This is Not a Theme Park [Lucca]

[Kari Muffin]

Horatio blinked as he watched the boy leap off his seat and headed to the door. That was a fast reaction. Apparently the girl must have meant quite a bit to him... or something? "Wait! Wait! I didn't give you directions to the curry place!"

He slipped (or rather fell with a tiny bit of grace) and quickly waddled across the room.

Conall had rushed after his friend, only to find that his balance was a little off. He leaned heavily on the door frame as he struggled to collect himself properly. A sigh escaped him as the penguin waddled up to the door and poked his head out after Arkady had slipped out of the establishments.

"Sorry," the boy mutter slightly as he slipped past the penguin, holding the door open.

He waddle a bit out of the door looking up at the strange boy.[color=darkorchid "I'll just give you the information, eh?"[/color] He listed off the directions to the curry place as well as the directions to a few other nice places. "If you have any trouble you can find someone here to help you." He waved a stubby wing.


Conall simply nodded and gave a small thanks. They could get this done quickly and get back to Castiel without incident.

[Lucca]

Arkady was already out the door and across the street by the time he actually heard Horatio calling him. He turned, and realized that the Penguin was right. Oops. He stopped and turned back, ears perked attentively and face burning. Of course, he could barely hear the directions from where he was...but Conall could, and as soon as the other boy told him, Ark would lead the way there.

It was only a few blocks to the curry place, and the smells coming out of it were hopeful. His tail began a slow wag and he paused outside the door, smiling a bit as he looked at Conall. He'd taken pains to slow his speed and try to be understanding of the Boggie's leftover balance issues, even letting him lean on his shoulder again if he needed to. He was hoping Conall was mostly recovered by now, though, if only so that they could carry back enough food.

He nodded for the door, gesturing the other boy to go first, and also silently asking if this restaurant merited his approval. Nothing but the best for Cas, especially in case she'd woken up and found herself alone. Ohh, he hated to think that had been the case! Of course, something else occurred to the pup as well, and his tail stilled. "You have money, right?" Ark suddenly wasn't sure if the money he'd brought was on him or not, which made him feel rather foolish.

[Kari Muffin]

It was a trail getting to the curry place without falling flat on his face. However, he managed and was grateful that Arkady was at least willing to slow down a little bit. The smell of the food would have made his tail wag if it was capable of wagging, instead it just twitched a bit before the Bog child noticed and stopped.

The inside of the restaurant was dimly lit by candles that reflected off the detailed red and yellow wallpaper. A person sat behind the counter reading a book while a few people were eating in the restaurant. As soon as they saw the boys they perked up and waited for them to approach the counter.

"Yes, I have money," he said. As he looked up at the menu. There were quite a few choices to choose from. "What... do you think we should get?" Most of the stuff sounded spicy....

[Lucca]

Well, the restaurant wasn't very crowded right then, but that could be because of the odd hour and not related to the quality of the food. Still, he looked around carefully and took a few subtle sniffs. All he could smell was the food and the place looked clean enough; all polished floors and gleaming tabletops. Satisfied, Arkady made his way over to the counter to look at the menu with Conall. Maybe Torques just didn't like spicy food?

Arkady was fine with something spicy as long as they had enough water, and there had been running water and cups back at the inn, from what he could recall. Still, he wasn't sure what Cas would really like. So they should probably get a variety to be safe. "We could get several kinds," he said in an undertone to Conall. "And possibly a side. Rice or something." To be fair, he hadn't had curry very often. It just wasn't something that the Court kitchens would serve without special request, and it was easier to get the same thing or just go with what everyone else was having in the main dining room.

[Kari Muffin]

Conall was fairly certian that everything in this place came with rice. The more he was reading the menu the more he was wondering about the idea being a good one or not. Suits there were a lot of options and he wasn't entirely sure what to go with. Might as well stick with things that sounded remotely sensible, in theory Castiel would eat anything.

He looked to the person behind the counter, "To go... we would like large servings of Red Curry Beef, Thai Green Chicken Curry, and some Vegetable Curry with sides of white and...Almond rice." He looked to Arkady to confirm before giving the go ahead of the order. Even if he added anything they would be fine by the Jack. He had plenty of money to cover them.

It would take fifteen minutes or so to get their order together. Which left them with plenty of time to chat. Conall found himself awkward yet again. Debating on if he wanted to ask the King a question or not. It had popped in his head when the boy had practically bolted at the mention of Castiel's name.

[Lucca]

Arkady felt a great flood of relief that Conall was here when he heard the other boy effortlessly rattle off a list of menu items. He could never sound so confident, he was sure, unless he'd outright been told what to get and was simply repeating the words. When Conall looked to him for confirmation, Ark hesitated a moment, toying with the idea of asking for something to drink other than water...but that would just be adding something unnecessary. After all there were probably other things back at the inn. He thought he'd seen some tea and hot cocoa mix down in the lobby (along with coffee but he didn't drink that, and didn't think he friends did either), and if they wanted something else that could provide them with variety.

So he nodded to Conall. That order sounded fine, and now that they were actually here, in the restaurant, and he was smelling the food, his mouth was already watering. Swallowing thickly, he turned from the counter and wandered over to a booth to wait, expecting Conall to follow. After all, he didn't think his friend should just stand there, with his balance still off, for the whole fifteen minutes.

Of course, as soon as he sat down, he noticed Conall giving him an odd look. He shuffled his paws a bit, feeling vaguely ashamed, though he couldn't put a paw on why. "Is something...wrong?" he asked hesitantly, tilting his head at his friend.

[Kari Muffin]

Conall followed Arkady with very little protest. Sitting in the booth, however, was a challenge considering the weapons sticking out of his back. It took a bit of effort to get remotely comfortable and when he did he blinked at the boy's remark.

It was that obvious wasn't it?

He swallowed as he tried to think of a nice way of saying it. He really wished that he had some sort of diamond charm. It would have made things far easier. As it was he would just have to come out and say it.

"Do you have a crush on Castiel?" His voice didn't waver somehow, and he hoped the canine wouldn't take it badly. It felt like a stupid question now that it was actually out of his mouth. He shouldn't have asked it. It was stupid.

Too late though. There was no turning back.

[Lucca]

Arkady waited with a vague sort of unease for Conall to say what he was thinking. He'd obviously been correct that there was something on the other boy's mind, something wrong besides just a bit of lingering pain. The expression on Conall's face confirmed this. He wondered what it was, but Ark wasn't an especially imaginative youth, and he couldn't really think of anything. Unless maybe it was something about what he'd said to Horatio? Had he said too much and given away their identity as royal children? Or perhaps it was something from what had happened in Tulgey? Of course, no amount of speculation could have prepared him for what the other boy actually asked.

His eyes widened, and he stared at Conall in shock. Did he...did he what? He opened and closed his mouth a few times, and then took a steadying breath and opened his mouth to reply. "I...I think I... Yes." Hold up. That hadn't been at ALL what he'd intended to say. But...it was true, wasn't it? It would explain why he always felt like he wanted to protect her, more than anyone else. It would explain why his stomach felt fluttery when she laughed. It would explain why he'd felt a bit uneasy--well, okay, MORE than a bit--at the thought of leaving Conall and Cas alone together.

And it took a blunt question like that to make him realize his own feelings? Why was Conall even asking? Was he going to be upset? Ark ducked his head a bit, feeling his face heat up and hoping he wasn't in trouble. He knew Castiel was the Queen's daughter and, royal child himself or not, that was out of his league. Besides, she was so pretty and fun she probably had plenty of other, more worthy admirers...

[Kari Muffin]

A rather large part of Conall wanted to throw a tantrum. He knew what the answer as before his companion even spoke just by the look on his face, and he couldn't help but feel anger bubbling up. It wasn't fair. He wanted to have a relationship with Castiel that was more than just friends and he could never act on his desire. And yet Arkady could act on his any moment and.... and....

"Your food's ready!" called a cheerful voice.

Conall swallowed back the anger and went to collect the food wordlessly. He shouldn't have asked the question. He honestly shouldn't have. It would have been easier just to assume that everything was what he expected it to be.

At least he knew Castiel was utterly oblivious to all of it. That was the best part of the girl, she would probably never notice that everyone loved her.

Meanwhile, Castiel was finally beginning to wake up. She stretched out, only to remember how bad of an idea that was too late. She whimpered as she rolled out of bed. Hazily she wandered into the bathroom to clean herself up.

[Lucca]

Being on the oblivious side himself, it wasn't until Ark saw something flash in Conall's eyes, something hot and ugly and sharp, that he realized with a sickening feeling that Conall himself might be one of Castiel's other admirers. But...but that didn't make any sense. She was a Yarrow and he was a Boggie. It was like one of those hopelessly doomed romances that the poets loved to write about but could never work in real life. Part of Ark felt grim satisfaction that he had a leg up on the competition. Several, in fact, considering that Conall was greasy and had so many odd mutations.

He was immediately sorry for thinking that, and it only made his stomach feel worse. After all, Conall was one of his few friends...was this going to come between them, now? That they both had feelings for Castiel? Ark wasn't sure what to think. He was very relieved when their food was ready, and took the distraction gratefully, silently moving to take one of the bags of food. He wasn't feeling remotely hungry after that little conversation, but he still welcomed it as a distraction, and as a prelude to the fact that he'd get to see Cas again soon.

The thought made him feel immediately warmer, and he marveled at his own inability to recognize the feeling for that it was until Conall had brought it up. He started back to the hotel, and kept pace with Conall despite his distraction.