[RiDragon]

"Eggs...?"  Glinda had eaten caviar before, those were eggs, but those were too small.  Not knowing much about biology, and the fact that eggs came from animals, she hadn't really known that there were multiple types of eggs.  Her eyes grew to a saucer-like shape when the waitress brought Jordes her meal.  The smell of it...

"Oh my goodness!"  She was no longer able to hold back her enthusiasm.  "What a..  smell!  I've never smelled anything like it.  It's so... I can't even explain it!"  The word she was looking for was rich and salty.  Glinda had lived quite a sheltered life, with sheltered food.  Most of what she ate were nutrient-rich bars and paste.  Her father was way too worried about possible allergens or any sort of unhealthy habits to give her food like this.

"I never knew food could...  Be so..  Good?"  Her vocabulary wasn't quite wide enough to really express what she meant, but it was quite obvious she'd never experienced any sort of spice or anything.  "Daddy had packed me my own lunchies to have..  But I may just have to skip it.."  Daddy never yelled at her, so he wouldn't care.  Right?

[Aww I hope you feel better!  Also I just came up with the idea that she never had real food on the spot.  I hope it's ok xD;  thought it could be interesting]

[Freezair]

[Thank you~ Also, I like that idea.]

A hot, choking, burning sensation suddenly welled up in Jordes's throat. She briefly worried that she was about to throw up before she realized her eyes were prickling as well. She felt... moved.

My Yepha. I think I'm feeling pity for this girl. Jordes admitted that she'd never thought much of whatever food was the current darling of yoga-obsessed middle-class empty-nesters and easily swayed college girls, but she at least admitted that quinoa was good if prepared right and she actually rather enjoyed acai tea. But if this girl was impressed by a simple mushroom omelette, she must've had the most joyless diet imaginable.

"Uh... do you want to place an order up front? We... we could do that. They make lots of good things here, if you want advice. The ham and cheese croissant sandwich is really good, too, but it's also pretty rich. The turkey pesto sandwich is probably my favorite for lunch, and it isn't too heavy, either. If you want something more breakfasty, their waffles are amazing, especially with the homemade berry compote..."

[RiDragon]

"I...  I.."  She looked to the front, then back to Jordes, then back to the front again.  "I...  Don't know.."  She murmured, ducking her head down shamefully.  "I've..  Never had any of those.."  She thought back to when she had picked some berries from a bush to nibble on, remembering them to be quite sweet.  At least before her father had grabbed her and chastised her for eating random things, they could of been poison, he had said.  After that she had been scared to try any new foods, but the smell of all the things here...  Something that was poisonous couldn't possibly smell so good, right?

"I uh..  I tried berries once...  You said one of them had berries with it?"  She asked hopefully.

[So sorry for being so late, along with this post not even being great..  School and work have been exhausting me lately. ;; ]

[Freezair]

((Dunworrybowdit. Technically this RP can run as long as we like it, and I'm honestly having more fun with this little story than the possible prizes we might get!))

Suddenly and strangely, the girl who had seemed so big, in her ego, in her demands, in everything--looked very, very small to Jordes. She'd heard that money didn't solve all problems, and she'd never been rich enough to confirm this, but looking at this girl seemed to be all the proof she needed. She'd had berries once? Her life had been free of blueberry muffins, and berries and cream, and strawberry shortcakes, and peanut butter sandwiches with strawberry jam, and smoothies, and even Jordes's oddball personal favorite, which was whipped honey and boysenberry jam on a flour tortilla and rolled up like a taquito.

Jordes inhaled. She was all ready to make a proclaimation. You're getting a waffle. Now. But then she decided that this girl probably always being told what to eat and it was hardly fair to her to keep bossing her around. So she worded it as a very strong suggestion: "You should absolutely get a waffle. They're full of cinnamon and a little bit of candied ginger... It makes them a little spicy-sweet. The homemade berry compote is amazing... And so is their marmalade... Both of them go incredibly with the waffle. We should try and get you both. Let's go up and order."

[RiDragon]

[That helps me feel better, haha.  Sorry I just haven't been having a muse lately.]

"I should..?"  Glinda still seemed unsure.  What would her father do if he saw her?  He would be quite mad of course.  He might even yell, and that would be scary.  She knew she would always be his little princess, but only if she was sure to obey him.  What is a princess without a king to keep her safe, after all?  But daddy wasn't here right now, and there was no chance he could pop in.  No, he was doing some sort of big job somewhere up north, almost a day away by train.  She was completely free to do what she wanted..  If she was brave enough to, of course.

She realized how hard she was clutching her fists and relaxed them, leaving little marks from her fingernails digging into her palms.  "... Ok."  She said, almost robotic, as she slowly stood up.  This was just so new and strange to her.  She took a few steps towards the front counter before turning to look back at Jordes, her face white as a sheet.  "I.. What do I say?"  She had asked daddy for things in the past, but this was so different..  Plus, she had already forgot what she was even going to order.  Something called a waffle.

[Freezair]

"Here," Jordes said. Her hand flinched out, and she almost grabbed hold of Glinda's wrist to lead her on. But nerves seized her and she instead lead the way to the cash register normally.

The barista/server there was busy swapping out an empty tray of cookies in the baked goods display for some new ones. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes," Jordes said. Then she stepped aside, nudging Glinda forward by virtue of opening up the space between her and the desk. "Just tell her what you want to order," she whispered. "The menu's above her head... but I recommend the spice waffle. Just tell her you want to order a spice waffle. Just like--well, maybe not JUST like you did with the water. They like it when you say 'please' and 'thank you.' And... I'll pick some of the toppings, but it comes with candied ginger whipped cream. I'll eat the extra topping you don't..."

[RiDragon]

Glinda followed Jordes, her footsteps more hesitant than she had ever walked before.  She didn't remember the last time she was so scared of talking to someone.  It was just so...  New.  But she could do anything, right?  That's what Daddy said at least!

Still, she continued walking pretty slow, lagging behind Jordes as if she would get lost.  She tried really hard to listen to Jordes, but she was finding it tough to concentrate.  Spiced waffle, please and thank you, something about whipped cream.  Ok.  Seems simple enough.  Jordes was an expert on these things, it seemed, as long as Glinda did what her blind date said, she would be fine.  Still, she hesitated for a few awkward moments before speaking.  "Hello."  She said, looking between the server and Jordes.  "Oh, Hello please."  She added, nodding to herself proudly.  "Thank you, I'd like to order a spiced waffle?"  She blushed a bit, rubbing the back of her head nervously.  "Did I do that right?"  She asked, seemingly to both Jordes and the server.  "Oh and, what's whipped cream?  Please."

[Freezair]

The barista was immediately confused. Was this the same girl who had barged in asking for the finest filtered water with nary a pleasantry? And... had she really just asked what whipped cream was?

The woman next to her seemed to confirm it. Jordes learned over and whispered something to Glinda. "It's, um... well, imagine what eating a cloud would be like. It's like that. It's very soft and light and sweet. And yes, you did well."

The barista just blinked. After a moment of consideration, the register rang with the purchase. "O-okay. One spiced waffle to you. Do you want any other toppings besides the whipped cream...?"

Jordes nodded. "Could we possibly have a little bit of the berry compote and a little bit of the marmalade? And would it be possible for them to both be on the side? That way," she said to Glinda, "if you don't like either of them, you don't have to eat them. But... I have a good feeling about whipped cream. But I know some people don't like compote because they don't like squishy food... Or sometimes because it has seeds in it..."

[RiDragon]

"A... Cloud?"  She asked, trying to imagine what a cloud would taste like.  She thought she remembered that they were made of dust and rain...  Maybe she was wrong though?  She didn't know much about the weather or anything like that.  She didn't even really know how condensation worked.

She perked up at the mention of seeds.  "I've had seeds before!"  She chirped, "I like how they crunch.."  She nodded at Jordes suggestion.  "Yeah..  Both on the side sounds like a good idea.  Are there any other sides we can try?  Maybe I should try one of everything...  Since I'm pretty sure I haven't had any of it before.."  She took out her purse and started gathering her money, probably taking out way too much than what the actual cost was.

She looked to the server, who was giving her an odd look, and suddenly felt very self conscious and averted her eyes.

[Freezair]

"One of everything, you say?" The barista's gaze drifted to the money Glinda had and lit up. Those eyes were making louder Cha-ching! noises than the register.

Jordes immediately slid in. "Oh! You'd never be able to eat it all if you tried to order EVERYTHING," she said. "You'd get full and the food would go to waste... Oh... but..."

In the glass display case full of baked goods, there were a number of cake pops on display. The store offered a number of cake pops in a wide variety of flavors, from the usual suspects like chocolate and vanilla to trendier things like salted caramel and red velvet to some unusual ones like maple bacon. She didn't like cake pops much herself. She found them overwhelmingly sweet and the texture wasn't to her liking. But for someone who wasn't used to good food, a simple, concentrated sweet like that would be perfect for showing her the world.

"Could I also... get one of each kind of cake pop? I'll be paying for those..."

"Sure. You wanna buy them as a sampler box? It's a little bit more expensive that way, but they all come wrapped up so you can save some for later."

"That sounds excellent. Thank you."

[RiDragon]

Glinda felt awkward as she stood to the side to allow Jordes to talk to the serving girl.  Why was this so easy for the woman, but not for her?  She tried to come up with some sort of excuse.  Perhaps Jordes studied how to talk to people for her entire life, and that's why?  She'd heard of people who studied for specific things to get jobs and such, maybe there was a talking job that Jordes did?  Or perhaps she was a magic user, and simply blessed herself with some sort of incantation to allow her to be friendlier than others.  

Yes, that must be it, it must be some sort of spell.  Everyone seemed to be good at magic!  Glinda herself really hadn't tried to use any sort of magic before.  She'd learned about it in her private classes, of course.  She learned about everything in them.  Well, everything that daddy had wanted her to learn, anyway.

She nodded to herself in satisfaction, then looked to Jordes.  "Your help is appreciated."  She managed to stutter, her voice coming out not at all as professional as she planned out in her head.  "Your powers are very helpful."  She wondered if complimenting her enough would persuade her to teach the magic to another.

[Freezair]

"M-m-my... powers?"

Jordes froze.

The impossibility of that statement whirled through her mind. How could she possibly know about my powers? They aren't very common to begin with. I haven't said anything about them. Did I write about them in the bio I gave to the blind date people? No. I don't tell anyone about them unless I have to. Then how...? How did she...?

She stared, unblinking, into the distance just beyond Glinda's face. And oh. What a time it was.

As if Glinda had summoned it, there it was.

It was if a window had just opened up in the shop behind her, right in front of the restrooms. A wobbly-edged window into somewhere else. Hundreds of tiny, brilliant wildflowers waved the closest to the window, but at the end of them towered a brilliant cityscape. Its towers reached the heavens, but it existed in the middle of a beautiful field--urban living in perfect harmony with nature. Idyllic. Utopian. Jordes's stomach sunk down to her feet and her head began to spin. Even though she knew it would do no good, she lifted her arm, and tears slid down her face.

"No..." A tiny sob caught in her throat. "Not now..."

[RiDragon]

Glinda, of course, panicked.  She already was under experienced in the art of conversation and friend making, and now she was faced with the first person she ever was friendly with having some sort of breakdown.  Worst of all, it was probably her fault.  No, don't make it about yourself, Glinda.  She quickly chastised herself, though she felt her composure slipping through her very fingers as Jordes grew more upset.

"I'm so sorry!"  She blurted out, "I just-  I just thought you talked so good with people, I thought maybe it was magic or something!   Was that offensive?  Do people get offended at things like that?  Oh no I'm so so so sorry."  She held her hand over her mouth to stop herself from sobbing, eyes darting around desperately.  Is there a doctor here?  Would a doctor even help?  Oh no, if only she paid attention in her first aid classes!

Get Help.

She swallowed and turned, completely unaware of the world behind her that Jordes was perceiving.  "Ma'm,
I please need your help!  Thank you."  She said quickly to the barista.  "I think I gave my date a panic attack.  By accident of course.  Uh...  Water!  Yes, get water!  ... Please."

[Freezair]

The barista didn't wait around. In around ten seconds, a clear cup full of cold mineral water appeared on the counter. Jordes had been lost in her own world--or rather, the world that wasn't her own and never would be; that tantalizing glimpse of a beautiful place she would never be a part of. Quiet tears streamed down her face. And we were doing so well today. It was almost becoming... fun. Then, of all the places for my... disease... to flare up...!

Jordes then realized that she was being talked to. And a worried-looking barista was holding out water as if it was some kind of healing elixir.

"Oh. I... thank you," she said. She tore her face away from the otherworldly apparition and took the water. Maybe it was just her, but she swore Glinda seemed... concerned. "I'm fine. I'm not... sick... not really." She dared to look beyond Glinda's head, but the world was gone. She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear a word you were saying. Could... could you repeat that? If... if it's important..."

[RiDragon]

Glinda tried to calm her breathing, using some techniques new age yoga classes she had made her father pay for.  Granted, she only went to one class before she decided she was bored of it, but that class was mostly about breathing.  Breathing is what she needed right now.

She realized that Jordes was okay and let out a woosh of air she hadn't realized she was holding.  Well, so much for breathing correctly.

"Are uh, are you..?"  She swallowed back her nervousness, suddenly realizing just how stupidly concerned she was being.  Much too emotional, not fit for a lady.

"I was uh.   Saying that I didn't mean to...  Make you do that?"

She looked behind her in response to Jordes' look, but saw nothing.  She was worried someone might of been behind her, but it didn't seem so...  Still, it made her a bit worried to think about Jordes seeing something that she couldn't see.

"B-Before you had your uh..  Episode,"  She actually was trying to word it non offensively, "I was just asking how..  You were so nice to people, it must be some sort of power.."  She trailed off, feeling dumb.