Sinope Harbour Festival (IC, MT)

[Mervay]

The saleswoman nodded, smiling.
"One moment, please.", she said and put the beige-white silk to the side, "I'll be back in a moment."
Mahmut smiled at both of them.
"Current fashion is indeed floral patterns, but that does not mean, that one must bow to it. The Sultana, for example, makes a point out of wearing her clothes with little to no decorations.", he explained, "Besides, fashion will change literally with the seasons, so a very good decision."
Apparently, his colleague was taking a few moments more then she had expected.

"I see. So it's better leave it without decorations considering the trends of fashion always change" Jessica said interested on it, she never considered that part since it only saw that it wouldn't match for her with the dress.

Meanwhile they just kept waiting with Mahmutut for the woman to return, it seemed that what she was searching was being quite difficult to find or something that it took time for grab; meanwhile Edward, knowing that this would take it's time, decided to just wait until they could take his meassures so he can be leaving, although knowing how this was going, it would be quite an while for happen.

"May I ask what she is searching that is taking time of if she needs help on find it??" he asked curious about it.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Many people did not notice the two boys in the water...

"Oh goodie, thanks for the tissues," Spiciness said, taking them & drying himself.
"I don't really need drying off, the ocean's my home & all," Seafood claimed, continuing to be dripping wet, "Ah, on second thought, I don't think anyone would appreciate touching me, I'll need some tissues." He looked towards the other boy with a smug grin. "What, nothing? Hmph, no fun," Seafood pouted & glanced backward, as though considering pushing Spiciness in another time.
"Actually, uh, about that... " the other began, gesturing for him to come close to whisper something, his smile replaced by a much more serious expression. As he spoke, Seafood nodded, his mouth agape in absentmindedness. "Yeah, can't be doing that here."
"Oh, scallops, really? That's unfortunate," he replied, shrugging & walking towards the girls to take some tissues as well, "Well in that case... sorry if we made you uncomfortable. We didn't realize Kyrenaia was that sort of nation. Anyway, let's get to that boat race." After drying himself off to some degree, he & Spiciness were ready to leave to watch the race.

When the results came, there was of course much screaming on their end, with Seafood reaching into his pocket & throwing a swarm of empty clam shells into the air, though thankfully towards the water. "So, we'll be going to meet the winners, I'm guessing?" Spiciness asked with a suspicious degree of enthusiasm, ignoring the jealous glare of his boyfriend best friend, who poked his friend at the arm with what an uncooked shrimp, "Oh calm down, you know I would never replace you like that!"
The tension between them was, in multiple ways for sure, high, & Seafood threw both his shrimp & an empty clam shell into the harbor. Ugh! What is... why am I so jealous all of a sudden? he thought, his forced smile hiding the depths of a grimace, his glare lowering into a simple, neutral look towards his friend, There's no way I could swing that way for him, r-right? I've done things with & for him, yeah, but it was because we're best friends, not...! For a moment , Seafood felt that he was looking at someone new, someone different...
Someone to... love? That didn't seem right, not one bit! But why was it that suddenly, out of all these years, Seafood found himself analyzing each subtle curve, each subtle word, each subtle shift, lusting after it like the two lovefools went for cute girls as they said?

But Seafood found his thoughts melting away at Spiciness's smile, one just a little bit spunky, almost like some sort of chili gracing his expression with its hot passion. His laugh was just as fine, but there was something else Seafood was after. Something so wonderful, something to show his love...
"U-uh, bro, I go-gotta go take a walk," Seafood told his friend, beginning to sweat nervously, "S-sorry... but I don't feel s-so good."
"I could cook you something to purge it?" Spiciness offered.
"N-no thanks, no... no. I just need to take a walk," he took a step away, refusing to make eye contact with the other, "Al-alone. I'll find my way. I always do..."
"Hmm? Really? Uh... okay," Spiciness said, watching his friend run off with a confused expression, "So anyway... I suppose we should get going."

[Danceria]

Fara's parents listened, then remained silent.
"...then, why are you telling us this now and not Fara beforehand? Before she found out about her by boulevard press, I mean?", Aynur, the Ilkhana of Megido, asked. "Because that is something, that we think to be important in families: Honesty. Openness." She shook her head. "But that is immaterial now. If you want to remain her friend, and not become fodder for Kalak, you need to say that to her, not to us. When and how you meet her... that is for you to decide. Or the Gods, depending on their will."
Dardan nodded.

Fara nodded. "I would recommend the Saghir Hammam.", she said, "Good service and exclusive prices, small and pride proud of both of that and the privacy it allows." She turned. "Down that street, then a right, the building with the onion domes at all four corners." She let a beat pass. "You know what, as soon as Fadia has finished with your brother's ward, Fadia and I will take you there. We wanted to go to a Hammam anyway today."

"I have...I have told her...but I suppose as you've said before." Aceus paused. "Things needed to be decided between us, face to face. Is there any way I can meet with her?"

---

"Oh no, I didn't mean to impose..." Edgar would reassure. "But thank you for the suggestion. Sabin!"

The taller of the two gentlemen would shrug. "Sorry, somebody has to be the responsible adult here, and it sure isn't you." "What does that mean?!" Edgar would scowl. "It means..." Sabin would shrug "That Erika likes me more than she likes you, and I don't think you want a picture of you getting beat up by a girl half your age to circle Pifflenet, now do you?"

[Kyrenaia]

"I have...I have told her...but I suppose as you've said before." Aceus paused. "Things needed to be decided between us, face to face. Is there any way I can meet with her?"

---

"Oh no, I didn't mean to impose..." Edgar would reassure. "But thank you for the suggestion. Sabin!"

The taller of the two gentlemen would shrug. "Sorry, somebody has to be the responsible adult here, and it sure isn't you." "What does that mean?!" Edgar would scowl. "It means..." Sabin would shrug "That Erika likes me more than she likes you, and I don't think you want a picture of you getting beat up by a girl half your age to circle Pifflenet, now do you?"

Damir looked to his wife, a knowing look on his face.
Aynur nodded. "We can do one better.", she said and rose, "If you would excuse me for a moment, I need to make a call."

Fara gave a thin-lipped smile.
"You wouldn't impose.", she said, "After..." Then, a phone began to ring and Fara blushed lightly. "My apologies, that is mine. If you would excuse me for a moment?" And without waiting for a reply, she made a few steps away and took out her mobile phone, answering it. A short discussion in Kyrenaian followed, ending with her nodding. The only word they might catch was Saghir, not only due to the language difficulties but also since it was still a lively street as well. She ended with a smile and a kiss, then put the phone back, motioning to Fadia to come closer as she rejoined Edgar and Sabin. "Alright, we will accompany you to the Saghir Hammam... and there, we will meet with Aceus."

"While there, she will pull you into a setting, where the two of you can have a conversation between just the two of you, without anyone listening in. Heart to heart.", Aynur explained to Aceus, "When that is all said and done, and she still wants to see your face, I would be glad to see you and Dilara show us your skills."
Damir nodded. "Go... and may the Gods be with you.", he wished, nodding to Fara's Handmaiden, "Tamina will show you the way."

Many people did not notice the two boys in the water...

"Oh goodie, thanks for the tissues," Spiciness said, taking them & drying himself.
"I don't really need drying off, the ocean's my home & all," Seafood claimed, continuing to be dripping wet, "Ah, on second thought, I don't think anyone would appreciate touching me, I'll need some tissues." He looked towards the other boy with a smug grin. "What, nothing? Hmph, no fun," Seafood pouted & glanced backward, as though considering pushing Spiciness in another time.
"Actually, uh, about that... " the other began, gesturing for him to come close to whisper something, his smile replaced by a much more serious expression. As he spoke, Seafood nodded, his mouth agape in absentmindedness. "Yeah, can't be doing that here."
"Oh, scallops, really? That's unfortunate," he replied, shrugging & walking towards the girls to take some tissues as well, "Well in that case... sorry if we made you uncomfortable. We didn't realize Kyrenaia was that sort of nation. Anyway, let's get to that boat race." After drying himself off to some degree, he & Spiciness were ready to leave to watch the race.

When the results came, there was of course much screaming on their end, with Seafood reaching into his pocket & throwing a swarm of empty clam shells into the air, though thankfully towards the water. "So, we'll be going to meet the winners, I'm guessing?" Spiciness asked with a suspicious degree of enthusiasm, ignoring the jealous glare of his boyfriend best friend, who poked his friend at the arm with what an uncooked shrimp, "Oh calm down, you know I would never replace you like that!"
The tension between them was, in multiple ways for sure, high, & Seafood threw both his shrimp & an empty clam shell into the harbor. Ugh! What is... why am I so jealous all of a sudden? he thought, his forced smile hiding the depths of a grimace, his glare lowering into a simple, neutral look towards his friend, There's no way I could swing that way for him, r-right? I've done things with & for him, yeah, but it was because we're best friends, not...! For a moment , Seafood felt that he was looking at someone new, someone different...
Someone to... love? That didn't seem right, now one bit! But why was it that suddenly, out of all these years, Seafood found himself analyzing each subtle curve, each subtle word, each subtle shift, lusting after it like the two lovefools went for cute girls as they said?

But Seafood found his thoughts melting away at Spiciness's smile, one just a little bit spunky, almost like some sort of chili gracing his expression with its hot passion. His laugh was just as fine, but there was something else Seafood was after. Something so wonderful, something to show his love...
"U-uh, bro, I go-gotta go take a walk," Seafood told his friend, beginning to sweat nervously, "S-sorry... but I don't feel s-so good."
"I could cook you something to purge it?" Spiciness offered.
"N-no thanks, no... no. I just need to take a walk," he took a step away, refusing to make eye contact with the other, "Al-alone. I'll find my way. I always do..."
"Hmm? Really? Uh... okay," Spiciness said, watching his friend run off with a confused expression, "So anyway... I suppose we should get going."

"Let's hope he indeed does find his way.", the Redhead said and looked to Spiciness with a raised eyebrow. There was a lot between those two, that was for sure. And they would have to sit down and talk it out between each other, alone. "Anyway, the boat we cheered for was the Fakhar Alsukhur - they came in second. The Deberwa was just too good!"
The other three girls nodded.
"Skip the award ceremony?", she asked.
"No!", the twins insisted.
"Then we won't. We have a good spot to watch it anyways!", the Redhead said and turned back to the waterfront and the stage.

The saleswoman nodded, smiling.
"One moment, please.", she said and put the beige-white silk to the side, "I'll be back in a moment."
Mahmut smiled at both of them.
"Current fashion is indeed floral patterns, but that does not mean, that one must bow to it. The Sultana, for example, makes a point out of wearing her clothes with little to no decorations.", he explained, "Besides, fashion will change literally with the seasons, so a very good decision."
Apparently, his colleague was taking a few moments more then she had expected.

"I see. So it's better leave it without decorations considering the trends of fashion always change" Jessica said interested on it, she never considered that part since it only saw that it wouldn't match for her with the dress.

Meanwhile they just kept waiting with Mahmutut for the woman to return, it seemed that what she was searching was being quite difficult to find or something that it took time for grab; meanwhile Edward, knowing that this would take it's time, decided to just wait until they could take his meassures so he can be leaving, although knowing how this was going, it would be quite an while for happen.

"May I ask what she is searching that is taking time of if she needs help on find it??" he asked curious about it.

"Thank you for the offer, but no.", Mahmut said to Edward, an apologetic smile on his lips, "She's in the storage area and that's off-limits for customers."
Another store worker came up.
"In the meantime...", Mahmut said, "Damir here will take your measurements, Sir. If you would please follow him? It won't take too long."
"This way, please.", the new arrival said and motioned to another section of the shop.

You looked, didn't you?

When the officer mentioned his appreciation for the Federation's Flag to fly proudly, Ingmar, Merle, and Ratko looked at each other for a moment, nodding in agreement. Showing some national pride, in form of the famous horizontal black-yellow-vanilla tricolor that was known as a flag of good cheer in here, surely could not harm.
To Zoe's little joke, Ingmar replied in the same joking and self-ironic, yet also with the same notorious shipowners' pride, "I don't worry about that a lot - rather about some other ships, like that Shamsiyyan boat that entered right after our ship, being stolen their show a tiny bit."
The officers' answer to the most important question right now, namely, supplies, got listened to carefully by everyone. They tried to keep the locations in mind, as well as the advice that could not be given enough times - having enough water around.
Ratko nodded. "Thank you, gentlemen!"
The officer promised to make sure that Jax could safely pass by the Caracal. The three Lillos, inwardly, decided to have an eye on the situation, too, though - Caracals were not exactly animals they were much familiar with, after all.
Micky seemed to have a similar thought. Ingmar couldn't help it but had to grin - the imagination of Jax welcoming Micky in some form of afterlife, saying something like, 'Ah, there you are! Guess I still have a score to settle with you!', was quite amusing. Then, he turned serious again and nodded. "We should have enough bottled water aboard, just need to get it. And finding the place can't be that hard, we're gonna manage that somehow."

"The Schooner?" mentioned Zoe, "I saw it come in and its nice, if a little large, she's almost as wide as Luna is long, probably two meters in it" as she spoke she glanced over to Micky who was putting Jax onto the floor so the party can begin walking safely without the worry of some large cat choosing to take Jax as its very own form of kittybit snack. "Ingmar, have you seen the Geezer's Rest? we cruised past it and the other wider boat as we came in to berth and from the vantage point I think there was a commotion or something going on around them as they were drawing onlookers* although I am quite proud of the fact that Luna's the only coastal yacht here amongst the larger schooners, tall ships and clippers especially as typically the small yachts like Luna are generally coastal craft"

"c'mon Jax" remarks Micky in a soft voice and with a gentle double tug on the leash Jax was walking happily along although sometimes crossing over in front of Micky depending on what he wants to look at. The strangest behavious comes from when Zoe and Micky come to cross a street, Jax stops and sits down and waits, yes all this from a cat!

Zoe momentarily glanced round to see where Micky was only to find her walking along side Merle and Ratko as Zoe walked with Ingmar.
"Merle, We plan to get some Lamb for the barby, you guys okay with that?" Micky asks

---

*The crowd gathered was the onlookers and admirers however from the channel the gathering could easily be misunderstood as being something a little more sinister or rowdy.

The two officials in the Harbourmasters office kept true to their word, calling in the Caracal and occupying him with tastier snacks, so that their guests could leave in peace. He was not dog-trained, that was true, but he was raised well-enough as far as his owner was concerned.
Waving them goodbye, one remarked to the other: "They were nice. Hope they'll have fun!"
The other nodded, then they went back to work.

Jazar's Shop was a butcher's shop, a building bordering the Bazaar of Fishes and doing so more then just well. It was a fixed installation for most of the inhabitants of the Old Harbour Area and the students of the Merchant Navy Academy got their meat for their grilling sessions from there as well.
As if that wasn't enough of an endorsement already, the shop's interior also proudly displayed a letter of endorsement with the personal seal of Shayan-Ilkhan, the father of the currently reigning Dardan-Ilkhan.
The shop itself was in hands of the family, which originally founded the shop, for generations now.
On offer was everything the Kyrenaian Kitchen could do with meat and that freshly butchered, amongst it goat, sheep, mutton and chicken, but also a few pigs (not too common for Kyrenaia, but it wasn't a staple) - also present were, of course, fish.
Lots of it, from the high seas, not from the dirty harbour waters.
And everything there looked delicious!

"That's very sweet." Yuzu cooed. "You two are very close. Well of course anyone who spends time together that often must be. Oh forgive me for stirring off topic a moment, but I understand there's to be a parade of ships, am I correct? After all I did come all this way to see many great ships."

Mahmut smiled and nodded, slightly.
"Indeed there will be.", Ilia spoke about the parade, "And my Sayarfur will lead. So... if you want to watch it, then we should let you back to shore beforehand." He looked at his watch for a moment. "But we still have time before we must form up, so enjoy the cookies."
"And many great ships you will see! I can promise you as much!", Shirin agreed with a grin, "Mahmut and I will watch from the Merchant Navy Academy. Wanna come along, Yuki?"

"Yeah, my granddaughter and her husband helped the kid grow up, replies Joe. But when it comes to relations...
-Joe, stop it, interrupts Peter with a hand gesture. We all think it was kind of a dick move what the young Prince did when our grandchildren were here, but if it must happen then it will. Other places, other mores."

Aurelia, if she was honest, had no idea which incident they meant, until it dawned upon her: Mahmut had given their grandchildren a rather clear impression of who had power in Kyrenaia and who didn't. Captain al-Tabar had sung his praises for weeks!
Ironically, this was exactly the lesson, which Mahmut had needed to learn.
"Indeed, other places, other smores.", Aurelia said, smiling, "And that will be fun enough... Father and I are planned to visit a few foreign countries next year. Some of which will be... interesting."

[...]
"That's hard." Asuna nodded in understanding. "Not being able to be seen deeper. I've known many like that. Not for me in a relationship but friends who have hearts broken by those who are insincere. If there's something islanders don't like, it's insincerity. A shame it didn't work but well the saying that goes everywhere, many fish are in the sea right? So here is hoping you find a special girl who loves you and you can love her. And everything that comes with."

"Indeed, there are many fish...", Atif said, "...and only one, that was like her."
He finished that round and brought his hands back to her spine, beginning the motion anew.
He wondered for a moment, then took bravery.
"Say, there's a concert of the Durra'ah Boys' Academy Big Band planned for 18:45.", he said and let a beat pass. "Want to go there with me? I'm pretty good at dancing!"

Ealaa alshat quite did sound familiar to Layla, but she decided to leave it as it was for this moment, for Atif shouldn't be thrown too hard and suddenly into awareness that he was essentially going to date a know-it-all tonight ...
And of course, he did have a point - they knew practically nothing about each other. Layla would have had like a thousand questions for now, and for a moment, she didn't know which one to ask first. How old was he exactly? Were he and his friends locals, or did they come from somewhere else? What, aside from obviously being trained at first aid, were his hobbies and interests? What was he going to do after school, if he even had plans already? What did his parents do? What were his favorite food and drink? And would he, after finding out all these pieces of information on Layla respectively, still be convinced that she was the one he definitely wanted to spend the evening with? And, for the sake of Ra, Isis, Amun, and Osiris, wouldn't just filling out an application form make this whole procedure a lot easier ...?
Layla had a short breath, to calm down, then she said, "Good point! Now, how come you've ended up in here today? A general interest in ships, or" - she tried to include some joke into this, to relax the interview a bit - "just some hope that you find a medical emergency situation to assist in?"

Maryam, for a moment, considered enlightening the boys about the bow and arrows used were indeed the ones that could easily make a watermelon burst in a nice funny way, but then, she decided not to.
Some things were to be left to everyone's individual fantasy.
"Me in!" - she replied and handed the box over to the teen who had asked. She wanted to play it fair. "You guys may start."

"Actually, neither.", Atif said, grinning, "We're actually boys from town - more or less, at least. Mered is, but Amir and I are from elsewhere. We are students at the Majlis Boarding School here in Sinope. Or rather, a bit outside of Sinope. All three of us form the Mobility Archery Team."
He grinned.
"Mobility Archery is a sport, where you ride onto a target and, at a set distance before it, dismount, then fire an arrow as quickly as you can - and hit, that's the important part - remount, and off you go towards the next target.", he explained. "If you stay in town for a bit, we can give you a demonstration!"

The first teen stepped forward, taking the dart, throwing with a grin.
He was mostly in for the fun. Sure, winning and getting free drinks would be awesome, but with how cheap drinks were in here... pocket change.
His dart flew with grace and poise - and almost hit centre, just barely, but clearly, in the ring outside of it. He grinned.
"Off for a good start.", the other teen said, then motioned for Maryam to go ahead, "Miss."

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Erika raised an eyebrow. "Intresting. Are they edible or not? If not, what purpose do they serve?"

Fadia smiled.
"Oh, many, many purposes. There are animals you can pet and snuggle, Fara's Kalak is a case of that, there are animals, who you can train to be hunting companions, I do that, as I am a falconer, others are just to watch going about their daily lives in aquariums or terrariums." She let a beat pass. "Not every animal needs to be livestock."
She took them to the entrance of the shop.
"The first floor is the display floor for their animals.", she explained, "A little tip, if you see a terrarium completely in the dark, with strange purple lights pulsing in the darkness... don't tap the glass. It will make you wet your panties."

Erika, being Erika, immediately slipped find said terrarium. She coughed and tapped on the shoulder of one of the employees. "Sir, where can I find the terrarium with purple lights pulsing in it? A friend of mine mentioned it, said I would wet my panties if I tapped on the glass. I personally doubt it."

[Shwe Tu Colony]

"Let's hope he indeed does find his way..."

"I... don't know what's gotten into him. Maybe it's because of what happened earlier," Spiciness said, turning his head away as he thought, "But if he's insisting on being alone... I guess I do have to let him be. I just wish that he would be more clear with me. But anyway, awards ceremony, let's get going to watch it, right...?" He seemed less energized than before, especially as the seafood hotpot began to fade away, the former of the carried away in the crowd along with the (platonic) love of his life. Soon, the only thing left was a faint nondescript spiciness, a scent that seemed dispassionate without his friend's seafood to accompany it & grace the nose with their combined deliciousness, their combined temptation. They were supposed to be entwined, like two lovers in each other's grasps, sharing their little delights in their own little world, & they would come out eventually in unity, everything about them now one.
That Spiciness was robbed of his friend — for some absurd reason no less — seemed to have taken a toll on him, & he hardly seemed to be the same boy without him. Nonetheless, as they progressed to the ceremony, he was beginning to quietly whistle out a tune:
Take me to church.

Seafood continued to wander through the crowd in an almost drunken daze, keeping his head down as he brushed it all over with his hands, as though trying to rub away the sin from his mind. No! I can't... I just can't! I can't possibly love him, I-I must just be acting delusional after Dana hit me, right? he thought, But... I can't stop myself! I need him... I need him... but I can't admit it to him all of a sudden here, oh cod, I'd get us both beaten! Would he even accept me? He brushed away his tears with his sleeve. All right, maybe I am just being delusional... I just need a few more hours before Dana's Shield Smash wears off, I think. I hope. I just know that he'll never accept me if I try to tell him. Tell him that I loved everything about him, oh crab claws...! What to do, what to do, I need something to keep my mind occupied, or else...!

Too late, far far too late. His mind was flooded with all the memories he had made throughout their loves, flooded by their shenanigans & love, flooded so that even seafood like him was going to drown in that endless deluge of old memories with a fresh coat of paint. Suddenly, Seafood found himself overwhelmed by nostalgia as he remembered each grab, each joking hug, each genuine hug, each meal masterpiece they crafted together in Sousundowa's kitchen, pushing one another & nearly tipping over their dishes to the chagrin of the more serious forms.
Yet he found his sweetest memory to be a late night one day at Sousundowa's cramped, if cozy, restaurant. The two boys, with only Dana & Roger, were left by the other forms, who needed the two of them to stay for reasons that Seafood could no longer remember. What he could remember was Spiciness's performance on the piano that day — despite coming off as rather brutish & uncultured, he was a talented pianist & singer, & often entertained the guests when he wasn't needed in the kitchen.

Seafood could remember watching from the counter near the front with Dana & Roger, all three mesmerized by his passion, but his friend especially. Only now, the tint was pink rather than white, & Seafood could only think of how amazing his friend was with each yell of the lyrics, each tap of the piano, reverberating through the empty restaurant with the same sort of hot passion Spiciness did everything with. He remembered the way he would practically throw himself back to yell out each amen, the guilt when he professed his supposed sickness, the bitter snark as he mocked being taken to church. At first, Seafood thought it was simply a protest towards churches — he knew a few bad ones, but mostly knew the good ones down in the Holy Kingdom of the Syhi, an island nation infamous for its horrible quality of life — but now...
He realized why he remembered it, & it only served to cause a few more tears to fall from his eyes, tears that he quickly wiped away with his sleeve again. Interesting, wasn't it, how Fate led the two boys to the same memory, the same tune, the same melody, the same song, everything the same, as though they were one person displaced in space & time but the same person nonetheless? They were Sousundowa Carême, yes, but that hardly meant anything considering how some of them hated each other, some loved each other, & some often forget the other even existed. But their sameness was different.

When Seafood looked up after his memory, he found himself in front of some sort of church, & he stumbled in, eventually finding a nice, secluded corner with a chair to sit, his expression grim as he continued to mull over everything that had happened.

[The Scarlet Eagle]

The Scarlet Eagle wrote:
"Yeah, my granddaughter and her husband helped the kid grow up, replies Joe. But when it comes to relations...
-Joe, stop it, interrupts Peter with a hand gesture. We all think it was kind of a dick move what the young Prince did when our grandchildren were here, but if it must happen then it will. Other places, other mores."



Aurelia, if she was honest, had no idea which incident they meant, until it dawned upon her: Mahmut had given their grandchildren a rather clear impression of who had power in Kyrenaia and who didn't. Captain al-Tabar had sung his praises for weeks!
Ironically, this was exactly the lesson, which Mahmut had needed to learn.
"Indeed, other places, other smores.", Aurelia said, smiling, "And that will be fun enough... Father and I are planned to visit a few foreign countries next year. Some of which will be... interesting."

The Americans did not know that Aurelia had not the same incident in mind. And if they had, they would have simply shrugged. 6 months had passed, after all.

"Oh, I don't doubt that they will be, replies Thomas with a small grin. Just bes sure to not praise too much a country when you visit another who do not like it. I remember having seen a few diplomats do it.
-And as always, you defused the situation with skill, continues Peter with a gratefu smile to his friend. And saved me a lot of headaches."

[Shamsiyya]

"Actually, neither.", Atif said, grinning, "We're actually boys from town - more or less, at least. Mered is, but Amir and I are from elsewhere. We are students at the Majlis Boarding School here in Sinope. Or rather, a bit outside of Sinope. All three of us form the Mobility Archery Team."
He grinned.
"Mobility Archery is a sport, where you ride onto a target and, at a set distance before it, dismount, then fire an arrow as quickly as you can - and hit, that's the important part - remount, and off you go towards the next target.", he explained. "If you stay in town for a bit, we can give you a demonstration!"

The first teen stepped forward, taking the dart, throwing with a grin.
He was mostly in for the fun. Sure, winning and getting free drinks would be awesome, but with how cheap drinks were in here... pocket change.
His dart flew with grace and poise - and almost hit centre, just barely, but clearly, in the ring outside of it. He grinned.
"Off for a good start.", the other teen said, then motioned for Maryam to go ahead, "Miss."

Layla nodded. "I can imagine it's a lot of fun! There's a similar thing where I'm from, but it involves target shooting with airguns, which you carry on your back while riding from target to target - it's pretty much a modified biathlon for countries that lack in snow."
She had a sip of her juice.
"Anyways, what brought me onto this swimming bar was just the opportunity to sail around again. I haven't really had a longer sailing trip since my service in the Qaranisa-Navy, and I've just needed some change after all these months I have essentially spent buried by books. And now I'm waiting for my master paper to be revised, and in the time being, I have some fun in here. I mean, Junaira is nice, and so is my actual hometown, Sahaouine - but I just wanted to see something entirely new."
Iska, involuntarily listening, swallowed one of her Adirnabul-is-nicer-anyways! comments down and started washing glasses.

Maryam was doing this just for fun, too - winning would surely be nice, but, since their boys' drinks wouldn't be expensive anyways, she had nothing to lose but a few Dirhams in worst case. She grinned back, then threw another dart.
It missed the center by a few centimeters.
"Looks like it's gonna be exciting, eh?"

[Lillorainen]

"The Schooner?" mentioned Zoe, "I saw it come in and its nice, if a little large, she's almost as wide as Luna is long, probably two meters in it" as she spoke she glanced over to Micky who was putting Jax onto the floor so the party can begin walking safely without the worry of some large cat choosing to take Jax as its very own form of kittybit snack. "Ingmar, have you seen the Geezer's Rest? we cruised past it and the other wider boat as we came in to berth and from the vantage point I think there was a commotion or something going on around them as they were drawing onlookers* although I am quite proud of the fact that Luna's the only coastal yacht here amongst the larger schooners, tall ships and clippers especially as typically the small yachts like Luna are generally coastal craft"

"c'mon Jax" remarks Micky in a soft voice and with a gentle double tug on the leash Jax was walking happily along although sometimes crossing over in front of Micky depending on what he wants to look at. The strangest behavious comes from when Zoe and Micky come to cross a street, Jax stops and sits down and waits, yes all this from a cat!

Zoe momentarily glanced round to see where Micky was only to find her walking along side Merle and Ratko as Zoe walked with Ingmar.
"Merle, We plan to get some Lamb for the barby, you guys okay with that?" Micky asks

---

*The crowd gathered was the onlookers and admirers however from the channel the gathering could easily be misunderstood as being something a little more sinister or rowdy.

The two officials in the Harbourmasters office kept true to their word, calling in the Caracal and occupying him with tastier snacks, so that their guests could leave in peace. He was not dog-trained, that was true, but he was raised well-enough as far as his owner was concerned.
Waving them goodbye, one remarked to the other: "They were nice. Hope they'll have fun!"
The other nodded, then they went back to work.

Jazar's Shop was a butcher's shop, a building bordering the Bazaar of Fishes and doing so more then just well. It was a fixed installation for most of the inhabitants of the Old Harbour Area and the students of the Merchant Navy Academy got their meat for their grilling sessions from there as well.
As if that wasn't enough of an endorsement already, the shop's interior also proudly displayed a letter of endorsement with the personal seal of Shayan-Ilkhan, the father of the currently reigning Dardan-Ilkhan.
The shop itself was in hands of the family, which originally founded the shop, for generations now.
On offer was everything the Kyrenaian Kitchen could do with meat and that freshly butchered, amongst it goat, sheep, mutton and chicken, but also a few pigs (not too common for Kyrenaia, but it wasn't a staple) - also present were, of course, fish.
Lots of it, from the high seas, not from the dirty harbour waters.
And everything there looked delicious!

Ingmar had nodded. "Geezer's Rest, yeah, I think I've seen her. But I have no idea what was going on there ..."
Merle had agreed with the plan. "Lamb sounds good!"
It would never cease to amaze the three sailors from Lillorainen, how Jax really listened to and obeyed every command at once - and sometimes didn't even have to be told any! A cat waiting at a street crossing was very unusual. Yet amazing.
They entered Jazar's Shop, indeed a butcher shop that offered various sorts of meat and fish. The former included the lamb they had agreed on getting for tonight, and even pig - not that common in Kyrenaia due to the inefficiency of breeding porcines regarding water consumption compared to other creatures; water supply was quite an issue in Kyrenaia's arid climate. This shop was rather an exception in terms of pig meat, as they had heard.
A letter was hanging out; although none of them three, and assumably neither Zoe and Micky, could read Kyrenaian, the seal indicated, that the letter must have read something along the line of, 'I was here, and I damn loved it! Greetings, the Ilkhan.'
Ratko grinned and nodded in approval. "There we go! Seems we've found our meat paradise."

[Danceria]

[spoiler=Quoteth]

Damir looked to his wife, a knowing look on his face.
Aynur nodded. "We can do one better.", she said and rose, "If you would excuse me for a moment, I need to make a call."

Fara gave a thin-lipped smile.
"You wouldn't impose.", she said, "After..." Then, a phone began to ring and Fara blushed lightly. "My apologies, that is mine. If you would excuse me for a moment?" And without waiting for a reply, she made a few steps away and took out her mobile phone, answering it. A short discussion in Kyrenaian followed, ending with her nodding. The only word they might catch was Saghir, not only due to the language difficulties but also since it was still a lively street as well. She ended with a smile and a kiss, then put the phone back, motioning to Fadia to come closer as she rejoined Edgar and Sabin. "Alright, we will accompany you to the Saghir Hammam... and there, we will meet with Aceus."

"While there, she will pull you into a setting, where the two of you can have a conversation between just the two of you, without anyone listening in. Heart to heart.", Aynur explained to Aceus, "When that is all said and done, and she still wants to see your face, I would be glad to see you and Dilara show us your skills."
Damir nodded. "Go... and may the Gods be with you.", he wished, nodding to Fara's Handmaiden, "Tamina will show you the way."

"May Fara favor me as much as your Gods do..." Aceus bowed. "And thank you again for your hospitality. With your leave?" he ventured, before being escorted by the handmaid into the city proper. "I might as well take whatever chance I am given...and I thank you for giving me that."

---

Edgar beamed while Sabin looked on with great concern. "It would definitely be lovely, that you were to escort us about this fine city." he would smile. "And to spend time together with one another. Glad to see that Aceus made a good impression on your parents, no doubt Prince Okan helped."

[Kuronami]

Mahmut smiled and nodded, slightly.
"Indeed there will be.", Ilia spoke about the parade, "And my Sayarfur will lead. So... if you want to watch it, then we should let you back to shore beforehand." He looked at his watch for a moment. "But we still have time before we must form up, so enjoy the cookies."
"And many great ships you will see! I can promise you as much!", Shirin agreed with a grin, "Mahmut and I will watch from the Merchant Navy Academy. Wanna come along, Yuki?"

"Ah good good." Yuzu took a cookie and Yuki smiled brightly "Yes I would love to! Well what about Haru and Yuzu--"

Yuzu cut Yuki off "Nah, you go on ahead, I want a front row spot so Yuki, you go ahead and have fun."

"Yeah I think I'll stick with Yuzu-chan. We'll all meet up later."

"Oh well, okay." Yuki responded. "In that case again, yes, very much I want to join you Shirin-san and Mahmut-sama."

[AHSCA]

"Indeed, there are many fish...", Atif said, "...and only one, that was like her."
He finished that round and brought his hands back to her spine, beginning the motion anew.
He wondered for a moment, then took bravery.
"Say, there's a concert of the Durra'ah Boys' Academy Big Band planned for 18:45.", he said and let a beat pass. "Want to go there with me? I'm pretty good at dancing!"

"Music and dancing, sounds lovely. I'd love to go." She figured it shouldn't be a problem, Marcella would likely insists she go. No doubt Marcella was going to want quality time with Aurelia for a while, especially if things didn't go well.

[Aurora Confederacy]

Ingmar had nodded. "Geezer's Rest, yeah, I think I've seen her. But I have no idea what was going on there ..."
Merle had agreed with the plan. "Lamb sounds good!"
It would never cease to amaze the three sailors from Lillorainen, how Jax really listened to and obeyed every command at once - and sometimes didn't even have to be told any! A cat waiting at a street crossing was very unusual. Yet amazing.
They entered Jazar's Shop, indeed a butcher shop that offered various sorts of meat and fish. The former included the lamb they had agreed on getting for tonight, and even pig - not that common in Kyrenaia due to the inefficiency of breeding porcines regarding water consumption compared to other creatures; water supply was quite an issue in Kyrenaia's arid climate. This shop was rather an exception in terms of pig meat, as they had heard.
A letter was hanging out; although none of them three, and assumably neither Zoe and Micky, could read Kyrenaian, the seal indicated, that the letter must have read something along the line of, 'I was here, and I damn loved it! Greetings, the Ilkhan.'
Ratko grinned and nodded in approval. "There we go! Seems we've found our meat paradise."

"in that case, Lamb it is then" replied Zoe who then caught sight of Ratko smiling "...something's caught your eye"

And yet as they walked down the street Jax was quite competantly walking to heel with Micky, (most of the time, as he likes to swap sides).

"We were going to bring some wine with us but we chose not to given that we had inclings that Kyrenaia is or has islamic heritage so probably illegal here so its probably going to be soft drinks" points out Micky, "something was reminded, we may need to stock up on water for the return trip, we have around half a tank of drinking water left"

Entering the butchers
Micky stayed outside for the butchers store was a place for food so a cat wandering inside would probably not be welcome and so Zoe went inside with the 3 Lillorainen sailors. Zoe then scanned the prices and pulled out a wallet from her pocket and spied her chance to speak to the store keeper, her request was simple and polite.

"Excuse me sir, one kilo of diced lamb, three legs of lamb, two beef stakes and do you deliver at all?" Zoe spoke in English but did consider asking in Arabic, not the best language she understands but she does know a few words given that when she worked aboard a long distance container ship she gained a bit of knowledge of the language, not enough to have a conversation but enough to ask if someone speaks English or say hello, Kyrenian however is not a language she is fluent in to put mildly.

Walking into the shade, the tattoo on her arm begins to release energy in the form of a glow as like illuminous watches the ink in the tattoo absorbs light and when the sun goes down releases energy in the form of a soft blue glow. Outside however Micky waits patiently, sitting on the window ledge with Jax standing on his back legs with his front paws on Micky's knees, occasionally leaning forward to gently take a kittybit off Micky

[Lillorainen]

And yet as they walked down the street Jax was quite competantly walking to heel with Micky, (most of the time, as he likes to swap sides).

"We were going to bring some wine with us but we chose not to given that we had inclings that Kyrenaia is or has islamic heritage so probably illegal here so its probably going to be soft drinks" points out Micky, "something was reminded, we may need to stock up on water for the return trip, we have around half a tank of drinking water left"

Entering the butchers
Micky stayed outside for the butchers store was a place for food so a cat wandering inside would probably not be welcome and so Zoe went inside with the 3 Lillorainen sailors. Zoe then scanned the prices and pulled out a wallet from her pocket and spied her chance to speak to the store keeper, her request was simple and polite.

"Excuse me sir, one kilo of diced lamb, three legs of lamb, two beef stakes and do you deliver at all?" Zoe spoke in English but did consider asking in Arabic, not the best language she understands but she does know a few words given that when she worked aboard a long distance container ship she gained a bit of knowledge of the language, not enough to have a conversation but enough to ask if someone speaks English or say hello, Kyrenian however is not a language she is fluent in to put mildly.

Walking into the shade, the tattoo on her arm begins to release energy in the form of a glow as like illuminous watches the ink in the tattoo absorbs light and when the sun goes down releases energy in the form of a soft blue glow. Outside however Micky waits patiently, sitting on the window ledge with Jax standing on his back legs with his front paws on Micky's knees, occasionally leaning forward to gently take a kittybit off Micky

In minds, Ingmar calculated the amount of meat necessary. Zoe's order was fine, he decided quickly.
Unbeknownst to the three Lillo-Sailors, Zoe was considering asking in Arabic - luckily, she didn't. One didn't have to have a master's degree at Linguistics to know that the Kyrenaian language was about as much intellegible to High Arabic as German was with Icelandic - there was a bit of shared vocabulary, but that was already the end of story.
Ratko turned to Micky and whispered in a low tone that only the both Aurorans couldd hear it, "By the way, just for your information - Kyrenaians aren't Muslims, and they have never been. They worship their own, domestic pantheon, so they're basically pagans - just like most of us Lillos are. So, while they seem to have some regulations on the sales, maybe regularly, maybe also just today, for security reasons, alcohol by its own is perfectly legal in here. Just like these are." He pointed at the clearly visible pig meat. "If you wish to have a drink to the barby, we have some reserves." He snorted. "We're Lillos, after all."
The thing with the water was a good point, though. There were also reserves of drinking water on the Milenka.

[Aurora Confederacy]

In minds, Ingmar calculated the amount of meat necessary. Zoe's order was fine, he decided quickly.
Unbeknownst to the three Lillo-Sailors, Zoe was considering asking in Arabic - luckily, she didn't. One didn't have to have a master's degree at Linguistics to know that the Kyrenaian language was about as much intellegible to High Arabic as German was with Icelandic - there was a bit of shared vocabulary, but that was already the end of story.
Ratko turned to Micky and whispered in a low tone that only the both Aurorans could hear it, "By the way, just for your information - Kyrenaians aren't Muslims, and they have never been. They worship their own, domestic pantheon, so they're basically pagans - just like most of us Lillos are. So, while they seem to have some regulations on the sales, maybe regularly, maybe also just today, for security reasons, alcohol by its own is perfectly legal in here. Just like these are." He pointed at the clearly visible pig meat. "If you wish to have a drink to the barby, we have some reserves." He snorted. "We're Lillos, after all."
The thing with the water was a good point, though. There were also reserves of drinking water on the Milenka.

"aaaah, gotcha" replied Micky in a quiet voice, "...we have been using a reverse osmosis pump to get water to drink when supplies run low, hopefully we won't need to take your water but thanks for the offer you have a long way to sail like we have and water is precious. In that case we may well get some drinks on the way back to the boat, what is it to be?" asks Micky as Jax decides to jump up onto Micky's lap.

It was at that point that Zoe caught sight of the sausages on offer, "two strings of bratwurst or spicy sausages please..." she asks, "...and have you got any still drinking water?, oh make it two kilo of dicedays lamb please "

[Kyrenaia]

Erika, being Erika, immediately slipped find said terrarium. She coughed and tapped on the shoulder of one of the employees. "Sir, where can I find the terrarium with purple lights pulsing in it? A friend of mine mentioned it, said I would wet my panties if I tapped on the glass. I personally doubt it."

The clerk looked at Erika with a grin, then up, where Fadia was approaching behind her, keeping an eye out - he thought, that he recognized her, but he wasn't sure from where exactly. The young woman nodded.
"Your friend is most likely right.", he said and motioned Erika, and by extension Fadia, to follow him deeper into the shop. There were many animals on display, in aquariums and terrariums and, in one corner, even sitting freely on cushions, for putting some of them into cages was not nice. In that corner, a mother was watching over her child playing with a number of Smaller Kyrenaian Caracals. Cages were present, but empty, only used for transport.
That was not the important part.
Deeper inside of the shop, it got darker, as they approached a terrarium deep in the shop, dark to the point of absoluteness. There, a terrarium was placed, a large one.
One did not see many things in there, except for a pulsing light, blue and purple and pulsing, hypnotizing, alluring, deep inside. It was mesmerizing.
As soon as they were in front of the terrarium, the clerk made sure, that both of them were standing directly in front of the terrarium, looking at the light... and then he raised a finger to tap on the glass.
A blink later, a creature was slamming against the pane of glass, a white, squat creature with no eyes, hand-like appendages with suckers holding it to the glass. It was around a metre long and while it was glued to the glass, it was not only glued to the glass by its suckers, but also by its mouth.
The light, by now totally purple, was illuminating a maw of several rows of very, very sharp looking teeth, which dripped with salvia and venom. The skin had a shimmering coat of a sticky fluid on it as well.
It sucked on the pane of glass, the clerk grinning.
"We call those Alkuhuntum, also known as the Cavephantom.", he explained as the initial shock had worn off of Fadia.
"I know that...", the Princess, which had been a bit startled, said, then turned to Erika, "She didn't."

Damir looked to his wife, a knowing look on his face.
Aynur nodded. "We can do one better.", she said and rose, "If you would excuse me for a moment, I need to make a call."

Fara gave a thin-lipped smile.
"You wouldn't impose.", she said, "After..." Then, a phone began to ring and Fara blushed lightly. "My apologies, that is mine. If you would excuse me for a moment?" And without waiting for a reply, she made a few steps away and took out her mobile phone, answering it. A short discussion in Kyrenaian followed, ending with her nodding. The only word they might catch was Saghir, not only due to the language difficulties but also since it was still a lively street as well. She ended with a smile and a kiss, then put the phone back, motioning to Fadia to come closer as she rejoined Edgar and Sabin. "Alright, we will accompany you to the Saghir Hammam... and there, we will meet with Aceus."

"While there, she will pull you into a setting, where the two of you can have a conversation between just the two of you, without anyone listening in. Heart to heart.", Aynur explained to Aceus, "When that is all said and done, and she still wants to see your face, I would be glad to see you and Dilara show us your skills."
Damir nodded. "Go... and may the Gods be with you.", he wished, nodding to Fara's Handmaiden, "Tamina will show you the way."

"May Fara favor me as much as your Gods do..." Aceus bowed. "And thank you again for your hospitality. With your leave?" he ventured, before being escorted by the handmaid into the city proper. "I might as well take whatever chance I am given...and I thank you for giving me that."

---

Edgar beamed while Sabin looked on with great concern. "It would definitely be lovely, that you were to escort us about this fine city." he would smile. "And to spend time together with one another. Glad to see that Aceus made a good impression on your parents, no doubt Prince Okan helped."

While Aceus was beginning the long trek to the Saghir Hammam, and with Fadia and Erika looking at the Cavephantom, Fara looked to Edgar.
"Don't get your hopes up.", she told them, knowing that her parents were not too fond of Aceus.
As the two girls returned, Fara turned and led them off, towards the Saghir Hammam, a relatively small structure of sand stone, the main building and two wings enclosing a small courtyard, which was laid out with a mosaic depicting a number of sea animals.
Fara led them into the Main Building, took care of everything, including payment, and then led them into the hallway to the right. It was short, with two doors to either side. Fara turned to the right and motioned to the left one.
"That's the men's changing room.", she explained, "Undress completely, pick a wicker basket, put your clothing in it and take your towel out. We will meet again in the hallway after the second door."
Once the men entered the changing room, they would indeed find shelves with wicker baskets, some already filled with clothes, but quite a few with only blue, silken towels. A small guide to the dos and don'ts of a Hammam was posted in both changing rooms. Small lockers allowed to store valuables.
Around five minutes later, Fara exited the women's changing room to a second hallway between the men's and her own changing room - the observant visitor might notice, that there was just a wall separating them from the first hallway.
Fara only wore her towel, her objects of value in small lockers.

"Let's hope he indeed does find his way..."

"I... don't know what's gotten into him. Maybe it's because of what happened earlier," Spiciness said, turning his head away as he thought, "But if he's insisting on being alone... I guess I do have to let him be. I just wish that he would be more clear with me. But anyway, awards ceremony, let's get going to watch it, right...?" He seemed less energized than before, especially as the seafood hotpot began to fade away, the former of the carried away in the crowd along with the (platonic) love of his life. Soon, the only thing left was a faint nondescript spiciness, a scent that seemed dispassionate without his friend's seafood to accompany it & grace the nose with their combined deliciousness, their combined temptation. They were supposed to be entwined, like two lovers in each other's grasps, sharing their little delights in their own little world, & they would come out eventually in unity, everything about them now one.
That Spiciness was robbed of his friend — for some absurd reason no less — seemed to have taken a toll on him, & he hardly seemed to be the same boy without him. Nonetheless, as they progressed to the ceremony, he was beginning to quietly whistle out a tune:
Take me to church.

Seafood continued to wander through the crowd in an almost drunken daze, keeping his head down as he brushed it all over with his hands, as though trying to rub away the sin from his mind. No! I can't... I just can't! I can't possibly love him, I-I must just be acting delusional after Dana hit me, right? he thought, But... I can't stop myself! I need him... I need him... but I can't admit it to him all of a sudden here, oh cod, I'd get us both beaten! Would he even accept me? He brushed away his tears with his sleeve. All right, maybe I am just being delusional... I just need a few more hours before Dana's Shield Smash wears off, I think. I hope. I just know that he'll never accept me if I try to tell him. Tell him that I loved everything about him, oh crab claws...! What to do, what to do, I need something to keep my mind occupied, or else...!

Too late, far far too late. His mind was flooded with all the memories he had made throughout their loves, flooded by their shenanigans & love, flooded so that even seafood like him was going to drown in that endless deluge of old memories with a fresh coat of paint. Suddenly, Seafood found himself overwhelmed by nostalgia as he remembered each grab, each joking hug, each genuine hug, each meal masterpiece they crafted together in Sousundowa's kitchen, pushing one another & nearly tipping over their dishes to the chagrin of the more serious forms.
Yet he found his sweetest memory to be a late night one day at Sousundowa's cramped, if cozy, restaurant. The two boys, with only Dana & Roger, were left by the other forms, who needed the two of them to stay for reasons that Seafood could no longer remember. What he could remember was Spiciness's performance on the piano that day — despite coming off as rather brutish & uncultured, he was a talented pianist & singer, & often entertained the guests when he wasn't needed in the kitchen.

Seafood could remember watching from the counter near the front with Dana & Roger, all three mesmerized by his passion, but his friend especially. Only now, the tint was pink rather than white, & Seafood could only think of how amazing his friend was with each yell of the lyrics, each tap of the piano, reverberating through the empty restaurant with the same sort of hot passion Spiciness did everything with. He remembered the way he would practically throw himself back to yell out each amen, the guilt when he professed his supposed sickness, the bitter snark as he mocked being taken to church. At first, Seafood thought it was simply a protest towards churches — he knew a few bad ones, but mostly good ones down in the Holy Kingdom of the Syhi, an island nation infamous for its horrible quality of life — but now...
He realized why he remembered it, & it only served to cause a few more tears to fall from his eyes, tears that he quickly wiped away with his sleeve again. Interesting, wasn't it, how Fate led the two boys to the same memory, the same tune, the same melody, the same song, everything the same, as though they were one person displaced in space & time but the same person nonetheless? They were Sousundowa Carême, yes, but that hardly meant anything considering how some of them hated each other, some loved each other, & some often forget the other even existed. But their sameness was different.

When Seafood looked up after his memory, he found himself in front of some sort of church, & he stumbled in, eventually finding a nice, secluded corner with a chair to sit, his expression grim as he continued to mull over everything that had happened.

The girls knew no way to comfort him right now, but when they were in the Hammam, there was an option. The redhead especially was quite good with massages...
By now, she pitied him.
And by now, the third vessel was docked and the award ceremony was about to begin, with the last few preparations being completed. Only a few more moments, then it would begin.
The girls took Spiciness and put him in their midst, between one of the twins and the redhead, who smiled at him as she put an arm around his shoulder. They even had first row spots.

The 'some sort of church' turned out to be a temple built in honour of Han-'Ilat.
It was not a large one, but a rather small one, but a pair of priests was still present. They were sitting in front of the altar, on chairs of their own, conversing in Kyrenaian. As the doors were open and the two men were the only ones present, slipping in was easy.
Other then the two men's chairs, chairs were in a rather short supply, stools, however, stood in basically every corner, so finding an opportunity to sit was easy. Both men did not realize, that they had new company or someone, who might need their assistance.

The Americans did not know that Aurelia had not the same incident in mind. And if they had, they would have simply shrugged. 6 months had passed, after all.

"Oh, I don't doubt that they will be, replies Thomas with a small grin. Just bes sure to not praise too much a country when you visit another who do not like it. I remember having seen a few diplomats do it.
-And as always, you defused the situation with skill, continues Peter with a gratefu smile to his friend. And saved me a lot of headaches."

Aurelia nodded.
"I appreciate the advice.", she said, "But that one goes without saying. I might be young and lack some experience, but I am not stupid." She let a beat pass. "One of the visits planned, for example, will be to Lux Pulchrae, to an acquaintance of your son."
She smiled at Marcella.
"And of ours as well.", she said, "King Cleone, we met him in Camelone."

"Music and dancing, sounds lovely. I'd love to go." She figured it shouldn't be a problem, Marcella would likely insists she go. No doubt Marcella was going to want quality time with Aurelia for a while, especially if things didn't go well.

Atif grinned.
He had a date tonight!
"We meet at 18:30 at the Gunsmith's Court?", he asked and couldn't help but let his grin widen even further, continuing the massage. "I'll invite you."

Layla nodded. "I can imagine it's a lot of fun! There's a similar thing where I'm from, but it involves target shooting with airguns, which you carry on your back while riding from target to target - it's pretty much a modified biathlon for countries that lack in snow."
She had a sip of her juice.
"Anyways, what brought me onto this swimming bar was just the opportunity to sail around again. I haven't really had a longer sailing trip since my service in the Qaranisa-Navy, and I've just needed some change after all these months I have essentially spent buried by books. And now I'm waiting for my master paper to be revised, and in the time being, I have some fun in here. I mean, Junaira is nice, and so is my actual hometown, Sahaouine - but I just wanted to see something entirely new."
Iska, involuntarily listening, swallowed one of her Adirnabul-is-nicer-anyways! comments down and started washing glasses.

Maryam was doing this just for fun, too - winning would surely be nice, but, since their boys' drinks wouldn't be expensive anyways, she had nothing to lose but a few Dirhams in worst case. She grinned back, then threw another dart.
It missed the center by a few centimeters.
"Looks like it's gonna be exciting, eh?"

Atif smiled and nodded.
"I know the feeling.", he said, "The lads and I get around quite a bit within Kyrenaia, but sometimes, you need something else then our wonderful lands... that's usually around summer break. Sometimes, we make the trip to the Free Lands for their tournament season. They don't practice Mobility Archery, but normal Archery and the principle's the same. We usually go home with a participant's medal."

"Indeed.", the second teen said and picked up a dart.
He was a confident one - maybe overly confident. The Gods, apparently, did not like that, as he threw.
The dart got stuck in the second to outermost ring.
"Dang.", the teen said and left the throwing spot, frowning.

Mahmut smiled and nodded, slightly.
"Indeed there will be.", Ilia spoke about the parade, "And my Sayarfur will lead. So... if you want to watch it, then we should let you back to shore beforehand." He looked at his watch for a moment. "But we still have time before we must form up, so enjoy the cookies."
"And many great ships you will see! I can promise you as much!", Shirin agreed with a grin, "Mahmut and I will watch from the Merchant Navy Academy. Wanna come along, Yuki?"

"Ah good good." Yuzu took a cookie and Yuki smiled brightly "Yes I would love to! Well what about Haru and Yuzu--"

Yuzu cut Yuki off "Nah, you go on ahead, I want a front row spot so Yuki, you go ahead and have fun."

"Yeah I think I'll stick with Yuzu-chan. We'll all meet up later."

"Oh well, okay." Yuki responded. "In that case again, yes, very much I want to join you Shirin-san and Mahmut-sama."

Very well aware of the honorifics of -san, -sama and -chan, not due to Anime, but to actual studies, Shirin smiled at Yuki. "The pleasure is ours, but please, the -san is not necessary, Yuki-chan. Just call me Shirin... or Nechan."
The last one was accompanied by a wink, hopefully telling, that Shirin was joking.
She would be fine called by her first name, but being called Yuki's older sister by her was not necessary.

...or will it?!

Ingmar had nodded. "Geezer's Rest, yeah, I think I've seen her. But I have no idea what was going on there ..."
Merle had agreed with the plan. "Lamb sounds good!"
It would never cease to amaze the three sailors from Lillorainen, how Jax really listened to and obeyed every command at once - and sometimes didn't even have to be told any! A cat waiting at a street crossing was very unusual. Yet amazing.
They entered Jazar's Shop, indeed a butcher shop that offered various sorts of meat and fish. The former included the lamb they had agreed on getting for tonight, and even pig - not that common in Kyrenaia due to the inefficiency of breeding porcines regarding water consumption compared to other creatures; water supply was quite an issue in Kyrenaia's arid climate. This shop was rather an exception in terms of pig meat, as they had heard.
A letter was hanging out; although none of them three, and assumably neither Zoe and Micky, could read Kyrenaian, the seal indicated, that the letter must have read something along the line of, 'I was here, and I damn loved it! Greetings, the Ilkhan.'
Ratko grinned and nodded in approval. "There we go! Seems we've found our meat paradise."

"in that case, Lamb it is then" replied Zoe who then caught sight of Ratko smiling "...something's caught your eye"

And yet as they walked down the street Jax was quite competantly walking to heel with Micky, (most of the time, as he likes to swap sides).

"We were going to bring some wine with us but we chose not to given that we had inclings that Kyrenaia is or has islamic heritage so probably illegal here so its probably going to be soft drinks" points out Micky, "something was reminded, we may need to stock up on water for the return trip, we have around half a tank of drinking water left"

Entering the butchers
Micky stayed outside for the butchers store was a place for food so a cat wandering inside would probably not be welcome and so Zoe went inside with the 3 Lillorainen sailors. Zoe then scanned the prices and pulled out a wallet from her pocket and spied her chance to speak to the store keeper, her request was simple and polite.

"Excuse me sir, one kilo of diced lamb, three legs of lamb, two beef stakes and do you deliver at all?" Zoe spoke in English but did consider asking in Arabic, not the best language she understands but she does know a few words given that when she worked aboard a long distance container ship she gained a bit of knowledge of the language, not enough to have a conversation but enough to ask if someone speaks English or say hello, Kyrenian however is not a language she is fluent in to put mildly.

Walking into the shade, the tattoo on her arm begins to release energy in the form of a glow as like illuminous watches the ink in the tattoo absorbs light and when the sun goes down releases energy in the form of a soft blue glow. Outside however Micky waits patiently, sitting on the window ledge with Jax standing on his back legs with his front paws on Micky's knees, occasionally leaning forward to gently take a kittybit off Micky

In minds, Ingmar calculated the amount of meat necessary. Zoe's order was fine, he decided quickly.
Unbeknownst to the three Lillo-Sailors, Zoe was considering asking in Arabic - luckily, she didn't. One didn't have to have a master's degree at Linguistics to know that the Kyrenaian language was about as much intellegible to High Arabic as German was with Icelandic - there was a bit of shared vocabulary, but that was already the end of story.
Ratko turned to Micky and whispered in a low tone that only the both Aurorans could hear it, "By the way, just for your information - Kyrenaians aren't Muslims, and they have never been. They worship their own, domestic pantheon, so they're basically pagans - just like most of us Lillos are. So, while they seem to have some regulations on the sales, maybe regularly, maybe also just today, for security reasons, alcohol by its own is perfectly legal in here. Just like these are." He pointed at the clearly visible pig meat. "If you wish to have a drink to the barby, we have some reserves." He snorted. "We're Lillos, after all."
The thing with the water was a good point, though. There were also reserves of drinking water on the Milenka.

"aaaah, gotcha" replied Micky in a quiet voice, "...we have been using a reverse osmosis pump to get water to drink when supplies run low, hopefully we won't need to take your water but thanks for the offer you have a long way to sail like we have and water is precious. In that case we may well get some drinks on the way back to the boat, what is it to be?" asks Micky as Jax decides to jump up onto Micky's lap.

It was at that point that Zoe caught sight of the sausages on offer, "two strings of bratwurst or spicy sausages please..." she asks, "...and have you got any still drinking water?, oh make it two kilo of dicedays lamb please "

The clerk nodded, repeating in working English: "Two kilo lamb, three lamb legs, two beef steaks, plus two strings of sausage.", he spoke and began to collect, "As for the sausages, I can give you one of normal sausages and one of spiciness, if you want? They cost the same, so don't worry about that."
He waved another clerk over, this one younger and most likely an apprentice and gave him an order in Kyrenaian - the apprentice nodded, then went off.
"We do deliver, but only if someone is at home.", the clerk continued, "Or comes along... I take, that you are sailors?" He motioned to his right, down towards the fish section. "We have a selection of salted fish for long trips."
The apprentice returned with two sixpacks of two litre plastic bottles, one in each hand, filled with clean, still drinking water. Under his arm, he had cooler bags.

[The Scarlet Eagle]

Aurelia nodded.
"I appreciate the advice.", she said, "But that one goes without saying. I might be young and lack some experience, but I am not stupid." She let a beat pass. "One of the visits planned, for example, will be to Lux Pulchrae, to an acquaintance of your son."
She smiled at Marcella.
"And of ours as well.", she said, "King Cleone, we met him in Camelone."

"Look Aurelia, replies Peter. If it must happen then it will happen. At our age, we're past caring all of this political stress and shenanigans.If Anax does not like the man, that's his right. Besides, it's not like the Empire had something to envy to thie Kingdom, right guys? he asks to his friends.
-I couldn't agree more with you, replies Frank with a small chuckle as he takes out a small flask from his vest and takes a swig from it. Anyway, Aurelia, just be sure to not talk about this visit when you'll come to us in March. If we must establish relations with Lux, I believe it will only be in a long, long time.
-Uh, if we had rolled over them during the Italy Campaign and the Provence landing in 1944, maybe we wouldn't have this discussion, mutters Joe.

[Shamsiyya]

Atif smiled and nodded.
"I know the feeling.", he said, "The lads and I get around quite a bit within Kyrenaia, but sometimes, you need something else then our wonderful lands... that's usually around summer break. Sometimes, we make the trip to the Free Lands for their tournament season. They don't practice Mobility Archery, but normal Archery and the principle's the same. We usually go home with a participant's medal."

"Indeed.", the second teen said and picked up a dart.
He was a confident one - maybe overly confident. The Gods, apparently, did not like that, as he threw.
The dart got stuck in the second to outermost ring.
"Dang.", the teen said and left the throwing spot, frowning.

Layla had to grin. "Isn't a participant's medal usually the highest award you're able to receive when trying to beat the Selkie at Horse Racing, Archery, or Horse Archery?"
From what she had heard, only very few competitors managed not to end up as, quite literally, an also-ran in the Free Lands.
She let a beat pass, then she told, "A few years ago, our national football team had a friendly match against the national team of Lillorainen, and I took a plane to Pontrath just to watch it live. Well, the result didn't exactly fit my bias, we lost three to one - but it was a nice experience to see their football culture in action. We do have our own in Shamsiyya, yes, but it's simply not the same. There were quite a few very funny things I've seen there, with fans from both countries. Maybe I have the chance to see such a game again."
She had another sip of juice, then grinned, with a trace of mischief in her dark, brown eyes. "And then, our revenge will follow."

Maryam was quite amused when the overly confident teen slammed the dart into the second but outermost ring.
The Gods punished small sins at once.
"Maybe next time" - she said, then turned to the other teen. "If I recall correctly, it's your turn now."

[Aurora Confederacy]

The clerk nodded, repeating in working English: "Two kilo lamb, three lamb legs, two beef steaks, plus two strings of sausage.", he spoke and began to collect, "As for the sausages, I can give you one of normal sausages and one of spiciness, if you want? They cost the same, so don't worry about that."
He waved another clerk over, this one younger and most likely an apprentice and gave him an order in Kyrenaian - the apprentice nodded, then went off.
"We do deliver, but only if someone is at home.", the clerk continued, "Or comes along... I take, that you are sailors?" He motioned to his right, down towards the fish section. "We have a selection of salted fish for long trips."
The apprentice returned with two sixpacks of two litre plastic bottles, one in each hand, filled with clean, still drinking water. Under his arm, he had cooler bags.

"Yes, delivery will be great, I will ensure that someone will be in to receive the delivery" replies Zoe, glancing over to Micky before turning back to the butcher, "yes We're sailors although off different boats" Zoe cast her eye over the fish, "...have you got any Ray fillets?" she asks, taking the cooler bags before pulling her wallet from out of her combat style pants.

Zoe momentarily turns back to Micky, "Micky, can you head back to the Luna to recieve a delivery?" she asks.

"Sure, you keeping Jax?" Micky replies. Jax currently curled up on Micky's lap as she sits on the window sill

"yeah, He could do with the exersise" Answers Zoe before turning to the butcher, "...so how much is all that?" she asks, "and the delivery address, Luna Mysteria, Sinopje harbour, adjacent to Milenka" Zoe then pulls out a pen and note pad from her pocket and draws a rough but fairly accurate map of how to find the little Luna Mysteria which is probably blocked in by other skippers, only time will find that out.

Zoe then turns to Ingmar, "have you ever tried Skate like manta or stingray?" she asks

[AHSCA]

Atif grinned.
He had a date tonight!
"We meet at 18:30 at the Gunsmith's Court?", he asked and couldn't help but let his grin widen even further, continuing the massage. "I'll invite you."

"18:30, Gunsmith's Court." She repeated. "It's a date!" she smiled at him. She did pack something kind of nice so she wouldn't have to be in uniform or look like she walked right off the beach. Perfect night with a seemingly perfect guy.

Aurelia nodded.
"I appreciate the advice.", she said, "But that one goes without saying. I might be young and lack some experience, but I am not stupid." She let a beat pass. "One of the visits planned, for example, will be to Lux Pulchrae, to an acquaintance of your son."
She smiled at Marcella.
"And of ours as well.", she said, "King Cleone, we met him in Camelone."

"Look Aurelia, replies Peter. If it must happen then it will happen. At our age, we're past caring all of this political stress and shenanigans.If Anax does not like the man, that's his right. Besides, it's not like the Empire had something to envy to thie Kingdom, right guys? he asks to his friends.
-I couldn't agree more with you, replies Frank with a small chuckle as he takes out a small flask from his vest and takes a swig from it. Anyway, Aurelia, just be sure to not talk about this visit when you'll come to us in March. If we must establish relations with Lux, I believe it will only be in a long, long time.
-Uh, if we had rolled over them during the Italy Campaign and the Provence landing in 1944, maybe we wouldn't have this discussion, mutters Joe.

Marcella listened on to Aurelia's confidence, that was the girl she fell in love with all right. "I'm certain we will find a way to work it all out together." she nodded concurring.

[Danceria]

While Aceus was beginning the long trek to the Saghir Hammam, and with Fadia and Erika looking at the Cavephantom, Fara looked to Edgar.
"Don't get your hopes up.", she told them, knowing that her parents were not too fond of Aceus.
As the two girls returned, Fara turned and led them off, towards the Saghir Hammam, a relatively small structure of sand stone, the main building and two wings enclosing a small courtyard, which was laid out with a mosaic depicting a number of sea animals.
Fara led them into the Main Building, took care of everything, including payment, and then led them into the hallway to the right. It was short, with two doors to either side. Fara turned to the right and motioned to the left one.
"That's the men's changing room.", she explained, "Undress completely, pick a wicker basket, put your clothing in it and take your towel out. We will meet again in the hallway after the second door."
Once the men entered the changing room, they would indeed find shelves with wicker baskets, some already filled with clothes, but quite a few with only blue, silken towels. A small guide to the dos and don'ts of a Hammam was posted in both changing rooms. Small lockers allowed to store valuables.
Around five minutes later, Fara exited the women's changing room to a second hallway between the men's and her own changing room - the observant visitor might notice, that there was just a wall separating them from the first hallway.
Fara only wore her towel, her objects of value in small lockers.

"Well, with due respect I must keep my hopes up." the blond Dancerian prince would explain. "I have faith in my cousin's ability to explain and conduct himself, I have faith in your Lordly Parents ability to undertand and show mercy, and I have faith even in you." he would smile bemusedly. "I'd rather be overly hopeful than a pessimist. It earns better friends. Besides, this is a festival of victory, not a somber occasion. So pardon me while I get into the festive spirit and take in all the sights that this place has to offer. Let's exeunt, Princess!"

Edgar happily chatted and coached his shy twin on the proper etiquette for a Hammam, and making comparisons to the various onsens and other public baths that Edgar had visited in the past. "He's a bit shy," Edgar would explain. "Sabin hits the gym often as a professional mixed martial artist, so the biggest culture shock would be an absence of excessive physical activity and it being co-ed. I'd reason there would be smaller and more secluded areas for you to be in, if you get too uncomfortable." "No, no it's fine..." Sabin sighed. "As the responsible one here, I'll just make sure you don't get too friendly with the locals."

After that exchange a second would occur, this time in Sindarin. To the observant, and the learned, it went something like this.

"<<Ah, Sabin!>>" Edgar would begin. "<<Just because you're the designated backup doesn't mean you have to be a stick in the mud. You've been glaring as many daggers to Fara as she has been to us.>>" The larger of the two gentlemen would sigh. "<<It's because I'm more sensitive to her injury, and seem to understand what's going on more than you.>>" Edgar raised his eyebrow and scoffed. "<<Oh ye of little faith, you think I don't realize that Aceus told Fara about Erika, but the lass is Dancerian through and through. Erika would accept Fara if Fara is willing to accept Erika...the Kyrenaian just needs to get over her own stubbornness.>>"

"<<Still...>>" Sabin fiddled with the wicker basket. "<<I just have a bad feeling about this, that Fara might try something on Erika out of jealousy...you know what the doctors said about her condition right?>>" A pregnant pause would fill the room, coexisting with any steam that may have found their way from the baths proper. "<<Look, Sab...>>" Edgar sat down next to him. "<<If she can't love Aceus in spite of his flaws, much like he tried to do for her, then she's no good for him. Simple as that. Friends should allow themselves to drop their masks, and at least around Aceus, she won't have a dull moment...>>" he playfully punched the gargantuan man's shoulder. "<<We'll just keep an eye on them, you keep an eye on Erika and I'll watch this Megiddo dame. Trust me, I know how to decline a girl, and I don't think the Kyrenaians would mind if family stays loyal. Bro-code and all.>>" he paused, then chuckled. "<<Aside from the yellow press. Now come on, we've kept her waiting long enough.>>"

The duo emerged from the changing room, ironically the taller and more muscle-bound seeming pensive while his long haired and lithe compatriot practically beamed with confidence and bravado. "Well, Fara, care to show a few foreigners the finer points of the Hammam. We're be ready when you are."

[Kyrenaia]

Layla had to grin. "Isn't a participant's medal usually the highest award you're able to receive when trying to beat the Selkie at Horse Racing, Archery, or Horse Archery?"
From what she had heard, only very few competitors managed not to end up as, quite literally, an also-ran in the Free Lands.
She let a beat pass, then she told, "A few years ago, our national football team had a friendly match against the national team of Lillorainen, and I took a plane to Pontrath just to watch it live. Well, the result didn't exactly fit my bias, we lost three to one - but it was a nice experience to see their football culture in action. We do have our own in Shamsiyya, yes, but it's simply not the same. There were quite a few very funny things I've seen there, with fans from both countries. Maybe I have the chance to see such a game again."
She had another sip of juice, then grinned, with a trace of mischief in her dark, brown eyes. "And then, our revenge will follow."

Maryam was quite amused when the overly confident teen slammed the dart into the second but outermost ring.
The Gods punished small sins at once.
"Maybe next time" - she said, then turned to the other teen. "If I recall correctly, it's your turn now."

Atif grinned, nodding.
"Don't we all know that feeling?", he said and leaned forward slightly, "Every time the Old Academies fight for a trophy, we cheer for the DBA or the AKGA, both in Megido, and our cheers ring far and wide! But still, every time the Sultana Basma Cup is on, we still cheer - and our lads loose."
He was enraged.
"Most of the time, HGA or TBA win these days, because of their Selkie and her training methods - effective, one has to give them that.", he calmed, "But in the end, we will avenge the decades of loosing!"

The cocky, but stunted teen made room for his friend, who threw his dart with little preparation - and hit close to his first one.
With a satisfied nod, he made way for Maryam.

"Yes, delivery will be great, I will ensure that someone will be in to receive the delivery" replies Zoe, glancing over to Micky before turning back to the butcher, "yes We're sailors although off different boats" Zoe cast her eye over the fish, "...have you got any Ray fillets?" she asks, taking the cooler bags before pulling her wallet from out of her combat style pants.

Zoe momentarily turns back to Micky, "Micky, can you head back to the Luna to recieve a delivery?" she asks.

"Sure, you keeping Jax?" Micky replies. Jax currently curled up on Micky's lap as she sits on the window sill

"yeah, He could do with the exersise" Answers Zoe before turning to the butcher, "...so how much is all that?" she asks, "and the delivery address, Luna Mysteria, Sinopje harbour, adjacent to Milenka" Zoe then pulls out a pen and note pad from her pocket and draws a rough but fairly accurate map of how to find the little Luna Mysteria which is probably blocked in by other skippers, only time will find that out.

Zoe then turns to Ingmar, "have you ever tried Skate like manta or stingray?" she asks

"Sorry, we're out of stingray, but we do have a bit of manta.", the clerk said and began to tally up, nodding to his apprentice. "Follow him."
The younger butcher led them to a showcase, where, on ice, the few remaining filets were presented. It was half a dozen and they were of good quality - not as high quality as the meat, but good.
"The total, not including the stingray, would be 59 Barqas.", the clerk said after tallying every bit of meat up, "Delivery is on the house and we do take credit cards, if you want to use that option."

"18:30, Gunsmith's Court." She repeated. "It's a date!" she smiled at him. She did pack something kind of nice so she wouldn't have to be in uniform or look like she walked right off the beach. Perfect night with a seemingly perfect guy.

Marcella listened on to Aurelia's confidence, that was the girl she fell in love with all right. "I'm certain we will find a way to work it all out together." she nodded concurring.

Atif grinned behind her back, then decided to o all in.
He reached around her frame, avoided her breasts and hugged her from behind.
"I hope, that I am not overstepping any bounds, Asuna...", he whispered into her ear, "...but please allow me this before we continue with the massage."
With that, he kissed her onto her cheek.

Aurelia's own reply to the old Emperor and his friends was cut short by Marcella.
She smiled - that was one of the things she loved about her: Her unrelenting positive thinking. Even when staring down the metaphorical Main Artillery of an equally metaphorical Old Dreadnought, she had thought positively...
...and made it possible for her to go through with everything.
"I am sure, that we will.", she said, smiling softly.

While Aceus was beginning the long trek to the Saghir Hammam, and with Fadia and Erika looking at the Cavephantom, Fara looked to Edgar.
"Don't get your hopes up.", she told them, knowing that her parents were not too fond of Aceus.
As the two girls returned, Fara turned and led them off, towards the Saghir Hammam, a relatively small structure of sand stone, the main building and two wings enclosing a small courtyard, which was laid out with a mosaic depicting a number of sea animals.
Fara led them into the Main Building, took care of everything, including payment, and then led them into the hallway to the right. It was short, with two doors to either side. Fara turned to the right and motioned to the left one.
"That's the men's changing room.", she explained, "Undress completely, pick a wicker basket, put your clothing in it and take your towel out. We will meet again in the hallway after the second door."
Once the men entered the changing room, they would indeed find shelves with wicker baskets, some already filled with clothes, but quite a few with only blue, silken towels. A small guide to the dos and don'ts of a Hammam was posted in both changing rooms. Small lockers allowed to store valuables.
Around five minutes later, Fara exited the women's changing room to a second hallway between the men's and her own changing room - the observant visitor might notice, that there was just a wall separating them from the first hallway.
Fara only wore her towel, her objects of value in small lockers.

"Well, with due respect I must keep my hopes up." the blond Dancerian prince would explain. "I have faith in my cousin's ability to explain and conduct himself, I have faith in your Lordly Parents ability to undertand and show mercy, and I have faith even in you." he would smile bemusedly. "I'd rather be overly hopeful than a pessimist. It earns better friends. Besides, this is a festival of victory, not a somber occasion. So pardon me while I get into the festive spirit and take in all the sights that this place has to offer. Let's exeunt, Princess!"

Edgar happily chatted and coached his shy twin on the proper etiquette for a Hammam, and making comparisons to the various onsens and other public baths that Edgar had visited in the past. "He's a bit shy," Edgar would explain. "Sabin hits the gym often as a professional mixed martial artist, so the biggest culture shock would be an absence of excessive physical activity and it being co-ed. I'd reason there would be smaller and more secluded areas for you to be in, if you get too uncomfortable." "No, no it's fine..." Sabin sighed. "As the responsible one here, I'll just make sure you don't get too friendly with the locals."

After that exchange a second would occur, this time in Sindarin. To the observant, and the learned, it went something like this.

"<<Ah, Sabin!>>" Edgar would begin. "<<Just because you're the designated backup doesn't mean you have to be a stick in the mud. You've been glaring as many daggers to Fara as she has been to us.>>" The larger of the two gentlemen would sigh. "<<It's because I'm more sensitive to her injury, and seem to understand what's going on more than you.>>" Edgar raised his eyebrow and scoffed. "<<Oh ye of little faith, you think I don't realize that Aceus told Fara about Erika, but the lass is Dancerian through and through. Erika would accept Fara if Fara is willing to accept Erika...the Kyrenaian just needs to get over her own stubbornness.>>"

"<<Still...>>" Sabin fiddled with the wicker basket. "<<I just have a bad feeling about this, that Fara might try something on Erika out of jealousy...you know what the doctors said about her condition right?>>" A pregnant pause would fill the room, coexisting with any steam that may have found their way from the baths proper. "<<Look, Sab...>>" Edgar sat down next to him. "<<If she can't love Aceus in spite of his flaws, much like he tried to do for her, then she's no good for him. Simple as that. Friends should allow themselves to drop their masks, and at least around Aceus, she won't have a dull moment...>>" he playfully punched the gargantuan man's shoulder. "<<We'll just keep an eye on them, you keep an eye on Erika and I'll watch this Megiddo dame. Trust me, I know how to decline a girl, and I don't think the Kyrenaians would mind if family stays loyal. Bro-code and all.>>" he paused, then chuckled. "<<Aside from the yellow press. Now come on, we've kept her waiting long enough.>>"

The duo emerged from the changing room, ironically the taller and more muscle-bound seeming pensive while his long haired and lithe compatriot practically beamed with confidence and bravado. "Well, Fara, care to show a few foreigners the finer points of the Hammam. We're be ready when you are."

Fara would freely admit, that she had mulled the words Edgar spoke on the way, about being hopeful and about being a pessimist, while she had undressed.
Her conclusion was, that hope sometimes simply did not stand a chance against facts, if one knew the facts - if one didn't, one should hope.
In the end, she smiled slightly at how nervous Sabin seemed as he exited the Changing Room, and nodded. "Indeed, come along. Fadia will take care of Erika."
With that cleared up, she began to walk.
The Saghir was a Warm-Hot-Cold-Style Hammam, which meant, that they would first go into the Warm Room.
It was a little room, just like Fara had asked, with two low marble benches in the middle, a low table made of solid stone between them. It was clear, that this was a massage table for those wanting a massage.
Warm Room in this case meant a room full with hot and dry air, which worked up the sweat. One could get a wash here as well, either by a professional tellak or by a friend.
Fara motioned to the benches. "Please, take seats.", she asked, smiling slightly as she sat down herself. "Sabin, did Edgar tell you about the Great Magic of a Hammam?"

[Kuronami]

Very well aware of the honorifics of -san, -sama and -chan, not due to Anime, but to actual studies, Shirin smiled at Yuki. "The pleasure is ours, but please, the -san is not necessary, Yuki-chan. Just call me Shirin... or Nechan."
The last one was accompanied by a wink, hopefully telling, that Shirin was joking.
She would be fine called by her first name, but being called Yuki's older sister by her was not necessary.

Yuki giggled "Well okay, if you insist, Shirin." It would take some time for Yuki to drop the honorifics but Shirin at least was more or less her equal, if not almost equivalent to an older student. A senpai. "Uuh well how do you feel, Good Prince? If you desire the same I will not use an honorific for you but I still mean all due respect."

[Danceria]

Fara would freely admit, that she had mulled the words Edgar spoke on the way, about being hopeful and about being a pessimist, while she had undressed.
Her conclusion was, that hope sometimes simply did not stand a chance against facts, if one knew the facts - if one didn't, one should hope.
In the end, she smiled slightly at how nervous Sabin seemed as he exited the Changing Room, and nodded. "Indeed, come along. Fadia will take care of Erika."
With that cleared up, she began to walk.
The Saghir was a Warm-Hot-Cold-Style Hammam, which meant, that they would first go into the Warm Room.
It was a little room, just like Fara had asked, with two low marble benches in the middle, a low table made of solid stone between them. It was clear, that this was a massage table for those wanting a massage.
Warm Room in this case meant a room full with hot and dry air, which worked up the sweat. One could get a wash here as well, either by a professional tellak or by a friend.
Fara motioned to the benches. "Please, take seats.", she asked, smiling slightly as she sat down herself. "Sabin, did Edgar tell you about the Great Magic of a Hammam?"

"Not really, moreso about the people within." Sabin smirked, as Edgar flushed. "Truth be told, I only relayed my own experiences in various onsens, to prepare my brother for whatever would happen. This is delightfully cozy thus far, but I hope that Aceus isn't too indisposed to not join us later."

---

Indeed, the Dancerian King would arrive just in the nick of time, turning to Tamina. "If you so wish, I'd be happy for you to join, unless duty calls you elsewhere."

[The Scarlet Eagle]

Aurelia's own reply to the old Emperor and his friends was cut short by Marcella.
She smiled - that was one of the things she loved about her: Her unrelenting positive thinking. Even when staring down the metaphorical Main Artillery of an equally metaphorical Old Dreadnought, she had thought positively...
...and made it possible for her to go through with everything.
"I am sure, that we will.", she said, smiling softly.

"So, Aurelia, asks Peter, what do you recommend we see today?"