Welcome to Gaia! ::

Thomas smirked a bit, very tempted to put on a bit of a show for the little squirts like he often did for his class...then again the woman very likely didn't need her children deciding not to go to any sort of class room again...much like he'd nearly done with the bat girl that he'd had for the span of two classes. "Magic." He said simply, "And very much unlike the carnival nonsense they show on those....", he waved a hand a bit, "Television things..."

He hated those things...of all the unessicary waste of innovation and knowlege- a box in which to sit in front of for hours on end and watch 'celeberties' run around half naked screaming at one another or senseless cartoons slapping eachother with found objects...nonsense the lot of it.

Futoeki gave a moment of awe, before bouncing alittle "Mom's really bad at magic!" out of the mouth of babes, right? "Uncles better than her, but she can't even make bread, or anything!" he grinned, as though this were great information meant to be shared with all who would hear. The other children weren't nearly as outgoing, mostly just stood waiting for the trip back home, that and staring at Futoeki's lastest...

Arafel, natually, narrowed her eyes at her son's back in an embaressed fashion... Magic and her had never, ever, gotten along... No... never.

"It's quite simple.... it just requires a basic knowlege of the componants of which you're calling. For instance- to create bread you must first know of what goes into making it, then what composes those ingrediants down to their most raw forms- in this case it would be grain- an earth magic, water, minerals like salt and sugar...oils- more earth magic." He waved a hand, "I could go on for hours but magically created bread dims in comparison to the actual thing."

Futoeki listened in ignorent awe, he didn't really know what was being talked about, but it was interesting none the less. "Cool." Was all that came out at the end of the whole lecture.
Arafel, on the other hand, seemed to actually pout a little at that. "Simple... yeah." she followed with a tiny huff... Stupid magic, stupid magic classes... granted she didn't remember that period of her life as well as she could, but she still had the same problems she had now as then. "Well, speaking of bread, we should get back home for dinner... and you'll all get some coffee cake as a treat afterwards, tell Professor Barkhelm thank you." A chorus of thankyou followed, as she tried to corral Futoeki back with the rest of the group that had started to walk along ahead of her. "Stop bothering him..." she noted, to which got a whine of "But I'm curious..."

"...", it was...quite a small piece of cake. Hardly bigger than his fist. Hardly a desert....hardly even a snack. "...actually your mother and I were just discussing perhaps a larger dinner at the burger resteraunt just around the corner from where I work."

No they weren't...but if the kids got excited she'd not turn it down. It was the least he could do after having watched her sugar scene.

Any old dessert was nice... Desserts were an unheard of thing, all food went to healthy nutricious meals.. and the rent. Burgers, were also rather unheard of, takeout especially... and oh yes, Professor Barkhelm had gotten just what he wanted, the kids all started up, 'please can we please' 'can I get a kids mean' 'will it come with a toy' and so on, and so forth. Arafel simply shot him a look, and gritted her teeth, unsure of what to say at that point. Really, she couldn't if he wasn't goign to pay the whole thing.. surely he knew that...

"It's already been arranged." Thomas only smiled a bit, seemingly having not noticed the look that Arafel was sending him over the excited jibberish from the children, "Afterall, your mother's been company to an old man, it's the least I can do." He chuckled a bit, reaching up to stroke the small dragon on his shoulder who had an equally sly look on its face.

"Now let's be off." He turned himself, again ignoring the dangerous look being shot his way to limp casually back the way they'd come. Really...it was the least he could do. The poor woman was thinner than his cane and the children...six of them. Good lord.

Arafel took a breath, givin ghte children a smile and a nod to approve the following of this guy, granted a normal mother might not take her offspring with some man she just met, to God knows where... But Arafel, despite her magic complications, was quite sure she could take down anyone at any point. Probably right, too... that and free food, really, no matter how much pride or independence she had or wanted to have, at the time she couldn't refuse.

So she kept behind them, letting him lead, and keeping the group in check, and taking Ilori from Colette to ease the burden of the leggless toddler. Futoeki stayed closest to Thomas, regarding him curiously and inquisitivly, and Iteru stuck close to his twin's side. The rest of the group fell inbetween with no paticular order... Though the other toddler did end up being pulled into Arafel's grasp, settled on her other hip, before they arrived.

The resteraunt was a decent enough one with a good reputation among those Thomas had spoken with. It was a bit rugged on the inside, peanut shells all over the floor in the concrete pits where each of the larger tables sat around a stone fireplace. Western decorations hung off the wooden shingled walls and a quiet country radio station was playing in the background to the many people laughing and going about the simple buisness of enjoying their dinner. There was a large bar towards the back behind a double-door fashioned like those in a saloon. Even the waitors had kind of a western theme to it. There was a large counter to order and a massive bar where anyone could go ahead and put whatever they wanted on their burger right beside the salad bar, an ice cream machene, and a fountain drink machene.

"Alright. Order what you'd like. I think I'll have a salad." He lowered his voice a bit, "Sensitive stomach and all."

Arafel nodded, instructing her children to figure out what they wanted, while her eyes moved over the menu. It couldn't be helped, the large 3 patty burger completely inthralled her intrest, god she hadn't had meat in awhile, just tidbits here and there... and a bird in the park, every now and then, that she would never admit to...

The order was waited until the children compiled theirs as well, chicken nuggets for Ilori, and Taikobo. Cheeseburger for Colette. And normal hamburgers for the twins, and Akira. All of which were the kids meals. With the order settled, she passed a look to their money, to make sure it was adequate enough.

"Don't even think about it." Thomas smirked a bit, already counting out the bill for the meal, "It was my idea so it's my right to pay for it. Order what you'd like." He placed his own order- just a simple ceasar chicken salad and a glass of mineral water. Seemed his appitite was just about as boring as everything else.

Thomas was quick to get his salad and limped himself over to one of the larger tables provided, cheating a bit with a faint spell to strengthen his bad leg long enough to move over the uneven piles of peanut shells to take a seat. On each table sat a massive bucket filled with peanuts- culpret to the shell-ridden floor.

The mixed couldn't say she wasn't releived, so rather she said nothing, instead finished getting her order and helping the group settle their meals, which all in all took a bit of back and forth between the table Thomas had chosen for them, especially with offloading toddlers into approprite seating, until finally everyone was settled in and Arafel returned last with her food, smiling slightly. "Thankyou." She added poleitly, and genuinly, as she sat, "Tell him thankyou." She added, which again erupted in all the children saying thanks, before eagerly digging into their treat.

Arafel was slower than them, naturally, if you ate too much too fast after eating nothing at all for a bit, the results didn't bode in one's favor, but the slow bites were enough to eleicit a responce, a strange responce, considering. It started first in her shiftings of seating, and since she'd been the adult she'd sat beside Thomas... Much to her displeasure at this point. More shifting would insue, until finally a shamefully wagging tail managed to free itself from her weight and thud lightly against the seat.

Thomas, for gentlemen's sake, pretended not to notice the tail. It was odd how silent he insisted in being during dinner, picking carefully over his salad, even taking time to glance over each mouthful before he decided to eat it. The salad was hardly halfway done when he leaned himself back away from the plate.

The little silver dragon waddled its way down his arm to finish off the rest, still rather neat for a dragon. Seems Thom's manners rubbed off on him easily enough.

"So tell me about this place. Aside from this city I hardly know of this world. No government, no nobility. It's quite chaotic.'

Granted, the children would be children in their eating mannorisms, though behaived fairly well with an occassional name shout out from their overseeing mother. One might try and make a peanut-man, or blow the paper off the straw at their sibling... All was stopped under the simple threatning call of a name though. Such a grand tool the name was.

Arafel herself did her best to follow suit in Thom's mannorisms, eat slow, eat dignified... But oh how she wanted to just rip the ever so juicy meat apart and devlower it in a loud and sloppy mannor. Oh but that would be ever so bad... Still, the whole dinner (aside from keeping children in line) she struggled with this feat, and in the end the hamburger was finished and left the mixed breed with the look of utmost satisfaction on her face. Infact, it vaugly resembled that 'I just had great sex' look.

"Hm? Government..." Arafel took a second or two to try and figure out what he was asking, before smiling slightly "Uhm. Gaia on a whole has been through alot, really, I think Gambino was one of the first, atleast to settle, he has alot of fancy parties and he's really rich... There's been a big fiasco with the whole thing though, I'm not too sure what all happend." She gave a small shrug to follow "is that kind of what you were asking?"

"Somewhat. I'm not unfamilar with the whole affair but these few towns are only a fraction of Gaia are they not?" He shrugged, "Many fail to see the grand scheme of their own realms. I was blind until I graduated from the academy. It's how wars grow to be as far as they get... people are unaware until it diectally effects them directally. By then it's often..." He looked to his hand and frowned a bit, "Too late."

He cleared his throat, glancing over to the children. Gaia didn't seem to be at warm which was honestly fortunate. Children that had to live in a warring environment often grew to be cold.