The next morning, the couple rises early, eager to take in the sights of Winter-home during this little vacation. Their crabby landlady's breakfast isn't particularly appetizing, but she does provide decent coffee, which is all that really matter, at least according to Rastellions's whispered comments afterward. They pull on their cloaks and head out the door. "An' shut it tight behind you!" comes the landlady's screech behind them. "Don't need no ol' man winter comin' to set his bony ass down in my sitting room an' frostin' up my pillows!" Rastellion shakes his head as he pulls the door firmly tight. "I think that one's frosty enough as it is, even in summer," he mutters, grinning.
With a chuckle, Immalaine turns and tucks her arm around Rastellion, as much for the warmth as to hug him. "Now, we canna be sayin' so, she's been kind 'nough t' let us th' room, even if the price were twice what we've ever seen in Bree." She turns her head, watching a worker pause to wipe the sweat from her brow, and a furrow creases her own. She heads down the steps, giving the woman a nod and a friendly grin, that has the woman looking perplexed, but she raises her hand in greeting to Immalaine, before returning to her work. Looking back up at Rastellion, the young redhead motions towards the road. "So, where should we 'xplore today?"
"Well, first place we should see, I think, is that bakery over by the theater. I'll be wanting more than that gruel in my stomach to get me through a cold day!" He pauses to sniff the cold air. "Think I can smell fresh sweetbread from here...” Immalaine smiles over at him, knowing the pitiful breakfast hadn't been nearly enough to fill him up, and she nods. "Sounds like a good idea, an' mebbe I can even sweet talk the baker into teachin' me a new recipe or two." Rastellion shakes his head. "Everywhere we go, you try to collect recipes! ... and usually succeed in getting folks to pass them along, too." He raises one eyebrow at her and offers her his arm as they head out of the poor little courtyard their lodgings are in and out toward the more prosperous streets of the little mountain village.. "If Zandrianna starts getting fat, we'll know whom to blame!" Immalaine shakes her head at his comment and, with a grin, she takes his arm and begins to follow him down the road, pausing her step to look over at the workers, many of them dressed in oft mended clothes, their faces red from the cold and pinched with misery and hunger. Her frown returns, and she quickly hides the expression as a man looks over at them pass by. Her eyes clouded with sadness, she continues up the road as they head towards the smells announcing the bakery.
The door jingles with small chimes hanging by colorful ribbons from it as Rastellion opens the door for Immalaine. The smells of yeast and fresh-baked wheat and sweet frosting flow over them along with a gust of warm air from the ovens in the back. He grins as they hurry in from the cold. "And look, they have coffee too," he says, pointing, as she hurries into the bakery after him, the warmth from the ovens a welcome change from the cold outside. Lifting her head, she takes a deep breath, a smile of pleasure on her lips at the scent of the freshly baked goods and strong, aromatic coffee. "Well, I think they've whatever ye'd like t' fill yer belly on Rastellion," she says with a grin that doesn't fully reach her green eyes.
Rastellion nods. "I think so." He looks over the various fresh loaves - but then, mouth quirked, moves past them to a heavily frosted fruit bread. "I think we could have a treat for the festival," he says. He makes an order of the bread, a small dish of creamery butter, and a large mug of coffee. "Want anything hot to drink?" he calls over to Immalaine, who's examining the shop's various baked goods.
Deep in thought, Immalaine acknowledges Rastellion's words with a brief wave that could be taken as yes or no, as she ponders the various loaves of bread. Looking up, she catches the eye of the baker and, with a quick motion of her hand, has the man coming up to the front with a quirked brow and a friendly grin. For a minute, she speaks to him low, waving her hand over the display of wheat loaves, freshly baked and golden brown as the baker nods his head intently at her words. She holds up her hand finally, her fingers spread and the baker opens his eyes in surprise before breaking into a wide grin. He chuckles, a deep cheerful sound, and nods his head vigorously to the point where his cap threatened to fall from atop his balding head. "Miss, I'd be glad to sell you all the loaves you want, and seeing what it's for, I'll even give you a deal on the price!" She leans in as he quotes her a number and she pauses, tapping her finger on her chin thoughtfully, before nodding. The man quickly strides away to get Immalaine's order ready, while she turns her attention back to Rastellion, who was patiently watching the whole exchange.
Rastellion frowns slightly, unsure what her exchange with the baker was about. "I expected we're both still a bit hungry after that sparse breakfast... but five loaves?" Immalaine simply smiles at Rastellion, bustling him over to a table so they could sit and share the fruited bread and coffee. "Never ye mind that," she replied with a kiss on his cheek before sitting down. "Ye'll see, t'aint fer us I bought th' breads." She takes her mug of coffee and lifts it to her lips, taking a sip of the hot liquid, before deciding to blow on it for a moment. "Not for us?" Then he shrugs and passes over the sweet loaf he just bought. "Better have your share of this, then," he says, sliding the butter along as well, then drinking deep from his mug of coffee.
She cuts a small slice of the loaf, adding a pat of butter, generously spread, over the top. She scoots the bread back to Rastellion, before lifting the slice to her lips to take a bite. The sweet, fruity flavor of the bread fills her mouth, and she closes her eyes with a sigh of pleasure at the taste. Quickly, she finishes her bite and grins over at Rastellion, "Better eat some, afore I finish it for ye." she says with a chuckle, making as though to take the plate back from him. Rastellion grins, scooping the plate out from under her questing hand. He beaks off large piece for himself,then slides the remainder back across the table for Immalaine. The grin on her face widens, as she sees him grab the bread from her, and she looks down at the small piece he slides back towards her. Taking up her mug, she takes a swallow of the coffee and watches him take a bite. Rastellion catches her eye ."What?" he says... "I'm hungry!" He swallows. "And this is good; definitely will keep us going all morning. Maybe you can wrangle this recipe from the baker?"
Just as Rastellion says this and takes another bite, the baker comes striding up to the table, a large sack of loaves in his arm. "Here you go miss, and I added an extra one in there for you and your husband." Immalaine blushes and stutters, turning quickly to find her purse and count out several coins for the baker who takes them and glances into his hand with a satisfied nod. Turning to Rastellion, the baker nods at him with a huge smile. "If everyone was as kind as your lady there, we'd have a lot less hungry people in this town. You're lucky she's got such a good heart." With a nod, the man turns and heads back to the kitchens again, to set about making a fresh batch of bread from the dough already rising on the tables.
With a shake of his head, Rastellion stares at her as the baker hustles away again. "Just what are you up to?" he asks her, puzzled. "Those won't keep fresh for more than a day, even in this weather, and I'm sure it'd be taken amiss if we started bringing so much food back to our rooms.... probably charge us another silver, she would." Immalaine only smiles wider, and reaches out to pat Rastellion's hand, squeezing it briefly, before turning to take another bite of the sweet bread. "Dun worry," she says finally, after finishing her bite, "We'll not be takin' all o' these loaves back t' th' rooms wit' us. They're not fer us anyways." Taking a drink of her coffee, she motions for Rastellion to finish the bread.
Rastellion opens his mouth to ask further, then just shakes his head and reaches for his coffee. "Alright, have your secrets," he says. "No doubt I'll find out eventually." He drinks down the rest of his coffee and finishes up his share o the bread. "Ah... that's better. Now we're ready to see the town!"
Finishing her coffee, she stands and turns to wave at the baker who gives her a friendly wave and smile, before she heads back out into the cold with Rastellion at her side. "Afore we go see th' sights, there's something I need t' do first," she says, turning to him as she heads back up the road with a purpose. Rastellion was looking in the opposite direction, out over toward the village square, as she spoke, and so she's several paces away behind him before he realizes she's moved off. "What?" he asks, turning belatedly to catch up, just as she pulls one of the loaves from the the bag and hands it to him. "Hold onto this fer me, that's our loaf," she says, before seeing the woman she'd nodded to earlier and heading in her direction.
The woman pauses from her work, looking at Immalaine with the same perplexed expression, but nods politely as she begins to listen to Immalaine talk. Slowly the woman's expression changes from perplexed to a bit wary to incredulous and a smile graces her tired features as she shakes her head, but motions towards the front where a man is standing. Immalaine's eyes turn to follow the direction the woman had pointed and she nods, thanking the woman who simply smiles at her and resumes her work, seemingly a bit more cheerfully at the task. Immalaine quickly retraces her steps to pause in front of the man. "Are you Mr. Utteridge?" she asks him.
The man looks over her, a dour and suspicious expression on his face. "Aye, miss," he says resentfully, his tone belying the politeness of his words. "Come to enjoy our fine town, have ya? Sommat I can help ya with?"
Because of her experience, she looks beyond the sour expression to the tired, worn face of the man, and nods at his words. "The lady back there, she said ye were th' best man t' speak wit'. I canna help but notice how th' mayor is 'round here an', well I've been in a bad ways in th' past, not havin' nothing, e'en t' eat. So, these loaves o' bread, they for those what need them most, but since I dun know who does, th' woman back there, well she says ye do." She offers the man the bag of bread, and it jingles slightly but Immalaine pretends not to notice that. "Please? T'would me a lot t' me, if ye could help me find th' folk that need them."
Utteridge looks at her suspiciously, making no move to take the bag. "What, this some sort of trick?" he asks. "If the mayor thinks he can buy off..." Another man has walked over and he puts a hand on Utteridge's shoulder, stopping the flow of words. "Now Daley, if the very stars came down an' offer'd ya a sack of gold, ye'd be lookin' for the down side. Don'tcha remember, this young lady an' her man came in last night, an' are stayin' up with the widow Bader. Not likely they're in th' pockets of the mayor, now is it?" He turns to Immalaine. "That's right kind o' you miss, right kind. It's tough, bein' cold and out o' work on th' holidays, with the town full up o' folks enjoyin' themselves, but this bit o' kindness'll warm more than one heart an' belly today." He takes the offered bag. "You're a right good soul, you are, and you've got our thanks." He elbows Utteridge in the ribs, and the other man grunts, then says, "Uh, yeah. Our thanks." He seems mollified, though he still shoots a dubious glance at Immalaine and past her to Rastellion, who's standing quietly under a lamppost watching the little scene unfold.
Leaning in as the man takes the offered bag from her, she whispers something quietly to him. He looks down into the bottom of the bag of bread, his eyes widening in surprise, before looking back up at Immalaine, who quickly purses her lips in a motion the man understands. Nodding, he smiles even wider, and turns to nod at Rastellion standing behind her, before rushing off to begin passing out the bread and coins that she had managed to slip into the bag unseen. She gives Utteridge a sympathetic smile, before turning back to Rastellion and, wrapping her arms around him, she looks up into his face, her eyes happy. "Alright," she says, a cheerful chirp in her voice. "I'm ready t' go see th' sights now."
Rastellion leans down to kiss her. "Now I understand what that baker was talkin' about." He glances around the courtyard, and the happy expressions as the bread is shared out among the workers and the unemployed. "He gives her a quick hug, then turns at her urging to head back the way they came. "Alright," he agrees; "let's see what else this village has t' offer.”
(Credits and love go to Rastellion, who provided the voice of the male characters in this story. *Blows kisses to Rastellion and grins widely*)
