To the festival. (Nel, Murdoch, Samael)

[Murdoch]

Murdoch just rolled his eyes at Nel's glare - something in it that said Really? This kid's green enough that he gets distracted when a whore so much as looks at him, and you still wanna call him a friend? He might have been insulted if he'd heard her thoughts on Sam being her first new friend in this town. You know, if he felt things the way normal people did. He'd at least have faked some insult to get her to apologize and get a step closer to sleeping with her.

Merris reappeared with several plates strewn across her arm, the blond girl just behind her with her arms full as well. Each of them got a plate with a goodly portion of baked and spiced chicken, seared vegetables with some sort of cheese on top, and a hunk of toasted bread drizzled in oil. Another plate of stuffed mushrooms was set out for all of them to share.

"Please let me know if anything is not met with satisfaction," she said, curtsying low before them - which gave a very nice view straight down the gauzy scarf she was calling a dress. "I will return with dessert when you are finished."

Murdoch gave her a beaming smile, and then pulled a small knife from his belt. "Enjoy, my darlings," he chuckled, shoving a piece of the chicken into his mouth.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam gulped, then popped a mushroom in his mouth and gulped again. His eyes lit up again, distracted by the good food. Unaware of their varied and various thoughts, he popped a few more into his mouth for good measure, blunting the dull edge of hunger in his belly. Careful to use his napkin -- he was used to eating things with his knife out in the wild or establishments of less repute than this -- he looked over at the others again.

"This is good," he offered with a smile. "Thanks for bringing us, Doc," naming him after what he'd heard from Nel. "And I hope you like it," he said to her, holding it up like an offering.

[Nel Sayo]

Like Nel had waited before leaning forward to dive into the food.

She used her hands, as was customary, and grinned at Sam around a bite of chicken, plucking up the offered mushroom with a swallowed laugh, chewing a space between her teeth so that she could pop the mushroom into her mouth with a nod of thanks.

"It's good," she agreed, without really slowing down.

Another roll of her eyes to Murdoch, but she ignored him in favor of the food and the wine, and by the time she'd cleaned her first plate, she looked much happier. Less fidgety. A sated, satisfied sort of Nel. Draining her wine glass, she snatched up the bottle for a refill and finally blinked, looking between the two of them again.

"Doc, what's dessert?" She flashed him a disarmingly lovely grin; all was apparently forgiven. Never took much more than a meal. The lady pirate actually got to her feet, bopping around the table so that she could get to everything, poking and prodding and nibbling and sniffing. "So, Sam, where're you from? You're a Drykas, right? I've met some. Not many. Never been to the Sea of Grass or anything, stupid name, 'cause it's obviously not a sea, being grass, anyway..."

[Murdoch]

"Do I look like a menu?" he smirked, reaching up to catch her face in one hand and using the other to wipe a smear of cheese from her chin. His smirk deepened, of course, and then he just released her and went back to finishing his own meal before Nel could get her hands on it.

Once they'd had enough time to get through their meal, the two women reappeared, and the blond cleared out the dishes with another shy smile while Merris set down plates full of honey-soaked cake and grilled peaches. The smile she turned on Samael was warm and sultry, promising him all manner of additional desserts should he wish. "Enjoy, and please let me know if you need anything more," she said, glancing around to see if they wished her to stay or go.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"No, not a Drykas," he said casually as could be after a brief beat to shift into lying mode. The windmark beneath his leather cuff started itching but he steeled his will to keep from digging under it with his finger to scratch at it. That would probably be gross while eating, anyway. His wrist always stank of sweat and leather when he took it off to wash.

He inserted that little denial and was glad that Doc kept talking and then Merris returned to distract them with desserts. His smile went a little goofy and shy as he reached for a peach. Telling, perhaps.

[Nel Sayo]

Nel skipped blithely away from asking Samael anything further; either she didn't care, or other things became more interesting, or it was just in her nature to bounce from thing to thing to thing without a by-your-leave. A swat at Murdoch's hand once he released her face, and she bopped about the table some more, toppling back into her chair when Merris and the other slave arrived with dessert.

"Oohh," she cooed, reaching over to fish up a cake with one hand and a peach with the other. "I gotta find a place around here with coconuts. I miss those. They're the best. You can't grill 'em like peaches or anything, but if you mix the milk with water it gets sweet and awesome and you can soak rum in it, and that's even better, I think, but even if you don't want the rum, it's still delicious..."

This went on around the honey-cake she stuffed into her mouth.

[Murdoch]

"Oh, we have coconuts if you'd like," the blond woman said softly, offering her smile to Nel. "There's one of the knights here who stops in each month and requests one, it's just that they're so expensive that few people are interested." There was a question implicit, whether or not Nel was willing to put down the fifty gold mizas for her most favorite of fruits.

Since no one had waved her off, and Sam was smiling dumbly at her, Merris settled lightly on his knee and fed him a bite of grilled peach.

"Not Drykas?" Murdoch said, eyebrows rising as he smiled companionably to Sam around the whore's naked shoulder. "You've the look of them, that's for sure. One saved my life years ago, strange fellow, but you definitely resemble him. Don't have the braids," he said with a tap to his own temple, "but I'dve sworn to it. Then again, I'm not nearly so well traveled as some," he said with a shrug, as if it didn't really matter to him.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Just because I'm good with horses," he groused, but was distracted by the bundle of goodness in his lap. But his windmark was covered and his hair long since cropped short; perhaps he should start dying his skin blue. He wondered for a moment if that were possible, but then he had to pay attention to opening his mouth and chewing on a peach from Merris.

The coconut thing sounded good, but it sounded expensive, and while he could cover dinner, he wasn't a rich man. There flashed a moment in his fantasy where he couldn't leave the place because he was indebted to them and he had to... but no, they had plenty of that and charged for it. They weren't going to let him pay off his debt by pleasuring the wait staff.

[Nel Sayo]

"That's okay," Nel said to Merris with another flickering smile. "I'll wait til I want to celebrate something."

What that might be, well -- anyone's guess. A particularly sunny day. That no horses ate her. What Nel may or may not celebrate was about as arbitrary as the things that stole her attention. Attention that was presently rewarded entirely to the honey-cake in her hands.

Once she'd polished it off, licking a drip of honey from the heel of her palm, her eyes shifted back between the two men and the whore perching on Sam's knee. A pale eyebrow rocked curiously upward.

"Sam doesn't wanna talk about it," Nel presumed aloud, slouching comfortably in her chair. "Plus I think he's distracted."

[Murdoch]

Merris continued being distracting, one hand sliding up and down Sam's thigh as she kissed away a few drops of honey from the corner of his mouth, all warmth and softness and sweetness.

Murdoch, at that point, just rolled his eyes and gulped down the rest of his wine. "Oh, who gives a petch what he wants to talk about," he growled lowly to Nel. "It's probably a boring story anyway. Where'd you find this kid, under a rock?"

Doc had, apparently, reached the end of his patience, and just leaned forward to snatch up one of the peaches and begin chomping his way through it.