Much deserved fun

[a_time_slip]

Instead of popping up in Julian's place uninvited, Janie knocked on his door a few minutes after she got the last note from him.

She knocked, and waited for him to get to the door.

Comments

[a_time_slip]

"We can always come back." she offered, before taking his arm and teleporting them to the nearest city.

[lostinthefog]

Julian nodded when he heard Janie's offer, nevertheless the first thing he did when they arrived in the city was to look up to the sky. The lights were still there, but much harder to see from here due to all the light around.

He started looking for a restaurant instead, one that offered Norwegian cuisine.

"I think there's something, at the end of that road ..." He pointed at a sign in the distance.

[a_time_slip]

"Do you want to walk, or... get there quickly?" she asked, looking up and around. She wouldn't have minded the walk, but didn't know how hungry her friend was.

[lostinthefog]

"I'd like to walk, look around a little. What about you?"

It was a quite pretty city with a port, well worth a look. The houses were comparably small and some of them painted in bright colors. The salty smell of the sea was all around and stronger in the direction in which Julian had pointed.

[a_time_slip]

"I would, yes. It's nice here."

The houses all seemed pretty, and she hadn't been to a place where she could just look around for quite some time.

[lostinthefog]

"Yes, I like it, too. I've seen it only on pictures ..." He started walking, hardly looking ahead because he wanted to take in his surroundings. There were plenty of cafes and shops, some of them already closed because of the late hour, and of course restaurants, most of them advertising their seafood.

[a_time_slip]

"You've one up on me then." smiled Janie, also looking around "I love how colorful it is here. It's nice, lovely even."

[lostinthefog]

"Yeah. It looks so friendly, doesn't it?"
In some distance, there seemed to be a river, then the sea. But before that, the sign Julian had seen came closer. It belonged to a cozy restaurant at a corner of the wide road.
"Looks like we might get that reindeer steak here. What do you think?"

[a_time_slip]

"It does... It reminds me of- I'm not sure, but it had to be something good."

She looked toward the river and the sea, then to the restaurant and nodded. "Yes, lets get some food."

[lostinthefog]

Julian noticed Janie's look and grinned. "I'm sure we're going to need a good, long walk afterwards anyway, so we'll get to see a lot more of it."

With that, he held open the restaurant's door.

[a_time_slip]

"Thanks." she smiled, and headed inside. "It smells like they have a lot of good food here."

She didn't smell the rotten fish, and would likely change her mind if anyone ordered it.

[lostinthefog]

"It does. Smells like I want to try it all."

Judging from the smell, the restaurant seemed more specialized in delicacies that weren't seafood, which was why Julian had picked it. The place was well-attended, but luckily, there were a few free tables, and a waitress led them to a small one near a window.

[a_time_slip]

"I think we'd be here for a while." She began "But that was a joke?"

Janie took a seat, and looked out of the window. "What an amazing view! Julian, you'll have to order for me."

[lostinthefog]

"A joke? Hm, we'll see", he replied, grinning. He didn't look like it, but he usually had a healthy appetite.

Julian sat down, too, and studied the menu. After a while he found what he was hoping for and nodded. "Can do that, if you're okay with that reindeer steak? Or would you like something different?"

[a_time_slip]

"The reindeer steak will do nicely." Janie said "What are you getting? The same?"

She saw a waiter walk by with a salad, and now wanted that too.

"The salad too."

[lostinthefog]

"Yeah, the same. I haven't had any in such a long time."

He looked for the salad on the menu, until he thought he had found the matching description.

"Okay ... and what would you like to drink?"

[a_time_slip]

Wine, but it wasn't an option for her. "Whatever that orange drink is." she pointed to another table "It doesn't look like it has alcohol in it"

[lostinthefog]

"Alright, I'll try."

When a waiter came to their table, Julian ordered both Janie's and his dinner. His Norwegian was obviously quite rusty, but the waiter seemed to understand nevertheless and too polite to even raise an eyebrow. The man took the order and left, and Julian leaned back again, enjoying the view.

"Well, let's see what we'll get."

[a_time_slip]

"I just realized something. ". Janie laughed a little, mostly at herself. "I've got a translator that would have made this much easier. I'm so sorry about that Julian"

She also wondered if the order had been right, since her friend seemed to have trouble with the language "But whatever we get should be good. Thank you. "

[lostinthefog]

Julian looked at her, briefly puzzled because he'd never have thought of that, and laughed.

"We can use it next time. Although I'm pretty sure the man would've understood English, too, but ... I wanted to try. It's been a while since I had the opportunity to. Don't worry, I know the words for 'rotten' and 'fish' and I didn't use them."

[a_time_slip]

"How long has it been since you used the language?". She asked. "I'm glad I didn't use it. Its nice to have someone order for me... I haven't had that in a while. "

[lostinthefog]

"It's been years. Actually, the last time I remember was when I was ... fifteen or so? Friends of my parents visited, they're originally from here, and we talked all evening. I was better at it back then."

He shrugged, giving her an apologetic look.

"And ditto, I haven't ordered for someone else for quite some time."

[a_time_slip]

"That must have been a nice visit. Fifteen? Really? that age seems so long ago. You recall the language very well."

She smiled at him again, reassuringly. She didn't mind that he had a little trouble with the language.

"Next time, I'll have to order for you."

[lostinthefog]

"Thank you." He was thankful for her reassuring words, and made the instant, silent resolution to practice again. "And yes, it's been about nine years, but it feels like ages ago ... in another life."

Which it was, more or less. But he was surprised, that tonight, in this company, it wasn't so bad to talk about it. And the thought of repeating that soon made him smile.

"Oh, I'd love that. Where would we go?"

[a_time_slip]

"Sometimes a week can seem like a lifetime". She said. "And you're welcome. I think we would go... There's a place in the islands that I'd like to take you. Where I used to go with my Father."

Janie was looking forward to taking him there. The night was always beautiful on the tropical island, with fire lamps and moonlight illuminating the tiny village on the shore.