“Not true! I distinctly remember Trice serving you on more than one occasion, even feeding you with her own hand…” He made it sound sly, as if there had been meaning to it other than the girl thinking he was too weak or inept to do it for himself.
Without missing a beat Connie's eyebrows shot up.
“Oh! Well, if Patricia already has a claim on him you might want to talk to your sister. She confided in me already that she intends to skip the arranged marriage her father and I set her with Raul Peterson and pursue Mr. Baker here instead. Karina, not Varley. It seems that your friend has already been plying them both with lavish gifts…”
Tor blushed and ducked his head. He could tell they were only teasing, much like his own family would have, but the fact that girls didn't have much use for him was a bit of a sore spot, even if Connie couldn't possibly know that about him yet, unless Rolph had told her, which didn't seem likely. Or maybe she got it just by looking at him? After a few seconds of this Rolph held his hand out and asked what the gifts were, probably trying to change the subject a bit.
Connie smiled. “A set of those room cooling and warming plates each.” Her tone held, not amusement, but a sense of being impressed. Tor didn't get it, unless handmade stuff was valued here for some reason? Like when his mom seemed no more thrilled about a new coat from the store as she did a picture drawn by the youngest child and given as a gift? Probably what it was, he realized, looking around the room a little. Even to rent such a space would take more money than Tor could imagine spending, and given that he was, well, just him, he doubted that was the case. They didn't rent this to impress him, it was something they already had just sitting empty and waiting. It was just convenient to store him here for them.
Really, they could have fed him stale bread and had him sleep in the corner of Rolph's room and he wouldn't have blinked. He doubted that he would have even noticed, except that he'd have offered to make some fresh bread for them. So this was… normal for these people? It boggled his mind more than a little. A lot more.
Connie let them go shortly thereafter claiming to be tired. Probably a bit bored with him, Tor realized, which was fair enough. They didn't seem to have a lot in common. She seemed kind, obviously willing to go out of her way to make her son's friend feel comfortable, but that didn't mean his nattering on about school would interest her for long. It was nice, how she put him at his ease like she had, like he was a real guest or important. He'd have to come up with a gift for her too. Rolph didn't know what she might want when asked, but Tor had an idea anyway, since the heat was so bad here and she seemed to be locked in to wearing a heavy dress all the time, at least in company.
Once back in his room he started building the field he'd already planned out, it was similar enough to others he'd made before that it didn't take that long to finish, only about ten hours. Then another two to make a full batch of the devices and two more for the next batch. He decided that people might actually want these, or at least take them as casual gifts. He tested them by walking in and out of the house several times. It felt nice, inside or out, with only a few seconds fluctuation to let him know that the temperature had changed at all. Perfect.
He strung five on some hemp string he had in the trunk so they could be worn as amulets. He didn't have any more thread, so he just pocketed five of the other small copper plates. He made a simple stencil and lacking any acid, quickly made a small design on each bit of metal by rubbing some sand he found in the garden over them. It wasn't deep, but it showed the sigil clearly enough and shouldn't wear away too easily.
At about noon a knock came at the door. Too tentative to be Rolph, who would have just walked in, so Tor went to the door to find a tidy and extremely good looking man standing with an arm load of clothing. The man was taller than Tor, but only by about five inches, which would have made him tall in Two Bends, but short for even non-royals around the Capital from what he'd seen on the trip in the day before. He had black hair and a thin build, maybe in his late twenties and looked really familiar. Almost eerily so… Maybe he'd seen him the day before somewhere? That kind of thing where you noticed a person, but didn't really see them?
“Sir? Master Alphonse suggested that these clothes be brought to you, for your outing later this afternoon?” The man walked into the room and seemed surprised that the bed was made.
“Sir? Did someone come and make up your room already? I thought I had the job for the week…” He gestured with his eyes at the bed.
Tor shrugged.
“Sorry, no… I just didn't sleep last night. Made these instead. They keep you cool or warm depending on the temperature around you.” He held one up to show the man. “Here, take this one and try it out. Let me know if you can think of any improvements on it, alright? It was kind of a quick build. I don't want to leave gaps or anything.”
The man took the plate and clicked his heels together, put it on and hit the sigil, then stood waiting. Tor smiled and told him he'd need to at least try it outside or maybe in the kitchen where it was warm. It must be oppressive in there given the heat, Tor knew, even in Two Bends, a lot farther north, the ovens heated the room a lot this time of year. The man agreed with him and asked if he'd like something to eat before or after he bathed and dressed.
Tor got the hint, he'd better move to get ready or the man would have to fuss at him or… Whatever people with jobs like his did. He didn't think they'd yell at him, at least unless it was really important, but Tor didn't really know. He asked if food could be set up for after the bath adding please enough times that the man gave him a happy smile.
The man left, letting him run the bath himself, which felt cool to the touch. On a whim he put on one of the new heat equalizing things and noticed that the water felt… wet. But that was all, not hot or cold. Not after the first second or so. He took it off, not wanting to get the string all damp and made himself get ready. He felt tired, but who wouldn't? He'd been up for over a day already.
When he came back out the gentleman stood next to the large desk that had a full plate of food, most of it fruit, laid out for him. A soft half loaf was on a small separate plate along with some cool butter and a small paddle to spread it with, made of silver. It looked like real silver to him at least. Tor really wasn't an expert on such things. They had stainless steel eating utensils at school and Tor had been leery of them at first, since the metal made the food taste a little funny to him compared to the wooden spoons they used at home most often.
Before Tor could thank him the man stood extra straight and looked ahead without making eye contact.
“Sir. I have tested the device as instructed and found it excellent sir. I stood in the heat of the kitchen feeling no warmer than I do in this room. Outside in bright sun the temperature wavered for a brief instant, then held as if in a cool basement…” The man smiled and took a deep breath. “Most effective sir.”
Tor waved at him tiredly. “Sorry, I'm a little tired, I'm just Tor, not a sir or anything, I didn't catch your name…”
“Burks sir.” The man smiled and took the amulet off, trying to hand it back.
“Oh, no… That's yours… Um… Keep testing it for me, will you?” It occurred to him that he didn't know the guy well enough for him to feel comfortable taking gifts yet maybe. It was one thing to give presents to his friend's family, but perfect strangers could be a little too much. Did you give gifts to servants? It seemed reasonable, since they were doing things for him, but he didn't know if it was acceptable or not. Having him test it got around that altogether, and really, if there was a problem with it, he could let him know. Feedback was important if he wanted to improve. Tor knew he had a lot to learn still. Probably more than he could imagine.