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Ianto sat with interest, the chair for him was his old mayoral one, simply pulled to the opposite end of the table so he could sit facing Jarred and the committee could still all see him. It felt weird and slightly silly. He knew they were trying but all he could do was hide his mirth as they fussed about trying to appear unconcerned that he had simply entered the meeting in progress.
"I am not interrupting anything secretive?"
"Not at all dear" Verity simpered "We have missed you."
He hummed as he settled more and looked around the room, noting the map of the village gone from the wall. He looked at Jarred who made a motion with his hand he had sometimes made to him that meant 'tell you later' so he nodded and accepted the cup of too weak tea he would not drink.
"So. Agenda?"
Several flew his way and he smiled as he accepted one to look at.
Annual Fete.
Ahhhhhh. This was the one thing Ianto's' eyes froze on as he looked at the list of nonsense they usually slated. At the end was the important one, left at the finish so any arguments and flouncing out would not impede the other matters. Good. He was learning. He nodded to Jarred who smiled, knowing Ianto had noticed the line-up. As he has entered on the sewerage discussion it was ht enext subject.
"We will need all hands on deck for the fete" Jared kicked it off, "I will need volunteers for almost everything and will leave a large list on the board for people to write their names next to please. As always, we expect a large turnout from the neighbouring villages and we cannot afford to look stupid like we did last week when we missed Terrance Hill's Fete. They were not pleased and Verity telling them we had an anthrax outbreak was not met with humour!"
Ianto hid his grin as he looked down at the agenda then he asked "do we have the fete line-up agreed on? The list of progression for the judging?"
"What?"
"You must have a deadline for the stall entries. They need to be allocated spaces that will be large enough and some must be separated or they will clash. You must know all the stalls that will need judging so you can allocate times to do so. Otherwise they will all want you as once. As mayor you have to eat pie, cake, smell flowers, look at paintings, children's sand saucers … judge things. This is a crucial part of the fete for many attending. The largest pumpkin or longest cucumber is easy as it is a given but something down to your personal taste is tricky. There are rules and some who are competitive will openly argue until you decide which is best between two who look about the same. Either way, a victor will crow as the looser will accuse foul play. Crow. Fowl. Huh, just got that one."
Jarred looked slightly ill as he remembered previous years that had erupted into almost brawl-like tantrums with the local elderly. Shit.
He didn't know if he was ready.
Ianto made a hand motion.
I'll tell you later too.
