He smiled as she agreed to his offer to explore, partially afraid she was going to turn him down for whatever reason. Then again, they were still strangers who simply met up in a book store who were both seeking information upon different arts. He should be more surprised that she did accept in the first place.

However, before a word could leak out of his mouth, his stomach made a reply of his own, grumbling out into the empty shop. "Maybe a decent place for a meal for starters? I mean, I am no local here, and pub food connected to my inn tends to get pretty boring after a couple days. Besides, if there is a certain taste known to the city, i may as well experience it for myself, right?" It was the best thing he could think of aside from simply blindly exploring the marketplace.

Giving the fan a quick spin through his fingers, flipping around to more of a backhand grasp, he slid it back into its sheath as he held out his other to her. "And if we are going to spend some time together, I think we should be on a name basis at least. I am Douken Sota. A pleasure to meet you."

After introductions were passed to each other, he headed for the door, opening it up with the bell's jingle, holding it open for his new acquaintance.

After he had introduced himself to her, she smiled and did the same. "Likewise, Mr. Sota. I am Liselotte Ellebore. If you're looking for something to cleanse the palate without having to empty your coin purse, I know just the place. I would be more than willing to act as your guide around the city." As she exited the bookstore, she gave him a polite nod in response to his courtesy. Out on the main street, she led him down a busy avenue of shops. "Fortunately for you, they're having a discount on the weekly special. The day they choose is random; that must mean today is your lucky day."

She then stopped in front of a cafe with a striped awning in white and burgundy. A small hand-painted wooden sign read, 'Welcome!' in cursive. Liselotte opened the door and beckoned for him to come in. The interior was cozy, with the walls a warm saffron and the wood paneling a rich maple. The back wall which connected to the kitchen had various herbs and spices growing from pots hanging from the shelves, and there was a harpy girl at the counter. There were many wooden bistro tables and chairs arranged throughout the cafe and three of them were already occupied. At one of them was a bespectacled girl with light orange hair drawn up into two braids drinking a cup of cream with a spot of coffee. Beside the door was a chalkboard with the weekly special highlighted in blue chalk. It read: 'Terra Green Salad & Onion Soup'. 

"This is place is called 'Bay and Rosemary'. Their dishes are made using seasonal ingredients year-round, and they're best known for their seafood and fresh salad. The menu changes weekly with what ingredients are available locally." Putting her hands on her hips, she grinned. "So, what would you like? The waitress already knows what I usually order, so no need to wait for me."

Once more, a nervous smile came upon his face, considering he was not exactly used to being addressed by his surname. After all, he had always been addressed by his first name, even when he was taking a job from nobles, so he never thought he exactly deserved such treatment. However, it was also hard for him to decline her on his bit of discomfort, thinking that it was more personal for her to address folk by their first name. It was something he could get used to, at the very least. At the very least, she was willing to guide him around town.

The place she led him to was one she seemed quite fond of, just by hearing her talk about how familiar she was with how they handled specials along with being such a customer that they know her order by heart. He even couldn't help but comment, "Sounds to me you are quite the regular here," with a slight smirk before heading up to the counter.

"HIII!!!!" the harpy exclaimed, her feathery wing arm frilling out as she raised it high in her excited greeting, a quill between her talons before dropping it down, already writing things down after her eyes flicked over from Liselotte. "What would you like to order, sir?" He gave her credit: her spunk and energy was a nice welcome.

"Hello. May I please have your special today along with…. ummm… how about a strawberry mint tea?"

"You got it!" With her talons quickly moving, scribing down the order, she was quick to tear it off before sending it into the back, calling out, "ORDER UP!" before turning back around to the customers, holding her wing out to show them to one of the open tables.

Giving her a welcoming smile, Douken turned around to Liselotte, asking her, "So, shall we?" before heading her to a nearby empty booth.

Liselotte returned the smile coyly. "Of course." Taking a seat in the booth she took off her gloves and set them on the interior side of the table. "I started coming here every month after I returned from my studies in Iria. It was by chance that I was window shopping, and ran into one of my professors here. Like usual she pulled me along and had me sit down and order from the menu, all while chattering compliments about the food. I didn't believe her at first, but I was glad I was proven wrong. She's been known to have strange tastes in things."

A halfling serving girl came out from the kitchen and brought their drinks; a glass of strawberry mint tea for Douken and rose blueberry tea for Liselotte. The rose tea came in a small porcelain pot to keep it warm, and when poured it was vivid fuchsia pink. "Your food will be ready in bit! Enjoy!" The halfling returned to the kitchen with the empty tray. Liselotte took the half-filled teacup in her hands and let it cool until it was lukewarm. "So, tell me about your travels. Have you discovered anything new whilst exploring forgotten cities?" She was quite interested in hearing what he had encountered and if there had been any new artifacts reclaimed from the passage of time. 

Taking the seat across from her, he listened a bit to her explain how she got to know this place, being calm, yet a bit coy with her experience with her old professor. "You make it seem like she enjoyed grilled kobold tail on a regular basis," he chuckled, though his attention shortly turning over to the halfling, watching her set the two drinks in front of them before taking off. It seemed Liselotte was one for tea as well… Then again, it was a bit too early for any ale, and, at least for him, he could not stand coffee's bitterness.

Taking the glass, of the pinkish-red liquid, he took a short sip of it to see how they did. The mixture of the sweet and sour from the strawberry, finished off from the fresh slight bitterness. It was a bit of a strange taste, sure, but it was one he liked himself. However, she was quick to place the spotlight on him and his explorations.

"I think I have found maybe… two… ruins? Most of the time, i am following leads on others, though more often than not, the rumors lead to more dangerous areas with beasts for skilled hunters to test themselves to undiscovered quarries full of minerals. I mean, the job I was given that I was preparing for was someone wanting to check this cavern for crystals. You get tales of gemstones being used from everything from jewelry to magic mediums, so it would be a nice find. Of course, they would have explored it themselves if it wasn't for the dangers that reside in the cavern as well.

"Still, you could say the ultimate goal in doing all this searching is to find the piece to this," he told her, moving his hand towards the key dangling around his neck. "Its an old item my grandfather found, and he was pretty hellbent on trying to find the lock its connected to. Knowing our luck, though, its probably some sword that has been too rusted to even be used," he chuckled at the final bit. After all, the key was quite the basic shape.

Liselotte leaned closer and whispered in a serious tone. "To be honest, I wouldn't put it past her to try something like that. She brought the class candied scorpions once and had enough for everyone–including herself." She returned to her smile as she leaned back. From what Douken was saying, most of the time he was sent to explore areas deemed to dangerous for normal folk to venture in. Often the reasons were financially-based: new veins of metals, an untapped crystal mother lode, and the like. That was to be expected. After all industry and goods took higher priority than archaeological pursuits. Unless said expedition was directly funded by a college or an eccentric and wealthy antiquarian, it usually was for natural resources.

Sipping her tea she listened as Douken revealed his primary reason for his occupation. Ah, a tale of pursuing an ancestor's legacy. The design was simple, but unconventional. No one made keys like that anymore. Perhaps there was something mysterious behind it? "How curious… It does seem far too simple for a lock. Any metal smith or thief could replicate its shape without much difficulty. That must mean it bears a more complex purpose. The ancients were known for their fondness for puzzles, were they not? If it interests you, perhaps an inquiry with historians or archaeological experts might shed some light on its origins." She thought of her professor, the one who had brought the scorpions, and wondered if she should recommend him to ask her. The woman was eccentric to a tee, but had good intentions. He would have to travel to Parvpora to see her though, and wasn't sure if Douken would be willing to take the trip.

That professor of hers had a way of scaring people off with her oddness, or push people to deny from her enthusiasm. However she did specialize in linguistics, and in turn had extensive knowledge on circles and runes by default. She was obsessed with the arcane and languages, and would likely have become a schoolteacher in grammar had she not gained a position in Iria's mage college. She didn't teach classes every year, and often went on her own to study artifacts and decode ancient writings owned by curators. 

A snicker escaped in as he pictured a human with a human female with a bag of tailless scorpions, each one encased in its own sugary shell with a delighted smile as she handed each one out to her terrified students before munching down on the final one with a gleeful grin. It was certainly quite an interesting image in his mind, so saying she would go as far as grilling a kobold tail over a fire…. yeah, that would seem believable.

"If its an easily replicated object, then it could be some type of magic patterns forged into the metal or maybe the metal itself would be a bit rare and have some special properties on where it needs to be used. That, or my grandfather is an idiot, got really excited, and started searching for some fool's gold that doesn't even exist. Without any information, the possibility is till quite possible."

While she did make an offer to see her professor about getting it checked out, Douken had another idea. "That could be an idea… if I had the coin, but maybe you could be of assistance instead, at least in terms of research. I mean, if you are training to be an alchemist, then maybe you can see what type of metal  this is made of. And let's not forget your new research notes," he reminded, motioning his hand over to her tomes of alchemic enchanting. "Would this not be a good time to attempt this study?

"I mean, even if things fail, I won't be too dishardened. After all, I do this sort of job to explore the lands, not search for treasure. Otherwise, I'd be the one taking the jobs to run through ancient tombs. All I do is find them."

Liselotte considered his suggestion. "Perhaps… Though I'll need to take a small portion of it as a sample. I should have some common metals lying around so I'll see if the properties bear any similarities. If there are enchantments I'll need to check for those first in case someone placed a nasty spell. Though, it might take a week at least before I have any concrete results." Enchanting was fairly new to her, but if it was chemical composition that would be easy. She did a mental count of how many powders she had and whether or not she had them in pure form or not.

"In that case I'll need to bring the key to my laboratory to cut small bit off. Fortunately mother should allow me to come back in the house now." She chuckled to herself remembering what happened that morning. 'A young lady your age shouldn't be wasting her best years cooped in a shed with vials and vapors! Now out with you, and don't come back until it's at least sundown!' Though if Douken were to come with her, she would run the risk of Edgar or Galvin catching sight of him and she knew how they would react if she brought a boy back with her. It wouldn't be any better if Calantha or Margaret saw either–they would tease her endlessly. She'd never hear the end of it. "Though if you do decide to follow…I suggest hiding first. My family can be a bit of a handful when it comes to seeing me bring people over."

"Oh shiii-" There was a crash, then something or somebody fell through the roof. "You're gonna have to drop from a higher altitude, ya wankers!" Wlfrich yelled at the sky, "And don't come back!!!!". Wlfrich looks around and says "Oh, I'm terribly sorry for DROPPING IN!!!!" This bad pun sends groans throughout the ruined café.
"Heh, tough crowd. Sorry about that, I don't know what got into me. Oooooh, is that honey tea!?" Wlfrich, with no regard about the original owner, brought the cup to his mouth then realized he couldn't eat or drink anyway. He then dropped the cup, and looked at Liselotte and Douken. "Did I ruin your date? Sure hope I didn't, you look like a nice couple." Wlfrich commented with "legitimate" concern.

"I am sure I can spare a sliver off of this," he said, giving her an assuring smile. "After all, this thing already seems pretty beat up, I don't see what another scratch could do to affect it. Then again, the key itself could be the entire thing and not the end bit.," he pondered a bit, his thumb tracing along the curved end of the key. That was the thing with ancient artifacts: As she stated, they loved their puzzles for some strange reason, meaning the key end could not simply be the teeth of the key, but the body itself…. or even the entire thing. Eh, ancient people were weird. "As long as you don't need too large of a chunk, I am sure things will be fine."

"'Allowed home'? Make it seem like you were told to get some fresh air. Too much time in your lab?" he smirked, poking a bit of fun with her. Although when she talked about him coming over, she talked more in a motion of caution. "What, do they get defensive because I may be apart of a team of bandits… or is it more because they are cautious of bringing what they could see as a potential mate?" His tone was full of sarcasm in that statement, seeing as it would be odd if the two started to date after their first meet. At least he would think it a bit awkward. He hardly knew anything of her, so he could not say.

However, his attention was drawn away for the moment as footsteps started to echo from behind along with the smell of freshly-cooked food before turning to see the halfling back with a full tray in her arms. "Well, why don't we worry about that when the time comes?"

However, before any of the food could arrive to their table, the ceiling vibrated with a large impact before collapsing, wood splinters crumbling onto the floor, along with the surprise shocking the halfling into tripping backwards and dropping the contents into a sputtered mess. It was an entrance that certainly drew forth the attention of everyone inside: the Halfling looking up at the mess before her, the harpy decked behind the counter, the orange hair maiden covering her table from the dust, and commotion from the back as they tried to rush to see what happened. Was it some type of assault on the store?

Douken kept his face towards Liselotte as this all happened, but his eyes here locked onto the skeleton before them, trying to cheer up the situation with a terrible pun before taking his glass of tea, moved to drink, and then suddenly dropped it, glass shattering into more of the rubble and the liquid contents being lost to him.

As he spoke coy about his action, the explorer’s left hand moved toward his beltline, hand resting upon the sheath of his weapon, drawing out the folded metal fan to the skeleton’s throat once he finished jesting them. “There is such a thing as a door, you know,” Douken told him, not even bothering to turn his head as his eyes threw daggers upon him. “It is also rude to take what does not belong to you.

“Now then, how do you plan on paying for this damage? The damage to the store, our meals, and our lost time… Or do you simply wished to be exorcised here and now by my blade, or the owner’s?”