Entering the restaurant after a bit of hesitation, Noxtis walked in only to see an almost picture-perfect match of Embervesent if she was a few years older. Aside from the shoulder-length crimson hair and the more modest bust, the two female dragonkin could easily pass off as sisters. While Noxtis took himself to now be a more warm-blooded young man after having interacted with Ember for a while.
But after seeing two quite ravishing beauties that were smiling and laughing, Noxtis couldn't help but blurt out. "Whoa...you two are amazing. Are you sisters?"
Velnarra's ears twitched slightly and glanced over at the black-eared youth and contrary to the sly and lecherous looks she got from time to time, a pure and admiring look was what she was greeted with. Much like the look that Wurino had given her when he first courted her.
Velnarra didn't much care about her looks, but she wasn't ignorant of what others viewed her as. But even then, she couldn't deny the happy feeling when she got genuine praise for her beauty and youthful appearance despite not focusing on her looks. "Aren't you the little charmer? And who might you be youngling? I can't say that I've seen one of your bloodline before, and certainly not brought by my lil' firelight here."
With their curiosity piqued as well but greatly dampened from the earlier example of the two previous chatty beastkin, all the other patrons quieted down their conversations greatly and listened with intent while not making direct eye contact.
Nodding, Noxtis sighed that his thoughts had come out of his mouth. "My name is Noxtis, and I am traveling with Miss Embervesent. As for my bloodline, I was told to be from the Onyx Panther tribe but I haven't seen one myself. I was raised by my Granny Reah of the Galapagos Turtle bloodline."
"Oho, I haven't heard that name in ages...how is she doing?" Coming closer to inspect the increasingly interesting beastkin, Velnarra circled Noxtis as he stood stock still so as to not be on the receiving end of either dragonlady's bad side.
"You know Grandma Reah? Uhh...she's doing well, still watching over the village and sleeping a lot. She has taken care of me as long as I can remember."
Laughing and patting him on the back, taking the breath out of Noxtis for a moment as he coughed, Velnarra laughed. "That sounds just like her, ol' sleepyshell could never resist taking a nap whenever it suited her needs. Anyway, since you know my precious lil' firelight, you two should come into the kitchen! Hubby and I can whip you up something that will fill your bellies, on the house of course."
Breathing a sigh of relief and patting his belly, Noxtis felt the nerves calm down slightly as he thankfully didn't mess up. Noxtis looked over to Ember only to see her already following behind Velnarra as if filling her stomach was the only thing on her mind. Rolling his eyes, Noxtis followed behind the dragon ladies into the kitchen to the collective sigh of the patrons still in their seats.
Looking at one another, the patrons kept their thoughts to themselves as they didn't want to be the next ones to be kicked out. The food was too good to be banned for a few days. Even though they were curious as to what the kitchen held, no one but a select few was ever allowed to see beyond those doors. Even some of the tribe leaders and Warband leaders were barred from entering.
Sitting down at a small table situated adjacent to the kitchen, Noxtis and Ember sat in the booth while Velnarra got to work preparing her to produce and demonic beast meats with much larger than expected knives.
Chopping up some aromatic veggies, Velnarra talked to pass the time. "So, I never expected you to find yourself a mate so early firelight, what's the story behind you two?"
Wondering how exactly she should explain her...situation...meeting Noxtis, discovering her new path as a Dantian cultivator, the featureless trainer who seemed to know a lot about cultivation, not to mention that she was growing ever more attached to Noxtis despite being a beastkin who isn't even of a draconic bloodline. As headstrong and willful as she was, Ember did her best to respect her newfound partner's boundaries.
Noticing Ember's hesitance, Noxtis grinned. "Well, Ember here peeked in on me when I was practicing my sword forms and challenged me to a fight. Which I won convincingly I might add. Then she practically begged me to take me under my wing. Being the kind and thoughtful soul I am, I taught her some of my moves. We got along so well she even invited herself to my bedroom and attacked my defenseless body."
Sighing, and rubbing his hips, Noxtis couldnt help but grin as he saw the expression on Embervesent's face. "It was tough work but she practically dragged my body to the city and hasn't left me alone since."
A grinding sound reached his ears and Noxtis felt his spine tingle. "Nnnooxxxtttisss...If you so much as say another word, I will strangle you with my bare hands right now!"
Tilting his head in confusion, Noxtis couldn't help himself. "Huh? I thought you had dragon hands, not bear.
Eyeing Velnarra and recognizing that she was on the verge of laughter, Noxtis continued poking fun at Ember's expense. "Well am I wrong? That is how it went right?"
Not knowing if she wanted to fight with Noxtis in the 4 Seasons restaurant or if she had gotten soft on Noxtis after seeing him so hurt before, she relaxed slightly. "Well...you may not be completely wrong, but realize where we are right now! The way you said what happened could easily be taken the wrong way. Plus I think you forgot to mention that I actually won in our first fight."
Scoffing at the memory and subsequent teasing from his master about always being on guard, even against a pretty lady, Noxtis shrugged."Whatever; besides, I thought with your scales and all they would be hard to sleep against, but they ended up being softer than expected. Plus you're quite warm as well when you hug me at night."
At her breaking point, Ember cracked her knuckles. "You know what, I will strangle you. More food for me later."
Threatening to leap over the table and go through with her promise, a loud snort echoed out shocking both young beastkin as they looked over at the source of the sound.
"I like you Noxtis. And if what you say is even somewhat true, I'm sure that firelight here really has been swayed by your charm. Also you may not know this but dragonkin scales are usually like armor for us and only get softer when we are sleeping or around those we trust."
Pouting and crossing her arms below her sizeable bosom, Ember sat down with a huff. "Aunt Vel! I thought you were on my side!"
Shaking her head and searing a juicy slab of demonic beast meat on a pan, Velnarra tossed some butter in the pan and basted the meat with a few sprigs of herbs.
Just then, a door connected to the kitchen opened up and a slim and tall wolfkin walked into the room with a few plates in his arms. "I thought I heard someone I recognized, when did you arrive Ember? And who's the young beastkin here?"
Feeling the wave of chilling aura sweep over him, Noxtis was intrigued as he had felt the heat from the strong dragonkin he had come into contact with. Wondering if more elemental skewed bloodlines all had an aura to them, he observed the slim wolfkin with a spiky bunch of off-white hair coming in deftly carrying the tray of desserts that looked enchanting to look at, Noxtis waved. "Hello sir, you must be Wurino! My name is Noxtis, and I was invited to this abode of heavenly smells by Embervesent. She has sung many praises of your bewitching sweets."
A sly glint cross Wurino's eyes but his posture didn't change as he inspected the youth. His own wagging tail, unfortunately, betrayed the happiness he felt about the compliment though and coughed lightly as he excused himself to serve the desserts to the awaiting customers as the desserts were in their peak state.
"Quite the sweet talker aren't you? Even my husband has been swayed by your honeyed words. Not that I blame him; his desserts are quite amazing. I have to stop myself from eating them or I'd risk getting fat."
Chatting a bit more with both Ember and Velnarra, they all laughed as Velnarra told a few stories of the antics that she and Wurino had gotten into in their youth. Finally being served their own plates of food sporting a perfectly cooked piece of demonic beast meat with a side of soup, they all dug in with relish. Wurino joined them a few moments later and ate with the small but joyous group.