She’d been right; it wasn’t that far a walk from the library. He’d have to note the place, if it was any good— it was just close enough that it sounded like somewhere fun to go. It had strove to adopt the feel of the old city, its eaves tiled, facade all wooden, and brick, touch of that ancient construction that lay beneath the older parts of East Saffron— but even so, it was obviously that it was the same sort of modern construction as everything around it. It gave it an odd half-feeling, of striving, almost but not quite kitsch… and maybe he was reading too far into the social intricacies of restaurant decor.

Its name was proudly displayed on a sign carved into a block of wood, hung up above the entrance and painted scarlet— the Two Moon Hotpot Resturaunt. Lily all but vibrated with excitement as he opened the door, a soft chime jangling as they entered. “Hello and welcome, just wait right here while I—” the waitress glanced up from behind the small counter at the front, then froze as she caught sight of Avyr. “Um… a, uh, party of three?”

Mingtian nodded. “They’re with me. If you would be so kind?”

“Of course! I’ll be right on that— follow me!” She recovered remarkably, leading them deeper into the restaurant and to a small table near the back… then, realizing that Avyr wouldn’t really fit there, to a bigger table off to the side. One of the central tables would’ve probably been better… but Mingtian didn’t fault her too harshly for the instinct to keep Mingtian out of the center of everything. It’d probably be the best for the both of them. “Have you been here before? I could explain how it works if you haven’t, or just take your orders—”

“We’ll proceed straight to ordering, please,” mewled Avyr, which seemed to shock the waitress just as much as anything else. “Do you have milk tea, by any chance?”

“Um… yes! Yes, we do— do you want that iced or hot?”

“Hot.” He gently grasped one of the menus in paw, holding it in front of him and glancing through all the options— simple things Mingtian noticed, mostly, except for the actual broth they were supposed to cook it in. Meats, for the most part, though there were also some noodles and the like to supplement the proteins. Avyr, of course, was focused on the meats. “How large are the slices cut?”

The server fidgeted a bit before managing to squeak out a response. “However large you want it! Most customers like it cut smaller, as it allows the meat to be cooked evenly in a short time…”

A moment of silence passed before Avyr nodded. “I see. I’ll have the Northern Plains beef then, cut large. Two orders of it.”

“Oh! Can we order the seafood mix, too?”

Avyr’s nose scrunched up a bit, but he nodded. “That as well, then.”

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“And two orders of the noodles, and one of the dumplings, with the… Port of Reeds style soup base.” The spicy one, because he was in the mood for some spicy food at the moment. Avyr gave him a slightly betrayed look, while Lily just grinned broadly.

The server scribbled all that down then fled perhaps a tad bit too quickly, leaving them alone at their table amidst the evening. “So… how do you feel about your first week of school? Having met the other professors, I can’t imagine you had the best time ever.”

That managed to break through the forming awkward silence. “Ugh, I forgot how annoying the academy can get. I’m hopelessly ahead in all my standard core classes, but they won’t let me test out of them or anything— because of some sort of problem that cropped up before the big war before the last war or something stupid like that. So, half the day is just pure tedium, and the other half is stressful.” Then, quieter— “I don’t know how I’m going to beat Young Master Xinshi in the combat rankings. I’m confident that I can probably do better than him in everything else, but…”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Anyone with eyes who reviews your fights should know that pitting a mortal against a first step cultivator is ridiculously unfair, especially given how eager your instructor appears to be when it comes to allowing talismans in combat.”

“Ha!” For a moment, Lily looked a little smug at that. “That’s one thing I’m confident about winning. I mean, I might not be able to cheat with my internal qi like he can, but I’m certain that my talismans are better than him.”

“I’m sure you’ll do well. I’m more concerned about my own performance, actually…” Avyr grimaced, just slightly. “I don’t have any of the advantages you’ve mentioned. I’m not particularly great at talismans, and my cultivation level is more a detriment than an advantage— if I lose, I lose. I don’t have any excuses.”

“I’ll write you up some talismans!”

Avyr smiled softly at Lily’s exuberance. “Thanks— and I’ll accept— but I’m sure that Xinshi will have those advantages too. And more than that, even— he’s going to have training in how to fight from dedicated instructors, I don’t doubt, and I have… well, I don’t have that.” He sighed. “I’m just not confident I’ll be able to even put up a fight.”

It was a problem. Mingtian would have liked to offer a word of encouragement or two, but if anything Avyr had undersold the problem. He didn’t understand the purpose behind Xinshi— and that his mother had spared no resource nor effort in his upbringing. All Avyr had from his parents was a pristine foundation.

Hm. That was an idea… building upon what he’d been thinking of earlier— “what scripture do you cultivate?”