Rose Restaurant

[Gia Trakana]

Near the center of town, there is a nice restaurant, named after the flower. It's a good-sized place,, fit for families and singles alike. Come in, sit down, and enjoy yourself if you wish for a night out on the town, or simply to not cook for once. The staff will take care of you.

Sunset Restaurant Menu

Soups and Salads

Meats
Come with your choice of two sides & cooked anyway you want. Ask if you want it baked with something - ie, gravy, wine, etc...

Sides

Drinks

Desserts

[Devanus Zeller]

Not knowing how familiar or unfamiliar Ruby was with Laknos and the cuisine therein, Devanus elected to just take her to the simple, popular, Sunset Restaurant, with only a hint of fittingness, seeing as how the sun was actually setting outside as they walked in the doors. This was a nice, safe place; Devanus liked it for its popularity, though the food was alright. Here, no one unsavory would recognize him and no one would notice him, except by proxy as he stood next to Ruby. He had noticed the stares as they had moved through the city, slower than his usual pace, but still fairly quickly. He could only imagine how irritating it must be to get that sort of attention everywhere you go, and was both confused and amazed by Ruby's determination to dress the way she did.

Despite the hour, they got a table almost immediately. Devanus kept his eyes moving across the room, stopping to give a nod or a wave toward anyone that he knew, which was a few people, given how crowded the place was. He did not have many he could properly call friend, but there were certain people whom he knew by association, either because they both frequented the same places at the same time, or because they were regular visitors to the alchemy shop he worked in. There were, of course, occasional other reasons, but those were the main two. Devanus got a few reactions to the girl he was walking with, ranging from looks of bewilderment to nods of approval, and he responded accordingly.

Once they had sat down and ordered drinks, Devanus allowed himself to relax a little, looking around again with a smile. "See, this is how I spend most of my time. Around people. Granted, they're not usually trying very hard not to stare, but then again, I'm not normally walking around with someone as distinctive as yourself." He shrugged, moving off the topic. "Have you been here before? You've told me you're a traveller, but you haven't said where you spend your time or how well you know the three cities." The thought was one that had occurred to Devanus while walking here, but he had chosen to hold onto for the purposes of dinner conversation. Ruby was effectively a captive audience here, provided he didn't say or do something that would upset her enough to storm out, so he could probe a little farther.

[Devanus Zeller]

Once again, Devanus found himself slightly in awe of Ruby's dedication, and more than slightly bewildered at her lifestyle. If she had spent four years guarding a travelling merchant, he found it almost a little hard to believe the merchant had never wanted to go out for lunch to an actual place with food in that time. Upon reflection, he could make sense of it; if they didn't have anywhere safe to store their goods, they could hardly leave them unattended outside. It was a shame, really; Devanus was strongly of the opinion that food made by someone who made food for a living was always preferable to food made by someone who didn't.

This raised another question in Devanus' mind, one that he would ask her later. For now, he wanted to pursue this current line of thought. "Well, this is about as stereotypical a restaurant as any for your first time, so at least I'm not biasing you on them." For his part, Devanus preferred something smaller and cozier, or something in the rougher end of town, depending on his mood. Still, with this new revelation from Ruby, he felt very vindicated in his choice of dining establishment. Especially now that he had seen her start off the meal with wine. He had ordered only water; without knowing what main course he would be ordering, he was not going to jump to any particular drink just yet.

When Ruby commented on his word choice, Devanus laughed, but didn't immediately know how to reply. The true answer was, of course, both yes and no, depending upon the stare of the person whose eyes Dev had caught walking in, but Devanus was tuned enough to social graces to know not to repeat that part aloud. He was spared a moment to think by the arrival of their drinks, and that was all he needed to formulate a non-committal agreement. "I would certainly say so." Devanus returned the smirk as he replied, stopping to sip at his water, more out of habit than thirst. One of the other reasons that Devanus had chosen to get water was that his hands had a habit of reaching for things in front of him. Useful as a thief, since they had a mind of their own, and also useful as an amateur magician as he was, but potentially problematic if what was in front of him was alcohol.

Devanus kept a close eye on Ruby as they waited for their waiter to return, even though he occasionally glanced around them at the other patrons. He could only imagine what it felt like at her age to be in a new social situation like this, especially one that was for everyone else virtually second nature by now. Even the children had an infinitely larger amount of experience with restaurants than her, a grown woman. That thought was as good a segue as any into the one he had had earllier. "So, where is your merchant friend anyway? You must be straying pretty far right now; you were out in a field, and now you're in a restaurant for the first time. He must be in good hands."

[Devanus Zeller]

Was she...joking? Given Ruby's initial coldness, Devanus was very much caught off-guard when she started talking lightly. From what he had gathered about her, Dev had thought it perfectly plausible that she had indeed fought every new potential bodyguard, but he was getting mixed signals from her. Her confidence with a blade had come across much earlier in their meeting, and it was difficult now to tell whether or not she was putting on an air or if she was actually that arrogant about that particular skill. Decideding discretion was the better part of valor, Devanus said only, "Of course," in agreedment, and went back to sipping at his water. He noticed that Ruby had actually had more of her wine than he had his drink, and made a mental note that she was not shy about the alcohol. Not that that wasn't already obvious by the fact she had chosen wine presumably before even deciding what she was going to eat.

The way Ruby spoke of her former employer was informative. It confirmed the suspicion that Devanus had been holding that she was fiercely loyal when she chose to follow something, but it also made him wonder if she was not just the least bit insecure about branching out into the rest of the world on her own with only four years of memory. She had certainly enough security to go out dressed as she was and eat with a stranger, but this was still very high praise, and all the more notable given the nature of her occupation. Again, however, Devanus said nothing. He had done enough vocalizing of his analysis of her, and if she was going to attempt to keep the mood light, then that was just fine with him. It was a little weird, coming from her, but he could roll with it.

"People stumble over me all the time. I'm easy to miss," Devanus replied with a slow smile. It was true, and very valuable in his true line of work. "Though I admit I don't normally take them to dinner. They always have somewhere more important to be." Devanus shook his head lightly, looking around at the other patrons as he took another drink. "Everyone's always got somewhere to be..." One reason that Devanus had continued his less-than-legal lifestyle was because it allowed him to live on his terms. He basically dropped by the apothecary whenever it suited him, and did his other jobs as contracts became available. Work was planned around the rest of his life, not the other way around, and that was how it should have been for everyone, in his opinion.

Devanus raised an eyebrow at Ruby's remark about tripping over him more often, but was prevented from replying by the arrival of the waitress. All the food was perfectly adequate here, and Devanus had not eaten all day, so he was more inclined to make a swift decision than a careful one. Only a moment's glance back at the menu was required. "Trout, baked in wine and vegetables. Surprise me with the other side dish." When the waitress had gone, he turned his attention back to Ruby. "There are easier ways to get me to dinner, you know. Stumbling over me is generally a one-time occurrence unless you're really clumsy." It had obviously been a joke, and there was definitely something amusing about the idea of making a point to trip over a person. Devanus chuckled and shook his head. "Still, if you happen to fall in front of me again, I wouldn't complain." He imagined the sight of Ruby laying flat on her back, mildly stunned, was not one that most other people got to see.

[Devanus Zeller]

If asked, Devanus liked to describe himself as a people person. He was friendly, certainly, and happy to partake in almost any social activity apart from dancing, but the real reason he said that was that people were his favourite things. He liked studying the little nuances of their behaviour, trying to decipher the tics of their body language. It was not something he strictly needed in any of his jobs - though it did help to sell people things they didn't need - but it was something that certainly always came in handy and he would have been very sorry to lose as a practiced talent. It was especially interesting, if not necessarily useful, with people like Ruby. Her robotic nature earlier and lack of a true past made Devanus pay very close attention indeed to the movements of her body. It was all he had to go on to try and figure this girl out, and so far it had been an utter failure in that area.

Now, perhaps due to the extended conversation or the wine, things were starting to reveal themselves other than her martial proficiency. Flirting with her was not exactly the cleverest trick in the book, but it was certainly effective, and Devanus smiled to himself as he caught the blush that stole across the front of her face. He would have been very surprised to learn that Ruby had a boyfriend (or indeed girlfriend), given her demeanor, and it seemed he had guessed rightly that she was not often the subject of flirtation. It was really almost too easy, which was a nice change with her.

Before Devanus could press on in that area, however, Ruby asked him a question, or rather two in quick succession. He wondered exactly how she had jumped to that thought, but it hardly mattered. He opened his mouth to reply when she added a third question and had to stop himself from laughing, raising a hand to his mouth until the urge subsided. In a tone mostly amused but slightly indignant, he echoed the question. "Or perhaps friends? Of course I have friends. What do you think I am? There's one there." Devanus waved briefly at a table at the other side of the restaurant, getting a wave back from a young man sitting with his wife and children. While friend was perhaps too committed for their relationship, they were certainly friendly, and had been known to have a drink together if the mood struck them.

Shaking his head and chuckling, Devanus turned his attention to her other question. "Family, I don't have. I'm an only child, and my parents are dead. I'd ask you the same, but you can't remember and you obviously haven't found any previous relations yet. Have you made a lot of friends then, being a travelling merchant's guard? Or perhaps a string of lovers in every city." The flirting had gotten by her guard before; this one was more subtle, but just as penetrating. Devanus quite looked forward to Ruby's reaction.

[Devanus Zeller]

Devanus had to resist the urge to giggle madly at Ruby's responses. As predicted, she had flushed brilliantly at his flirtations and even attempted to look indignant while doing so, which only made her look the more ridiculous and made it that much harder not to start laughing at her in front of the entire restaurant. Somehow, Devanus managed. It was not a surprise, of course; he probably would have fallen out of his chair if she had informed him that his ridiculous statement had been spot on. Once again, however, Ruby felt the need to defend this particular stance, and Devanus was finding that behaviour more and more curious each time it happened. He wasn't sure what exactly it meant. It was possible that she was just hopelessly naive, but even after only four years as a guardswoman, she surely would have lost some of that. No, Devanus could not fathom where this incessant need to rise to her own defence had sprung from. He was not, as he had been informed, an aggressive or intimidating individual, nor had tone been anything of the sort. There was nothing about him that suggested she needed to take that particular stand, and yet once again she had done.

So caught up was Devanus in this analysis, that he nearly missed the dark look that crossed Ruby's face a moment later. "Whoa, there." He waved in her direction. "Where did that face come from?" Bad sexual experience was his guess, given what they had just been talking about, but there was only one way to know for sure, and he had just tried it. Unfortunately, if he was right, what he was about to say next would probably land him in very hot water. He had taken exception to what Ruby had said, and nearly forgotten about it in all of the scrutiny of those same words.

"I don't think you should speak so lowly of those people," This time, Devanus did not let it go. If he was going to figure out what was going on in her head, he would have to risk it and push a little. "I don't think there's anything wrong with knowing what you want and trying to get it. What's the harm in a one-night stand? You're not a floozy," Boy, that word sounded weird coming out of his mouth. "You're just not interested in a relationship at the moment. I understand that." He shrugged. Devanus did understand it, and perfectly well. Ever since the loss of his friends, girlfriend included, Devanus had not allowed anyone close enough to replace her. He had dated some, true, but never anything serious or long-term, something he always made explicitly clear at the start. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but he was a young man; he had needs.

Sitting back in his chair, Devanus noticed for the first time that his hands had unwrapped his cutlery entirely without his notice, and he was now holding a knife, balanced by its tips between his fingers. With a flick and a flourish, he made it vanish, only to reappear under his napkin. He had not really done it for any particular reason other than that it was there, and he liked keeping his hands busy when his mouth was occupied with talking.