If Laura thought that he would be put off by the byplay between her parents, she had no idea what his own family was like. Of course, that would not be her fault, because he never mentioned it. He did not talk about his family if he could not help it. For as long as he could remember, his parents had passively, and occasionally not so passively, dismissed one another. It was never exactly hate, or even dislike, but rather a dismissal of the other. Mother did exactly what she wanted, and so did Father. Bound by marriage out of the need to produce a legitimate heir who was a pure faie, they tended to treat each other more as their blood relation and business partner rather than spouse. However, they could not do so constantly, because as often as they tried to ignore it, they were husband and wife.
Tory’s eyes flicked between the two of them, but he knew better than to comment. Laura’s father, he noted, was less passive than his own was, at least in terms of dealing with his wife. However, he was not sure yet if Laura’s mother ruled the household. Further information would be needed before he would be willing to commit to a set concept of her family and how they interacted. It was an automatic reaction, born out of the strained and constantly changing relations between his own parents, that he found himself watching the way that authority figures dealt with one another.
He shook the hand of Laura’s father, not bothering to request that they call him by his shortened name. That would suggest a familiarity that did not exist. Even still, he disliked the sound of his full name. His mother had been fond of using it, more often than not paired with his middle name as well. At least his father called him ‘Tory’ in everyday use, leaving the more formal ‘Salvatore’ for special occasions. In his years in of translating, he heard many forms of his name, but learned that shorter was generally easier for people to say.
“A pleasure to meet you as well, sir.” Tory returned the greeting again, but this time only to the father and not to the parents as a unit.
A phone rang, although it was more modern than anything he had heard before. Tory watched Laura’s mother leave the room before he could properly greet her. Tory was not certain if it was a rebuke, were she his own mother, he knew it would be. But were she his own mother, he would not be dating Laura. When he was dismissed back into Laura’s care, they left the room. Tory tried not to sigh in relief, a need to release a tension that he had not even notice was building up in him.
Turning back to Laura, he smiled, amused by her expression, and said, “Gladly.” Having not expected to stay long, he packed lightly. The small luggage that he left at the door carried only a change of clothes and other necessities.