Make a Man Out of You

[Blackjack]

( only Elijah please.)

“ Oof,” grunted Momo as her arms released the heavy bundle down onto the lopsided wooden table in one of Scara Brae’s many taverns. She’d long since given up finding a normal restaurant not filled with smoke and the dank scent of man sweat. Her small arms had just about reached their limit lugging that big bundle of what would be her ticket off this island. From a few of the usual patrons she caught awkward stares, wondering what on Althanas she could be carrying around.

“ A bread bowl please, with.. Hmm,” she tapped her bottom lip weighing chicken noodle and cream of potato. “ potato please,” Momo watched eagerly as the barmaid jotted something down with a quill onto a pad of parchment scraps. The woman exchanged courteous smiles with Momo before she sauntered away leaving the girl to her bundle. Feeling the exhaustion of the day catching up with her, Momo leaned forward draping her arms over the soft cloth tied bundle. She wondered if her plan would really work.

No women allowed on the ship. Bad luck? What a bunch of pish posh. Since when was having a monk on board any sort of bad luck? At any rate, she thought furiously, she was going to get back to the mainland no matter what; even if it meant going to the extremes only Momo would concoct. She’d been to the tailors and spent quite a bit of silver, even though she bought things on sale. After her little shopping trip she’d come to one conclusion, men’s clothes were itchy. She’d tried on shirt after shirt, trousers after trousers, shoe after shoe, and all felt like she’d fallen into a bucket of uncombed wool. How she would last that 3 day journey was beyond her. She knew that if they didn’t find out her identity due to her own carelessness it would be because she couldn’t stand the clothes any longer.

Impersonating a man.. Errr… boy in order to gain passage off this island was the most extreme idea Momo had come up with thus far in her journey, but it gave her a sort of rush. Disguised as a man the lovely heroine would cross the sea in order to continue her journey onwards to her ultimate goal. The thought made Momo smile; what a heroine she was.

“ Bread bowl,” the clatter of the tin plate and spoon snapped Momo out of her day dream and reminded her of the hunger in her belly. The bread looked soft and the soup steamed with the aroma of thick cream and potatoes. Taking up her spoon Momo dipped it into the carved out center where the pool of soup still simmered. Carefully Momo blew on the spoon full before taking her first delicious bite of the meal. In actuality this was no five star meal, but for the last few days she’d been living off apples from the tree she’d practically fallen out of back with Ziggy and Kou. A hot meal was just what she needed. Without hesitation Momo took another heaping spoonful, this time taking a bite of the bread bowl’s top along with it.

“Mmm!” It was heaven.

[Elijah_Morendale]

The sun was slowly setting behind the buildings in Scara Brae, giving way to a beautiful twilight. As his footsteps sounded off against the cobblestoned streets of the bustling, noisy city, Elijah pulled his wallet out once again to double-check his funds. It was three days ago that he and Raziel went on their little drug run, and yesterday he was able to sell off the rest of the cocaine for a decent amount of gold.

"You know, for some high quality drugs, it looks like you got gypped. Maybe you should've hunted down that navigator dude, he probably knew the market value of that crap."

"No kidding," Elijah chuckled as he continued to converse with the voice in his head while trying to count out his money. He wasn't after the highest possible profit anyway; all he wanted was to get the hell off the island. He was surprised that Jeremiah hadn't sent any goons after him for not returning with the "package" he was supposed to pick up, but the adventurer decided not to take any chances. Early next morning, he was leaving for Corone.

But, he needed a nice dinner and a good night's sleep to see him off. Elijah was cruising around for the least seediest looking restaurant, settling on the one with the cleanest windows. With a small spring in his step, he made his way into the building. His heart sank when he realized that there was no chance in hell he was going to get a seat here. Every table was packed with people of all shapes and sizes: Half of them being loud and boisterous, the other half slowly drinking themselves to that state.

A petite blond whose breasts were made quite noticeable by her work uniform interrupted his thoughts. With a hint of forced cheeriness, she asked, "Hello. Just you tonight?"

Trying not to stare, the denim-clad adventurer replied, "Huh? Oh, yeah. Just me." Elijah found that keeping his gaze off of the woman was a trying matter. He was merely a boy, after all. Boys have hormones, that's all there is to it.

"Well, sir, there's a seat open at a table that already has someone at it, if you don't mind sharing." The girl put a free hand on her hip, as if to say take it or leave it, buster. Elijah shook his head, and the waitress led him to the table. She was able to maneuver through the crowded restaurant floor with ease, but he had a harder time making his way over.

"Excuse me, sorry, pardon me, excuse me..." Elijah slowly remembered why he hated being around a lot of people, but that wasn't going to sway him from getting a good meal during his last night on the island. As he sat down at the table, the waitress asked him if he'd like a drink as she slapped a menu down on the table in front of him. "Uh, just a chocolate milk, please." The waitress acknowledged his request, swiftly turning on one heel to get his drink.

As he reached for his menu, he couldn't help but notice a large bundle laying on the table in front of him. Behind it, he could see a small, cute brunette with pigtails slurping soup that, if he wasn't mistaken, was being contained in a bowl made of bread. His eyes briefly met with the girl's, prompting him to flash a friendly smile and a "hi" before he opened up his menu.

Let's see, what do they have here...

[Blackjack]

Hardly able to pull her attention off her wonderful bread bowl Momo barely noticed a small jerk in the table as the waitress slapped down a menu. Even when she heard the creak of wood against wood as a new chair slid out then in she didn’t take her eyes off the delicious soup. The way the creamy potato goodness warmed up her whole body reminded her of bread bowls back at the monastery. Even then Momo was the one who ate with the most gusto.

The tingling one gets when they feel like someone is watching them crept up the back of Momo’s neck and pulled her eyes up from her meal. She could barely see the messy black hair and friendly smile over the heaping bundle of men’s clothes, but she smiled a warm smile back to her new table mate. He looked to be around her age, granted most people didn’t think she was ‘her’ age due to her height. Maybe this guy would be good to observe; she’d need to be able to act like a boy on the ship if she wanted to be convincing.

Casually… err actually not very casually at all Momo continued eating her soup while keeping an eye on Elijah to learn his mannerisms. She made note of how he looked over the menu, not excitedly like she did. How did he sit? Momo, so caught up with learning the art of being a man put a piping hot spoonful of soup into her mouth before blowing.

“..!!” She dropped the spoon onto her plate and slapped both hands over her mouth as her eyes teared up and squinted. A slight tinge of red blotched its way onto her cheeks and she whined at the hot soup which certainly scalding the top of her mouth.

“ owww…,” she finally said having gotten the soup down. There were still remnants of tears at the corners of her eyes and redness in her cheeks. If only she had an ice cube or something to cool her mouth down.

[Elijah_Morendale]

Elijah remained oblivious to the girl sitting across him as she kept an eagle-eyed watch on him. Hmmm... What do I want... There's so many choices! I could always go for the ramen supreme, but I had that for lunch already... Flame-broiled steak with potatoes? Sounds good--oh! And a glass of milk! What's the price on that?

"Hey, don't forget to order something for me!"

Shut up. You're a figment of my fractured mind; you don't need to eat. ...Yes, steak and potatoes will do just fine. May as well eat something substantial for once... Did that girl just squeak? He looked up at his tablemate, whose face was a deep red, a tears streaking down her face. Elijah noticed a few splashes of soup on the wooden table, and by putting two and two together, he came to the conclusion that this poor girl forgot to blow on her soup before slurping it.

In a split second, he crafted a small cube of ice, offering it to the girl so she could cool her mouth down. Trying to make himself audible over the rest of the roaring customers who were in the restaurant, he raised his voice slightly. He couldn't help but chuckle as he said, "Here, suck on this for a few seconds. It'll cool you right down." After a few more seconds of silence, he added, "By the way, my name's Elijah."

[Taskmienster]

This thread has been sitting for a full year. Since no response has been made to create activity I am going to be moving this. If you would like it to be reopened please feel free to PM myself or another admin and they will be able to move it for you back to Scara Brae.