[X] Try to get hired for the second job.
-------------------------
"Ah, the hood is a little..." Lirra fidgeted a bit with said hood's hem. "What was the second place you talked about?"
Lucilia looked a bit disappointed before she sighed with a slight smile.
"Well, it's… put it simply, it's a generalist shop. And by generalist, I mean that it has everything, and I mean that literally." She took a sip from her glass before putting it down and looking through the window above their table, her fingers idly tracing circles along its edge. "To put it not so simply, well… it's more complicated than that. Obviously."
Lirra tilted her head to the side, intrigued.
"It's just that there's a chance you'll do more than just manning a counter, but it shouldn't be too dangerous. The important part is that the owner's getting old, so maybe we could convince her to hire you to give her a hand."
"Dangerous?" Lirra echoed.
A waitress passed by as Lucilia continued looking to the side. For a few more seconds, the only sound was the general bustle of the tavern at lunch.
"There are… rumors," Lucilia finally let out reluctantly. "I mean, there has to be a way she gets all these items, and let me tell you it's not something you could simply order from the mainland. It's old, powerful stuff..." She leaned over the table, her teal eyes locking into Lirra's. "Dungeon stuff," she finished in a whisper.
Lirra's eyes widened a bit at that.
"Um, but..." she answered in a whisper, taken in by the sudden conspiratorial tone the conversation took. "Isn't the only dungeon left in the area the, uh…" She floundered a bit to remember, as their lessons had only spent a good fifteen minutes on history these first few weeks. "Broken Shard? And it's still pretty far, across the sea and the Kimon?"
Despite the smell of food and generally happy ambiance around them, the simple mention of Dungeons had made it feel as if their actually sunbathed table had been plunged into gloom.
"Fallen Sliver, but yes, although… do you remember what Chloe said after the test?"
Lirra put a hand on her chin, trying to remember, but Lucilia didn't wait before continuing.
"The Academy was a dungeon. In theory it was cleared long ago, but still, you have to wonder..."
With that, a heavy silence fell upon the two, as they thought about it.
"Well, I mean, these are only rumors, you'll probably just have to man the counter."
Lirra let out a breath she didn't notice she was holding. She still wasn't as assured as she was at the start, but it was all just speculation.
"Now, you should pick a dessert and we'll be on our way once you're finished," Lucilia said, changing the subject.
She handed Lirra the card, which listed various treats, alongside their price.
"Uh… Lucilia?"
"Mh? Can't decide?" the other girl asked. "Their tarts are very good, but in my opinion, the honeyed peaches are the best."
The Changeling's eyes fell upon the mentioned dessert then glazed over as they saw the price.
"Or we could each pick a different thing and share, that way we can have both."
"Uh, no, but, I mean, the price..."
At that, Lucilia stilled for an instant, her eyes passing from her own immaculate silk shirt and crimson coat embroidered with gold thread to Lirra's messy patchwork of a cape, worn over the outfit provided by the Academy.
"Oh." She got to her feet and passed behind Lirra, gently taking the card from her hand and putting it down on the table. She bent a little until her palm covered all of the right side, where the prices were listed. "Sorry, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. Please don't worry about the price and just pick what you want, I did say it was my treat."
This close to her, Lirra noticed that Lucilia smelled of lilies. Distracted by the perfume, she still hesitated for a bit before her eyes went back to the card. She took some time to actually read it, as she didn't know her letters all that well.
"Actually, I, uh… don't even know what most of these are," Lirra finally confessed.
It was, after all, the first time she ever ate in a fancy tavern.
"Oh, well, that won't do at all," came Lucilia's voice in almost a whisper just above her ear. "Let me educate you on the wonders of confectionery."
She started describing every item on the list, one by one, in enough details that Lirra thought she could almost taste them at times. By the time she was finished, the Changeling's cheeks were red and she was almost drooling in anticipation.
"So, what do you want?" came Lucilia's singing voice, still just above her ear.
In the end, she picked a tart, while the bard ordered the honeyed peaches she talked about previously. They spent a few minutes making idle talk as they waited for their order to arrive. As the waitress put down a delicate plate in front of Lirra, her nose was filled with the smell of cinnamon enveloping the lighter fragrance of baked fruits.
She looked at the slice intensely before reaching for her fork with a trembling hand. Was she really allowed to eat this? Would the waitress suddenly swoop from behind her to take the plate back? She quickly glanced behind her before turning back to the table. Lucilia was watching her with a smile, her head propped on the back of her hands as her spoon was held between two delicate fingers.
"Eat, Lirra, nobody's going to stop you," she said, giggling.
Lirra finally cut the tip of her slice with the side of her fork, the pastry offering no resistance as it had absorbed the fruits' juice as it baked. She finally put it in her mouth and felt it melt on her tongue as ir exploded in a torrent of flavours. She put a hand on her cheek as she felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
"I take it you chose well?"
Lirra nodded.
"Can I have a taste?" Lirra looked up to see that Lucilia was leaning forward, eyes closed and her mouth open.
She hesitated for an instant before cutting another bite and gently gave it to the bard.
"Nice. My turn, then, say 'aah'."
Blushing slightly, Lirra mirrored Lucilia and got a taste of the other dessert for her troubles.
It was a good day.
Some time later, and after Lirra shielded her eyes from seeing so much money changing hands, they were back on the streets. It was a good part of the town, far from the fishy smell of the harbour that pervaded the rest of it. Instead, flowers seemed to have bloomed everywhere around them. Perhaps it was their fragrance that drove the smell away, or perhaps they were just here to look pretty.
Speaking of looking pretty, the shops here were mostly selling fine clothes and jewellery compared to the more down to earth shops of the lower parts of town.
"Do you want to look around and see if you can get something for your wardrobe?" Lucilia had caught Lirra's gaze and was already making her way towards on the shops' entrance. "It's too bad it's so cold around here, a sundress would have been perfect on you… though it'd be weird with the cape. Maybe a hat? Lirra, what's your opinion on ha-"
"W-wait," Lirra cut her off. "Can we go ask about the job please?"
Lucilia seemed a bit disappointed.
"Uh… Once I get paid, maybe we could go looking around together if you want?" she offered.
"Very well," Lucilia conceded. "It's a promise, then?"
"A promise? Uh…"
Lucilia looked at her strangely before putting a hand on top of Lirra's hood.
"If there's an Emoulan thing I don't know about, don't worry about it. Now, let's go find that shop."
----------------------------
[] [shopping] No promise
[] [shopping] Promise (write-in precise wording)
---------------------------
They had walked for a bit, until finally reaching a small street away from the center of the town. While it didn't have the spark and shine of the richer parts from where they were coming, it was well maintained, with cobbled stone neatly arranged under their feet and the smell of fresh bread in the air mostly covering the one from the harbour.
Finally, they stopped in front of a house, above which entrance hung an old, well entertained, sign. From minute lines hovering one above the other, it was clear that the same name had been painted on it again and again. "Cuimideas". While neither of the two girls had any idea why it was called like that, there was no doubt that this name was held dearly by the owner.
Lucilia entered first, a small bell ringing over her head as she opened the door. Lirra followed closely behind.
"Welcome!" came a well practiced voice from behind the counter at the back of the shop. "Oh, Lucilia, how are you today? And… I don't think I know your friend."
Sitting at the back of the store was an old woman, dressed in warm colours. Her graying hair was pulled low to the side and full down her shoulder, held by a string decorated with two large red spheres.
"Ah, I'm Lirra." She bowed nervously. "Nice to meet you?"
"Nice to meet you too, dear. My name's Melissa Oideas." She rose up to her feet and walked towards Lirra, her hand searching into one of her pocket before she pulled out a wrapped candy and put it in the Changeling's hand. "Here, have this as a welcome gift."
"T-thank you."
Melissa simply smiled kindly at her before turning back to Lucilia.
"So, are you looking for something in particular, or should I simply let you look around?" she asked, sweeping her arm around as if to show that yes, there indeed was a shop all around them.
The shop was maid of wood, with low beams from which were hanging various knick-knacks holding up the higher floors. The choice of items on the shelves was eclectic, from sword and daggers to sweets, passing by books, clothes and some reagents Lirra couldn't identify.
At least, she hoped these were reagents. It really looked disgusting.
"Ah, actually, I'm not exactly looking to buy anything today." Lucilia's answer brought Lirra out of her examination of her surroundings.
"And you don't look like you want to sell something..." the old woman concluded. "Just so you know, our shop has a strict policy against placing a horse's head in anyone's bed, if that was what you wanted."
There was a moment of silence at that, before the old woman chuckled.
"Ah, finally I managed to surprise you. Good, good. Although if you really want to know, someone really asked me for such a… 'delivery' once. But as I said, strict policy."
Lucilia remained silent for a bit before she shook her head and tried to get back on track.
"No. No I don't need any horse head put in anyone's bed, but I'll remember to ask someone else to do this in case I do someday," she finally said. "So, as I was trying to say, I actually came here because Lirra needs a job."
Melissa leant a bit towards Lirra, who played nervously with on of the seams on her cape.
"So, why do you want to work, dear? You mustn't have much time to yourself with the Academy already."
"Ah… I need money."
"I guess I could have guessed that. Still… I guess I can sympathise with money problems due to adventuring and in the end, this just may be fate."
Lirra looked to the old woman and tilted her head.
"Ah, don't worry, it's nothing dramatic. I just… had the help of a Fae when I was young and needed money, which led to the creation of the original Cuimideas," she said, her voice both warm and worn. She smiled sadly. "I guess it is only fitting that now that I'm old and rich, I should help a young Fae with the very same shop."
Lirra looked around. It didn't really look like someplace a rich person would live, from what little she knew.
"Come back tomorrow morning for a trial if you're still interested."
--------------------
[] [work] Go
[] [work] Don't go
- [] Spend some time with your classmates.
-- [] Tanwen wanted to go and spend the day at the cliffs.
-- [] Pupa wanted to go visit the harbor town. See people, go shopping… the boats probably bring all sorts of stuff.
--- [] Take advantage of the outing to ask her what was going on in the baths.
-- [] Furuta will practice her swordsmanship. You're welcome to train with her.
-- [] Alvi plans on getting wasted and possibly see if there's a pleasure house at the harbor. While you most definitely won't come along on the second part of his plan, why not party a bit?
-- [] You will talk to that elf and she will answer you, even if it's the last thing you do.
- [] Empty the graveyard some more.
- [] Try to learn about one of the Swords not in your group.
-- [] The sun knight
-- [] Alvi's sister
-- [] The pretty boy who is neither with Dylis or indescribable
-- [] The Svartalf
-- [] The tan, sharp looking man
-- [] The girl who looks like Chloe
-- [] The wild looking girl
-- [] The… boy who looks like… urgh your head hurts. Seems nice, though.
-- [] The giant golem-limbed man
-- [] The boy who's always with Dylis
-- [] Dylis
-- [] The other knight
- [] Spend some time with your earlier companions.
-- [] Chloe will probably spend her time in the library. With the magical knowledge you obtained from the Pyres came a lot of questions. Maybe she has answers?
--- [] Stay general
--- [] About Elemental magic
--- [] About Illusion magic
--- [] About Alteration magic
--- [] About Mind magic
--- [] About Creation magic
--- [] About Forbidden magic
-- [] Melkorka walks pretty slowly. There's no way she can run away once you find her.
(The votes will be counted first about whether or not you go before going into the subvotes, so if there's, 10 go, 6 don't go-empty the graveyard and 5 don't go-spend time with Dylis, don't go will win even though the actual winning vote (graveyard in that exemple) has less votes)
(if you both go and guess who the inspiration for the old lady is, you'll get a bonus level in barter)
(and don't forget the vote about whether or not you promise)
) but its also a lot for Lirra to make a promise, fae and all.
