Charlotte hummed a little as she finished assembling the meal and headed back out to the main room. The food was steaming fresh and the delicious aroma wafted through the entire inn. No doubt it would start drawing in more customers.
His stomach growled at the scent of it, making him look up. "Oh, that already smells amazing. I've got a good feeling about this one."
Charlotte smiled brightly as she set the plate in front of him. “I certainly hope so. And I brought you some water and a nice glass of iced tea. Hope you like it.”
"Why thank you." He gestured to the chair across from him. "Care to join me? It's not like there's anyone else here and I'll get lonely all on my own out here." He flashed a warm smile, hoping she'd accept.
She gave a coy smirk and hummed as she looked around. “I suppose I could spare a few moments.” she agreed, taking the empty seat.
"Ah, how grateful of you to spare a moment of your busy day to spend it with a lowly peasant such as me." He flourished with a dramatic sigh before laughing.
Charlotte laughed with him and relaxed in the seat. “Oh, it's not that busy right now but… I enjoy sitting with many customers and hearing stories of their travels.” she admitted, leaning forward a little with her arms crossed on the table.
"Do you now? Well, when's the last time you went on your own adventure? I find the best stories are ones you make yourself."
Charlotte blushed a little and took a sudden interest in the pattern of the wood of the table. “I… I've never actually been on an adventure. I've lived here my whole life and haven't left.” she shrugged. “You probably saw that this is a small town and we get a lot of visitors but not a lot of people from here leave here.”
He gasped. "Never left? How is that even possible? I can barely spend a few days in a new city before having to find somewhere new. I can't imagine spending my entire life in one place!"
Charlotte shrugged again. “I don't know. I've thought about it, where I would go, what I would see… I just never went through with it.” she admitted. “But I love hearing about it from others.”
"Ah, I guess some of us just have a stronger wanderlust than others. Mine is only partially because I want to see the world. The other is that I don't know how to keep myself out of trouble and, well, let's just say I'm not welcome in a lot of places."
“I suppose so.” she nodded. “But what kind of trouble could you get in that would mean you're not welcome?” she asked curiously and a little cautiously.
"Eh, a little pickpocketing of the wrong people, a little disturbance of the peace too many times, a little accidentally breaking the heart of the rich loyal nobles daughter and that's a pretty good recipe for getting thrown out."
“Oh!” she laughed. “So, you're a scoundrel. I suppose that makes sense then.” Charlotte concluded half teasing. “Especially with your dramatics earlier.”
He gasped in mock offense. "Scoundrel? Me? No no no my darling, I could never! I'm innocent, I tell you! Just a poor unfortunate soul who has lost his way!"
Charlotte covered her mouth with both hands to hold back her laughter as her shoulders shook. Rodney certainly had a flair and it had been a while since she laughed this much. “Well, as long as you don't bring any of that trouble into the inn, I don't really mind if you are a scoundrel or not.” she said once she finally calmed down.
"Oh no, of course not. But if the guard comes asking for me, I was never here." He chuckled, sitting back in his chair. He liked watching her laugh. It'd been a while since he'd had the chance to sit down and talk with someone and even longer since he'd last made someone laugh this hard.
“That's fair enough.” Charlotte nodded, still grinning. “You are quite a funny charmer. It's been a long while since I had such a good time.”
"So I've been told." He hummed with a playful smile and a wink. "How could I not want to entertain a woman of such grace and beauty?"
“Oh, you flirt!” she exclaimed, turning a bright shade of red. It certainly wasn't the first time a customer had flirted with her and, as long as she worked here, it wouldn't be the last. But normally she was better at coming up with an equally flirty reply.
"Ah, of course. What good charmer isn't? Such a travesty, isn't it? Though I must say, of all the ladies I've seen, you turn the most wonderful rose color of them all."
Charlotte sighed and rolled her eyes. “Well, it's been a while since someone complimented me so. I don't normally turn this shade.” she said more calmly. “Perhaps it's your charm that has this effect on me.”
"I'll take that as a compliment, m'lady." He chuckled. "But enough of my flowery taste. Tell me about yourself."
“I’m afraid there's not much to tell.” Charlotte shrugged, fiddling with her bracelet. It seemed like a nervous habit since she had quite a few pieces of jewelry, though this piece was a bit more. “I’m just a local girl who never left the town and I've worked here for ten years. My parents were born here as well. I am an only child however, though I do have a few cousins.”