Welcome to Gaia! ::

Andarien looked up to see where their server was. She was speaking with a young couple at another table, but when she finished with them, she turned to check on Andarien and Miyuki. She smiled when she saw Andarien looking at her and came over to speak with them.

"How was it?" she beamed at the two of them. "I hope it was satisfactory."

The girl's brow furrowed anxiously. "I ... I'm not sure, to be honest," she admitted. "My brother won't let me help out in the kitchen just yet. I could ask, I suppose ..."

"If it's not too much trouble," Andarien smiled politely.

The girl smiled back. "All right. I'll be right back." She headed back into the kitchen.

The girl was back within a few minutes, and in her hand was a small sheet of parchment.

"Here you are," she said warmly, passing the paper over to Miyuki. "He did ask that you not make it in the town, though ... competition, you know."

Andarien blinked. "I don't know," he said, confused.

Andarien's eyes grew slightly wider and his lips made an 'o' as he understood the cook's request.

The girl smiled at them. "Thank you. Would you like anything else?"

Andarien shook his head, gathering his wits about him. "No, we're ready to go, I think," he replied, glancing at Miyuki to be sure.

"Five styl each," the girl replied.

Andarien reached into his pocket and counted out the marble coins, then handed them to the girl. "Here's mine."

The girl smiled. "Thank you."

The girl accepted the coins with a smile. "Thank you very much," she said warmly. She gave them a small curtsey. "I hope you have a wonderful day. Perhaps we shall see you again sometime."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Andarien agreed, pushing his chair back from the table and standing up. "Bye."

He buttoned up his jacket again as the girl headed off, and then turned back to Miyuki. "Ready to go?" he asked her, putting his hands into his pockets.

Andarien led the way outside and held the door open for Miyuki. After the warmth of the restaurant, the air outside was quite cold, and their breath was briefly visible as it left their lips.

"Where do you think Nana and Ada and Jess and River are?" he asked Miyuki, rubbing his arms lightly as he acclimatised to the cold.

Andarien nodded. "Okay."

He turned and headed back down the street towards where they had seen the market earlier. It was mostly because he didn't know what else to do, since he wasn't hungry and wasn't particularly in a hurry to find their parents back. Sure, he was curious, but he felt safe with Miyuki and he wasn't in a rush for anything.

The woman was still sitting outside the one shop, playing yet another instrument, this one resembling Shiro's violin. Her music filled the street, and many of the passers-by walked by slowly so as to hear as much as they could before leaving the street to go on about their business.