The first thing Entoma noticed about the capital of the Baharuth Empire was how 'alive' it was, with races of all kinds, dark elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, a handful of minotaurs, not to mention zern, quagoa wearing dark goggles, and even some that Entoma herself did not recognize. The noise of the city streets was filled with passing conversation, and ahead of her marching through the street was a quadruple row of heavily armored knights, the old style of the imperial knight had faded away as Runecraft became more common.
The second thing she noticed were the many smells. Baked bread, people, perfumes and soaps, the smell of horses and men, the smell of wine and beer, and a thousand other things. Compared to the relatively quiet existence of Nazarick or the peaceful company of Bertra and the gentle placid pace of life in Crescent Lake, this was a raging river that was quite disorienting to the maid who was anything but accustomed to it all.
"Is everything alright?" Inta asked, glancing down at her when her hand slipped from his and then she clasped her hands together in front of herself. He had a dark brow raised when he asked her, and Entoma looked up to nod.
"Oh yes, everything is fine, this is all just unfamiliar, difference isn't always bad, it's just disorienting." Entoma replied with a shrug she meant to be casual.
"I see, not to worry. You'll get used to it quickly." He flashed a toothy vampire smile at her again and that was when it occurred to her.
"You don't disguise the fact that you're a vampire?" Entoma queried. "Simple illusion rings, something to disguise your eyes, that wouldn't cost that much, would it?" Entoma asked.
"I make a teacher's salary, so no, for me it wouldn't. But," he paused for effect before pointing out their destination ahead, "Up there." He quickened his pace a little bit and went back to the subject, "But, why should I have to? I'm a citizen of the Empire. I fought for His Majesty in a suicide campaign and survived, I didn't take all those lives to live the way I used to. If someone wants to make an issue of what I am, let them. They're the ones on the wrong side of the divine now."
Entoma was pondering his words still when they reached the building. It had a fairly standard brick base with a wooden upper floor, the bricks were red baked and secured by simple cement, and a door, a simple double swinging sort, that existed only to divide inside from outside, but was no barrier to entry or exit.
The room itself was lit up by the sunlight coming through the many windows so that it was nearly as bright inside as it was outside. The room was rapidly filling to capacity, with Inta and Entoma entering in time to see that there were only four tables remaining.
The pair quickly made their way to one of them, a small round table along the wall, and seated themselves. A moment later a server approached, a young looking dark half-elf. She wore a simple green shirt and skirt with a white apron tied around her waist, under her elbow she carried two menus which she held out to them both a second after arriving. She had a slender frame and short pointed ears and a bright, sunny disposition.
"What can I get for you today…?" She paused when she recognized the vampire, blinked a few times, and though she gave a short nursing laugh, it cut off quickly. "Oh, I know what you want already, not to worry. And you, Miss?"
"Meat. Raw. Beef. Pre-cut." Entoma rattled off an order in quick monosyllabic bursts and then handed the menu back. "Also, water, sugar in it, lots."
"Oh-kay I can definitely do that for you both, I'll take care of the drinks first and then be back with your meals." The sunny dark half-elf gave a little hop as she turned around and practically skipped away.
"See? I caught her off guard, but she went with it just fine." Inta replied and set his hands on the table, and folded them together with a relaxed, easy air.
"So you did." Entoma answered, "But… your… mate, she doesn't mind you having lunch with me?"
"Oh, she definitely would. She would hate it, she would be extremely jealous, and would probably want to throw me out of the house. My, 'mate', would never ever forgive this if I kept it secret. She'd think I was definitely cheating on her and probably scream, cry, throw things, who knows?" Inta said, and as he went on and on about how much his mate would hate it, Entoma let him go on until their drinks arrived.
'I'll finish my water, food, and go.' She resolved, opening her mouth lower than the mask bug to allow her to tilt the wooden cup of sweet water down her throat.
She was just finishing the cup when Inta's wild gesticulations and broad smile as he said how much she'd hate what he was doing, came to a sudden end. He snatched up the wooden cup of blood with a flourish, drank it down without sloshing a drop, slammed it down on the table and with a hardy and satisfied sigh he added one more thing.
With a casually dismissive wave of his hand while leaning back in his chair he said, "Of course, that would all be true… if I had a mate. But I don't. I'm single, like most vampires."
Entoma blinked several times in rapid succession from behind the mask, his toothy grin with its sharp fangs and his disarming twinkling red eyes set her off, and Entoma, despite all expectations that she had been building up to, broke down laughing.
She laughed so hard she had to cover her mouth with the long sleeve of her outfit and held her belly to contain her amusement.
"You had me for a moment there, really." Entoma replied when she was able to stop laughing.
"That's what makes it funny." He replied to her with a sardonic little smirk.
"I just assumed from the way you spoke with the white haired dark elf that there was something going on there." Entoma shrugged as the meal came, a raw hunk of beef cut into strips with the blood still pooling around them.
The meal for Inta was… another cup. This one much larger, the server refilled Entoma's wooden cup of sweetened water and left them to themselves a moment later.
"No," he said after drinking some of his lunch, "she and I go back a ways, but we've never been 'together'. We just flirt and tease each other at this point, we're friends, that's all we'll ever be." Inta explained, his cheerful demeanor gone. Entoma was about to ask why, but when she saw the way he looked away from her, she let it drop and changed the subject.
"When would you like to demonstrate our little exhibition?" She said, choosing the most cheerful thing she could think of.
"Give me a few days to get things squared with the administration and I think we can get something ready next week, it should be no problem." Inta said with confidence, "I'll reach out to Fluder, word that an unfamiliar form of magic will be on display should have him rushing everything to be put through in no time."
"I'm sure it will be fun." Entoma said and glanced around the crowded restaurant while she brought a strip of meat up to her mouth just below and behind her mask and drew it into her maw. The restaurant was now packed with people of all kinds caught in a hubbub of conversation, glasses, cups and mugs clinked and laughter was as common as anything else. Curiously, nobody looked her way at all.
"I'm still not used to crowds though, I can't say I like that." Entoma added, shifting with discomfort on her chair.
"That's part of the fun of doing new things." Inta pointed out while she ate and he drank.
"Being uncomfortable is fun? Vampires are strange." She said and ate another strip, the succulent blood and flesh slid down her throat to settle in her stomach. 'Wherever they get their cattle, they take care of them, this is delicious.'
"No, challenging ourselves, what's the point of creating a whole new world just to live the same old way and do the same old things? I love being out here doing this and that, teaching is satisfying, watching the light come to a student's eyes when they grasp something they didn't before. I've been at this for a few years now, and though I had planned to leave at the end of this term… I think I'll stay on for a while longer, maybe I'll go west one day, over the sea, to where my sister died." Inta blinked a few times, then took a long drink that must have mostly drained his mug.
"You… may have a point. I have one sister living with the Pope, another living among humans in Carne, and one in the Minotaur Kingdom right now helping an explorer transform the country. I've always been content just to wait for things to come to me, but there might be something to what you've said." Entoma replied and polished off the last strip of beef from her wooden plate.
"That was excellent," she said and finished the last of her cup of sugar water. "You know how to pick a restaurant, is there more you'd like to do?" Entoma asked.
"Unfortunately I do have a class to teach and should get back, but I have enough time to walk you back to your residence if you like." Inta replied and reached into a pouch at his side, he put three silver coins on the table, then five copper ones, and stood up.
Entoma rose a moment later.
"I would like that." She replied, and they left the restaurant together.