Essentia Animus

17-Dinning Entertainment

The bus quickly arrived at its intended stop, not far from the Irongate Bridge. The five passengers disembarked from the bus, ready to go their own ways.

"So where should we go now? Any suggestions?" "We need to book sleeping reservations, sunset is soon." "Dinner, I'm starving." Ryixia paused to consider both suggestions, realizing that Sryine had a very practical idea, but Vwyx had an irrefutable point. All of them were starving, including both hunters. At the mention of food, both hunters stopped and turned back to the girls, generally interested to hear where things were going.

"Sryine, you took care of the bill last time, I'll get us a solo reservation and you two can upgrade it later. I trust we're all fine with another night at the Riverside Inn, right? Meanwhile, maybe let's try that cafe again for dinner, probably the easiest option. I'll just meet you both there." "Wait, are you sure it's safe to run back to the Inn all by yourself?" "Relax, I'm not the one who already fell on her face exhausted, and it's not far away. If anyone shows up and causes problems, pretty sure I can figure something out. If there are any problems, that's why we got this cell thing, right?" Ryixia wasn't about to compromise for Sryine, wanting a measure of time to herself and an opportunity to be helpful. She wasn't exactly feeling as brave as she sounded, hoping that some sleep compulsions would work in her favour about as well as they had before as she left before anyone else could vocalize further complaints, including herself.

"Dinner actually sounds like a good idea. It sounds like you might already have a place in mind too. Would it be a problem if we imposed further and joined you for dinner?" "Uh, probably be fine. Not like it's a private cafe or anything. I'm kidding, well, no, it's not private, but I mean it was only your own idea to wander off in the first place. If you're willing to stick around a while longer, might be nice to have the extra company around." Dhyinze somehow ended up sounding awkward and yet still doing better than Vwyx when it came to that request. Vwyx was a little distracted at the time, herself worried about Ryixia. Sryine sighed, at a loss for how come everything just took that moment to fall apart in a giant mess, while leading everyone towards the Riverside Cafe.

"Oh, here's some familiar faces. Oh, and a couple new ones too. Glad you seem to be so inclined to bring me more business." "Actually, yeah, isn't this place pretty quiet for a dinner hour?" "Well, honestly, this place can get pretty quiet at almost any hour. I've tried my best to inspire people to want to stop by here, but it's been kinda rough trying to actually keep the customers flowing in a sorta no-name place like this." Sryine felt a measure of empathy for the storekeeper, herself recalling the times she sat in the square at her village, totally ignored by the others around her as she tried to fulfill the things expected of her. It left her happy to be able to provide some additional business for the struggling cafe.

In light of such considerations, she reflected upon her own past experience. Trying to provide her own measure of use in the square back home had always been futile.. until her gift came into play. Sure, her brother felt it was a poor distraction from things that needed to be done, but such distractions at least drew people in, getting their attention. She recalled the illusions she commanded to promote the services of the village's newest doctor, dramatic but convincing. This place could probably use the same finesse, something to draw them in and keep them present, as the smells of the cafe filled their lungs. Drawn in by such, not wanting to leave, the next inevitable course would be to place an order. Back then, she had used the pond as a central location to capture everyone's attention. Transfixed like that, with all eyes on her, the rest was a matter of course. She looked around the room, taking account of the setting available to work with. There was a table located in the back corner of the cafe, sitting right beside an open window. The table itself didn't even look inviting, she hadn't noticed it's existence until that moment. Given it's position and angle from the door, it might be perfect.