One For The Road

The burger place has been notable for being a pioneer of offering real-tasting food to Adventurers after the Apocalypse (at least, until people discovered that Landers have been capable of making real-tasting food all along, they just never bothered because 1) there simply was not enough time/resources to, with all the sudden massive influx of stuck Adventurers, and 2) Adventurers had never been able to tell the difference before the Apocalypse, apparently.

Nowadays it's still a beloved place, even if the atmosphere is decidedly more somber with the news of the Palace Lands moving in to wage war in Yamato.

Uta chugs down her beer, and after she slams the glass on the table, she exhales. "Anofer glaff, quaffed", she slurs, with cheeks redder than usual. As people approach her seat, they will notice there is a whole pile of empty jugs next to her. The 'large bottle with a narrow neck' kind, not the pitcher kind.

"Waitschtaff! Another glasch of beer!", she calls out, loud, almost toppling over as she lifts the vessel she's just empied.

Yeowang arrives at the Crescent Burger, here to get a taste of home that she doesn't usually get. Crescent Burger is known for it's unusual menu as much as for Real Food. She would describe it as much more American, not in a bad way, and while she's more used to Hifumi's more traditional cuisine, she doesn't mind the food here. Though she tends to go with the things you can eat with utensils rather than the delicious burgers.

As to why she's here, she'd been training, under Uta's supervision and then on her own, most of the last few days, but now having finished, she's come for a meal. "Uta?" she asks, surprised to find her friend in this state. Had she continued for so long on her own and lost track of time? Well, perhaps she had, she gets caught up in events sometimes. "Are you .... ok?"

The white haired Artificer enters with a Dark sprite, stopping briefly to give the elemental summon a pat on the head and an unsummon back into an onyx ring on his hand. Magical creatures is one of the few things that gives Haru a 'fantasy' vibe due to his more urbane outfit choice. It works well in the 50s theme locale, if a bit dressed up. His blue eyes widen at the loud calling from the lady drinking. They soften once more as he heads in, finding a seat at the main counter gracefully. Good posture, a noble's gait. "I'll have what she's having," he orders, motioning to Uta's good cheer. "If I can get half as elated, it'll be a victory." Smile.

A young Sylph woman decked in the iconic 1950s American diner uniform of Crecent Burger scuttles over to Uta. She tilts her head, gives the Spriggan a glance, glances at the jugs, then back to the Spriggan.

"I think you've had enough, considering..." She gestures vaguely towards the pile of jugs.

Uta squints and leans over. "Whaaaaaaaaat?", she asks, and hiccups. She then bursts into a boisterous laugher, which emphasises the redness of her cheeks. "No, no, don't worry, it's fiiiine. I've just started." "I know, but, you see, if I may offer my opinion..."

"Yeowang!", Uta exclaims, turning to face her. She even tosses both arms up in greeting. "Never been better! I've completely forgotten why I've come here, which..." She squints, serious, while she scratches her head. "Conshidering I've probably come here to forget my troubles, it musht have worked schwimmingly!"

The Sylph waitress sighs at Haru, and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Fine then... a single beer and a pile of empty jugs for the gentleman as well. I'll notify the kitchen."

And that said, she disappears in the back.

Yeowang arches a brow as she recognizes her Guildie as he enters, and says cooly, "Although I do not approve of impairing yourself deliberately under any circumstances, current events would seem to indicate this is a markedly poorer time than usual to impair oneself." She takes a step back from Uta as she raises her arms. If this is going to be a hugging situation, things may get difficult. "If you've come here to make yourself helpless to the depardations of anyone with a mind to take advantage of you, you've succeeded beyond the wishes of avarice," she scolds. She eyes the waitress critically, but it seems that if she's cut Uta off, well, better late than never. "I will not be carrying you home, by the way," she says. Though, this being basically part of Crescent Moon HQ, she guesses Uta nust be staggering distance in any event.

She orders tea, herself, and after some consideration, a sandwich. She's not used to eating with her hands, it doesn't come up very often in her life. Well, she came here to eat, she may as well eat.

"Thank you!" Haru yells back to the Sylph waitress as she drudges on. The cheer is like sunshine on a sunburn. He slides around to turn his body to face Yeowang and her friend. "I didn't know you knew such fun and colorful people," he says with a polished friendly tone. His gaze slides to all the empty mugs, "I wonder how high we could stack those before they toppled over." He will have plenty of spares to get a high score in a moment.

Uta squints at Yeowang. "Whaaat?", Uta asks, head teetering left and right. "No, I've come here to collect containersch for the schlimes!", she frowns, pointing at the pile of empty jugs. "Haven't you heard from Rylen? The Peko Ranch isch not safe. *Hiccup* I am going to need them to- No!", sche frowns -- I mean, she frowns at Haru. She scrambles off her seat, almost falling over, before hugging one jug near the bottom of the pile. While sitting on the floor. "Thesche are delicate vesschels for trancshporting eckschperimental schpeschimensch! Not for playing Jenga!"

"I am afraid this might be my fault..." The sylph waitress admits to Yeowang, as she reappears carrying a tray with one single glass of beer on top with one hand, and pulling a cart full of jugs with the other. "She came in asking for as many empty jugs as we could provide, and I pointed out that I could give her one more jug if she emptied it by ordering the last glass of beer left at its bottom..." While she places the glass of beer (with the corresponding coaster) on a table close to Haru, and begins piling the jugs next to the corresponding seat, with an exhausted, incredulous sigh the Sylph winces and continues, "We Japanese are notorious for not holding alcohol as much as others, but this is the first time I've seen anyone get so wasted on -one glass- of beer..."

Yeowang sighs to Haru, and says, "Well, that all deoends how you stack them, of course. In Germany, it's considered quite an art to stack and carry them while full. And for some wedding receptions, champagne glasses get stacked quite high as a sculpture. Using those techniques with beer steins ought to be doable, and limited only by the weight of accumulated steins, though I think you would reach the ceiling before it became too heavy for the bottom layer." Way too serious. As to knowing fun people, she says to Haru, "Haru, meet Uta. Uta. Uta? Uta, meet Haru." She sighs. The chance of Uta remembering this is not great in any event.

"One glass?" She sighs, then arches a brow at Uta being like this from one beer, but ... well, small body weight and not a drinker generally do combine to make a person a lightweight in the booze department, entirely apart from alcohol tolerance. As far as Rylen and the Peko Ranch go, she says, "Hopefully our Healing Slime Teams can stay low and avoid the Palace landers on their own. As far as the Ranch, I do not know if the Palace Landers would consider it a high-value target or not, but NWA is pulling completely out and has chosen not to defend anywhere." She does not seem entirely behind that decision. "I have no slime-handling skills, but I would expect you could make it a place that the Palace Landers will regret investigating."

Haru gives the thumbs up to the positive reactions from both the waitress and Uta. The situation is quite delicate, after all. "I'll grab a meal with this too. Burger. Fries." He isn't huge on that style of food, but it fits the theme to the point that one starts to crave it. Maybe a shake at the end too. He slides back around and takes a good drink of the beer down. Gulp gulp. No compliment. No 'Good Stuff'! No smile. "Cheat day," he says, exhaling as he grabs a napkin on the main counter and draws out a charcoal pencil from his belt pouch.

The Artificer doesn't turn his head around as he writes something down. "I'll reintroduce when she has a chance at remembering my name," Haru says, seeming to concur on a subtext level that only one of them is likely to recall it. "Three minutes," he says, making a point on the napkin and circling it. "Stunning." New quaff of the beer.

"Queen Laira Lorelei seemed scared of going near the Tower when she visited Eas, so I've already arranged to move my schlimes there," Uta mumbles. "I've already asked Setsuna about relocating them at the Monster Menagerie." She squints, teeters, lifts a finger. She stops with her mouth open, and looks down at the jug she's hugging. She stops. She thinks.

She returns to hug the jug protectively.

"I'm not sure how much the Scrub schlimes will be needed, but I fear there might be a schpike in demand for the Heal slimes," she says, serious.

At Haru's order, the Sylph waitress disappears into the kitchen.

"There will be no need to re-introduce yourchself!", Uta exclaims at Haru. "I can remember your name v-very well!" She lets go of the jar, attempts to stands up, succeeding only after a couple failed attempts, and states, "...Pleased to meet you, Natsu! I'm Uta Furore, Aerialist, Musical Kung-Fu Nurse, and... uh... many many other things I forget at the moment," before following into a dangerously precarious bow. She looks like she's about to fall over, face-first.

Yeowang smirks as Haru agrees to introduce himself again later. "That may be necessary," she agrees. Her own sandwich arrives, and she eats in what might be called a dainty way. Or at least more formal or more prissily than most. It's just her way. "Cheat day?" she wonders to Haru. "Are you on a diet?" With her physica activity level, that's never been a problem. But she's got a pretty high physical activity level.

She arches a brow at the Palace Landers being scared of the Tower, and her reflex is to ask why. But who knows? But it sounds like a good place to stash anything of value if the Palace Landers don't like it. She nods about a spike in demand for the Heal Slimes. "Not surprising," she agrees, watching Uta attempt to somersault with no hands. Or is that a bow? "Uta is somewhat famous," she explains to Haru, without saying what she's famous for. For being Uta, apparently.

"Of sorts," Haru replies to Yeowang's inquiry to if the young man is on a diet. If he is, he needs to eat more. The guy is built like a runner or a swimmer. No one is going to confuse him for a tank or heavy weapon specialist. He folds over the napkin and grabs his drink. The man's body turns, white shirt clean from any stains and plans to keep it that way before any flying alcohol starts its casting bar. "Haru," the blue eyed man says as the corner of his eyes catch Uta's, fully turning until they are focused properly, "Haru Nox." His usual warm tone of voice is more scholarly. Professional. Blunt. "Many things missing, by the look of it," he says as his eyes look from the nurse to her achievement level drink collection.

"You'll have to explain what she is famous for," Haru says as he watches the bow, wondering if its going to end in a face planting. "Drinking? Getting names wrong?" A finger snaps in inspiration, "Jenga?"

Uta's effort to steady herself after that hearstopping bow is superhuman, but she manages.

"I'm famousch?" Uta asks, scratching her head. "I... I didn't know that? I mean, I've never heard of myself, myself." She rubs her temples in confusion, her natural confusion probably compounded by her confusing herself. "Yeah, I'd like to know what I'm famoush for. Bummer. I'm always the last one to know things," she mumbles.

The waitress reappears with the rest of Haru's order, and places the dish with the burger, and the associated fries, on the table. "Enjoy your meal!", she says with a bow.

"Speaking of Germans serving beer, did you know that there are places in Germany where they eat burgers with utensils?", Uta reprises, somehow fishing a subject of discussion thought to now be in the past. She scrambles to her seat, grabs her empty glass of beer, tiny by Bavarian standards, and waving it in the air, she begins intoning the traditional Oktoberfest song, "Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der Gemuetlichkeit..."

Uta's German is not too bad, but the linguistic prowess is lost, as the translation system renders it so understandable to everyone (something roughy like "A toast, a toast, of relaxed coziness...") people might not even realize what language she's singing in.

Yeowang will let the subject of Haru's diet drop. He does not look like a tank, certainly, but build does not necessarily imply fitness for any particular purpose in the game. In fact, it seems there's little enough correlation between bidy type and job in any event. There's also no way to tell who picked an avatar and who just went with 'body scan' the way she did in chargen. As to explaining what Uta is famous for, she is forced to shrug. "It cannot be explained /conventionally/. When you get to know her for a bit, you will come to understand." Uta -is- unconventional, to say the least.

She nods to Uta about being famous. "Yes, you certainly are. You've heard of you, of course." And she will leave it at that. She nods about eating burgers with utensils, she resembles that remark. "It's called Hambuerger Steak in some locations also," she points out. As Uta sings, she of course understands the words implicity with the translator, but there is an impression that she would understand it in any event.

Haru looks to Uta as she explains what can be explained. His blue eyes look to Yeowang after, with additional context added in. "This tells me next to nothing," he informs as he takes a drink after. Looking to Uta he sees the wisdom in that there isn't anything to say about it. "Time will be the teacher, then," the Artificer says as his meal arrives. He turns back around to where his meal awaits, taking small bites with all topics expired.

"And I'm not... making... myschelf... helpless... to... depredations..." Uta's eyes grow heavier as she raises her cup in Yeowang's direction with a pointedly argumentative expression, which progressively gives in more and more to sleep. "...of anyone... take... advantage..."

*Thud*

Uta's zonked out, cheek on the table, glass in hand, in a rather undignified pose. Cheeks not getting any less red, she's now even doing the thing with the bubble growing and shrinking out of her nose.

Yeowang peers skeptically at Haru, and explains in a flat tone, "It tells you that Uta is a complicated person that cannot be explained easily." Or, perhaps, at all. "And that you will understand as you come to know her better through personal experience." She nods as he realizes that this will take some time. "Yes, yes it will." It's taken her some time as well.

As Uta passes out, she has no reply to her, but she will tell the waitress, "She's one of yours," meaning a Crescent Moon person, "you can deal with her."