seemed to get along better with these people, but certain things would happen to remind him of the circumstances of his birth: Second born son to an Earl, career Officer, and master of a few households with the accompanying education in the ways of nobility. He couldn't help it, sometimes. His next words seemed to echo his thoughts on the matter,
"...Cairo is so much simpler..." Snapping back to the present, Reginald looked to Lauren, suggesting,
"If the good Mr. Zalil's medication is making him drowsy, it stands to reason that he might awaken ravenous. Perhaps we should request something to take to his room afterward, what say you?"
Haring Reddish
Location: The Ferry (Second Deck Dining Area)
Skills: N/A
The subtleties of mannered people were not lost upon Corporal Reddish, though sometimes he didn't quite understand the point of it all. The rising and sitting and rising and sitting, though quite necessary when persons of the fairer sex entered or left the area, seemed just a hair troublesome to him. For that matter, it made perfect sense to him that the Anglican split from the Catholic Church was due in large part to get away from the incessant shift between sitting and standing and kneeling and sitting and standing and... Ok, not the point. Like a good soldier, his was not to wonder why, his was but to do and... stand. Again. But such was life among the better civilized than he.
In any rate, after ensuring that Josephine was comfortably seated and that he had his own chair in decent position, the Corporal sat down to a table that seemed just the slightest bit chilly. Not in temperature, as October along the Nile was something that a man of the British Isles had to grow accustomed to, but in his perception of how he was received. Nonetheless, he made the attempt to maintain as polite of civility as he could muster.
Reddish definitely felt the stares from the table upon him as he sat, prompting a quick,
"Something on my face?" Okay, NOW he was making the attempt at polite civility.
Such civility extended to the subtleties of discussing peace and quiet from Vera, a thing which, were he honest with himself, was not his forte on a day-to-day basis. He picked up a forkful of what he assumed was lamb, based upon the fact that it was what he ordered earlier. He had a momentary doubt, having consumed goat on several instances, but quickly dismissed it. It tasted just fine whatever animal it was cut from. But what he wouldn't give for a decent curry... Anyway, he gave Vera a curt smile and a brief intonation of,
"Of course, m'Lady. Sounds like just the thing, yes? Yes." He picked up a glass of bubbly, amber colored beer and gave a quick smell of its hoppy aromatics before addressing the observation made by George.
"Oh, indeed sir. I often find that I am amazed by life's little inconsistencies, don't you? Why, here the Lord MAJ <ahem> Sorry, the Lord Major bestows a grand, grand honor upon me and makes me his Valet. Then suddenly, without so much as a by your bloody leave (and pardon, excuse my language, Miss Clark)...," He was covering his section of dining etiquette, and the use of unnecessary profane language, even something minor, would reflect badly upon himself and the lady inviting him along.
"...he up and tells me that, unless he specifically requests my services, I am supposed to be "Off Duty". Can you believe that? I'll tell you, I'm not sure what to do with myself; Off Duty." Reddish took a sip from his glass and set it back down, continuing,
"Yet here I am, moving farther and farther away from my usual duties and among such notable persons, at that. Again, life's little inconsistencies, a sort of 'betcha didn't see that one coming' from the universe, as it were." His face possessed a fair amount of animation as he rattled off his story, occasionally punctuating sentences with his fork.
"Take for instance, a Lady of standing from the house of Munn, a fellow veteran of the Great War and his sister who, as a matter of extraordinary coincidence, makes a last minute appearance, a genuine Hollywood starlet (again I am sorry to gush, I'm just so very impressed), and a..." The Corporal looked to Mosi who had recently joined them,
"I'm sorry, but I haven't an earthy clue who you are past a name. Corporal Haring Reddish, at your service, ma'am." "But as for the whereabouts of Lord Major Keystone or the American lady who seemed overly comfortable with bottles of distilled spirits, M'Lady, I should assume that they are taking a meal on the Elite Deck. Their tickets indicated access, and not being privy to the talk that brought us all here right now, ma'am, I imagine that they are enjoying various rich, imperialist tidbits dipped in chocolate and served with Cairo's fanciest bubbly wine. I should be a little jealous, speaking frankly, but being up there with the flowers and finery would have deprived me of present company," he gave a thankful smile in Josephine's direction,
"and that of all of yourselves which is truly an experience. Besides that, as I may have mentioned... Off Duty." Corporal Reddish popped a bite of roasted potato into his mouth and chewed with a triumphant glow about his face. Therewas something internally satisfying about a rant. Got the humors flowing in proper alignment, or something to that effect.
