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[ Shiba Inus are probably the most cat-like dog behaviour wise so - compromise! ]

He does! Very much so. I'm sure he will be glad of someone extra to give him attention.

Shall we say in an hour then? I can send you our dormitory number.

That would be wonderful. See you soon.

[And in an hour, Gershom knocks on Jonathan's dormitory door. He's wearing an oversized sweater with a cat face on it - should he have dressed up more for tea? Oh, no, now he's second-guessing his outfit...]

[ Predictably there's a series of dog barks from the other side of the door at the knocking. Jonathan opens the door with a wide smile on his face - of course he's dressed in something as close to Victorian as he can get, one of his shirt, sweater and bow tie combos. If he thinks Gershom is under dressed he gives no indication of it, he just looks pleased to see his friend. ]

Hello again, Mr Gerhom! It's wonderful to see you, please come in.

[ He steps to one side to allow his friend entry, at which point a very excited Shiba Inu will scamper around his feet and sniff the odd stranger. ]

Hello, Jonathan - and hello, little fellow.

[He reaches out to gently pet the shiba inu with one bony hand. It's probably an odd sensation, but hopefully the little guy doesn't mind.]

[ "The little fellow" does not seem to mind at all, tail wagging as he accepts the attention - he does seem curious about this strange looking person though. He doesn't smell like other people - and so does spend quite a lot of time sniffing at Gershom's hand and feet, trying to figure him out. Jonathan chuckles. ]

His name is Pesto.

The name was my roommate's choice. [ Not that Jonathan had it in him to be shady about it but he'd tried to call the dog Arthur until Caesar had dictated otherwise. ]

[As long as Pesto doesn't decide to bury these bones in the backyard, Gershom's fine with that.]

What a cute name. It suits him.

[ As long as JoJo has deemed Mr Skeleton Man good company, Pesto accepts this.

Meanwhile, Jonathan gestures towards the sofa. ] Please, sit, Mr Gershom. I can't promise Pesto won't try and climb up beside you but please do tell him no if he makes you uncomfortable.

I'll get the tea.

[ Animals being allowed on the furniture would have been heartily disapproved of back home but Jonathan's finding that in this place and time it's a lot more accepted. And apparently he's happy to run with that particular modernisation. ]

He's welcome to join me.

[Come on up and climb on this sofa with him, Pesto. It's very comfortable.]

[ Pesto needs no encouragement! He's already leaping up beside Gershom and pawing at him for more attention. ]

Ah, Pesto- perhaps not quite so enthusiastically? We don't want to overwhelm Mr Gershom, he is our guest.

[ Victorian social norms mean nothing to this dog, clearly. And Jonathan will busy himself with making them both each a cup of tea. It seems scandalous not to have a proper teapot around but-- he will have to make do.

He'd never even had to make his own tea before arriving here, rich Victorians. ]

Do you take tea or sugar in your tea, Mr Gershom? Or perhaps a little lemon?

I, ah... can't actually taste the flavor. Just temperature and texture.

[No tongue, no taste buds.]

I had no idea-

[ Although now that Gerhom is saying that it makes more than a little sense that this would be the case for a skeleton with no tongue. Jonathan is a little embarrassed for not working that out sooner. He would ask where on earth any kind of sustenance would go with his friend not having a stomach but that would be the height of rudeness. ]

Please excuse my ignorance, Mr Gershom!

. . .Then I suppose I shall just make our tea the same. I tend to favour mine with milk and sugar. [ Because he's a sweet tooth fiend. ]

[The tea might stain his clothes a little, but it's Fine.]

There's no need to apologize, nu. You were just being polite.

[ His friend doesn't seem offended but Jonathan can't help the sympathy he feels for the skeleton as he sets down a cup of tea in front of Gershom on the little side table by the sofa.

He takes a seat himself directly opposite in an armchair. He takes up quite a lot of room and Gershom already has a friendly Shiba Inu wanting to climb all over him on the sofa there. ]

Forgive me for asking but- can you not taste anything at all? Not even chocolate perhaps?

[ He really likes chocolate, if that wasn't obvious. ]

Nothing at all. It'd be hard to taste without a tongue.

[But that doesn't mean he's excused from saying blessings over it, though he does it quietly.] בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ‑יָ אֱ‑לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהַכֹּל נִהְיָה בִּדְבָרוֹ. [And he sips his tea.]

[ Gershom is quiet but not quiet enough for Jonathan not to hear the blessing - he doesn't know for sure that that's what it was although he can put two and two together with the way in which it was said over the tea. He blinks curiously. ]

May I ask Mr Gershom, was that a blessing of some kind?

Oh - yes, it was. I'm Jewish.

[He doesn't mind talking about it, especially if it's inquired about.]

I see.

I'm afraid I don't know much about your faith but I would love to learn more, if you're happy to talk about it.

[ Other cultures and religions, they're all fascinating to Jonathan. It's one of the most appealing things about their current situation having ended up in this new world. ]

I don't mind, but I don't know where to start. Is there anything in particular you'd like to hear about...?

Perhaps first you could translate the blessing for me?

Oh, right - "Blessed are You, Lord our God, Creator of the universe, by whose word all things came to be." It's the blessing over miscellaneous food that doesn't have a specific prayer for it.

So it's similar to saying grace then?

[ He reaches across from his spot in the chair to pet Pesto's head, who somehow hasn't clambered full on into Gershom's bony lap. Yet. ]

We have a similar practice at home in England before a meal. Although I must confess that my father and I could be rather lax about it. Our faith is the Church of England, started by Henry VIII.

[ It hits him to wonder just... how old is Gershom? He's a skeleton, he could be infinite numbers of years old but Jonathan feels that it would be very rude to just ask. He could have been around at the same time as Henry for all Jonathan knows... ]

Ah, perhaps you already know that though...?

I do know. It's, ah... difficult to avoid picking things up about Christianity, even if I wanted to. You're very... present.

[Gershom doesn't want to be mean about it - after all, Jonathan doesn't seem like the pushy type himself - but it's basically impossible to avoid being exposed to Christianity being the Default Assumed Religion.]

I understand.

[ And he does. And he's always found other cultures and religions much more interesting than his own anyway. ]

How long have you been practising your faith?

[ Is this a much more polite and roundabout way to enquire as to how old his new skeleton friend is? Quite possibly. ]

Since I was born, which... I've honestly lost track of how old I am, but it would be about the turn of the first millennium?

[So he's about 1000 years old.]

[ Forgive him, Gershom, but Jonathan's jaw almost drops at that statement. ]

But then you're- [ Yes, he's doing the mental calculations. ] You must have seen so much! Experienced so much of history first hand!

[ Archaeology and history is his passion, he can barely keep the fascination out of his voice. ]

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