"Uh, since when is that a thing? Isnt alcohol allowed to everyone?" Damien frowned, a little surprised by the new rule. His mother had not been a drinker or anything, but she had allowed him several sips every now and again, although aside from wine, nothing else had been to his liking. And he was definitely over that age by now in any case.
She shrugged and shook her head. “Honestly, I don't know. It's been a law for a long time… Like before my grandparents were kids, I think.” Mari explained. “And I don't know why it was made a rule but it is supposed to be a good thing. Like people driving cars while drunk is very dangerous and when kids reach high school age, they start doing really dumb and dangerous things. Adding alcohol to that is just a problem waiting to happen.”
Damien took a moment to think, analyzing the situation in his mind, before lightly nodding at his friend's words.
"I do have to admit you are right, at the very least in the alcohol mixing with bad decisions part. It makes sense now." He said, looking ahead of them. "But, i don't think only young people can make dumb decisions. Wouldn't drinking make a lot of people take bad steps?"
They continued on the side walk calmly, towards their next destination, the whole journey being mostly Mari leading the way and Damien following her lead. The boy started wandering what this place was like, curious to see a good shop for the first time.
“Yeah.” Mari nodded with a small shrug. “I think it's more to protect the younger generation. The older generation… they're supposed to be more responsible and able to be held accountable for their actions.” she explained as she walked on, leading the way to the restaurant. “But, personally, I think that their responsibility levels vary from decent to worse than the kids.” she sighed, shaking her head.
Indeed, it made sense when put like that, although it was still bewildering to know it happened. Yes he had read various scenes where the characters had too much to drink, but it was pretty weird imagining it in real life.
"How much longer do we have to go?" He asked, trying to match her pace. In a way, all of this discussion was starting to really make him hungry and he was growing ever more curious about their destination.
“Not too much farther.” she assured, pointing out a specific building. “It's just there. And they have really good food.” Mari smiled. “Hey. You wanna race? Just to the door?” she offered, getting the feeling that Damien was excited to try the new foods.
One could see Damien's eye light up once he saw the point of their destination and his eagerness seemed to peak.
"Sure! Let's see who is faster!" He cheerfully nodded before taking off in the direction of the building, enthusiasm seemingly boosting him as he went.
Mari laughed, letting Damian have his headstart before quickly running after him. Because she preferred running often it didn't take her long to catch up with him. But she didn't run ahead. She wanted to make sure he would be ok, that he was safe and happy and having a good time.
As they ran it didn't take them much longer to reach the restaurant. Though Mari may have fallen a few steps behind, giving her friend the chance to claim victory over their little race.
The little race gave Damien a small boost of enthusiasm, as he came to a stop next to the building, panting lightly.
He looked back at his friend who was also just coming to a stop next to him, giving her a big smile
"We made it!" He grinned, gathering himself and pushing the sunglasses back up on his nose.
“Yeah. We did.” Mari chuckled as she caught her breath. “You did really good.” she encouraged, holding her hand out to him.
“Are you ready to go to your first modern restaurant?” she asked, smiling at him as she gestured to the doors.
(do you want to continue this?)
(aaa, ye, i just, forgot entirely about this one- also my time has gone to crap- so sorry ;; )
(It's ok. Good to hear from you again! Hope things get better.)
(thank you! Soon i will probably be able to go back to posting, I'm almost done with all my exams and everything, so hopefully it will pick back up again!)
(Yay! Good luck on your exams! 🤞)
(thank you, most of them passed well, i just have the last paper to work on and I'm good. I'll probably start posting here again starting next reply)
(Yay! Congratulations then!)
(Ty ty ^^ now, lemme see where we left off-)
"I guess i am" the boy replied a little nervous, with the smile still on his face. Honestly he was thrilled to be here, the whole place looked so alien to him. It was flashy, bold and colorful, and he kind of liked it. The new world was definitely livelier than his ever was
Mari smiled back, opening the door and letting her friend in first. She was familiar with the aesthetic choice of decor here but she had to admit it was still pretty to look at. Since it wasn't too busy right now, the restaurant had its worn-out “Please seat yourself” sign up.
“Come on. I see an empty booth over there.” she pointed out before leading Damian over.
Damian peeked his head through the opened door like a cat on alert, before taking one or two steps inside, to allow Mari to close the door behind him. The place was decorated with strange patterns and symbols that seemed to be writing, but in a dialect he could not comprehend.
He allowed himself to be taken over to the empty booth, carefully taking a seat on the little bench that flanked the table from both sides, remarking how weird the cushioning of it felt.
"Wow, these seats are quite comfy! And what do we do now?" He asked in a hushed voice, looking around.
Mari couldn't help but let out a soft giggle at the cute way he entered the building. She understood he was shy and had a reason to be cautious but it was still adorable.
“Yeah, booths are always the best.” she nodded as she slid into the seat opposite of Damian. “For the most part we sit here and wait for someone to come and take our order. Usually they’ll ask what we want to drink first then come back with that before they ask about food. In the meantime, we just look over the menu and decided what sounds good.” she explained, gently pushing the laminated paper on the table towards him.
"so we just tell them what we want?" He asked, picking up the thin menu placed in front of him, looking at the various things listed on it.
"Uh, i don't think i know what to pick-" the boy admitted after a quick glance over, being intrigued by all the new words he did not understand. "All of these sound interesting, what would you get?"
“Yeah, pretty much.” Mari nodded, looking at her own menu. Though she figured Damian might need a little help picking something. “If it helps, the ones with little peppers next to them… The more peppers there, the spicier the food is.” she pointed out as both a warning and some advice. “My favorite has to be the orange chicken but I also really like their teriyaki beef with broccoli. And the lo mein is a very popular noodle dish.” she told him, debating which one she was going to get as we.
The boy was slightly taken aback by the listed items, only understanding the pepper symbol part.
"Uhhh…. Can I try this noodle one you mentioned? It looks nice" he eventually decided, scanning the list of ingredients mentioned under the title of the dish.
“Sure. You’ll have to specify which kind though.” Mari pointed out. “They have chicken, beef, shrimp, or veggie options. Or you can mix two of them.” she remembered, though she had a feeling which he was going to choose. “And you might want to take a look at the drinks before the waitress shows up. Unless you just want water.”