Shralestan Dining - RPLOG
Participants
Date
1/7/477
Log
Early evening, and High Lady Longtail has reserved a restaurant in Shralesta for all members of the shralestan expedition that felt ready and able to come, while those that couldn't are out in the city, or in their beds, sleeping off their hangovers and whatnot.
Of course, so far, it's simply Lady Longtail, her lifebond seemingly not present, nor those others in the employ of LongTech Industries, outside of the security-corp that follows the lady any time she heads out into the city without her lifebond.
Asher patters into the restaurant with a happy smile on his face. He has abandoned his usual outfit in favor of something a bit more local, his vest and trousers abandoned for a loose fitting robe and a funny little conical, flat topped hat with a yellow tassel. The little corgi glances around the room and sniffs at the air with a happy sigh before catching sight of Lady Longtail and trotting over. The tiny canine bows low. Well, as low as someone of his already miniscule stature can, anyway. "Good evening, High Lady!" he pipes happily.
Hartford follows on Asher's heels, wearing a similar hat, but only because it is his Lucky Hat. He is also dressed a little strangely. Instead of his usual Blackback colors, he is wearing a nice, if slightly threadbare suit with a black bow tie. It seems a bit loose on him around the middle, and a little tight at the shoulders, but he seems to be making an effort to look his best. "Hello, Highlady," he says, nodding his great, antlered head, "Lord Blackback sends his greetings and is sorry that he will not be joining us tonight." This last sounds like something the big deer has memorized.
Cassidy had decided a bit of dinner sounded fine, and so there she was, in the clean and well made robes that had been gifted to her the night before. Brushing her hands down the light and airy fabric, she offers a smile. "Hello, yes. I will be joining tonight."
"Friend Brutus is... Celebrating his success in the court, Flora presumes?" the feline rumbles softly, before gesturing at the table. "As Flora has said before, Flora is just Flora, outside of the courts," she mumbles, shaking her head, before moving to greet Asher and Cassidy with a smile on her face. "Today, we will have our last dinner in Shralesta, unless one of you decides to stay in the country and attain your own means of transport back to Firmament.
She smiles lightly as the elderly newt from aboard the ship moves in as well, clapping his staff on the ground and smiling broadly as he looks around the quaint restaurant, soon being pointed to his own spot.
Asher looks a little sad when he hears that his favorite eating companion won't be joining them. "Why isn't Brutus coming, Hartford?" he asks the gigantic deer, "Is everything alright?"
- looks down at Asher with a smile. "Mister Brutus is just fine, little friend," he says, leaning down a bit to pat Asher on the head, making a little tap tap sound on the corgi's hat. He looks at Flora and assumes the formal stance he always reserves for nobility. "Yes, Highlady," he says, "Mister Brutus said that he would rather dine on his own than. . ." the stag screws up his face in concentration, "Suffer another of those gastr- gorstra. . . gas-tro-nom-ic inci- ensid- isni-" He gives up and shrugs. "Mister Brutus doesn't much care for how spicy Shralestan food is, Ma'am."
Cassidy clicks her tongue and shakes her head. "Ah well. I'm quite fond of the spicy food, so no complaints here! I even made sure to purchase a fair amount of spice to take home to use in my own cooking." She rolls her shoulders and glances around, sniffing lightly. "But yes, on with the dinner. I'm quite hungry."
Flora offers a faint smirk, before looking back to Hartford, a grin on her snout. "Then, Flora thinks friend Brutus will love Thera'Dor, yes. Oats all year 'round, not a spice to be found, no," she murrs with a grin, tail flicking behind her lightly as she points at the table, before taking her own seat, the LongTech employees similarly taking seats, scattered around the room and at the table itself.
"Flora has read friend Brutus's report, yes. Flora would deem that a success, as far as we can attain, yes... As for the food, we have a mixture of spiced meats, fresh fruits and other milder things to eat. There is something for everyone."
Asher scrambles into a chair, his new, flowing robes hampering him slightly. He manages to climb up without too much trouble and stands on his chair to improve his reach on the table. "It all looks so good!" he says, bouncing a bit on his seat. The tiny canine quickly fills his plate, piling it high with a little sampling of everything! Breads and meats and exotic fruits almost drip from the edges of his plate as he plops down and starts to munch happily. "I'm glad your negotiations went well, Miss Flora," he says around a mouthful of fruit, "And I hear the wedding was beautiful!" The little canine had not managed to get in before the church was standing room only, which never really worked for the little canine.
Hartford gingerly takes a seat, unused to sitting in the presence of nobility. He sits uncomfortably, fiddling with his hat, unsure if he should wait for Flora to eat first or if he is expected to eat the fancy foods in a certain order or if those platters are as easy to up end as they look. The poor deer looks just a little silly in what are obviously hand-me-downs from his employer.
Cassidy folds her hands in her lap looking over the food for a moment before she starts to help herself to many of the spicier meats, clearly taking a preferance for those over other things.
A nod, a rumble, a small smile as Flora gestures at the food. "Eat already, friend Hartford! The food is there to be eaten!" she murrs with a smile, a flick of her ears, and a sway of her tails as she looks out over the dinner-table, preparing a collection of less-spiced meats and fruit on her own plate. She's eating quite a bit for someone of her stature, too.
Asher nods as Flora encourages Hartford to eat. "It's really good, Hartford!" he says happily, standing up to snag a few boiled, shelled eggs with some sort of spice sprinkled over them and placing a few of his favorites (so far) on the big deer's plate. "Try these!" he says, before turning his attention back to his own plate and a slice of some kind of pinkish melon.
Hartford shifts in his chair uncomfortably, but follows the urging of Flora and Asher. There don't seem to be any eating utensils, for which the stag is secretly grateful, so he takes a chunk of spiced meat and pops it into his mouth. A smile spreads across his broad muzzle as he finds that he likes the taste. "This is really good!" he says, taking another morsel between his fingers and tossing it into his mouth.
Cassidy watches the two, smiling softly. "It is quite tasty, isn't it? I've always been fond of Shralesta's food. Fortunately I don't often have to be away from it! Though it's always nice to have it in Shralesta itself."
"'Tis a shame friend Brutus didn't feel like celebrating his success, yes, but Flora can understand. Now, keep in mind that we leave for Sweetwater soon, and that if you miss the ship, you will need to arrange for your own journey back home, yes. That is, of course, excluding special LongTech Personel, for whom the ship will wait, but still not indefinitely, no," the she-cat mumbles with a small smile, a tailflick and a rumble.
"Flora trusts all of you enjoyed your short... Vacation?" she murrs with her trademark smile, grinning broadly as the elderly newt digs in proper, his eyes cast about the food, the devouring of which he seems to have little to no problems with.
Asher gulps down another mouthful of deliciously spiced food and looks to Flora with a happy smile. "Oh yes, Miss Flora!" he says, "Shralesta has been wonderful!" The little canine starts to bounce in his seat as he lists off the many things he has seen and done in the city. ". . . And the statues are beautiful! Then I went to see a fountain in one of the big plazas and then I found this hat in the bazaar!" The corgi continues to ramble as he refills his plate. Where is he tucking all that food away?
Cassidy folds one leg over the other, nibbling away at her meal. "I did enjoy it, yes. It was nice to be back here. And to get away from the problems back home. It'll be a shame to go back, but eh. I suppose I need to make sure things didn't fall apart while I was away."
Hartford munches happily on his spiced meats, looking up to Cassidy. "You were at the big meeting, right? And Miz Flora says it was a success...it sounded real important and exciting! Was it?" he enthuses, grinning widely. "The Blackbacks make for great lecturers...least, that's what I'm told," he adds, looking about for a napkin.
Flora's tails flicks behind her, her ears flicking, and her eyes trained on various things momentarily. "Flora would like to hear more as well, yes... Miss Cassidy hasn't handed her written report in, either. Flora still expects one, yes. Flora wishes to cross-reference and see if there are things friend Brutus might've missed, or could improve upon.
Asher pauses his rambling and his eating at the mention of the big meeting. He had little idea about what had prompted this trip to Shralesta, and had only made the best of the invitation. "Did Mister Brutus give a lecture here, Hartford?" he asks, looking around the table, "Is that why you were all coming here? For Mister Brutus to talk about LongTech?" If that is the case, then the little canine is quite glad that he kept his own schedule. Though it had been too bad that he had missed the wedding. He would have liked to have seen Flora in her new gown!
Cassidy chuckles softly at Hartford and nods. "I was there, yes. It went surprisingly well. I wasn't sure what to expect, but Brutus handled the situation superbly." Turning towards Flora, she rolls her shoulders. "I've got it back at our lodging. After dinner, I shall give it to you."
"Oh, yeah, mister Asher! And he wasn't even nervous about it! He was talking about how this is what he was born to do and groomed to do!" Hartford's long smiling face droops a little. "I asked Mister Brutus how it went, and he just said 'it went well' but he 'wasn't sure' if he was 'at...at...liberty to...debulge ott'. I guess it means he was really tired, cuz he went right to bed after that." Still, he was proud of his friend--he always knew that Skunk could shine if given the chance!
And speaking of shining, his hands were still rather greasy, and with no napkin in sight, he reaches down to wipe it on the tail of his tunic--but wait! He couldn't go staining Brutus's finery! He dangles his hands awkwardly in front of him, trying not to ruin the tablecloth nor his pal's hand-me-downs.
"That was... Part of why Flora wanted to go here, yes. The other two parts were more... Personal. Long story short, Flora came here with questions... And Flora will leave with even more questions. Something Flora must figure out before looking away into the distance for a while.
"Of course, it will have3 to wait. Tomorrow, we will head back... Home. Yes."
The silence is quickly broken by the newt admitting a loud "Hah!" in hartford's direction, demonstrating the 'proper' etiquette by licking off hisfingers with a smirk, before digging in to the pile in front of him again.
Asher looks at poor Hartford's dilemma and passes the big deer a large, white handkerchief. "Well," he says to Flora, "I'm awfully glad you let me come along! I've never been abroad before and Shralesta was great! And not just for the food!" The little canine is still picking at the wide variety of foods with no signs of slowing.
Cassidy nods at that and smiles. "Yes, I look forward to going home. I must get back to my research before things... End up in a state of disrepair. Assuming they haven't already! That'd be quite awful." She clicks her tongue and reaches for her drink to chase down a bit of the spiced meat.
A big goofy grin crosses Hartford's face as he takes his cue from the old Newt, sucking loudly on his fingers. Mm, still tastes good even as leftovers! Asher's handkerchief finally presents itself, and he wipes his spit-flecked hands on it. "This was fun, though! New food, new friends"--he waves at the Newt and Cassidy both--"...I hope the other spots will be as exciting! Wish I could watch Mister Brutus at the meetings, though...miz Flora?" he pleads, turning a wide-eyed glance at Lady Longtail.
"The other countries should be... Easier. As far as Flora knows, hearings in Cliffside can be open to the public, although speaking is reserved for those who have been given permission. And Thera'Dor will involve hallway-meetings quite a bit, yes..."
The dinner goes its way during the evening, and several different courses are offered, ranging from freshly caught fish to desert-fruits and spiced meats of various kinds, so everyone has something they like. "Flora will have to have someone teach Lady Lina a few of these recipes at some point."
