Sparring, Kari Vs Cole[NK, P, ask for invite]

Kari opened her eyes and saw that the boy was not angry. She expected some form of ridicule for a stupid question. She expected him to demand her to look at the menu since it was on the first page. What she did not expect was that he did not look at the menu. If he went here frequently, then he should have had something that he suggested memorized. That was the most logical thing. Kari new Nami's menus like the back of her hand. However there was one thing she forgot about.

Cole was not a brains type of person in her eyes. His first description started with the cheese. He claimed it was made in a cottage but Kari could only question that logic. Her father explained to her that cottages were homes in the woods or other rural areas. Typically these homes were owned by wealthy people who ran services like her father's inn. His next description mentioned the tomato sauce being made by a Mary person which was poured over the noodles. Kari has never heard of such a sauce which was made by one person. She turned to the menu to reanalyze the food item. She could not see a single noodle on the dish. There were these flat noodle colored squares but no noodles. It was confusing, but it was a mystery she would avoid. the price of the dish seemed a little high. While it would be free, her sandwich was not worth that much money.
"Hmm... It... it is a lot of money. I think it is best I get something more economic."

She only needed a replacement, a dish that would cost the same amount, maybe a little more for punishment for stealing. She scanned the menu looking for another dish when Cole opened the floor with another question. Kari did not look up, still scanning the menu. She was from the country, but she was not raised in the village. So also did not move here recently. So what was the correct answer to the question? She raised her eyes before lifting her head. She found a dish but so the menu was now pointless to look at. She focused all her energy on making the best kind of answer that would solve the question presented to her.

"I am not from the village and I have not moved here recently. What about you?"

Kari pulled her tea to her mouth and started sipping. She adored the bitter taste. It relaxed her mind and was a great change of pace. It was so hard to find any good bitter food or drinks. Her eyes returned to the boy. He was still calm with no sign of blood lust. This made Kari wonder if the guy really was some killer. She unclasped her cloak and unzipped it a little so that her mouth and true blank expression was revealed. If he was going to do something deadly, now would be the best time. She was open and had no way of hiding anything in her expression.

WC:515

Once again, someone in the village would show something that she would not have guessed. The boy was not from the village. However, since he was raised here, she had a reasonable reason to not have been able to notice. After this shocking reveal, the waiter returned and requested both of their orders. Cole, for some reason, pointed the waiter to her to order first. Kari returned to the menu, as she had not found anything she really wanted. In a rushed she looked for words she knew. She found the word dumpling under the dish called gnocchi. One again, she found a word she could not pronounce. So she held up her menu and pointed to the dish.

It was described as dumplings in seasoned with herbs which seemed interesting. Most herbs did not have a strong flavor which was something she liked about food. She turned back to Cole. It was his turn and he ordered the Lasagna. Afterwords, the waiter left and Cole tried to key her into her headband. Kari was confused at first. She never had an issue with it before until he reminded her about the history of the area. Kari froze before completely removing her cloak. He was a hundred percent correct. All she thought about was herself and staying safe while around Cole. In doing so, she opened herself to the world and village which disliked her profession.

"It was an oversight on my part." Kari lowered her head, expecting the man to ridicule her expectantly after she answered his next question, "I know it is important to some people. Father would make special arrangements for those depending on which church they follow."

Her head would remain down, at least until she was told to raise it or Cole forgave her.

WC: 299

Kari flinched when Cole grabbed her hands. The memories of their fight flashed into her head which caused her to pull back her hand. When he looked at her, his eye winked. A jester used to note something. However she was unsure what to noticed till her brain re-winded their conversation. A key word stuck out priest. For the first time this day, Kari was interested in the man. A priest's son becoming a ninja. This was not the first time she met such a combination but this was the first time, she met one who hid his ninja profession.

"You lie to your father... My father would be upset if I lie to him."

Out of everything else, this was the one thing she cared about the most. Her eyes locked in on the man, looking him up and down as if scanning his very image into her brain. Her berserker was now something more, something she was happy to spend time and a free lunch with. Also, her worries of being killed were well out the window now. She hungered for knowledge, for understanding of his situation.

"Why did you becoming a ninja against the will of the church?"

WC:201

Suddenly Cole just blurted out laughing. Kari stared baffled, what triggered such an outburst. Was it the comment about lying? Maybe it was the comment about going against his family. What made this funny and loud. He was so loud, other people were starting to look at them. This was a position Kari avoided most of her life. Her first instinct was to request he quiet down but then the boy said two things which would further baffle the girl.

He now said his parents were ninjas who went against the church and shortly after he blurted something about a bartender. Kari's mind was running circles to understand the meaning behind this. It just did not make sense at all. Was the boy lying to her? Was he just trying to bait her into saying something to his amusement? Kari just froze an trembled while lowering her head. She did not know how to respond and everyone was looking at her. Her brain stopped working leaving her helpless. Little did she know everyone else turned away. Even worst, now she knew Cole saw that she was broken. This was the opposite of what she wanted to happen today.

Then then the boy told her to ignore that. Kari looked up, her blank face stressed. Her mind was too broken to think about anything else. She just wanted everything to slow down and stop. She did not even fully comprehend the the boy's next words. It was a request she could not do but in hoping that he would cease this confusing behavior, she would comply. After closing her eyes, her lips would open revealing white teeth but the curve in her lips would turn down instead of up. Her smile was dark, void of any light but at least she listened. As long as this situation would go away, she did not care about what else happened.

WC:317

The waiter walked over but Kari kind of turned away. Her instincts forced her head to hide which she would agree with if she had a choice in the manner. The smell of food snapped her out of her confused state, signalling her face to relax the food smelled so good though that probably was do to her stomach eating a hole through itself. She did not need the boys permission to start eating but it was nice to see him just dig in. Kari herself picked up her fork and dug it into a dumpling. Then she stuffed it into her mouth chewed slowly. It was decent. The flavor was not too strong and it was chewy. Her stomach was happy though all she felt was a warm in her belly.

The boy would start his lecture talking about how the church was terrible and how the 3 jounin could take them all out themselves. Kari would have no comment. She did not like the idea of a war inside the village. Especially since it could spread to the country side and affect her parents. When he mentioned he had no parent, Kari paused for a moment. She could not imagine not having parents. She learned so much from them. She eventually continue eating hoping she did not have to continue this conversation. She did not know what best to say.

"I use to work at a temple. They were accepting of me."
The boy seemed to love this church topic so she decided to interject with an experience of her own.

Wc:263