Private Tales Budding Friendship and the Worst Sandwich

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer
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"Ah, finally." Rhidian sighed, dismounting from his horse quicker than he thought possible. He tied the reins to the post outside the inn just shy of the main road that would take them to Vel Luin. Still a couple of hours journey, it had been agreed the two newly minted Dreadlords would make a stop for lunch. They had first stopped in Vel Acan, scouring the road leading towards it from Vel Anir to ensure repairs were not needed to create safer passage. Then, from Acan they were to reach Vel Luin. An hour ago they had crested a hill and saw the looming tower gates that were famous in Vel Luin.

"I'm starving." He turned to his partner, grinning at the familiar face of Zinnia St. Kolbe.

It had proven to be a pleasant trip despite the tedious task of patrolling the main roads and ensuring they were still deemed safe for travel, but along the way, it became their thing to survive solely on sandwiches. On their travels so far, this was their sixth stop and Rhidian hoped such an establishment could cater to their ongoing search for the perfect sandwich.


"I have high hopes for this place. What about you, Zin?"
 
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Nothing quite like a nice little distraction! Of all the (admittedly few) unlikely friendships Zinnia had made in her time at the Academy, one of the ones she'd expected least was in her lowerclassman, Rhidian. He was just so oddly nice, something so uncharacteristic of most initiates. Even when Zinnia had seen all Dreadlords and initiates she had realized that "nice" usually just meant "had something to gain from you." Not Rhidian, though. Rhidian was different. Genuine.

"Also starving...need protein..." she rasped dramatically. Patrolling was all well and good, the trip fairly easy, but she'd not relented in her workouts during their time on the road. A sandwich was needed, STAT. A loud growl from her belly confirmed that thought.

"I only hope my hunger level doesn't influence my r-rating too much," Zinnia lamented as she slid off her horse, tying her own reins alongside her friend's. A wafting scent teased at her nostrils, and her eyes fluttered shut as she sniffed at the air.

"Oooohhh...I can smell it from here..." her eyes eased open and she smiled at Rhidian. "Fresh bread!"
 
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Kress, she had to point out that delectable scent on the wind. Fresh bread was an invitation to them both, not bothering to check his knots keeping his horse in place, Rhidian ushered Zinnia to hurry with several impatient claps. "Best get moving then, St. Kolbe! We have stomachs to please!"

He wasted no time entering the inn, scouting for tables free for himself and his colleague. No longer just classmates, they both now were on their own working for the Guard as Dreadlords, and Rhidian was determined to make their first missions seem more important than they truly were. Sandwiches being all they could afford at the moment, it had become an easy meal that offered different fillings and styles of bread that it kept things interesting.


"Oi, Zin." Rhidian whistled to get her attention over the group of men standing and playing darts, his head beckoning over somewhere by the front of the inn. Not quite at the window, but still basking in the sunlight streaming through, he sat down with a big smile. "Think we should wash down the sandwiches with ale or cider?"
 
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Zinnia skittered off, hot on Rhidian's heels. She was happy to finally be off her feet, the usual comforting energy of an inn and the glib, ambient performance of a few local bards immediately brightening her mood. The gold-eyed girl slid into her seat across from Rhidian, beaming right back at him.

"Oh, Kress, is that even a q-question? Cider!" she replied.

She still wasn't much of a drinker, even after her extreme bender with Alistair, but her opinion on alcohol hadn't changed: the bitter stuff was gross, and the sweet stuff was quite nice.

"Nnnnggh, I can't wait another minute..." Zinnia grumbled along with her stomach.
 
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Rhid curled a finger and placed it beneath his tongue, whistling for the attention of a server. He grinned, disarming the look of annoyance on the younger woman's face as she turned his way. She blinked and wandered over to their table. "Hello, love. We were hoping to get two ciders, and... well, why don't you tell us what sandwiches you got here."

The server couldn't be more than two years older than them both, and she chuckled after staring at Rhidian a moment too long without answering him. "Oh, well... we have roast beef, fresh soft garlic butter, tomatoes, a nice cheese that is strong in flavour... um, lettuce and---"

"Oh, I'll take one without the tomatoes!" Rhidian's smile seemed to grow even more charming and the young woman blushed profusely. "How about you Zin? No tomatoes for my friend here. Nothing ruins perfection than tomatoes." And he began to fish around his coin pouch, pitifully counting the smaller change before the server scooped up eight silvers.

"Listen, I will get you both ciders on the house. The next round you can pay for. Let me go get your order."

As soon as she made off with their order and coin, Rhidian looked to his partner. "You know, I was wondering if I was going to be successful this time since the last two times went horribly wrong." But he shrugged. The last two times had been males, uncomfortable with the charm and ease Rhidian spoke with them. "Now we both get to enjoy another round of cider before heading off!"
 
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Tomatoes...the scourge of all that was culinary and good. Unless they'd been reduced to soup form, Zinnia had long believed that the squishy red fruit was perhaps the worst thing that was called "food" that one could put in their mouth. She and Rhidian had bonded over their mutual dislike of the things.
"Same, please!"

Everything else sounded great, and delightfully enough the waitress seemed to look favorably on their lack of funds. Probably had something to do with the fact that it was the ever-handsome Rhidian ordering, but it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth, after all.

"Everything she desc-cribed sounded great, and free drinks never hurt. Maybe we're finally on th-the up and up?" she replied with an optimistic smile.
 
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"You know what, Dreadlord St. Kolbe? I reckon you're dead on." He leaned back into his chair, testing it's give as he stretched and looked about the interiors of the inn. Bustling, filled with merchants and locals of the town not too far north of here, the inn served as a destination at a crossroads and saw plenty of travellers. Rhidian eyed up the various interesting characters before turning his gaze on his new friend. "Feels like I am still an Initiate. Didn't get to do many missions but..." He shrugged.

Rhidian only barely scraped by on his own graduation. He had a year and a bit to focus on his magic, and thank Kress is was easier than he'd thought. There was still a lot for him to learn, and now Rhid was hoping to find the next best thing to help him develop his magic into something greater.

Doing this road maintenance job with Zinnia was proving to be good fun at least. He knew to steer clear of conversation of Silas, someone he regarded as one of his best friends, but conversation had been easy. They had talked about their Academy experience, talked about where they would like to travel while in their first year of Dreadlord duty. They spoke of the best cakes, the nicest cheeses, and even got on topic about mysteries.


"Yeah, this is on the up and up. Eating cheap is going to pay off by the time we get to Vel Lameus and enjoy the food capital of Vel Anir!"
 
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"Dreadlord St. Kolbe." Zinnia didn't think she'd ever get used to hearing that, but for once it made her smile. Rhidian was wonderful company and one of the nicer initiates she had met. It was nice that he'd been able to graduate while retaining his humanity and not coming out as scarred as several other among their class year.

Zinnia nodded vigorously at the notion of Vel Lameus cuisine. She'd never been, but she had heard plenty. The duo would have their day in the sun soon.

"That's it! Just gotta s-stay positive. Good things are coming, I just know it. And trust me, there will be plenty of missions to tackle soon, too. They've been s-swamping me with them."
 
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"I'm hoping to see more of the cities while on duty." Rhidian grinned, getting comfortable in his seat. He looked as if he were too large for the chair, or perhaps he had sat on a chair that was smaller than usual. He made it work all the same, careful not to lean back too much in fear of breaking the back and falling through. It wouldn't be a cool look for a Third Rank Dread, and so Rhidian was happy to see the attendant place down their ciders.

"Thanks, love." He winked at the young woman who smiled and went to go fetch their sandwiches.

Rhidian reached for his pint, holding it up in the air. "To a career we hope to make the most out of. Cheers!"
 
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Zinnia graciously received her tankard and raised it as well.

"To a brighter future," she replied with a cheerful smile.

"Which ones? C-cities I mean. Vel Anir's a big place."

Bigger than most initiates would surely realize, given the usually limited scope of travel most were allowed to partake in. Many wouldn't see much outside the closest settlements around the Academy.
 
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Rhidian made a face, stunned that he could not think of a city so quickly...

"Well, seen Vel Anir... seen Vel Cirak, and Castere and Cortosi lands... uh, Vel Hetren, of course..." He gave Zin a sheepish look, running his hand over his head of curls that got a fresh cut the other week. "Guess Vel Odren would be nice. Something coastal... oh, Vel Luin would be... well, we are working our way over..." Kress, there was a lot to see, to visit.

Thankfully, he did not need to go on. Their sandwiches arrived, and Rhidian could not resist pining after his plate once the delicious aroma hit his nose. "My gods, this may be the best thing I ever tasted."

He did not wait for any more clinking their tankards. Rhid held that sandwich in both hands and lifted it to his mouth, savouring the still hot meat. The noise he made was one of pure enjoyment, and their server laughed and moved on from their table. "Zhin. You needf to twy dis. Goood." He said, mouth full of sandwich.
 
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Castere, Hetren, and especially Odren made sense. Castere was a sight to behold solely in how much of an industrious fortress it had been built up to be, despite its rather dour atmosphere otherwise. Hetren was supposedly beautiful, and Odren was quite literally a vacation getaway. What caught Zinnia's attention in particular was...
"Vel Cirak?"

But just then the food was delivered. Zinnia could feel the uncomfortable sensation of her canines lengthening in her mouth alongside wanton salivation as the smell of the fresh cooked ingredients hit her nostrils. Each day it seemed like such things were getting harder for her to control, and while that worried her...well, the food proved to be an ample distraction.

Zinnia needed no encouragement from Rhidian. She snatched up her sandwich and sank her fangs into it. A cascade of flavor poured over her mouth as she did, such that her eyes rolled back in delight. Munch munch munch. Zinnia chomped away happily upon her first bite.

"You vern't jhhking," she replied, eschewing her manners as well. She swallowed, then went in for another bite. Squish.

Her eyes shot open and the contents of the second bite fell from her mouth and on to her plate.
"Blegh!" she whined as she tried to wipe the familiarly terrible flavor from her tongue. "Awwwghh...tomatoes..."
 
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His sandwich was free of the slop called tomato slices, but as soon as Zinnia identified the disappointment in her bite, he swore he could taste and feel as if it was present in his sandwich.

"I said to her no tomatoes!"
He groaned, setting his small meal down and finishing his mouthful. "Wait a moment, I will tell her."

Rhidian leaned back in his chair and looked around for the young woman that took their order, but she was nowhere to be seen. He waited a minute before sighing. "Can't see her. Do you think it would be in poor taste if I went to the cook?"
 
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"No, no, please, it's f-fine..." Zinnia mumbled, poking her hood in a measured fashion. After a few seconds, the hood began to shimmy as though it were alive. Then it emitted light as it reverted its shape back into its natural one, one that Rhidian likely would've been familiar with by now.

The fuzzy body of Zinnia's pet hatterpillar unfurled atop her head, the form of a hood being his most recent guise. Zinnia removed the top slice of bread from her sandwich and peeled, then plucked, one of the tomato slices from it, lifting it above her head to offer to the fluffy larva.

"Here you go, Serri. S-snack time!"

The hatterpillar lazily craned his head towards the fruit to seemingly sniff at it for a moment before a spark of energy entered his eyes. He ate up the tomato slice in but an instant and began to make a soft noise reminiscent of purring.

"You've been awfully s-sleepy lately, huh buddy? Hope you're doing okay..." she spoke upwards at Serri, scratching softly at the side of his face. Her golden eyes then shifted back to Rhidian. "The sandwich would've been b-better without the taint of these things on it, but now all three of us get to enjoy, I suppose."
 
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Rhidian did not hide his grimace as he watched Zin feed the peculiar companion atop her head the single slice of red fruit that ruined her sandwich.

"But, Zin! It's got it's disgusting juice all over your roasted meat and the bread! Even left seeds! That isn't the same experience as I am getting, and you deserve a good sandwich." He reasoned, even though a sandwich was one of the cheaper options on the menu. They were struggling newly minted Dreadlords! "Just..."

He spotted their server, and he called her attention.

"Sorry love, but it seems there was tomato in that sandwich, but I ordered both sandwiches without tomatoes. Ruins the experience, you know?" So quickly he turned on the charm, but the young woman looked to Zinnia's sandwich and angled her head.

"I don't see it."


"Yes, well, we gave it to Serri here..."

"And thus fixed the problem, no?"

"Love, what if my friend here was allergic? Any trace could be deadly!"

"Is she?"

Rhid looked at Zinnia, "Shall we find out?"

The young woman sighed, and picked up the plate and headed back to the kitchen.

With his chest pufffed out, a smug expression ruining his boyish smile, Rhidian looked to Zinnia with triumph. "Prepare for the best sandwich in your life, Zinnia St. Kolbe."
 
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And so a new sandwich was delivered, to equal parts chagrin and delight of Zinnia. She smiled nervously at the server, and then at Rhidian once she'd left.
"I'm as r-ready as I'll ever be," she said with a weak laugh.

The girl sunk her teeth into the sandwich, prominent, sharp fangs delving into the layers of bread and meat with gusto. Her eyelids fluttered, and a sound not unlike a low moan escaped from somewhere deep in her throat.

Her eyes popped open after a moment of chewing and she raised a fist over her mouth, looking embarassed.
"Sh-showwy, dat wavv, umm..." she stammered, her mouth full.

Chew, chew, swallow.

"I, uh...d-didn't mean to do that, ahaha..."
 
Rhidian grinned, widely at that. "Now you get it!"

Picking up his own, he took another bite and made a loud and gods awful sound that put Zinnia's to shame. It garnered strange looks, but Rhid was simply enjoying himseld. "This beats anything and everything from the Academy, don't you reckon?" He asked, a hand going over his mouth to hide the sight of himself talking with his mouth full.

After he swallowed, he washed it down with a drink.

Kings, they were eating like kings out here and every one else was probably slumming it with whatever slop was served at the barracks.
 
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Zinnia snrrk'd. Rhidian had a way of keeping her from feeling like an idiot that was hard to come by. At this, she took another bite.

"Anything that I didn't cook mys-self, yeah," she grinned. "I just wish ingredients weren't so exp-pensive...speaking of, I should ask about the recipe, for how cheap these were they're c-crazy good."
 
Rhidian now gave her a look that questioned his friend.

"Oh, Zinnia..." He shook his head, taking another gulp of their cheap beer.

He opened his sandwich, perhaps a sin, but in order to show her how simple the elements of a sandwich was. "Nice bread, nice layer of butter. Bit of those leafy greens, or spinach is my favourite, and then... meats! You need some nice extras though. A slice of the right cheese would make this perfect. Perhaps even caramelised onions... had those in Vel Lameus once! Definitely need to learn how to do that..."

Rhidian had experience cooking back home, and knew this sandwich would be easy to replicate.
 
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Golden eyes rolled high, a reluctant look of amusement on Zinnia's mien.

"That's not what I m-meant! It's about where the stuff comes from, how it was grown, or raised, or made! Not all meats are equal. And bad veggies or poorly made cheese can ruin the whole th-thing!"

She shook her head, a wistful look in her eyes.
"You don't wanna know what I h-had to do to get the garlic I use..."
 
Rhidian looked horrified.

"Well, yes, you are correct!" He agreed, slapping the top half of his sliced bread and hoping the fillings don't fall out the next time he went in for a bite. "But that's when you start to lean on your friends that are of better means as influence. Build a rapport with those connections, Zin, and you wouldn't have to struggle getting decent ingredients. Or, if you'd like, I can teach you the basic herbs and how to grow them in that ever interests you?"

His sister had shown him when he was younger, restless, and in need of something new to do to keep him out of their way. Tomatoes were his favourite to grow, but that was his deep dark secret he wouldn't tell a soul.
 
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Zinnia raised a finger as if to protest, but stopped.
"I...hmm..."
That finger came to rest under her chin as she thought about Rhidian's angle.

"I have a b-bit of a black thumb when it comes to growing things..."

Seri cooed curiously above her.

"Except hatterpillars!" she corrected herself. "Not that I wouldn't mind t-trying! But I do know Kristen...and the Pirians are all about crops and farming, right?"
 
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Rhidian's mouth was full of his next bite, but his excitement was all the same.

Muffled, he expressed how good this news was!


"Fuck!" He breathed after finally swallowing his bite. "Zinnia, that is the gold mine of connections! Hells, everyone knows that being friends with the Pirians is a good way to earn trust and all that!"

Kress, he forgot that Zinnia befriended Kristen. It was hard to keep up with the friendship circles of the Academy, but he never had a problem fitting in anywhere."
 
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