corheim: year one

Episode Dva

~~~I've been enjoying the new DLC, "Shadow of the Erdtree", for Elden Ring. It feels like I'm playing a sequel rather than an expansion pack.  While I am not far yet in the DLC, I am having quite the blast playing in even more.~~~

~~~Episode 2: The Welcoming Committee~~~

An appetite is well-sated now.

Two appetites, to be more precise.

Astra liked Popeyes for its spicy chicken sandwich, and Ryoji hadn't heard of this "Popeyes" before. He has heard of Burger King and Panda Express, not to mention the god of fast food McDonalds, so he wanted to have fast food for the first time.

The pickles on the sandwich gave the sandwich some crunch, the chicken was extremely juicy and the spicy mayo complimented the sandwich. The brioche bun was perfectly heated and not smushed up: It was a perfect sandwich for him. The chicken wasn't flat but bountiful and reminded Ryoji of a mountain range covered by the summer sun's warm rays.

As he enjoyed eating it and refrained from wolfing everything in his path down, Astra was in a mood to talk to him, so she initiated the conversation.

"I could've gone-e with In-And-Out, but Popeyes is also pretty good!" Astra said, her mouth was supernaturally clean from eating the sandwich while Ryoji's was filled with spicy mayo. He felt dirty as he looked at her, she smiled pleasantly and was happy that she enjoyed his meal.

She was happy that he was enjoying it, and she needed some positivity after losing her |Gift|. The realization that she was |Giftless| stung her, but she had to carry on. All that turmoil she carried inside her currently, readying to burst out as she took a large bite of her sandwich as well.

"In-And-Out Burger? Is that the same thing that we just had?" Ryoji was somewhat confused about what she meant. What was this place then?
"No-o," Astra corrected him. "In-And-Out Burger is the b-best burger joint there."
Ryoji was confused about what she meant. This is a different place. "And where are we at now?"

Astra looked up with her mouth filled with chicken, covering it up as she spoke. "We're at-t Pop-Eyes."

"Pop-eyes?" Ryoji's mind had spun like circles, hearing that there were so many fast-food places in this small world he called home. And to think this was only the first one he had ever eaten at.

Ryoji began to speak. "I have never eaten at one of these places before. I always wanted to." He expressed some sorrow in a way. He knew he wasn't normal, even now as not many knew that he was a Cor-Embracer. 

Cor-Embracers in these times are more tolerated these days as opposed to four hundred years ago back when Somnus went to war with Haliggarten because of the Corheimr living so dangerously close with them. It sparked a conflagration of paranoia and strife among the two forces. Not much is remembered except the war rendered Cor-Emrbacers endangered to this day and the once great nation of Haliggarten is now extinct.

Astra was curious about why his parents weren't with him. So, she inquired about it rather slowly. "...Your parents-s. Where are-e they? Why aren't they here-e? With you-u?" Her pink hair was tied into a small ponytail and one could see her right cheek swollen from the punch. It hurt to talk, but Astra didn't mind. 

Ryoji had to lie to her. No one knew what happened to them and neither did he. He made up a story on the fly. "My parents died in a car accident back then...I was young and we were on vacation...."

Astra was interested, leaning forward as she stopped eating. "...I believe that they were distracted by something or someone. I don't think I was the one who caused the accident, but it was a long way down from where the car crashed. To this day, this accident still weighs heavily on my heart. I don't remember them or how they looked or how they carried themselves. I only remember that their voices felt like ambrosia in the ears...I do miss them dearly." Ryoji spoke with a tinge of sadness. A half-truth story where he wishes that he had known what they looked like.