Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Well jeez. How in the world did you not drown in a pit of boredom?" It sounded so... horribly, wretchedly, terribly boring. Made him glad they were out of the desert and that the city was growing more and more active as they proceeded.

"I don't rightly know, gotta say. I mean, it makes sense in theory, but..." Had he a less clear and direct goal in front of him, he might have headed to the beach to test it out himself. He was glad that he did have that goal, because he had a pretty good idea he already knew the result. "Anyway, you have any idea where there's a parking garage around here? I figure we'd peruse for a restaurant on foot, since neither of us are too familiar with the food options in these parts."

"Oh, piano, huh?" Lucas failed to notice the subtlety of her lowered voice. "That's pretty awesome. I was always kind of envious of people that could play an instrument. 'Swhy I picked up guitar when I got to Kodo." Well, that might have a supporting point for the decision, but it wasn't exactly the reason why. Close enough, though. "I'd love to hear you play some time. I mean, if that's all right. No pressure or anything." His instinct was to turn another smile in her direction, but at this point the roads were becoming a little too busy to safely warrant doing so, and so he restrained himself.

"All right, let's try that then." He followed her gesture and proceeded down the ensuing street, keeping an eye out for a parking garage-y structure. Something fitting his mental image appeared from behind a hotel. "Score," he said, more to himself than anything, as he pulled into the turning lane and guided the vehicle into the labyrinth-like building. Camphoreon really was huge.

"Aha, you're making me blush." Not literally, of course; ironically, the emotionless Luke was much quicker to blush than Lucas. "Yeah, I've only been playing for something like a few months. Good to know I'm making progress," he explained, grinning. "Ahh, well like I said, no pressure. No good playing if you're not enjoying it." The last thing he wanted to do was press any sense of obligation onto her.

"There was a fob with the keys, so I don't think finding the car will be much of a problem, but as for finding a spot..." Oh, wait! There was one now-- Oh, no, a motorcycle was parked there. Damn those motorcycles and their deceptive ninja ways. He continued to the next level on what was mounting to an epic quest in his head.

Though he was paying close attention to the aisles of cars, he caught the shrug out of the corner of his eye and nodded slightly, understanding the hint that was a difficult topic to explain. He groaned in frustration at the tiny car. "I swear, you could take every motorcycle and smart car in this place and put them all into the same spot. But nooo, they've each got to take up--" He was distracted by his thought when a car ahead of them began backing out. He eased the vehicle to a stop, pointing at the slowly departing car incriminatingly. "You!" he exclaimed. "I am so taking your spot!" The other driver would remain oblivious to the threat(?) as she accelerated out of the parking place and left. With a triumphant "ha!", Lucas immediately swung into the spot in her place.

"That went much better than I was expecting," he said with a content grin as he removed the keys from the ignition and unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Man, I might be running out of steam for this adventuring thing," he said as he locked up the car and stepped away from it, stretching his arms and back before starting towards the nearest stairway. "I don't know about you, but I could eat just about anything at this point. I mean, limited to things that are edible to begin with, but still." He had planned on a late dinner the previous night, a plan that had very much fallen through. Eggs sounded supremely delicious, but then so did rocks, if they happened to be seasoned properly.

"No, I'm stretching because of the long car ride, thank-you-very-much," he replied, crossing his arms partially in smug satisfaction and partially because that wind was absolutely frigid. How much of his response was truth, however, was a mystery, even to him. All he knew for sure was that he was pretty much in pain and should have taken a larger dose of pain-killers before leaving the base.

"Well, probably not," he ceded. "But inedible things are so much more readily available. I mean," he gestured to the iron guard bordering the stairs, "here's this thing, just sitting here. Probably doesn't taste very good, but I didn't even have to look for it."

The rail came to an end, though, at the same time as the staircase, the dim parking garage opening up into the wintry Camphoreon City. People and cars darted to and fro, and Lucas glanced around himself curiously. "Ohhh-kay, don't guess you know where the nearest cluster of eateries might be?" There was a hotel nearby, so restaurants couldn't be far, but which direction to go was the most pressing question.

Lucas couldn't tell if his discomfort was that incredibly obvious or if Claire was just unyieldingly stubborn in her beliefs, but either way she pretty much had him nailed. Not that he would ever admit it - or even hint at it.

He glanced in one direction and then in the other, unable to find any discernible clues as to the location of any kind of restaurant. "Well, if left is right and right is wrong..." He turned to the left, blissfully unaware that was completely the wrong context in which to use that phrase. He laughed at Claire's treatise on which types of metal were preferable to the human palette. "If we walk for long enough we're bound to come across someplace that serves food and not metal," he reasoned.

"Metal utensils aren't all that uncommon, right?" he said, raising a finger as if making a smart point. "Metal plates, though... Can't say I've seen too many of those. I wonder why that is?" Idle conversation turned to legitimate curiosity, and he had half a mind to research the matter on returning to the base. Maybe they were too easily scratched or distractingly shiny...?

His wonders would be brought to a complete and total halt by the distant smell of food carried on the chill of the breeze. "Hm, you smell that?" He looked around momentarily. "Wonder where it's coming from..."