"You guys are the new group everyone's talking about." Jordan said as they exited the room. Lee Seng and the others turned to look at TRIo. Ritsuka and Lee Seng nodded at Jordan's comment. "How's everything goin'? Settlin' in okay? We saw you guys in the elevator yesterday."
"Oh!" Lee Seng exclaimed. "You live in the same complex as us, then. It's nice to meet you. I'm Jeff. Everyone calls me J." He stuck his hand out and Jordan shook it.
"I'm Jordan." Jordan introduced himself He pointed to the guy on his left, who was on his phone. Lee Seng noticed Jordan's purple eyes.
'Is he… one of them, too?' Lee Seng asked himself.
"This is Ezra and the girl on my other side is Alice. We're TRIo." Jordan introduced his team members. Lee Seng introduced his members and noticed Jordan lingered on Ritsuka for quite some time.
"Jor," Alice tapped Jordan. "Are we going to lunch? Why don't we invite Zephyr along?"
"Oh, you don't have to." Olivia gently declined, shaking her hands. Alice smiled and shook her head.
"You guys are new to the city, right? Why don't we show you guys around? There's plenty of good spots to eat at. Oh, we should go to Mac's!" Alice turned and looked at Jordan and Ezra.
"Sure." Ezra answered without looking up from his phone. Ezra wasn't too interested in the people in front of him. He was more interested in whatever he was reading. Jordan shrugged and agreed with Alice.
"Why don't you guys come eat with us? Think of it as your welcome to Farago?" Jordan raised an eyebrow.
"We don't have much else to do." Manny told the others. "We were gonna just walk around anyways, so we might as well take up their generosity." He looked at the others, nodding as if he was trying to coax them into going.
"Sure." Ritsuka nodded. "I wouldn't mind that."
"Exactly!" Jordan snapped his fingers. The rest of the group nodded.
Mac's Bar and Grill was a popular destination for anyone in New Angeles. It was approximately the 'half-way' point from the Guild to Galio Apartments. TRIo led Team Zephyr into the establishment. Mac's Bar and Grill was as American you could ever get. A typical American grill restaurant with a variety of meats (steaks), burgers, sides (fries) and a variety of alcohol, typically beer.
The group filed into the lobby, immediately being greeted by a waiter who asked Jordan for how many people. Jordan looked behind him and counter, turning and responding with, "Nine, please." The waiter led them over to a large booth and seated them.
"Someone will be with you shortly." The waiter told them before walking off. Lee Seng flipped through the menu and noticed a variety of foods.
"Ah, I could go for that." Lee Seng whispered.
"What do you guys suggest getting here?" Liz asked the seniors.
"I like getting the steak." Alice answered. "Steak with the mashed potato, to die for!" She groaned, salivating at the mention of that.
"I like getting Mac's Hardy Man combo." Ezra answered. "It has a variety of meats, sauced up with some mashed potatoes and salad on the side."
"I usually get a burger and fries with some beer. Keep it simple." Jordan answered. "Have you guys ever had beer?"
"Don't you have to be twenty-one for that?" Evan asked.
"Not anymore. Most eighteen year olds fresh out of high school get into Guilds nowadays. They're basically adults." Ezra replied.
"It's up to you guys if you want a beer, though. I understand some people use alcohol to run away from their own problems." Jordan said.
"Hello! It looks like you guys are back with some new faces!" The waitress smiled at TRIo. Jordan, Alice, and Ezra smiled at the waitress and nodded.
"These are our new co-workers. We finished around the same time and they live in the same area, so we thought we'd take them out here to celebrate." Alice told the waitress.
"Well," the waitress smiled at team Zephyr. "It's a pleasure to have more adventurers in here. I assume you guys are new ranks?" She looked at TRIo. "Low rank?"
"Oh, no." Lee Seng shook his head. "We're A-rank like TRIo."
"Oh." The waitress widened her eyes. She slowly nodded. "Wow, I didn't think the guild would ever work like that."
"There's an assessment that's done. It's really rare for anyone to really go above a B-rank in terms of teams, but I guess team Zephyr must have great teamwork because the higher ups were talking about them yesterday." Jordan motioned.
"Well," the waitress clapped her hands. "Enough work talk! Let's get you some food. What can I get for y'all?"
Large plates of piping hot food were set in front of both groups. Lee Seng and the others gushed as they watched meaty food sit in front of them. Lee Seng dug into his large burger. The MAC B&G sauce oozed out from the burger, dripping with juices. Lee Seng rolled his eyes back, setting the burger down and taking a bit out of the seasoned fries with the restaurant's dipping sauce.
"Mmm, this is really good!" Lee Seng exclaimed. Jordan nodded as he set his burger down.
"I'm tellin' you! Mac makes great sauce! It tastes like one of those fast food chain sauces but better!" Jordan said. Lee Seng nodded, taking another bite.
"I'm going to have to run a lot after this…" Lee Seng sighed. "But I guess that's why we have a gym in the complex."
"Speaking of that, we should go together sometime." Jordan told team Zephyr. "I wouldn't mind a couple gym buddies."
"That would be fun. The more the merrier, right?" Lee Seng looked over to Ritsuka.
"Yeah, that sounds good to me." Ritsuka nodded.
"What about me?" Keng asked, pushing his face into view.
"Yeah, that's fine." Lee Seng pushed Keng away with his greasy hands. Jordan and Alice laughed.
"So," Ezra perked up. "What were you guys doing before this?"
"Ezra!" Alice looked over at Ezra. "Don't ask such personal questions!"
"What? Aren't you interested in what they were doing before they came here? Janna told us that they came from outta town so—"
"And that's why we shouldn't say stuff like that." Jordan covered Ezra's mouth. "Sorry, we've just heard you guys aren't from here, so some of us are more curious than others." Jordan eyed Ezra.
"We were just travelers." Manny answered. "Going from city to city, doing odd jobs."
"Ah." Alice nodded. Despite their 'kindness,' Alice and Jordan seemed most interested in the group's origins.
"I've always wanted to travel." Jordan said. "I have family elsewhere and wouldn't mind seeing them. Kinda miss them."
"Oh, if you don't mind me asking, where's your family?" Ritsuka asked.
"I'm sure you guys wouldn't know…" Jordan shook his head.
'I'll use this to see his reaction.' Jordan thought.
"Oh, come on." Lee Seng shifted. "We're well traveled. We might know."
"It's a famous place, but you probably wouldn't be able to travel there from here by foot. It'd take ages." Jordan shook his head.
"Just tell them." Ezra tapped Jordan. He knew exactly what Jordan was doing. Jordan sighed and nodded.
"I got some family in Captiol City. It's been awhile since I've last heard from them…" Jordan finally told them. Liz, Olivia and Evan froze. Manny, Ritsuka, Keng, and Lee Seng simply nodded and took another bite of their food. Jordan focused on Ritsuka.
'Did I get him?' Jordan wondered.
"Ah, Captiol City!" Keng perked up. "That is quite far."
"You got family there?" Ritsuka asked. Jordan nodded and took a bite of his burger.
"I haven't been able to see them for a while. Flying is still a dangerous thing along with driving, so contact has been mostly online. My cousins did visit once or twice via business. That was an interesting time."
"Mmm, I haven't seen my extended family in a while, either." Lee Seng empathized. "I've heard I have family around New Angeles. I wonder if I can find some of them…"
"You think that's a good idea?" Keng asked. "What if they see us? They'll immediately contact our—"
"Yeah, yeah." Lee Seng brushed Keng off.
'Good job.' Lee Seng told Keng. The twins looked at each other. Keng grew a bit uncomfortable while Lee Seng acted a bit nonchalant about it all. Alice seemed most distraught about the twins mentioning personal information. Jordan seemed to be interested at first but decided to just stuff his mouth with food to stop himself.
"What's wrong if you… don't mind me askin'?" Ezra asked. Keng immeidatley looked at Lee Seng and shook his head at him.
"Well…" Lee Seng tilted his head. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his hands clean of oil and sauce. "Our family hasn't talked to them ever since… Y'know. Not sure if they even know we're alive. It'd be strange to just find them and show up in front of their doorstep, right?"
"True." Ezra nodded. "After what happened over twenty-five years ago, it's been a pain trying to get back in touch with your extended family."
"That's why we wanted to travel." Keng replied. "See what the rest of the world is like… And let me say, it's rough."
"We got a long way to go before all of America is connected again, but I hope we can connect with all of the world, safely." Jordan nodded. "Well, enough about that! Let's continue eating, hm?"
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