A Restorative Dinner

[Zephyr LaRoche]

With Stuart gone to the apothecary, Zippy and Holly were left with the task of finding a table in this crowded restaurant. The locals certainly seemed to love this place as Zippy did not see anyone else who dressed remotely like her. The men were dressed in either work clothes or evening attire, and the women all seemed to be wearing dresses of some sort. She, of course, was wearing a skirt so she didn't feel entirely out of place, but the style was certainly different.

Thanks probably in part to Holly's standing in the community, Zippy assumed, they were able to get a small table fairly quickly. It wasn't near a fire but the room was warm and cozy. She removed her jacket -- thankfully, her blouse underneath was still relatively dry -- and perused the menu. She decided to order Irish stew along with a couple of beers for both herself and for Stuart, and told the waitress as much when she came to take her order. That task taken care of, she and Holly began to discuss the business of the rooms for rent. After some discussion Zippy agreed to accept Holly's generous offer. She couldn't tell if Holly was bothered by the fact that the two brothers would be sharing a room and that they would only be staying temporarily, but she assumed that Holly wouldn't have offered if she minded. This was going to work out perfectly. This way they could relax the next few days, get back on their feet, and then they could take care of the sad task of scattering Ainne's ashes in the mountains.

Zippy was chatting with Holly and sipping her beer when she spotted her brother, Philippe, walking across the room. Finally, there he was! "Oh!" she said to Holly. "Excuse me, I'll be right back. My brother just walked by." Quickly getting up from the table she was able to attract Philippe's attention before he left the room. "Hey Philippe, over here!"

[Stuart LaRoche]

Philippe LaRoche was a man with a plan. Upon arriving via ship -- and really, who does that anymore? -- earlier this morning, he had been shocked by the backwards conditions in this town. There wasn't a horse anywhere in sight, but he had seen plenty of horses trotting around. People dressed like they were in some sort of turn-of-the-century play. No modern stores or establishments. Philippe was staggered by the thought that people would actually choose to live this way. It wasn't that he was the uninformed American. He had been all over Europe and had lived in France for a while, and he knew how Europeans lived. This was completely different. No one he had ever seen before actually chose to live this way.

His plan, which he had decided upon as soon as his foot hit the dock, was to get out of here as quickly as possible. His sister and he were accompanying their brother in his task of doing something with his wife's ashes, but now Philippe had no intentions of staying that long. This place was insane and he wanted no part of it. He didn't care what he had to do -- he was going to get out of here the first chance he got.

He had gotten separated from Stuart and Zippy earlier and found a cozy little pub to toss back a few scotches and grab a bite to eat. He had come in from the rain and so wound up staying here for a while rather than go back outside. His sister would know where to find him. After some time he was proven right. He was on his way back from the men's room when he heard his sister's familiar voice calling him. She made her way to him and filled him in on what had happened so far: she found Stuart, they met this nice lady in the park and it just so turned out that the woman had two rooms for rent and Zippy thought they should take them, and Stuart had stopped off at a drugstore. All of it was fine with Philippe until Zippy informed him that he would be bunking with Stuart. Great, he thought. Could this trip get any worse?

He sat down at the table with Zippy and was introduced to Holly St. James, the woman she and Stuart had met in the park. "Lovely to meet you, ma'am," he murmured, and flagged down a waitress to order another scotch, neat.

[Zephyr LaRoche]

OOC:

I'm going to end this thread and continue it in other areas so I can get Zippy and Stuart out and about a little more. To wrap up, Stuart returned from the apothecary and he and Zippy ate their meal. Upon finishing, all four headed for Holly St. James' home in Morgan Le Fey Circle (not sure about the neighborhood) to settle down for the evening. Philippe, true to form, snuck into Zippy's room in the night and took most of the money that was given to her for this trip by her parents, leaving Stuart and Zippy with only enough to get by for the next few days. Philippe left the house, with no note or any information about where he might have gone, to go to the port where he caught the first ship out.

When we continue it will be the next day.