by Nayt on Sun Jan 09, 2011 2:25 am
Already laid out upon the table was a large bowl of salad-- assorted greens with a light vinegar-esque dressing. Katalyna did little more than chop the ingredients, of course. Toushikyo took care of the rest. It was honestly for the best. Suffice it to say, Katalyna had once before managed to make salads venomous.
There was a bit of a ritual in their house: the head of the clan ate first. Thus, Gestahl was first to reach over, pour beef stew into his bowl, and gathered a heaping portion of salad upon his plate. Then, it continued down the line of importance to the clan: Katalyna got her food next (whilst Gestahl began to eat). If the clan-based mentality of their culture weren't so ancient, there'd be no way of dealing with the children. Instead, when two members of the clan were equally as valuable, the elder ate first. Toushikyo refrained from the stew and instead got for himself a heaping pile of salad, twice that of everyone else's, Akizets got a little more salad than stew, and Oboreru loaded up on as much stew as possible with minimal greens. Then there was Eld, and that was a completely different--
"Ummmm," Akizets looked over at her mother, "What am I supposed to do, now? Ummm-- make Eldridge's plate, I think?"
Katalyna nodded her head. "You usually serve your suitor, yes."
"Okay!" Akizets chimed, then gently took Eld's bowl and plate and dished out fairly balanced portions for him. By that point, everyone but Akizets and Eld were eating. "Umm, there you go~."
Complicated though it may have been, the whole thing ran like clockwork, and really wasn't anything they paid much mind to. There were a number of small rituals like that in their household, which was all fairly normal where they came from, but particularly alien to the regular folk of Hillcrest. Those small rituals all had meaning and purpose, though. Because theirs was a small clan, it didn't seem to matter, but if their clan was ten times as large? Each one of those rituals were beaten into them simply because they were the best possible means to maintain balance and order in a clan of any size.