Jenny passed them again and disappeared into the kitchen to have her own meal. Tobias handed Iris a full plate and then filled his own. Then he said a short prayer and found... that now that all practicalities had been discussed, he didn't really know what to say to keep a conversation going. Small talk had never been his strongest point.

He took a few bites to give himself an excuse for a minute or so. Most dinners with his wife were spent in near silence, and he found that in many ways he preferred it that way. But it seemed rude to not have some kind of conversation with a guest and the awareness of his own awkwardness made him more awkward. "Erm... what do you think of the moors?"

Awkward.