Random 35

"Show, eh?" She draped part of her cloak over her arm so it was covered, including the hand, and nudged the dragon, who prompty climbed up on her shoulder.

"Well, differently stale air might be good for my head." All right, she was getting sick of frantically reading and comparing more or less dusty papers.

"Same here." Sebastian grinned and got up. He retrieved his hat from next to the door, where it hung from a nail, and returned. "Besides, it's combining work and pleasure. What's there not to like?" He sounded very chipper all of a sudden.

Sebastian's mood did not quite infect Sylvie to that degree. "I'll tell you afterwards if I figure it out."

He didn't say anything to that, simply gave her a look. After cleaning up his braid, he put the hat on, rolled up his sleeves, pulled on his fingerless gloves and indicated that he was ready. He grabbed his messenger bag from next to the door as they left.

It was only a short jaunt, of course. Out the back, from there to the street and to the neighbouring house's door.

Sebastian had to knock a few times before they were admitted. The large man just inside the door inspected them for weapons, taking a moment to stare at the half-elf ears as if considering if they counted as ones. But from there on, the service turned much better -- the faint music that had assailed them when the door opened become louder and the scents of roasted meat and warm air greeted them more gently.

The building was considerably larger than the shrine. Several tables were spread out in a series of large rooms, but the house was perhaps only a third full. Sebastian seemed surprised when he watched the people here: the few guards, the few other workers and the three musicians in the second room. The customers he paid no attention to, aside from the ones sat in the second room: it seemed as if most people were in the second room.

The half-elf, still wearing his hat, was different now. He occupied a much larger space than he had before, and the few words he had said so far along the way to the people inside the establishment had been almost overblown in terms of tone and social dialect.

It was only getting worse. "I find it interesting that they are still doing well," he said, looking a little amused as he looked around, eyes all bright, "but of course, the alternative is staying at home, slowly going mad."

A pause.

"Well then. Do you have any preferences?" he asked, looking at Sylvie as they passed a table in the second room. Sebastian had been eyeing the musicians again.

She was taking in the place calmly, with one hand stroking Ayu-Asra's chest, trying to keep him calm despite the food smell. It was lucky he was this attached to her today.

"I think I'd prefer show to gambling." That was entirely true, not following his lead; she had encountered more con tricks than honest, meaning only somewhat skewed games.

She noted the change in Sebastian's behaviour, but showed no surprise.

"Let us grab a seat, then. It will start soon," he said, although obviously the music was still going on.

The musicians were a pair of men and a pretty girl nearby the fireplace, where a number of patrons sat at the very ends of some tables. Makeup barely covered up the bags under her eyes, although she seemed to enjoying herself.

It just so happened that, for certain reasons, the two foreigners gathered some attention too. Ayu-Asra for one, being a dragon, received various confused looks.

Sebastian didn't go without his share of attention either, but the most he would do was smile and wave for one of the workers to come over. "I do not suppose you would care for some food? Our draconic overlord certainly seems to have his usual eternal appetite at the ready," he said, casually meeting a bewildered glance from farther away in the crowd.

The dragon looked around at the gawking strangers, nearly always at least two at a time, and occasionally spread his crests.

The worker hoped he was well-behaved, and considered suggesting a house rule that forbade animals. But well, there wasn't.

"Ah, er, of course... What does he eat?"

Sylvie gave him a friendly smile and answered, "Oh, anything. That is, any food. Sorry, but occasionally someone tries to feed him charcoal or matchsticks."

Sebastian smirked momentarily into the direction he had just been looking into, then turned to the worker. "I shall have what the gentleman by the fire is having." It was... meat. Lots of it, with some very nice sauce and potatoes with cream. "And a bottle of wine -- make it the best you have, please?"

This statement, too, gathered some attention.

"What about you?" Sebastian asked Sylvie, appearing completely oblivious to the attention.

Sylvie stared at him with a fixed smile, which soon melted into contained amusement. Show indeed. "Looks great, but I'm not that hungry."

Sebastian beamed. "Very well. Please, do let me know if you require something," he sniffed, then turned to look at the waiter or worker or whatever they called them here. He raised his eyebrows. "Perhaps a bit of tomato for the pet."

He was, slowly but surely, drawing more and more attention. He appeared to be enjoying it.

"That is a bad idea. They tend to explode," Sylvie put in.

After a confused moment thinking she was referring to a violent reaction the dragons had to tomatoes, the waiter made sense of this, and suggested, "We have some early pears, if that would be suitable."

"Oh yes, wonderful," she answered enthusiastically.

While the waiter was still bewildered - Some fae-kin just waltzed in here and ordered dragonfood, WHAT THE HELL?! - habit took over, and he suggested looking from one exotic guest to the other and back, "As to the roast dish, a smaller serving, if that would suit the lady?"

Sylvie stopped herself looking at Sebastian for confirmation and answered straight away, "Yes, thank you. Ah, and, I'm sorry if this is imposing, but is there any chance of a seat not in the centre of the room? Being stared at from all directions makes the dragon a bit nervous."

Said scaled one had focused one head's attention on the waiter, the other was still looking around, and his tails twitched enough to occasionally come in sight of the man in front of her.

"Ah, yes. That table by the trunk?" He pointed with an open hand. About halfway between the wall with the entrance and the one with the fireplace a massive support beam protruded from the side wall. Even by the most generous standard it could not be called a booth, but there was a corner out of sight of the back half of the room that should be big enough for the little dragon. The view of the area in front of the fireplace was not ideal, since a few tables were in between, but not particularly bad, either.

"Excellent. Thank you very much."

When the waiter was on his way, Sebastian, still smiling, turned to look at Sylvie innocently. "I was only so far away from asking about the ceremonial armour. Really, they explode? I must see that one day."

She ignored the joke - hopefully a joke - and answered the question. "Not always, but often. He bites into it, and the pulp wants out so fast that the skin rips in places." Sylvie spread her fingers in a rather modest "splat"-gesture and frowned slighty, thinking she should have suggested something rather than answering Ayu-Asra ate "anything". He did, but what he got influenced his table manners.

He seemed to find the gesture extremely amusing judging by his grin. "Impressive," he said, pulling out a chair for Sylvie first. He simply wouldn't sit down before she had, and when he did, he laid his hat in his lap. The half-elf seemed to be perfectly at ease and still enjoying himself. The messenger bag ended up on the floor, next to his foot. Judging by his twiddling thumbs, he was also waiting for something.

"I am paying. I hope you do not mind," he said (speaking the second sentence in a faintly joking tone), tearing his eyes off Sylvie when there was movement in the corner of his eye. He looked merely absent-minded when he looked elsewhere -- not at all worried or alert.

"Yes, the 'Please let me know if you require something' sounded like an invitation. Thank you."

Ayu-Asra on his own had climbed from her left shoulder to the right, closer to the corner, and indeed calmed down somewhat.

Sylvie watched Sebastian with a slightly ironic smile, wondering what in the world he had in mind here.

"My pleasure. Please consider it a thank you of mine," he said in turn and turned to look into the direction of the entertainers, "although we are hardly close to the solution after all." The music sounded familiar to him. Yes, the Ballad of the Man They Called Smiling Jack. The hero of Canyet, et cetera, et cetera.

He leaned his chin against his hand, elbow against the table. "What manner of legends do you have in Yrn? Heroes, villains?"

Sylvie raised her eyebrows, surprised at the question. "I could come up with more heroes than villains, I think. Why do you ask?"

He pointed over his shoulder with a thumb and smiled. "They happen to be singing about the local thieves' god -- or the man who became such a thing. That in turns brings me to wonder about the person sitting opposite to me. I know some of the local legends, but none of yours."

Sylvie tilted her head and her eyes unfocused. She felt vaguely guilty about, well, goofing off, but told herself that relaxing would do her good.

Soon she smiled at a memory. "One hero who comes to my mind is Eandai. He was - or possibly is, there are lots of rumours - a goblin who had taken to helping lovers in difficult situations. The most popular story tells of a couple who were strictly forbidden to meet because there was bad blood between their parents - her mother and his father. Eandai trapped said parents in a cellar until they had... resolved their differences."

Sebastian chuckled. "I like it." Especially the wording, he once again noticed. "What else did he do or was said to have done?"