((Logged 3/17/01 by Dirah))
What--have -Dirah- do the base action of ordering for herself instead of idly staring out at the rest of the room? That is what Cerencia is for. He knows well enough to nod with fellowship to the waiter who accepts the order for them both, returning to pour a glass of water for his dining mate after the young man leaves. "I assumed you wanted the romaine lettuce?" he adds in afterthought, not really needing the answer for knowing her tastes.
"Ah, that will do." Would it take half a miracle to have Dirah merely openly, obviously give some sign of thanks? Let's not bet on flying pigs, now. But at least she smiles, and does not seem at all as ungrateful as, well, she could very easily seem. And she leans back a bit into her seat- there is no reason to waste a good moment in somewhat calm, after all. And there is no reason to think that one ought not to, even when snug in the heart of enemy terrirory. Even so, how does she look a shade out of place- cloaked and in a banal sort of outfit that hopes to be something of a disguise, offset by that too brilliant silver hair which falls about her features. And still she seems, to all outward notices, utterly calm, "So, is everything all right today?" What does she address? Knowing her, she could be breaking to petty conversation about how well one is.. In enemy territory? Why not?
Cerencia removes the white gloves only with distaste at the necessity--the traces of sauce on tables or the sweating of a hot plate could leave unpleasent stains on gloves that would need to be kept clean for later. He folds them neatly and sets them into a vest pocket, only hmming at first to Dirah's question. "Everyone's been settling in well. The place is overflowing with people," he adds, accepting the salads which arrive first as the appetizers and sliding the more luxurious of the two over to Dirah's side. "I don't forsee any difficulties. For now, all we have to do is wait."
Dirah only nods shortly in responce- more a reaction she gives to smirking at Cererncia's necessity to put aside her gloves. Neatness and necessity? Bah. There's always someone else to deal with tha-.. Wait, that person -is- Ceren. And Dirah turns to her salad then, taking a bite and pausing.. As if to consider the taste, to wonder if she's getting something worthy of merely eating or, perhaps, noting a few complains over. As if anything were above that necessity, "This place is -terribly- crowded. And so blastedly warm, too. I wonder how they stand it..." Murmered words- at least Dirah has the tact to speak softly enough that they aren't overheard as strange. "And, well, of course it will work out fine. What could possibly go wrong?"
"What couldn't?" Cerencia replies dryly, more for practicality than actual pessimism. He takes a delicate bite of the salad, adding a touch of pepper to bring out the flavor of the dressing. "I don't know how they can tolerate it either. Do you know how much sand gets into clothes? I couldn't live here--too much of a -mess-." It takes that sort of thing to get Cerencia into a rant. Aveh was nothing more than an overfull sandbox in the butler's eyes. "We'll get back home soon enough. Did you want to look over the Arena tonight?"
"And soot is much better?" Such a quiet little note of sound, faint enough to pass for any common bit of murmering. But, well, each city to their own of course... Although, quite softly and simply, its amazing how one -can- sort out how soot is kinder on the fashion than sand. Soot wasn't nearly as bad as the sand which insisted on gasping up with every shift of wind, and choking everything so -thouroughly-. "I hope we can be off soon. This entire event is socially and fashionably offencive." Trust her to rank fashion up with morality and belief, and smile and eat a few bites of her salad. And, musing mildly, finally add, "I suppose that would be a good idea. If just to have a feeling for exits and the sort."
The fork scrapes across the bottom of the plate, another piece of lettuce folded over the tines. "I know how to get soot out," Cerencia replies, still a bit wry. "There's more than enough steam for the cleaning. Even if the smoke odor is another worry." He knows his own country, after all. And with another faint shrug of a vested shoulder, he tries another bite. "Daniel and th... Tifa are out in the city already. Since we'll be walking around, an idea of the layout is our next step. Most people will be preparing for it now, so we should be able to navigate with little difficulty."
Dirah chuckles mildly in responce to Ceren's notes of cleaning- its no grand surprise, of course, but amusing nonetheless, how he can be so.. Picky and so utterly knowledgeable about something which he doesn't particularly seem to enjoy in the first place. Well. No matter. Dirah finishes off her salad with a mildly unamazed glance- remarkable how she can seem so displeased with something and -still- so swiftly eat it. "They are? Well, all the better then. I do think that's an excellent idea." And it would have been better, had she thought of it herself. She smiles, adding, "If nothing else, at least this city seems.. Easy enough to learn. It does have -some- sort of a pattern. Although, admittedly, not much of one.." What can compare, after all, to a city in circles and blocks?
"I tried to pick up a map," Cerencia notes, pushing back the fork to the side and taking up the glass of water instead for a sip, "although I don't know if it's to be trusted at all. And watch for the pickpockets," she adds with displeasure again, nodding to the window through which sounds of the marketplace continues to hum. "I noticed the brats on the street about. Sure enough, my decoy wallet was missing by the time I got back to the rooms." He sighs, the muted calculation of not truly losing anything light. "I hope Tifa and Daniel took the advice of keeping anything important close to their chests." Then again, such was why Cerencia had most of the funds. He finishes off his salad as an afterthought. "The Arena supposedly has a cafe. So we won't be left stuck searching for cheap drinks in the stands."
"Well, fair enough. Its -only- common sense." Neglecting, of course, that Dirah herself had a little unpleasant run in with those pesky little pickpockets- she only lost a few coins in the bargain, seldom having any grand amount of money -on- hand with her spending tendancies. But still, she's more than content to pretend that never happened. "And there's a cafe there? Charming! That will spare a great deal of time during the actual tournament." As if that were, of all things, the most important thing to look for. "Are we planning for anything in particular, by the way?"
"Daniel and Tifa will be competing, of course," Ceren responds, taking another sip of water to judge the aftertaste of the heavy dressing, "and we're to observe. Fatima Castle on the way by and the location and status of the crew. And, of course," he adds mildly, "the fact that they left that large submarine just lying around outside the city."
Dirah nods, finally turning to her glass of water. And despite how delicately she attempts to drink, to look in any ways a proper lady, despite all the fact that she's here to be anything but, she, well.. Neglected her own reaction to this overwhelming heat. Drinking nearly half the glass before pausing, she gives a breath to consider those facts, "Observation, the castle.. All easy enough." And then she smiles, lightly, slyly, "And shall anything be done with this large toy of theirs?"
A pause from Cerencia's side to recall orders, and the man nods. "I think it'd be easy enough to get inside... all of them should be out, and with luck, Daniel and Tifa will be proper distractions to pin them down there. With that, we can go take a look at the interior to doublecheck the layout. That's all we need. We don't have the technology or the backup to do anything else..." As nice as that might be. He finishes off his own water as well. "Shall we? The Tournament should be startingsoon...
Dirah nods mildly, and then finishes off the rest of her glass of water, "It should be easy enough to get inside.. Supposing both of our... Well, supposing two specific people aren't on there at the same time we are. Is there.. An assurance of that?" Well, for Sigurd, of course, but for others... Dirah shrugs lighlty, "Why not? Sooner the better, and the sooner this can be tidied up with."