Finally, finally Heath managed to shut Meena up by shoving a scone in her mouth. She protested, and when Cliff spun around to say something to her, she took a large bite out of the scone and slunk down in her chair. It wasn’t as if Meena Hillicker had any female role models she could look up to, and Cliff was in no rush to help that along. He could only hope mum would show back up soon and take her off his hands.
He mouthed at her to shut up and tossed Heath a look to entertain her, who shoved the scone back into her mouth, tossed his arm across the chair behind her and grinned at his brother. God, he hated them both so much. He frowned at them before he finally turned back to the girl, sitting at the edge of the chair that had been offered to him, his own teacup settled against the table. His fingers tapped nervously against his pant leg.
Surprise then, filtered across his face as she pushed the cup toward him; he eyed her wearily, wondering if it was poisoned somehow. He was always frightened of that - consuming something that would kill him. She easily could have put something into it with the amount of times he’d had his back turned. But Poppy Dashwood looked like a nice enough girl, and if she did actually poison him, her face wouldn’t be the worst last thing to see. His hands shook as he picked up the steaming teacup, and he peered down into the liquid to see if anything odd floated in it. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
It took another moment before he took the smallest sip of the tea. It was warm and the taste was quite pleasant. Not to be greedy (and not that he expected Ms. Dashwood to drink after him), he settled the tea back against the table and pushed it back toward her. “Your friend has much better taste than Meena.” He nodded, trying to offer a small smile.
“I’m Clifford Hillicker.” Cliff nodded, offering his full name because he felt it was what the upper class expected. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Dashwood.”
He mouthed at her to shut up and tossed Heath a look to entertain her, who shoved the scone back into her mouth, tossed his arm across the chair behind her and grinned at his brother. God, he hated them both so much. He frowned at them before he finally turned back to the girl, sitting at the edge of the chair that had been offered to him, his own teacup settled against the table. His fingers tapped nervously against his pant leg.
Surprise then, filtered across his face as she pushed the cup toward him; he eyed her wearily, wondering if it was poisoned somehow. He was always frightened of that - consuming something that would kill him. She easily could have put something into it with the amount of times he’d had his back turned. But Poppy Dashwood looked like a nice enough girl, and if she did actually poison him, her face wouldn’t be the worst last thing to see. His hands shook as he picked up the steaming teacup, and he peered down into the liquid to see if anything odd floated in it. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
It took another moment before he took the smallest sip of the tea. It was warm and the taste was quite pleasant. Not to be greedy (and not that he expected Ms. Dashwood to drink after him), he settled the tea back against the table and pushed it back toward her. “Your friend has much better taste than Meena.” He nodded, trying to offer a small smile.
“I’m Clifford Hillicker.” Cliff nodded, offering his full name because he felt it was what the upper class expected. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Dashwood.”
[Please feel free to hit Cliff at your leisure; he probably deserves it.]
![[Image: UcvylhE.png]](https://i.imgur.com/UcvylhE.png)