Before the Next Adventure (OPEN)

"Oh, I see," he said as she explained about the beer. He hoped she wouldn't be terribly offended if he had a pint to relax his travel-weary body. It had truly been a long way from home and while they had stopped a few times, he hadn't dared to spend too much time in each place. He had only gotten out to stretch his legs and take the occasional wee as needed. "I find it is a good way to relax after a long day. I don't drink it to the point of everything going fuzzy but a pint here and there is a nice way to wind down."

Zot looked up with a smile as Kimberly temporarily rejoined them to provide them with water and information. He nodded in agreement with Cara as she thanked the other girl. "Yes, thank you so very much. I would have been quite lost without your help," he said, glad to have met a fellow student right off the bat. It made him all the more excited about this new adventure.

"We will absolutely do so," he said in reference to asking the typical serving staff about rooms for the night and then flashed Kimberly another winning smile. "Only if you want to Kimberly. I'm sure you are a very busy individual and I don't want to trouble you."

Kimberly handed them their water before sitting down. She really did not see it as too much of a problem they were all going to become students at the same school. So, it would be great to have someone there to talk to. Plus, it is better to have them on her side than anything. “You are welcome I just happen to be in right place at right time. Others if had asked might have helped you also.” She order some of the soup with one of the maidens came over asking for some food. Once eating and helping them it would be fine if she just went back to the black smithy and cleaned up.

“Everything is fine. I am not busy now. Some point must go back and work on cleaning up at the blacksmiths.  It would be easier now because all the customers are gone for the day. Plus, they are not working anymore so they are not making dirt while trying to clean up. They are only part-time while trying to save up a little money.” Kimberly knew the only trouble would be time. If had to she could fix that by just not sleeping as much.

"Your help was still very much appreciated. I don't always have the best of luck in getting a positive and helpful help when I've asked for it" Cara responded giving Kimberly a polite friendly smile. It was pulling the truth just a little, she preferred to figure things out herself but on the occasion she did the help was either none existent when she was just completely ignored or the help was far from being helpful at all, quite the opposite.

The conversation took a small pause as a waitress approached the table to take their food order. She waited until Kimberly had finished and the woman looked at her next then inquired about getting a room for the night followed by a bowl of the stews scent was filling the slightly crowded room. With her order complete and her room inquiring going to be looked into, she let the woman turn to Zot for his selection next. She wanted to express that if he wanted a drink with dinner she had no issue about him doing so but feeling like she had missed the timing on mention it she let the matter go.

"Yes, I suppose their does seem to always be something to do in a blacksmith shop and not having customers around makes getting them complete a little easier. Hopefully you wont have to work too late and will get a chance to get some restful sleep tonight" Cara said in response to Kimberly explaining her return to work eventually. "Do you often see a lot of busy days here or do they kind of depend on the traveling crowds coming here?"

Zot let the ladies order first though his mouth was watering over the scent of the stew that was floating through the air of the tavern. Though he wanted to be polite he couldn't resist ordering a pint of beer when it was his turn to order and a heaping bowl of stew. He listened to the girls talking, content to relax a little as he leaned back in his chair and sighed.

As the ladies conversed it wasn't long before the waitstaff come back with their meals and Zot couldn't help but grin as they set a large wooden bowl of stew in front of him and a mug of beer. He took a sip of the frothy liquid and sighed again, feeling very good about this. He picked up his crude spoon and tucked into his stew. The meat was fresh and gamey and the potatoes were perfectly cooked. And the broth? Soooooo good. Zot was practically vibrating with excitement over this wonderful food.

Kimberly worked on slowly eating her food after having told the waitress thank you. She sip her water thinking about the question that Cara had asked about working.  The truth was that the witch was normally really busy with different things since she picked up any small job that she could muster. Sir Gryffindor did not say had to pay him back but if the time came then he would do it easy.

“The busy days depend on what I am doing honestly. Once school starts up things are going to change I am sure since actually going to be staying there. This is more of a part-time thing to try and get a little extra money.” She would take breaths between talking to eat the food in front of her. “The blacksmith normally is not as busy for me since other than those with money maybe wanting spoons or fork. Most are done by the actual owners so they know everything about making the product. The days I am busier are actually the ones when working here at the tavern.”

Cara too dug into her stew as soon as it was dropped off at their table but not before offering the waitress a thank you for both the food and that she was looking into what rooms they had available for the night. She turned to Kimberly as she answered her question then calmly scooped up a bite and ate it slowly and politely, something ingrained in her mind from the time she had spent with the noble family who had insisted she learn the basics of proper table educate. Not that that would do her much good here as no one seemed to be doing any fine dining as they used to but not wanting to come across like the starved girl she was feeling internally she took her time to eat.

"That's understandable, with the tavern being for the most part the heart of any trading post or town, you would expect it to be busy most of the time because everyone either resident or visitor often comes to such a warm place to unravel the knots of the day" she replied to Kimberly's answer. It made sense too that unless there was a strong demand for a blacksmith's services it would be fairly quiet in comparison to working at the tavern and unless you were a decently trained blacksmith there wasn't much to even do as far as work. Not to say Cara thought Kimberly wasn't skilled at blacksmithing, in fact she had no idea of the other girls skills and she wasn't about to assume any of it. Her own skills were ok, not the best but she knew enough of the basics it did make her regret not coming a little earlier and maybe seeing about getting some work at the blacksmith to earn some extra money herself, getting a bit saved up now would be good when she eventually set out on her own. 

Cara turned her attention to the stew in front of her, finally taking note of the quiet but hungry looking Zot as he seemed to be devouring his stew and enjoying every bite that made it into his mouth. She couldn't help but see he had opted for a drink with his dinner, nothing wrong with that, it was his choice after all so it didn't really bother her as she reached for her glass of water for a drink.

"This is really good. I'm glad my first real meal after a few days on the road is this delicious" she said to the other two as just a casual comment. Cara wasn't sure what else to say and it seemed like all of them were becoming more interested in eating then talking anyway now that it was in front of them and the smell strong enough to make any mouth water in hunger. It was nice to finally eat something that wasn't dried travel food.

Zot was quietly nodding in agreement as the girls conversed. He wasn't sure he had much to offer the conversation that hadn't already been said at this point. Besides, he didn't think they'd appreciate him speaking around the wonderful stew the few times he had thought of something. He would have gotten smacked for manners back home had he done so. He paused eating every so often to take a decent pull off his mug. The beer was delightfully refreshing and definitely not as sweet as the skin of wine they had insisted he travel with.

No, this was exactly the kind of meal he had hoped for upon arriving: warm, filling, and delightful. Yes, those were his chosen adjectives for this moment. And the company didn't hurt either. With that in mind, he looked up and smiled at both Cara and Kimberly.

"Yes, absolutely delicious," he said in agreement. The meat was tender and fresh, the potatoes and carrots were as well. And the broth, oh Lord the broth was a perfect compliment to it all. "If you don't mind me asking Miss Kimberly, how long have you been here waiting for school? You seem to have a great amount of knowledge of the trading post so I was curious."

Kimberly had finished her food before moving to put it all together in one spot. She would work on taking it to the back later once the others were finished since they had plenty of work to do. They did not need to work on cleaning up after her also. “I could not tell you the exact time since I actually been traveling for a long time. My guess though would be a little more than a month and a half.”

Kimberly had not been here long and most of that was actually in working since had to find the money to help pay for her horse that was being stored at the school stables along with helping save some money back so would have it once finished school and have to find a place of her own. She gives little to sir Gryfindor but knew he not ask her for it.

Cara was quietly finishing the remainder of her stew as the two conversed. She hadn't realized how hungry she was or how quickly because of that her meal had vanished before she had realized it. Maybe she should have stopped to eat earlier in the day before they had made it to the trading post. As it was she didn't think she could finish another bowl if she ordered one so there was little reason to fully fill herself up tonight. There was no telling what sort of food was waiting for them come tomorrow up at the school but at least her last travel meal was a good, warm, and hearty one.

Just as she was collecting all her dishes together into a neat stack the waitress returned to drop off a room key with the number etched into the metal. After quietly telling her how much the room was for the night, Cara calmly dug into a small satchel to hand over several coins for the cost of the room and the waitress was off again to a calling table. A little uncivilized but then the place was a bit busy and the woman seemed to be only one of two currently running about the room assisting customers. 

Taking the key into her hand, Cara moved her hands to rest down on her lap for now since she was finished eating. It gave her a second to process what Kimberly and Zot had been discussing. It seemed Kimberly had been here for roughly a month or so, explaining how she knew the place so well and had established a job to start saving up some money. Cara hadn't even known about the school much longer than the other girl had been here and it had her wondering how long the school had been seeking students for its first year. Would they know who they all were given who had brought or invited them here or was it all going to be one big mystery meeting? The noble woman had said at least her friend would know of Cara, having exchanged letters about her since she had come to live in their house but without a portrait it was sure to still be of some mystery perhaps.

"Do either of you know much on the ones in charge of the school? How they went about selecting us to be some of the first to attend their new magical school?" Cara asked, her tone hinting at innocent curiously. She glanced between the two wondering if either of them were in a similar situation as herself or if they had come across their invitation to school another way.

Zot listened as Kimberly spoke, indicating she had been here for at least a month or more. That was impressive to him and what he wouldn't have given for that kind of freedom from his father's modest castle like that ahead of school. Alas, he arrived as soon as he was able. He took notice of the serving wench dropping a key off to Cara for a room and found it a little strange that she hadn't brought him one as well. He too had asked about accommodations and he wondered if he was going to be out of luck.

Shaking himself from his musings as Cara asked what they knew, he offered her a kind smile. "I'm afraid I don't know much, to be honest," he said between bites of the remainder of his stew. "My sire's wife suggested it would be good for me to learn to become a proper wizard and my father agreed. From the little bit I overheard back home, one of the Founders is a knight that my father used to fight alongside. I imagine that's how I was selected to try out this venture."

With a good-natured shrug, Zot picked up his wooden bowl between his overly large hands and toasted the two ladies before he drank down the remaining broth. Surprisingly he didn't slurp too noisily and he set down the bowl with a sigh. His stomach was almost full, with just enough room left for the rest of his beer. Thus he picked up his pint and drank that down as well. Afterward, his cheeks puffed out a bit as he stifled a belch before he grinned at them again, turning a little pink around the edges.