Table Manners

They all tease Helena about the way she eats- like a child, wholly consumed, all hands and teeth and saliva.

What her sisters have failed to notice, however, is that they all eat just like her. Helena's habits are amplified by years of hunger and want, but still, when they are together around the table, the similarities are uncanny.

Cosima has a habit of waving her food in the air. Some foods are sufficiently sturdy to withstand the abuse, but spoonfuls of cereal or the inner layers of a sandwich can easily become airborne, edible projectiles. Her hands are restless, and silverware is not strong enough to still them.

Sarah eats off of everyone else's plate. It started with Felix when they were small, and has only gotten worse as her family has grown. Mid-sentence, she absentmindedly reaches across the table to peel a disc of pepperoni off of Cosima's slice of pizza. Personal boundaries were never her strong suit.

Allison talks with her mouth full. She is all prim and proper and manners, endless lectures on how a lady ought to eat soup when dining with the Queen. That is, prim and proper until the four of them end up at the same table. Amidst her sisters, shouting over each other, she forgets herself. There's no time to chew when there is so much to be said (and so much to be said loudly).

Felix catches Delphine watching them one evening, fork frozen in mid-air and mouth half open. He nudges her to break the spell.

"Weird, isn't it?" he whispers, conspiratorially. Sarah sees him watching, and tosses a carrot at him. He catches it deftly and pops it into his mouth before continuing. "I thought Sarah was just a sloppy tit, until we met these three. Now I figure it must be genetic. No amount of nurture can explain this lot."

"It's fascinating," Delphine murmurs, unable to take her eyes off of the sisters as Cosima and Allison launch simultaneously into a story, each brandishing a slice of pizza.

"Makes you wonder how Rachel eats," Felix says with a mock shiver. "Probably squats naked on the kitchen floor stripping raw meat off of a carcass with her teeth."

Delphine gives him a look of horror. He laughs, rolling his eyes, and hands Helena a napkin. She dabs ineffectively at the corner of her sauce-covered lips before diving back into her meal (pineapple pizza with anchovies, dipped in mayonnaise and yellow mustard).