"Gentleness, Keturah. Would you like me to set the fruits of the Holy Spirit as your first memory work?"

"If it doesn't bother you that I have them partly memorized already, sure. They're important."

Try not to think about the fact that externally enforced memory work is for eleven-year-olds. It's not any more humiliating than anything else about this. And that's an easy one, at least they're not assigning her something she can't do.

"It's best to start with something you will succeed at. It builds confidence."

She looks like she's about to say something else, and then the smile momentarily drops. "Oh good. I think I've failed at quite enough things in the recent past."

Annnd smile is back. "How many people are we setting the table for?"

"Four. You, me, my husband Fred, and his personal assistant Nick."

So she sets the table for four.

"Ah, meatloaf! My favorite! Who's the new girl?" 

"This is Keturah, our new Handmaid. Keturah, this is my husband Fred."

"An absolute pleasure."

"Thank you, sir."

Don't think about - don't think about anything, actually, that's probably simpler. But she's not going to get another chance to make a good first impression, and she kind of thinks that good first impressions might be sort of essential to her ability to live here, so -

"Your wife has been teaching me Greek," she says, smiling.

"Getting some practice for homeschooling, eh, Serena?"

"Evening, sir, ma'am, miss."

"This is Nick, my husband's personal assistant. Nick, this is Keturah, our new Handmaid."

"Good evening," she says, nodding politely.

When everyone has seated, Fred begins the prayer.

"Father in heaven, thank You for providing food for we on earth. We thank You that You do not give us food merely to keep us alive, nor merely to keep us healthy, but also to enjoy. You are good to us. Thank you, in the name of the Savior. Amen."

"Amen." She feels only slightly wrong about not making the sign of the cross. Or about not participating in prayer. She has so so so many more problems.

She's not going to say anything until someone says something to her, she's gonna let them meet her halfway in that minefield if that's something they're planning on doing.

Nick eats in a determined yet expressionless fashion.

"So, Keturah. What sort of things do you do for fun?"

Ah, quiz time. "Oh, uh. I like to read. Histories, fiction. Anything, really."

"Excellent! Serena likes reading too. You too will get along. Serena used to write books, you know."

"That's really cool," she says, before seeing Serena Joy's expression. She looks down at her plate. "I've tried writing things before. I don't think I'm any good at it, though."

"Writing is an appropriate feminine attainment, like teaching piano or charity work with the poor. If you like, I will redo your schedule to give you some time to write."

She looks up, surprised. " - thank you. I would appreciate that a lot."

She mentally reminds herself not to get Stockholm syndrome that easily, they're still dictating her schedule down to the minute and they're still going to violate her and they're still going make her bear a child outside of marriage and they're still going to take the baby from her. The whole thing is still ridiculously terrible. 

Her smile is no less genuine for it.

"Oh, well, you know Serena. All about those appropriate feminine attainments, aren't you, dear?"