even old new york was once new amsterdam

[ringwizard]

Date & Time: February~March, 1204 CE
Location: Constantinople Istanbul Constantinople
Characters: Doughnuts (ringwizard) & Mayonnaise (ringbeast)
Summary: brb buddying up with nerds and stealing books from the imperial library
Warnings: there's a war on, man! (the normans are partying outside and by partying i mean laying siege.)


It's been cold and a little wet since they arrived in Constantinople. It makes sense--it's still the tail end of winter here, after all--but Haruto had been hoping for something just a little bit less like the weather they'd left behind in Exsilium.

But they're not in Exsilium, they're in Constantinople, and Haruto pulls his coat closer, sloughing off a shiver.

"We're going shopping," he says, voice flat. The holograms keep them from looking out of place, but they're going to be here for weeks. He needs at least a cloak with some lining in it, if he can find one. His boots, he thinks, will serve, as long as the tech holds up, and even if it doesn't he doesn't intend on giving them up in favor of the leather slippers half the men in this city were wearing. This whole tunics thing he's okay with. Wet feet, not so much.

Comments

[ringwizard]

"Stop pulling," he says, sounding ruffled. "Nitoh." He tugs his arm free, and catches Nitoh's arm after he does. "If we're gonna be living there, we should at least make a good first impression," he says, "you can do the talking, but let me go in first." Acting like Nitoh is some kind of newbie who can't case a room is going to be weird, but better that than being suspicious.

He quirks a smile. "Then we can go sight-seeing."

[ringbeast]

He rolls his eyes but tries to rein it in a little bit. "All right, sure. I'll try to look properly mild and scholarly." He crosses his arms and puts on a face of concentration.

[ringwizard]

"That just makes you look constipated," Haruto says, throwing it over his shoulder with a smirk as he walks past to push the door carefully open.

The place is busy, but not overly so. He looks around for the guy who looks to be in charge, and when he spots him, he looks at Nitoh, and speaks, low. "You're up, Brother Nitoh."

[ringbeast]

He bares his teeth and waves Haruto away, waiting on the street with bright eyes while Haruto scopes the place out.

Nitoh walks in, smiling and with his hands in a prayer position. He swallows, nerves in the pit of his stomach as he talks to the innkeeper. He watches the surrounding patrons' eyebrows rise at the price he's quoted, and deftly negotiates it down.

He makes a lot of being a weary man of the cloth... It's not like the innkeeper buys it so much as haggling is just how things work. In the end, with a promise to stay for several weeks, he gets a good deal. He turns to Haruto for the money, whispering, "I think it'd be best to do a week up front, cos then he's sure to be in a good mood."

[ringwizard]

Haruto reaches inside his jacket for the currency they'd been given, and counts out the agreed-on price for a week quickly, holding his hands close to his body. No reason to telegraph where he was keeping what in a room full of strangers. He looks up, over Nitoh's shoulder, to curve his mouth pleasantly at the owner, and hands off the coinage. This was Nitoh's deal.

"Better mood means a less lumpy bed, I hope," Haruto says, very quietly.

[ringbeast]

Nitoh laughs loudly as he takes the keys, thanks the innkeeper for his generosity and introduces Haruto as his protector. "He's a man of few words, but that makes for a good companion on a journey of silent reflection."

"Come, my friend," he says, shuffling Haruto and their bags upstairs. "I think all the beds are gonna be lumpy, dude." He grins. "But oh well. Can't be worse than campin' out in the Cretaceous period, right? At least they'll feed us here."

[ringwizard]

Haruto bows his head hello, shifting to follow Nitoh without a word.

"I dunno, the Cretaceous period had its high points," he drawls, leaning on the wall as Nitoh unlocks the door. He resists the urge to wiggle his eyebrows, but just barely. "All else fails, I'm using your sleeping bag and sleeping in front of the door."