“What is ‘mansplaining’?” he asked cautiously, only to have Nao laugh so hard she ended up making a noise reminiscent of pigs.
“Go on, Beast, explain that,” she said, so amused she had to wipe a tear out of her eye.
Knight came up next to her and grabbed the drink Martina had been making. “What’s Beast explaining?”
“Mansplaining and microwaves.” Nao grinned, drinking her juice.
Beast clenched his mouth and tapped the microwave a few times, causing the thing to light up on the inside while a white bowl spun around, moved by an invisible force.
“Whoa!” Knight laughed and had some of the tomato drink. “That’s like explaining Inception.”
Nao laughed, and the meaning yet again passed in front of Laurent’s nose. For a moment Laurent wanted to ask why cutlery should not be warmed in the microwave, but then he decided against it, since everyone else most likely considered it obvious.
“There will be chili,” Laurent tried to change the topic, though he had no idea what chili was.
Knight smiled, and once again Laurent noticed how fine he was, even if his chin was unnecessarily scruffy, and his long hair seemed a tangled mess of wind-combed waves. “Martina’s chili? Yes! It’s so nice of Beast that he helped you with the microwave, isn’t it?”
Laurent looked back at Beast, who stood so close all Laurent could think about was the glorious way he smelled. “Y-yes,” he mumbled.
With the bowl and a whole tray of plates made of plastic, they joined the others on the sofas. Laurent tried to keep calm, but there was no denying that all eyes were on him, and when Beast directed him to a backless chair, he was glad that at least he knew what was expected from him.
People descended on the food like hungry seagulls, and since Laurent had already eaten, he kept back to leave the food for everyone else and only accepted a small portion with bread when a young man with short blond hair handed him some.
“Be careful. I don’t know if they use such spices where you’re from,” the man said before offering his hand to Laurent. “I’m Jake. Is it true you’re Amish?”
Beast growled with his mouth full. Swallowing, he leaned back in the leather chair and squinted. “Prospect, told you he doesn’t want to talk.”
“Yeah, just leave it, Prospect,” Knight added and shooed the young man away, leaving Laurent to wonder if Jake was some sort of servant. “His name is Laurent Mercier though. So I was gonna ask, are you named after the Laurent Mercier who murdered that serial killer? ‘Cause I was looking into it, and I can’t work out what branch of the family tree you’re from.”
The words hit Laurent like a club. “I didn’t kill anyone!” he said all too fast, and all too loudly, only drawing more attention to himself. He almost dropped the bread too. If he was to thrive here, he needed to control himself much better.
“Wow, that escalated quickly,” said a smooth-shaven young man with very bright hair worn in short spikes. Like Beast, there were patterns all over his body, but they were colorful and bright as the shirt he wore. Despite his words, he didn’t seem at all moved, just calmly watched Laurent from above his bowl of chili.
“This is Joker,” Beast said, introducing the man. “Don’t mind him. He just thinks he’s funny.”
Joker laughed, shaking his head, which made the rows of rings covering his ear move. He picked up a crumpled piece of paper and tossed it at Beast. “Always dismissed. My heart bleeds.”
Knight leaned closer to Laurent and ignored the other two men. “No, I just wanted to know if you aren’t a descendant of Laurent Mercier’s illegitimate child. He was an indentured servant, so his master wouldn’t have let him marry.”
Laurent stared, but then a laugh escaped his lips. “Oh, he would not have had time for romance, I assure you.”
Knight frowned. “How would you know that?”
How was Laurent to know what was and what wasn’t common knowledge, since history has clearly revealed that he was the one who killed Fane? “I… just a guess.” He dipped the yellowish bread in the chili, which was some kind of meat and tomato sauce, but when he put it in his mouth and started chewing, his eyes began to water at the sudden assault of spices to his tongue.
“See, I told you it would be too spicy for him,” Jake laughed but didn’t provide any relief.
Beast pushed a glass of water at Laurent, and he accepted it greedily, downing half of it right away.
“That’s why I bought very mild Chinese food,” mumbled Beast.
Laurent finished the water, embarrassed by the greedy way he drank but too desperate to stop.
Knight nodded and patted Beast’s shoulder. “Yeah, if you’re unsure about stuff, just ask Beast, he’s your man.”