Meeting The Ladies

Earnest woke up feeling refreshed. Yesterday, he was still recovering from his perilous trip to Lindow, but today he was near fully recovered. He was likely to continue recovering in the coming days too, as he planned on returning to Knottori at a more moderate pace, on account of his companions. He would have to travel at a pace that they could handle.

He exited his room and found the inn’s dining area full of patrons enjoying a morning breakfast service. The delicious smell beckoned to him, as he took a seat and placed an order for a full meal of eggs, sausages, toast, bacon, and potatoes. Before his food arrived, one of his companions did, as Earnest saw Alesia walk through the inn’s entrance with a bag strapped across her shoulder. She looked around the room, looking uncomfortable as she did so, and finally spotted Earnest. Her expression changed to one of relief as she hurried over to his table, stopping across from him.

“Uh, hi… Good morning Earnest… Fancy meeting you here.”

She sort of awkwardly laughed at what she said, and pushed her large round glasses to sit higher on her nose. He noticed that the area under her eyes looked a little dark.

“Good morning Alesia. Please join me and take a seat.”

Alesia took a seat across from him, and put her bag down next to her chair. She looked a little awkward, so Earnest decided to start the conversation again. It didn’t seem correct to start talking about their trip yet, so he went with some small talk.

“So Alesia, did you sleep well?”

“Oh, um, yes… well, not really. You could say I slept like a baby… only a few hours at a time and crying between!”

She gave another awkward, **** laugh as Earnest was slightly confused by her usage of the expression. “Slept like a baby” usually meant sleeping well didn’t it? Maybe Alesia was trying to make a joke, or maybe she just didn’t know how it was usually used. Either could be the case from what he knew about her. Earnest’s confusion must have shown on his face, as Alesia quickly clarified herself.

“So I mean like, yeah no I didn’t sleep well, I had uh, something on my mind…”

Her words trailed off as Earnest saw her blush a little bit. Just as he was about to ask her about what was concerning her, the server arrived and placed the plate of hot food in front of Earnest and a drink beside it. Earnest’s stomach rumbled, as he picked up his utensils and started diggin in. After moving the first forkfull into his mouth, he looked up at Alesia and noticed her staring at the meal with the expression of a hungry dog. Earnest finished his mouthful, and spoke up.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No, I don’t think so. I mean, no I haven’t.”

“Why don’t you order something? We still need to wait for Coltia anyways.”

Alesia did just that, as she got a server’s attention and ordered her meal. After she finished ordering, she got back to watching Earnest eating. This time though, she spoke on her own accord.

“So, uh, eating together huh, you and me, a man and a woman… kind of like a date don’t you think?”

Earnest nearly gagged on his food as this caught him off guard. He should have known that the girl who proposed marriage to him yesterday would be the same today. He swallowed the food in his mouth, and attempted to deal with her.

“Here, you must be hungry. No need to wait for your meal to arrive, you can start eating from my plate.”

“Oh! Really? Sharing a plate? Uh, um… thanks…”

She flagged down a server again and asked for a set of utensils, and was given them after a short delay. Earnest pushed his plate towards Alesia, who stared at the plate, choosing what to take. Her eyes seemed to lock onto something, and she used her fork to take a sausage from the plate. She brought it in front of her, blushing for some reason, as she closed her eyes and put Earnest’s sausage to her lips. Her face was blushing a deeper shade, as wrapped her lips around it. She ate it very slowly, never taking a full bite and removing it from her mouth, but instead keeping it there and moving it farther in as she nibbled on it.

He felt weird watching this, almost guilty, like he was seeing something he shouldn’t. He watched the cute girl with messy hair eat, perhaps paying too much attention to how soft lips looked. Alesia must have really been enjoying it, because she was letting out some soft sounds from her throat.

Earnest realized that he was staring, and pulled his plate back, continuing his meal. Alesia finished her morsel, and looked absolutely flustered for some reason. She looked down and pressed her hands down onto her lap. A silence fell over the both of them, continuing even after Alesia’s meal arrived and she began to eat more normally.

This finally came to an end when Coltia entered the inn. Earnest invited her over and she took a seat at their table. Some of the other patrons looked at the strangely dressed girl, attention likely going to the large hat adorned with antlers. Well, those decorations were for showing off weren’t they?

“Good morning Coltia, have you eaten yet?”

“Why no I haven’t. It looks like you two have been enjoying yourselves already~ So what’s good here? I have to warn you, I have a sensitive tongue.”

“Well, to be honest it’s not the best meal, but it’s warm and it fills you up. Uh, it looked like Alesia really like the sausage, so maybe that.”

Coltia looked at Alesia, who looked down again and didn’t say a word. Coltia looked like she had understood… something, and turned to Earnest.

“You wouldn’t mind if I had a little try now would you~?”

Alesia looked back up as Earnest pushed his plate and fork towards Coltia. Alesia had a strange, unpleasant expression as Coltia stuck the fork into the sausage. She brought it up before her, looking at it as if she was inspecting its quality. Earnest, watched on, again feeling like he was missing something. She suddenly took a bite of it, ripping the tip off using her teeth. She chewed it as Earnest and Alesia watched her. Coltia swallowed and gave her judgment.

“Well~ it will do for now.”

Earnest already thought that his companions were strange, but he failed to imagine that this would extend to their eating habits. Well, at least he was learning about the women he was going to rely on. Coltia ordered something to eat, and Earnest began to discuss the immediate logistics of traveling to Knottori.

He had purchased supplies with Coltia’s money in addition to a hunting bow with arrows. Since Coltia wanted good food, Earnest planned to hunt along the way to Knottori. While his companions were resting, he planned on using the time to secure fresh meat. They would require more frequent breaks and rest compared to Earnest, and he felt that hunting and cooking would be a good use of his energy.

Discussion turned to Alesia as Earnest asked what she had brought in her bag. She lifted it onto the table and revealed that it was full of an assortment of strange looking plants, fungi, and other things that Earnest didn’t recognize. She explained that they were potion ingredients, a little bit of anything that she thought would be useful. Earnest then asked Coltia about what she was bringing, as he didn’t notice any luggage on her.

“Oh don’t worry about that. I travel light, but I have my ways to get what I need.”

Earnest honestly didn’t even want to ask at this point, so he just let that statement stay untouched. It was probably some magic that he couldn't comprehend, perhaps a magic tool or spell that broke the rules of the world. Whatever. If he asked any questions he had about Coltia, he doubted that he would receive any real answers from her.

By the time the discussion had concluded, everyone had finished their meals and left payment. Earnest went back to his room and retrieved his belongings, as well as the travel supplies. The party left the inn together, and departed out of the Lindow gates towards Knottori.