Sword and Snow

It was a wonder that anyone ever did any shopping without the convenience of storage rings. As I watched Emery pay for the green robes I had convinced her to buy, I was thinking about all of the things we had bought throughout the day, and how ridiculous it would have been to have to carry everything. We certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it ourselves. We’d need a porter or need to have it sent…somewhere. I wondered if we could receive any mail at the top of the peaks.

I supposed not, given Emery picked the place for its seclusion and more or less to hide.

With most of the afternoon behind us, I figured it was about time to find ourselves a nice little dinner spot. Then maybe some dancing, afterward? Emery had mentioned that she had been dancing before, and that could be a really fun way to end the night.

As soon as Emery had finished paying, I snagged her by the arm again and dragged her out of the store as she fiddled with the robes to get them into her storage ring.

“Please tell me we’re not doing more shopping.” Emery said, with a playful whine in her voice. “I don’t think my poor little storage ring can take any more.”

I pointed up to the sky, which was slowly turning pink, with my free hand. “It’s getting late, so I figured dinner?” I grinned widely. “And I know just the place.”

Emery looked at me, disbelief clear in her eyes. “You know a place. You’ve been here one time. How could you possibly know a place?”

I stuck my tongue out at her. “Remember I traveled here with a caravan? A lovely old couple mentioned a really good place for a romantic dinner date.” I frowned and looked at Emery. “Given how they were dressed, I’d be willing to bet it’s pretty pricey though. Is that okay with you? I know we have more than enough money between us, but I don’t want to cause trouble.”

“Oh?” Emery returned playfully, “You’re dragging me to an expensive restaurant and not paying for the meal? Weren’t you supposed to be my escort for the evening? You wound me, Miss Axies!” She wailed, looking hurt.

I took a swift step back and bowed in apology. My long braid flung itself over my shoulder and hit me square in the face. Emery and I both struggled not to break into laughter. “Oh my, you’re right!” I said, deepening my voice just a little, trying to hold myself together. “How could I? Please forgive me, Lady Vale. I will gladly take on this challenge and prove my worth to you!”

“You better.” Emery shot back haughtily. “Surely you won’t make me regret offering you the chance to accompany me out on the town on our very first date.” The sudden air of a rich young lady settled over her, and it felt strangely natural on her. She even crossed her arms over her chest, holding an elbow in one hand, adopting a very apt pose. She even made an effort to look down her nose at me, despite my height advantage.

It looked rather cute, to be honest.

“I would never dare, my lady! Come, let us away toward your grand meal!” I said, adopting my best young master impression. This time, rather than dragging Emery off, I offered her my arm in the way expected of a young master. She took it daintily, still playing up her role as a young mistress.

We made it a little ways down the street toward our destination before I heard Emery snicker. It started a chain reaction of snickering, into giggles, into full laughter. Emery smiled up at me so brightly that I nearly had to look away. “You know,” she said, “I feel like we took the wrong parts. You’re much more lady-like than I am. And I'm a little too…rough and tumble to be such a lady.”

I giggled. “Maybe, but you’re too short to play the leading male role.”

Emery gave me a chagrined look, then solidly kicked me in the butt.

While I had a decent recollection of where I was going, I did need to stop once and ask for directions to the elusive Celestial Dragon Pavilion. I had only seen it in passing once when it was pointed out to me, and it was from the back of the place. The front was something else.

The building was five stories, with a beautiful pagoda structure. Each floor was inlaid with gold and jade, and decorated far more than any other restaurant - or maybe even building - I had ever seen. Emery and I both stood staring up at it, speechless, from across the street.

“Well, uh…this is it.” I said, as we both remained slack jawed.

“Before we go in, I just want to set the record straight. I’m not making you pay for our dinner. If we eat here, we split this cost.” Emery said bluntly. “It’s going to be obscene, I’m sure.”

“Doubt it’ll cost any more than we lost to Vale the other day.”

Emery laughed. “True enough. That damn bastard and his All Green Four Concealed Pungs. That was some absolute nonsense.”

I nodded with a chuckle. “Ready?” I said, offering her my arm again. Emery took it gratefully and started walking toward the entrance.

“It’s pretty, I suppose, but it sort of borders on garish.” She said as we approached.

“Agreed.”

The door opened before we actually got close enough to open it ourselves, and two employees, a man and a woman, greeted us with a bow.

“Welcome to the Celestial Dragon Pavilion.” The man said, holding his bow deeper and longer than the woman. “How may we serve you ladies tonight?”

“A table for just the two of us, please? And in a private space if one is available.” I said, confidently, adopting that fake young master air again. Just without the silly voice.

“Very good. Follow me, please.” The man said, as he turned to walk deeper into the restaurant. Emery and I shared a quick glance before following deeper inside.

The interior was just as impressive as what could be seen from the outside. There were many tables arrayed throughout the place with people eating or relaxing, as well as several more private rooms scattered around the far edges of the floor. However, the man led us past each of these and up two flights of stairs to the third floor.

Emery and I must have looked distinctly like a couple out for a romantic evening, because the area we were brought to did not disappoint. On the back side of the third floor, we were brought to a private dining space with a small table. The table was set with a few lightly scented candles, and the lighting in the room was dim to accentuate the space’s interior. In the dimmer light, the inlaid gold all looked far less garish.

There was also a huge open balcony that faced out the back of the building with a lovely view of the rest of the city. Whether be design or not, the restaurant was taller than the surrounding buildings, leaving the view unobstructed and quite breathtaking.

I led Emery to a seat before curving around the table to the opposite side for my own seat.

“We will have an attendant come take your order momentarily.” The man said once more, and laid two incredibly expensive looking jade scrolls on the table. “Please peruse the menu while you wait. Someone will also be along with wine options for you shortly.” He bowed one more time and then was gone.

Emery and I met gazes across the table. We just stared at each other silently a moment, before I cleared my throat and reached for the nearer menu. “I had heard that they…yes. There’s a number of different spirit beasts on the menu. It’s expensive, but I bet it’ll be worth it.”

“Delicious food packed full of Qi? Count me in.” Emery said, as she also began to look over the menu. We had been there for all of two minutes when a large cart came by, pushed by one of the restaurant’s employees. Her outfit was a bit different from the others we had seen so far; a deep wine colored cheongsam that was quite striking. She caught the eye much more so than the array of wines on the cart.

“Good evening ladies.” The woman said with a smile and bow. “This is our wine selection for the evening; you may try any you’d like before ordering, though only a small amount of each before deciding.” She added the last bit as though it was a problem, but given that there were certainly more than twenty bottles on the cart to pick from, I wasn’t convinced that getting to try only a little of each was in any way an inconvenience.

She went on to give a very brief description of each wine, elaborating on any that caught our interest. Emery and I each tried a few before settling on our selections. I opted for a chilled clear grape wine, while Emery went with a flowery plum wine. After leaving us each with a glass and the entire bottle of our choosing, the woman bowed and left.

“That was…wow.” Emery said, looking over the bottle. “These aren’t cheap, and they just left us each a bottle. This dinner is not gonna be cheap.”

I chuckled, pouring myself a glass of the wine. “Nope. But these wines are excellent, and I’m sure the food will be too. It’s worth going all out like this for a first date.”

Emery smiled as she poured and sipped at her own wine. “So then, just to be clear. Your intent is that this is the first of many?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Did I ever give the impression otherwise? I thought I was pretty clear last night that I’m interested in you, Emery. Especially after you got mad at me for avoiding you.”

She smiled. “Correct on all counts.” She said matter-of-factly. “I just wanted to be sure we were both on the same page. I’ve had a lovely time today. And while I don’t foresee such a date happening again in the near future, I don’t intend for this to be a one-and-done situation.”

I snorted. “That’s a fair point. It’s not exactly easy for us to sneak away for a night on the town. Not to mention there’s a three hour sprint between here and home.”

“Home, hm?” Emery said, the smile on her face turning warm and inviting. “I’m glad you feel that way, because I get the feeling you’re not leaving anytime soon.”

“Well,” I said, “Not until we hit the Sky Realm, at least. After that, I might just slip out one night and you’ll never see me again.”

I didn’t count on Emery making such a clearly hurt, distressed face in response. My stomach flopped. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” I said, quickly, trying to course correct. “I’m not gonna-” I stopped when an impish grin split Emery’s face.

“Gotcha.”

“That was some solid acting,” I said, trying to hide just how badly she had me fooled. “I didn’t expect that from you.” I tried to hide behind my wine by taking a sip.

“Oh, I can turn it on when I have to. I just rarely see the need.” Emery took a sip of her own wine, looking smug.

Before I could retort, a waiter entered the room to take our orders for dinner. I ordered Blizzard Hoof steak. Blizzard Hooves were large deer like creatures, some of which lived toward the icy tops of the Flowing Dragon Peak and, as their name implied, Cultivated ice-aspected Qi. Emery opted for Iron Tail Stir Fry. Iron Tails were native to the western Iron Dragon Peak, and were metal-aspected Qi focused giant scorpions.

With our meals and sides ordered, Emery and I settled in for a lovely chat while waiting. As the night went on, the service in the place was excellent, and Emery and I chatted animatedly about a wide variety of nonsense. The chat was inane and silly, but made for a very pleasant evening with nary a serious or depressing topic to be had.

All in all, a very successful first dinner date.

We did both blanch at the final bill though. We knew it would be high, but were not prepared for exactly how high.

The food, service, and company were certainly worth it though.