#dinner at the lonans is never dull

[juliandev0rak]

Lapine

Dinner at the Lonan manor doesn’t go to plan.

a side fic to the Hallmark Yule Series by @leila-of-ravens

characters: Lysander Lonan, Leila Lonan, Leith Lonan, Lachlan Lonan (of @leila-of-ravens), Ella Sagen (of @leechobsessed), Beatrice Viano, Bramble the rabbit, also sort of Julian Devorak

words: ~1800

notes: takes place somewhere between chapters 4 and 5 of the Hallmark Yule Series

Beatrice has been running on nothing but excitement and lots of tea for the last few days.

She’s been busy being introduced to the city of Umbra and to her home for the duration of her stay. It’s hard to rest when there's so much she wants to see and do while she’s here, there are museums and an opera house and most exciting of all- a university. She wants to see it all, wants to soak up every moment of being in this place.

She finally has a break in her busy itinerary, an hour to herself before dinner which is usually served at eight. She finds it difficult to stay awake now that she’s not on the move, and she decides a nap is in order. But as Beatrice lays down on the still unfamiliar bed, she finds it impossible to fall asleep. 

As she tosses and turns fitfully, her mind wanders back to the house tour Lysander had given her after she’d arrived a few days ago. Beatrice had probably looked like a fool, all wide-eyed and curious about everything. She’s never been in a house this grand, except for the palace in Vesuvia which is well, a palace.

The Lonan manor is large, beautiful, and filled with all sorts of wonderful things. She’d noticed a grand piano on her way in, and books, books everywhere. If someone had asked her to describe her dream house, this would be it. 

Even the guest rooms are nice, tasteful if a bit impersonal. And Lysander is just down the hall, the second to last room he’d told her. She feels slightly strange at the thought of him sleeping so close to her, just a few walls away. Beatrice can hardly believe she's here, seeing where he lives and works and spends his free time. She's in his home.

Trying to sleep seems useless, so she gives up on her nap and decides to read. But she’s restless and even her novel can’t hold her attention for long. Hiding away in her room has less of an appeal when she has so many more interesting things, and people, she could be seeing. 

When it’s time to get dressed for dinner Beatrice stands in front of the wardrobe for far too long, trying to decide on an appropriate outfit. She wants to be casual, this is simply a family dinner after all, but she wants to look nice too. Beatrice finally picks a dress and tries to fix her hair, which is beyond repair after a day spent out in the cold and wind. She pins it back from her face and fluffs her bangs- good enough.

This is just a dinner with Leila’s family, but her family happens to include Lysander. If she’s making a little more effort on his behalf, who could blame her?

Beatrice shakes off her sudden bout of nerves and checks the clock on the wall, it’s five minute till eight so she heads downstairs to the dining room. Bramble hops along beside her, sticking close to her side. Her familiar has been uneasy since their arrival, on guard around the other animals who inhabit the house. There’s a dog, a fox, and multiple birds of prey- it’s not the safest environment for a rabbit, and Beatrice has been careful to keep an eye on her.

When she enters the dining room she finds nearly everyone seated already. She takes the seat between Leila and Ella, and notices that the only person missing is Lysander and the only vacant seat is directly across from her. She wonders if someone had arranged the seating like that on purpose. 

Bramble settles into her lap and Beatrice reaches for the full wine glass in front of her, taking a polite sip as she listens to the others talking around the table. She’s a bit overwhelmed by all of the chatter and is content to observe rather than interact for the moment. She notices that Ella is avoiding any and all eye contact with Lachlan, who is similarly avoiding her by conversing with Julian. Beatrice looks away, unsure how to offer Ella support in this moment, and watches as Leila jokes with Leith.

Lysander enters the room then and her eyes immediately go to him. 

She stares at him, dressed in his usual white shirt and blazer combination, and he stands in the doorway looking back at her. The eye contact stretches on, neither looking away until Leila laughs loudly at something Julian says and breaks the moment. Lysander clears his throat and crosses the room to take his seat across from her. He nods at her in greeting and she dips her head in response, wondering if she should say something.

Bramble stirs in her lap and Beatrice suddenly wonders whether it’s rude to have a rabbit at the dinner table. She’s pretty certain that the laws of etiquette don’t dictate what to do with your familiar, but she isn’t about to let Bramble roam the house alone.

“Dinner is served!” Leith announces from the head of the table. They’re served some sort of stew, the meals in Umbra are always warm and hearty. It smells good but Beatrice decides to try the bread first. She’s learned over the course of her stay that Leith is a very competent cook and usually makes every meal himself. As she spreads butter on a piece of warm bread she notices Leila turned to face her.

“So, Beatrice, did you manage to nap?” Leila asks, and her friendly smile puts Beatrice at ease as it always does.

“No, I think I’m quite immune to sleep at the moment.” Beatrice takes a bite of the bread, savoring the soft texture. “I read instead.”

Leila laughs, “I’m not surprised to hear that. Is the book any good?” 

“Yes! Lyse recommended it to me. It’s got so many characters that it was a bit difficult to keep up at first, but I’m enjoying it.” Beatrice turns to look at Lysander across the table and finds him already looking at her. She smiles briefly and quickly averts her eyes, staring down at her plate instead.

“Lyse, is it?” Leila laughs at the casual slip of the nickname and Beatrice blushes, wishing her hair was down to hide behind. She picks up her spoon to cover for her embarrassment and is just about to eat a spoonful of the flavorful looking stew when Ella’s voice rings out over the other’s conversations.

“Beatrice, don't eat the stew!” 

“I beg your pardon?” Beatrice lets the spoon fall back into the bowl, careful not to make a splash. Her eyebrows draw together in confusion as she stares into the bowl, it looks like a perfectly normal meat stew to her.

“It’s rabbit.” 

“Oh.” She stares down into the bowl, unsure how to react. She doesn’t eat rabbit, how could she when she’s got an adorable one sleeping in her lap right now. Beatrice looks up from her bowl to find everyone’s eyes trained on her and she blushes again, embarrassed to be making a fuss.

“Leith! How could you serve us rabbit with Beatrice here?” Leila asks, shaking her head in disapproval.

Leith looks horrified as he stands up from his chair to make his way over to Beatrice. He bends down towards her as he talks. “I’m so sorry Beatrice, I forgot entirely! Rabbit is a very common meat here and… well that probably doesn’t make this apology any better. I am sincerely sorry for having served you this meal, can I get you something else to eat?” 

“Oh it’s fine, please don’t worry about it!” Beatrice is trying to sound reassuring but her voice raises to a slightly squeaky pitch as it does when she’s uncomfortable.

The chunks of meat in the stew seem to stare at her accusingly and she tears her eyes away. She looks up to see Lysander still watching her with a peculiar expression on his face, he looks a bit upset but it’s always so hard to tell what he’s thinking. Beatrice hides her discomfort by taking another sip of wine.

“It most certainly isn’t fine, I’ve greatly offended you and your familiar.” Leith’s voice pulls her attention back to him. “Please accept my most sincere apologies, I’m sorry to have caused you any discomfort.” 

Beatrice frowns as he talks, but she’d made up her mind to forgive him before he’d even apologized. It was a simple mistake after all, and one he clearly hadn’t intended. “Your apology is accepted of course, but I’d appreciate if you didn’t serve rabbit again while I’m here.”

Leith puts his hand over his heart as if he’s swearing an oath, “Of course, it won’t happen again I promise. Now would you like something different? I could make a vegetable soup if you’d like?” 

“Oh, that’s alright! I’m not very hungry, I think I’ll stick to bread, thank you.” Beatrice reaches for her piece of bread and takes a bite for show. Any appetite she’d had has pretty much disappeared. 

Leith doesn’t return to his seat, still intent on making amends. “I’ll have to make something special for dessert sometime to make it up to you, any requests?” Beatrice drops her piece of bread and nearly knocks over her glass in the process. She hates being an imposition, especially as a guest. “That’s very kind of you to offer, but you don’t have to go to any trouble on my behalf!”

“Beatrice loves cake,” Leila interjects before Beatrice can demure too much.

“Well perhaps I’ll make a carrot cake then, to apologize to both of you.” Leith smiles warmly at her, and Beatrice returns the gesture.

“May I help you bake it?” She asks, surprising herself with her boldness. Beatrice has only just met the oldest Lonan brother, but she can already tell that he is a very kind person. She’ll willingly accept his apologies, and his baked goods.

“Sure, if you’d like. I’d be happy for the help.” Leith gives Bramble a scratch between her ears and then returns to his seat. 

The dinner continues on, though everyone seems to enjoy their meal a bit less than before. She notices that Lysander hasn’t touched his stew at all.

As the rest of the group continues to talk and drink, Beatrice sits back to observe again. She had worried that she’d feel out of place here- in a fancy house, in a city so far away from home. But the Lonans have tried their best to make her feel welcomed and included, and she appreciates the effort.

Though she’s still trying to get her bearings in this unfamiliar place, Beatrice realizes that she wants this. She wants to believe she could belong here, in a fancy house with a family like this. With this family. As long as they don’t serve rabbit again.