Karen still felt a bit nervous as Peter lead her toward the Talbot family's dinning room, as there was much that she had concerns with considering the open nature of werelion marriages and to some extent the approval of her dating Peter from his parents. Though, in that later regard, she did have some relief in that his father hadn't thrown her out and even gave some commentary of "she gets it." That actually sounded good to her. That gave her some assurance that Leon and Regina Talbot weren't the sort to have let things go to their heads.
"See," Peter said to Karen as they made their way into the dinning room, looking over his shoulder, "they like you."
"So far... so good," Karen said slowly, "but liking my artwork and seeing that I understand how your dad looks at his position within werelion society and life isn't quite the same as approving of my dating you."
"You sell yourself short," Peter said to her with a slight smile.
Together they approached a rather simple looking table and Peter held a chair out for her. Karen accepted it with a smile as Leon and Regina came in from another door, carrying some trays of food. Leon carried a fairly large tray with a length of sliced roast beef on it while Regina held a large glass dish that looked like it had a very healthy amount of mashed potatoes. The dishes were set down at points where they could be passed around the table, which already had four places set with plates, knives, forks, and what looked like wine glasses. Leon nodded to her and moved to sit to Karen's left. Peter moved to sit across from her, though Karen watched Regina headed back into the kitchen. A few moments later she returned with a bottle of cider.
"Cider?" Karen found herself asking.
"We can still digest alcohol, but given our high metabolisms... while we may burn through alcohol faster than normal humans, we'll also feel the affect of the alcohol faster and potentially worse than humans will," Regina explained, "and an inebriated were, regardless of species is potentially dangerous... or a Statute 1A case waiting to happen. So for the most part, we don't really drink all that much. Some may drink some... but its with far more moderation than normal humans. We typically look more for things that are non-alcoholic... soda, water, milk, juice, cider, and so on."
"I see... thank you," Karen replied.
"It is no problem," Regina assured her, "It is actually nice to have a guest that isn't asking for favors or looking to enhance their status..."
"You don't like that?" Karen wondered.
"We don't like it when it's the only reason for visitors," Leon commented, "Providing a favor here and there is fine... especially as everyone will need help from time to time. It's when people start looking for favors to deal with just about anything... then it becomes annoying."
Karen then nodded, "I really don't have any favors... beside your blessing with Peter... and helping keep Jenny safe."
Leon nodded as he placed some roast beef on his plate and began moving that tray to Peter.
"Well... from you understanding of things and so on... I'd think you are worthy of our son," Leon commented, "Not asking for extensive favors and not chomping at the bit to be "queen" which is more than enough for me to give my consent for you to date."
Karen felt some relief on that. She felt quite relieved that things would be okay between her and Peter as far his parents were concerned She waited for a moment for Leon to move onto the issue related to keeping Jenny safe.
"As for Miss Harper's security... that's something I still need to talk with my brothers about," Leon said slowly, "the Skulk is probably the most hyper organized were society within Moon Lake and they'll probably have their own security personnel on hand and in cooperation with the Moon Lake police."
"She's nervous that her parents could be hostile and that Dieter Wilhelm might seriously be manipulating things in the background that could make it worse," Karen spoke weakly, "I simply want her to be safe and happy."
"And from what I heard from Peter, this Wilhelm will be bad news," Leon nodded, "and that could lead to a point where we could all be exposed or worse... which would be more than enough to encourage us to offer some additional services to the Skulk, but that will need to be debated by the individual pride leaders. Though, we expect to have that decision made by this coming Wednesday at the latest."
"Thank you," Karen spoke to him and served herself a serving of mashed potatoes and then passed the dish to Leon.
The four then quietly began to enjoy nice dinner, which was quite good. The roast beef was fairly moist and juicy. It had been thoroughly cooked, but not to the point where it had been dried out, and even Karen enjoyed it greatly. She did her best to try and keep up, as she noticed that even Regina enjoyed seconds and third helpings. On some level, even after all the things that Peter had told her about weres and about werelions in particular, Karen was somewhat surprised by how much they could and were willing to eat. Eventually Regina noticed and gave a bit of a chuckle.
"It's all thanks to a very healthy metabolism, dear," Regina said with a smile, "as weres we burn through fat and energy quickly. To feed it requires a very healthy appetite. It was surprising for me when I became Leon's lioness... but it makes sense, and when you and Peter get around to it... it will be the same for you."
Karen gave a bit of a nod, "I'm sure... Peter's already explained a lot of those things to me. I guess I still find it amazing that you can eat so much and yet still keep figures that are very athletic bodies with... well... very curvy shapes."
"It is a nice thing," Regina gave a smile to Leon across the table, and Karen noted that Leon smiled back at his wife. "And for those who love each other... that makes things VERY pleasurable."
Karen nodded. On some level that probably related to what Regina had offered to help her with a werelion's open marriage system within their prides and so on. She wasn't fully okay with that, but thanks to Peter's demonstration of loyalty and love for her, she was more than willing to be his lioness, and she was looking forward to being his lioness. If she could be comforted on that open marriage issue, that'd make things even better.
As dinner finished up, Leon did notice the looks between his wife and Karen and figured that his wife was wanting to give Karen her advice on the issue of werelion marriages. It made sense, as while the concept might be there for normal human society, it wasn't something that was common or even always accepted when you looked at all the politicians who campaigned on "family values." For Moon Lake's weres, though, that concept was far more common in many ways and it was looked in a far different light. They didn't really repress one another when it came to sex and kept things so that even with their open marriages that true love remained the main focus of the marriage.
"Peter... with dinner over... why don't we go take a look at the parts that came in," Leon said to his son.
"You sure, I've never been quite as good as you or any of my uncles with regard to a lot of the restoration work that you do," Peter said slowly.
"You DO know how all the wrenches work, don't you?" Leon asked, only slightly teasingly.
"Yes," Peter nodded.
"Then that's all we need," Leon said to his son, "besides, it'll give Regina and Karen a chance to get to know each other better."
Peter glanced between Karen and Regina, while Regina had stood up and was preparing to clear the plates from the table. He then nodded and stood up as well. His father came around the table and rested one arm on his shoulders and began to lead him out toward the garage.
"Come on, it'll be fun," Leon gave a smile, "and it won't be too much. You know how your uncles get a little jealous when I do some of the work just for fun."
Peter only gave a small chuckle. He couldn't count the number of times he'd actually found his dad and his uncles in playful wrestling matches in the backyard over that issue, actually acting like lion cubs playing with each other on National Geographic specials.