Dinner Break

When the two of you walk in, you see a number of tables, some empty and some with customers; the two of you approach one of the empty ones. "OH HEY, IRINA!" You look over and see the cleric from the play waving over to the two of you, a large grin on her face. Irina, however, currently has her palm on her face, "you know, I really wasn't expecting her to yell across the room." Removing her hand from her face, "now's as good a time as any to tell you about the actors I know; the man at that table is Anzolo, and the woman trying to humiliate me is Mierla."

The two of you sit down and look over the menu, which contains a limited selection: the entrée is guaranteed to be a steak, which may be ordered anywhere from rare to medium-well. You wonder aloud why it doesn't go all the way through to well done, which gets met with "I asked the waiter some time out of sheer curiosity, and the chef came out, told me to get out due to 'questions disrespecting the idea of the glorious nature of steak, and that if I wanted to eat a well-done steak, I should head to the tanner'." Well, that answers that. For side dishes, the options are a mix of fresh fruit, a salad, or fried potatoes. To drink, the options are a glass of red wine, a glass of white wine, or purified water.

After a couple of minutes of looking over the menu, the waiter comes over, "what would you two like to order?" Irina orders her steak rare with the fried potatoes and red wine. You look over to her in slight horror, and she shrugs in response, "paladins are generally immune to disease." Huh. You elect for the far safer medium steak with the fruit and white wine. While the two of you wait, conversation inevitably revolves around the play, especially with several actors in the room.

"You know, up to now the play was predictable. As for the final Act, I have absolutely no clue how it's going to end." Isn't it obvious though, that the paladin and cleric are going to wind up together? "I mean yeah, but that's not the resolution of the story: what about the central elements of the Vampire Queen?" Huh. You suppose you weren't thinking that far ahead. Conversation falls idle, Irina lost in thought while her fingers intertwine with yours, and then the food comes.

The steaks are beautifully presented: drizzled in their own juices mixed with ginseng and with a single basil leaf on top. Your fruit has its own plate, whereas Irina's potatoes are on the same plate as her steak, potato juices intermingling with steak juices. They are fried to a golden brown on the exterior, and as she cuts into one of the potatoes quarters with her fork, its white flesh rends in two.

The two of you eat and talk, conversation drifting from the play to society: though the conversation of how women are treated by society (poorly) seems to be comfortable for the two of you{if Cleric = false} (and the irony of two foreign-born {if Female = true}women{else}female-proximate people{endif} discussing societal conditions in Cyllian is certainly not lost on you){endif}, conversation can never quite seem to broach the relevant theme in the play: how vampires are treated. You suppose you'll have to talk to Mierla if you want to broach that particular topic.

In time, the two of you finish the last of your meal, and now you have time to talk to at least one table's actors if you so desire. Looking around the room, you see Mierla and Anzolo (who play the cleric and paladin respectively), the former of whom is now waving the two of you over. Then you also have a table with just the vampire princess, as well as a table with Julian and Ilias. Wait, isn't Julian supposed to be dead? "You shall give me your potatoes," you hear coming from said table. "Oh my GODS, why do you have to haunt me of all people?" "He who kills the squire shall give the squire his potatoes." Well, that answers that question.