The Mustache and The Beard

Amy kept up the splashing, though she couldn't help but glance back at Tasha and James over and over.

James shrugged. "If I can take preventative measures, I will. I try to be a cautious man."

"You're counting on the fact I can't get back in range faster than you can move out of the way," she pointed out with a sly smile.

James's smirk faded. "...Please don't smack me." He didn't want to have a splash war like Amy and Ari.

She settled back against her rock. "Eh. Not worth the trouble. For now, anyways."

James quietly scoffed and sighed simultaneously, and backed up another foot just for extra measure. "How gracious of you," he muttered dryly.

She smiled slyly. "I'm known to have my moments."

He nodded, though he turned his head away slightly, leaving one ear facing her. He rolled his eyes.

She leaned her head back against the rock and closed her eyes again.

By the time they'd dried off, gotten back to traveling, and finally reached the town, it was almost evening, which mean it was the perfect time to enact their plan. With the four of them smelling considerably less bad, and more just like the slightly dank smell of the stream, Amy entered into town with a gleeful grin with her arm interlocked with Ari's.

She wasn't going to tell Tasha or James why she was so excited of course. When James glanced over at her with one of his signature looks that basically said; 'why are you so happy,' she just smiled back and hugged Ari closer.

She could always play it off as Ari and her just being two lovestruck lovebirds or something, since that wasn't too far off either.

Ari had already proposed they stop somewhere to eat since the pickin's out in the forest were pretty bland, and they were all craving something with a little more flavor. There was a mutual agreement even on James's part, and together they were able to pool together enough money for them to reasonably actually go out.

Amy had visited the town before in passing and already had her eyes set on a place. It was a quiet little seafood shack that she thought might remind Ari of home, even though they were inland fish from the nearby streams and rivers and not from the ocean. But what she was really thinking about was the strip of seating at the back that had low lighting and cute little tablecloths, and usually, some musician in the corner playing some quiet music on some stringed instrument. When she finally spotted it, she pointed at it with an excited little hop and tugged on Ari's arm.

"There!" she gasped.

It was a small shack, just as she'd described, but it did have a good amount of outdoor seating in addition to the indoor section in the back. It was painted a fading red color and there was a colorful and friendly looking fish on the sign by the name in big swooping letters that read: "Shuri's Shack." She figured she might have to pull a few strings to get the inside seats but she was sure Ari's charm and hers combined would help figure out a way.

"There it is! Still looks the same," she said with a relieved sigh.

Tasha looked it up and down. "Food. Yay," she said, her tone mimicking that of an enthusiastic individual although the lack of vigour in her voice ruined it.

"IT'S GOT FISH!" Ari beamed, clapping his hands.

Amy bounced beside him. "Yes!! I picked it just for you!" she exclaimed as they walked up to the front, where a young man dressed in a red smock greeted them with a smile.

"Hello, welcome to Shuri's. How may I help you?"

"A table for four," Amy said with a nod. "And uh, can we get indoor seating? It's really muggy, and..." she looked up to Ari with a little smile, trying to milk the fact that they were dating and make it obvious. "...well, it would be really nice."

The man followed her gaze briefly and gave her a small smile and a nod. "I think we have a table open. Let me go check," he said as he retreated into the building for a moment.

Ari put his arm over her shoulder and Tasha sighed, rolling her eye and petting her dog as she waited.

It wasn't long before the man came back out with a smile.

"You're in luck!" he said. "We've got a table in the corner for you. Though that will be extra up front," he said with a finger pointing to a small sign that said just that.

Amy's eyes widened, and then she nodded sharply. "Oh! Yeah! Sure!" she quickly took out some coins from her pocket and set them on the man's desk. He took them with a nod. "Perfect. Now, right this way," he said with a gesture to the door, pulling it open for them.

Amy leade the way with a skip in her step, pulling Ari by the hand. James gave a weary glance over to Tasha, but fell into step behind Ari. Before Tasha could come through the man gave a glance to her dog, and felt the need to clarify.

"We don't allow pets inside."

She looked between the dog, the man, and the group, considering this for mere moments before making up her mind. "Right. See you all later, then. Have fun, bring me some if you can. Otherwise, I'm going to go kill something so I don't starve."

Amy stopped in her tracks - probably too abruptly, but they'd gotten this far! They couldn't fail now. She backpedalled out the door, pushing Ari and James back out the front.

"Oh! Well if that's the case we can sit outside! I don't want you to be left out, Tasha!" she said with a big smile. "Sorry for the last minute change. Is that okay?" she asked the server.

The man just shrugged with a nod. "Sure. I can take you to a table outside. Right this way," he said, leading them through a gate to the outdoor eating area. Amy couldn't help but sigh, since the aesthetic wasn't nearly as nice, but they could make do. At least the table the guy led them too was well shaded by the extended roof of the shack, and was up against the wall.