Forged Anew (Inactive)

Game Master Signore di Fortuna

Chris leans towards Gashka. "They already know you here."

Giving his hand a squeeze she nods, "Yes please Mr. Hadrinn. This is Chris. Could we have a table for two, as well as two hot chocolates?"

Hadrinn smiles. "Of course."

The dwarf leads the way to a table away from the others. "I have some eggs, biscuits, gravy, sausage, bacon and hotcakes available. I'll be back in a few moments with your drinks."

Chris pulls out Gashka's chair for her before sitting down himself. He shakes the snow off his cloak and hangs it on the back of his chair. "This is nice."

We better hurry up if we're gonna meet up with Jerrica in time.

Derika nods, still a look of shock on her face. Resting a hand on one of Vishanti's she says, "Yes...I know you will, and I love you even more for it. I mean....I know who they are, but until just now....whenever Gashka referred to them she would say, "my" parents. This time she said "our". I guess it just caught me off guard? She even said we needed to start planning our wedding....like an actual sister would say. It's just.....weird. Maybe I'm just not used to her strange moods yet."

Shaking her head to clear it she gives her love a kiss, "Alright, I can't spend all day in bed with you, wondering about my sister's crazy moods. We need to get up and get dressed so we can meet up with Jerrica and...I'm assuming at least Sig, maybe some of their friends? Anyways, we should get going."

Giving her a love a quick kiss, she bounces up out of the bed and nearly dances across the cold stone floor to get her clothes on in a quick and timely manner. Going back over to the bed, she pulls on some thick socks as well as her boots.

Once she has her boots on, she watches Vishanti as she dresses. Appreciating her love's form the whole time.

Gashka nods as she takes in the cozy rustic setting of the restaurant. Though she had been here before, her mind had been too preoccupied to notice the decor of the place. The fireplace made it nice and cozy and gave the space warmth.

Taking off her own cloak, she places it over the chair before taking the seat he pulled out for her, "Thank you Chris, it is quite lovely isn't it? Just has a really nice and cozy feel to it. It smells pretty amazing as well."

"It does indeed," Chris says.

Hadrinn returns with two mugs of hot chocolate for Chris and Gashka. "Any idea what you'd like to eat?"

"I'll try the eggs, hotcakes and bacon," Chris replies.

She thinks for just a moment, "Could I have the biscuits with gravy, eggs, and sausage please?"

With a nod of his head, Hadrinn heads off and then returns a few moments later with hot plates of food for Gashka and Chris. "Enjoy. If you need anything, just let me know."

Giving him a nod of thanks she looks up at Chris as she picks up the steaming mug, "I don't know if you've ever had this "hot chocolate" before, but it is really delicious." She says before closing her eyes and taking sip of the dark hot beverage. Letting out a little satisfied sigh she says, "Oh yeah, that's the stuff."

"I don't remember much of our dining before now," Chris says, taking a sip of the hot chocolate. "Ow, burned my tongue."

She kinda shrugs, "Unless we were at home, it was mostly tavern fare served up by Tikkle's various wenches....probably not worth remembering." She says offhandedly before taking a bite of her food. Humming happily she swallows and says, "This on the other hand, is a completely different story."

Chris grins, blowing on his food before taking a bite.

Swallowing a bite of food she tilts her head to the side and gives him a smirk, "So, what's that grin about?"

I'm gonna just go ahead and move this on to the other thread so people can get to where they need to be...or whatever.

"Oh, it's just that you seem to be adjusting to life here a bit more quickly than I thought you would," Chris says. "I mean...I'm happier here, so is Renard."

Taking a few more bites she gets a thoughtful expression on her face, "I guess....I feel a little more stable now that we don't have crazy people trying to kill us like every five minutes....yet, and death doesn't seem to be around every corner...." She gets quiet for a bit as she finishes up her breakfast surprisingly quickly considering how little she had been eating lately.

After wiping her mouth she says, "It helps I think, that you and Anyka are here. Finding out about my sister kinda threw me for a loop at first, and I didn't know what to make of my feelings for you either....I thought....I thought that maybe having feelings for someone so soon after losing Tikkle that....that I was wrong or something....but....I just needed to talk to someone that could help me get a clearer perspective of things. You and Anyka....you've been like family to me. You've known me a hell of a lot shorter time than Tikkle, who I grew up with....but you were the one who listened to me, comforted me, you were the one that was there for me when I really needed someone....not Tikkle." She sighs, "In a way I always felt like I was in competition for his attention. It was, Sea, ship, crew, and then maybe me...if he had time. You're not like that....I...I think having the rest of my family show up helped too. I feel a lot less crazy now than I did there for a while."

She gets quiet for a moment as she finishes her hot chocolate before looking back up at him, "I thought I was loosing my mind Chris....I felt just...out of control, and it scared me. I think I've started to regain some of my focus and you...well you and Renard....you're a big part of what's helped me. It's okay to be happy that I'm happy with this....with us." She finishes, hoping that she hadn't just dumped too much of her feelings on him at one time.

Chris nods. "I understand. Here, I don't feel like I'm just tagging along. I feel like I belong to something and it...I like the way you look at me. I'm not a monster or some stranger in your eyes."

Reaching across the table she puts one of her hands on top of his while looking deeply into his eyes, "I never felt like you were just "tagging along", and you were never a monster Chris." Holding his hand she strokes the top of it gently with her thumb while continuing to look into his eyes, "I don't think you were ever really a stranger either. We were supposed to meet...that's all there is to it. I feel like we belong here....where we can actually do some good, and I like doing that with you and the others. It makes me feel like we're actually accomplishing something instead of just spinning our cart wheels."

"Speaking of which, what should we do now?" Chris asks. "I mean...after I get moved out. We can't get Kyoga home easily..."

She thinks for a moment, "Well, the first thing we're going to do is go see my parents and talk to them about our plans to move in together. After that, we'll go back to the house and wait for the rest of our friends to get back, and talk to them about our plans and ask if they're okay with Vaeri moving in, then we can all go talk to Barclay....or I can just go talk to him for all of us if we decide that we want to try and help get him home." She tilts her head to the side slightly and looks at him, "Soooo....what do you think about that? Does it sound like a good enough start?"

Waving over the serving boy she orders them both another hot chocolate. Looking at Chris shef smiles, "We're going to have to build up some warmth before going back out in that cold again."

Anyka finds Ryota at his stall, chopping up some mint. He looks up to see Anyka approaching, alone. He gives the rogue a smile and a wave.

"Hi there," Anyka says walking up to Ryota with a smile. "Nice to see you again."

"By yourself today?" Ryota asks.

"I suppose," Chris says. "Your father really isn't the 'Iron Underdog', is he?"

She laughs and shakes her head, "No...that old Orc must have had the wrong person or something. Papa told me he's never held a sword in his life. He's just a farmer, hunter, and wood craftsman. He does beautiful things with wood and animal pelts." She explains.

Chris lets out a small sigh of relief. "You seem happy that he isn't some sort of gladiator."

She sips on her second cup of hot chocolate before looking up at him, "Yeah....thinking that they had been lying to me really messed me up. Then when I found out about Derika....I started wondering what else they might have lied about....but, they never lied to me, and they only kept the truth about Derika from me because they were afraid that I'd go searching for her....which I probably would have." Taking another sip of her hot beverage she says, "I'm glad now that they didn't, because I was able to meet to you....and that's turned out to be a pretty great thing." She says while blushing slightly.

Chris smiles at Gashka. "Meeting you is the best thing that happened to me...and I'm glad you have your family. I wish...I wish you could have met mine."

Giving him an understanding look, Gashka takes his hand and gives it a little supportive squeeze. "I know, I wish I could have too."

"Mmmhmm.... thought I'd take you up on coming by when I'm not in the middle of anything, though if you're busy I can always come back some other time." She says hesitantly.

Nyder returns with two refills of hot chocolate for Gashka and Chris.

---

Ryota gives Anyka an encouraging smile. "I'm just using my free time to prepare things."

He sets down the knife he was using to chop up the mint and walks over to Anyka. "Can I get anything for you? Something to drink?"

"Something warm would be nice." Anyka replies, tucking her hair behind one ear.

"Follow me," Ryota says, heading towards the back of the shop.

Chris waits a few moments for his drink to cool down before taking a few sips.

Gashka blows lightly on hers for a moment or two before sipping on it. Looking over her cup at Chris she asks, "Are you nervous about us telling my parents that we're moving in together?"

Chris thinks for a moment before answering. "Yes."

Sipping on her hot chocolate she reaches across the table and puts her hand over his, "I'm not gonna tell you not to be nervous, but you're not going to talk to him alone, I'll be with you and we'll tell them together. It's going to be okay, I promise."

"Alright, I trust you," Chris says.

For the next couple of minutes, Gashka sits quietly while finishing her hot chocolate.

Chris finishes off his hot chocolate and looks at Gashka with a waning smile. "Okay...let's go talk to your folks."

Placing a couple of gold on the table she stands up and nods, "Alright, let's go." Gashka pushes in her chair before holding out her hand for Chris.

With a smile, Anyka follows Ryota into the shop, taking in her surroundings.

Even this early in the morning his hair looks like silk

Ryota and Anyka walk past a hall full of jars before coming to his cozy living area. He walks into the kitchen and puts a kettle on a wood-burning stove. "I'm sorry that my living quarters are cramped. Please, have a seat."

He gestures to a simple wooden table with two chairs. "I was relocated when more room was needed for the new arrivals."

Chris takes Gashka's hand as they head out into the snow once more.

Gashka gives him a reassuring smile as they head to her parent's house.

Getting to the front door she knocks.

Kealey opens the door. "Oh, come inside, you two! It's freezing out there."

She then notices the couple holding hands. She looks from Chris to Gashka. "Something I should know?"

Gashka nods her head, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks as they enter her parent's house. After getting inside and taking of her cloak she looks around, "Is papa here too, or is it just you right now?"