Home Again! Time to Eat!!

Gira had been enjoying her meat mountain when a group entered the restaurant; they were mostly comprised of children, but the group was led by a young woman and an older man. Gira grabbed her bowl of gravy once her spread of meat was gone, bringing it up to her mouth and tipping it back, gulping it down in seconds. She wiped her mouth on a nearby cloth napkin. Based on what the girl in the lead was saying, this was some kind of special event for these kids. They were even allowed to get anything they wanted off of the menu! Gira was slightly jealous. Her meal today was enough to nearly wipe out her savings! These kids were lucky indeed. Giving Tunic and her entourage a friendly wave, the young Saiyan spoke up and gave them a friendly greeting.

“Yo! If I can make a recommendation, I’d get the dino steaks if I were you. They’re huge, filling, and tasty! And with gravy?” Gira sighed happily and pat her stomach. Despite having just finished a meal that could feed several grown men with plenty left over, talking about the food got her in the mood for seconds.

“This place is my favorite. I’d come here more often if it wasn’t so expensive. I can put away quite a bit of grub.” She laughed heartily.

“I’m Gira.” She finally introduced herself, scooting her seat closer to the table where Tunic and her group were sitting. The young woman appeared to have a kindness to her that made Gira want to try and be her friend.

Gira flipped her seat around, crossing her arms and resting them on top of her chair, setting her chin down on top of her arms. Tunic spoke of how she and the children were actually from Central City, but apparently her young entourage wanted to come to Bobby Beef’s House of Meat specifically. The kids had good taste, it seemed. Gira couldn’t help but grin when told that the kids shared her love of this restaurant.

“This place is my absolute favorite. Great food, huge portions, and they have enough food so that they don’t complain if you eat as much as I do.” Gira pointed her thumb back towards the massive stack of plates at her table to punctuate her point. The girl clearly had a massive appetite; not surprising, given her Saiyan heritage. The girl then introduced herself with a whole series of fancy-sounding names, causing Gira to turn her head slightly as she tried to memorize them all, but she smiled when the girl simply told the young warrior to refer to her simply as “Tunic.”

“Oh, thank Kami. The rest of that name was a real mouthful. Nice to meetcha, Tunic. You can call me Gira. West City’s my home, but I’ve been getting around quite a bit lately. I actually just got back here yesterday. Figured I could use some time at home to clear my head.” Gira frowned slightly. A lot had happened, and most of it wasn’t exactly good. With all the war and death she had witnessed lately, there was only one real bright spot; Zuqetta. The Saiyan queen had taught Gira a lot, and without the love that the young warrior felt for her, she was fairly certain that her hopes of saving her friends and seeing peace come to the galaxy would have been completely crushed… but now, she was confident. Things would work out in the end if they just did their best. They were the strongest duo in the universe. Nothing was out of the realm of possibility for them.

Realizing that she had just been sitting there, clearly deep in thought for a few seconds, the Saiyan smiled at Tunic again.

Gira blinked when Tunic guessed that she had just gotten back from an off-world journey. She had mentioned that she had been on some kind of journey, but she didn't recall mentioning that this journey led her to leave the planet itself. It appeared that Tunic wished to discuss this further, since she asked the man who accompanied her and the children to look after her young charges. She clarified why she asked about Gira's activities by telling her that she had also met someone else who was a Saiyan. Apparently, this visitor had made an urgent call to Plant. Gira had her suspicions about who this might be. The timeline added up perfectly. But if it was indeed her beloved Zuqetta, then she wondered what this urgent call was really about. At the mention of these new "Dragon Laws," Gira frowned. She admittedly didn't know much about them. She didn't keep up with politics generally, only voting because her mother said that it was her "civic duty as a citizen of Earth."

From what she heard, however, it seemed that the approach Chomei took after Central City was to completely isolate Earth from the rest of the galaxy, and strongly enforce the use of the ki database to keep tabs on people like her. She could understand why he would take such drastic measures, but Gira didn't think that this would help in the long term. If anything, it would just isolate Earth from potential allies and make them a juicier target. There were a lot of strong people on the planet that could help defend it, but what happened if these new laws caused a diplomatic incident? What if they ended up shooting down someone important when they tried to enter the planet? Then they'd be in a war with no allies to back them up. She had heard rumors that Zuqetta was shot down. Thankfully, she was okay, but still... Chomei would be getting an earful from her soon. They didn't have the right to just shoot down every foreign vessel that entered Earth's orbit. Realizing that she had been simply staring into space for quite some time as she considered these thoughts, she quickly met Tunic's gaze and smiled sadly.

"Yeah. A lot has happened elsewhere in the galaxy. Namek was invaded by Arcose and Arcose was invaded by the Mazoku Hoken. From... what I was told, the invaders of Arcose tried to blow up the planet. Thankfully, they were stopped. But still... I can't believe that they'd..." Gira stopped herself. She had been trying to distance herself from the actions of her friends in the Hoken, but that had proven to be difficult. To Gira, this was just as much her fault as it was theirs. She had known for a long time that the path they were going down would lead to something like this, but she just couldn't being herself to speak up until it was much too late. No matter what some would say, Gira considered herself responsible for their actions. With a deep sigh, she continued.

"This Saiyan who you helped; she wouldn't happen to be the Saiyan Queen, Zuqetta, would she?" Realizing that descriptor alone might not be enough, Gira elaborated a little bit more.

"She's about this tall, long black hair that shines like the sun when the light hits it just right, black eyes that glitter like two beautiful jewels, and the cutest smile that just makes your heart mel--" Gira's eyes widened as a blush formed on her cheeks. She didn't know how to describe her beloved without absolutely gushing about her.

"A-Anyway, she's my girlfriend. She was on Namek with the Arcosian Emperor. We were on differing sides at the time, but... she stopped me from doing something I might regret. She's really something else." Gira's smile grew wider, her cheeks still red from both thinking about Zuq, and her most recent gushing over her various attributes. 

"But if you helped her, that means I owe ya one. So, thanks."

Gira frowned slightly as Tunic spoke on Earth's most recent isolation.

"I get being scared, but that doesn't mean Chomei should isolate the planet like this. Just because we're hiding from those threats doesn't mean they're gonna ignore us. Those of us who want to live in peace should stick together and fight together... or we're all just gonna die alone." She worried a lot about Max's plans for the rest of the galaxy, especially after he inflicted such severe injuries on her back on Plant. The way he spoke; as though he was some kind of all-powerful god... it disturbed her. Whether this was his true nature, or if the defeat on Arcose changed him... he was a clear danger to them all. Earth included. 

"But Earth can always count on me to help out. This place is my home. I've spent my whole life here... so there's no way it'll have to handle these threats without me." Gira's grin soon returned when Tunic confirmed that the person she was talking about was indeed her beloved. She couldn't help but laugh when the girl brought up how she offered to feed the queen.

"Hope she didn't do too bad a number on your pantry. Zuq can eat just as much as I can! When i'm eating with someone who isn't a Saiyan, I try to not go overboard... but if the food is good, I just can't help it! My best friend, Kaci is the only exception. I've known her all my life, so her mom knows to keep stocked with all the good stuff for when I visit." She grinned, but wondered why Saiyans had to eat so much anyway. Must have something to do with their high natural power. Keeping up a strong body like that probably took a ton of calories, though she wasn't certain on the science. Her mother being a Xenobiologist, though, perhaps she would have the answer. 

"A spar sounds like Zuq, though. Don't take it personally, but she must have held back a lot. She's really strong. Like, one of the strongest people I know! Even stronger than I am, but that won't be the case for long. I plan to get so strong that she doesn't have to worry about anything!" At this point, Gira's waitress returned with her dessert; a whole yellow cake with chocolate frosting... six of them; with a large jug of milk to wash it all down.

"Feel free to help yourself to some cake. I can part with a slice or two." She began to dig in with her bare hands, picking up each individual slice and taking a massive bite that nearly consumed the entire thing. As Tunic brought up her estate, Gira couldn't help but ask her a question; her mouth still full of the moist, sweet treat. 

"Sho... are you like... risch or shomethin'?" She asked, her words muffled by her mouth being full of cake. Taking several long gulps of milk, she continued after setting the jug back down.

"Cuz the only people I know of with whole estates are rich people. Like, really rich people." Gira picked up another slice of cake, digging in once again and devouring it in much the same way as the first.

Gira wordlessly ate her dessert as Tunic spoke, but nodded with enthusiasm when Tunic asked if she fancied herself the hero type.

"Yeah!" Gira drank some more milk before grinning widely.

"I do hero work here in West City. That's not even to mention the stuff I do in other cities. Or off-planet, for that matter. But since West City is my home, I try to pay special attention to it. Can't expect the city's problems to just fix itself, y'know?" As the conversation continued, the young warrior kept stacking cake platters one on top of the other as she continued eating her dessert. She couldn't help but laugh when Tunic mentioned that her pantry was more than capable of handling Zuq's appetite. 

"Maybe I should visit sometime." She joked, finishing the last of her dessert and downing the rest of the milk from the jug. She listened a little more intently, however, as Tunic spoke on her spar with Gira's beloved. Gira knew that Zuq fought with a sword, but this time, she apparently fought with a similar weapon to the young woman that Gira was talking to now. This made the young hero turn her head slightly in curiosity. Tunic apparently had a weapon that she fought with, but didn't carry it along with her. Apparently, it didn't occur to the young Saiyan that you wouldn't carry your tools of combat literally everywhere. Gira's recent trials had taught her to always be ready to scrap anywhere, anytime. The young warrior smiled, though, when Tunic referred to the spar as an enlightening experience. 

"You can learn a lot by fighting. You can especially learn a lot about your opponent. The way a person fights can tell you a lot about the kind of person they are." When Tunic mentioned the deaths of her parents, though, Gira's expression became more sorrowful. She could relate to Tunic's situation somewhat.

"I'm... uh... i'm sorry about your parents. I lost my parents too; when I was a baby. I guess it isn't really the same thing, though. I can't really miss them because, well... I never really knew them. But I always wonder exactly what I missed out on. I guess it's normal to wonder about where you came from. I love my mom... my adopted one... but I can't help but be curious." Gira began to fidget nervously with the hem of her shirt. She was still working through her feelings about her birth family, including the recent discovery that she has a younger sibling.

Gira began carefully stacking her platters and cups to the side to make things a little easier for her server as Tunic spoke on her training. Whoever taught her, it appeared that they knew a thing or two about battle. The Saiyan was aware just how important a good teacher was to the process of developing as a warrior. While Gira herself didn't fight with a weapon, she had to admit that the idea intrigued her more than a little bit. She briefly wondered what kind of weapon she'd use. She had no desire to take life, and most weapons were built to make killing that much easier. A bo staff might be more her speed. That, or maybe something more cool; like a sword that was blunted or had a reverse blade. That would be mega cool.

Gira was dragged out of her thoughts, however, when Tunic spoke on the passing of her parents. The young Saiyan couldn't help but smile. Despite her hardships, she maintained a positive attitude. That was something to be admired. Gira herself tried to be that way, but the events that had occurred in her life here lately made that easier said than done.

"I gotta admire that outlook. It's hard to keep positive when you're going through something rough. Believe me, I know." Her curious expression returned, however, when Tunic asked if she wanted to see her fighting style firsthand. Eventually, however, a wide grin took over her face.

"You gotta know that a Saiyan can never turn down a chance to strut their stuff! I'm down. I'm so down! If you know a good place where we can cut loose, then lead the way!" Gira's grin remained plastered to her face as she waited for Tunic to lead them to the area that would serve as their battleground. Despite her excitement, however, she knew that she had to be careful. She could easily hurt the girl if she didn't hold back. Thankfully, she had just the technique for the job.