A (Hungry) Sheep in the Big City

Mei-Li gave Jocelyn a puzzled look, expecting her to give a bit clearer of an answer. Just looking at her flustered like that made Mei herself blush a little bit, finding it rather cute. She debated following up, but before she could, the waitress came by with the sake Jocelyn had ordered.

< "Eh...?" > It was now Mei-Li's turn to be flustered, hesitantly accepting the tiny dish of alcohol. She admittedly had little experience with drinking, and in most of those rare situations her master had made fun of her and called her a lightweight. Which she was. Still, she didn't want to turn down Jocelyn's offer. With a small smile, she raised the drink towards her fellow Chinese,

"Ch-" eers, mate!

No, that wouldn't do. "Kanpai!" <That's how they say it here.> Jocelyn said and lifted up the sake dish. She gulped it down in one glug and sighed. A placid smile washed over her face along with a soft glow on her cheeks. A few more of those and she might not feel bad about opening up to the girl.

She decided ti finally try the miso soup now that it had cooled a bit and it was pretty delicious. She would have to remember it. However, she wasn't all that interested in the food as she lifted her eyes and focused on Mei-Li from the neck down. The girl was wearing a tank top. Not all that tasteless, all things considered, but it gave Jocelyn a good peek, which she covered up by discreetly pouring another drink of sake before their food arrived.

<So, you think you're going to do well in the AFW because of your experience in another league?> Jocelyn asked as she slid Mei-Li another shot of sake.

"K-kanpai!" Mei cheered, before downing her drink as well. She expected worse, but the sake was quite smooth and did have the harsh alcoholic taste like other drinks she had tried in the past. Rather than a burning feeling, only warm sensation washed down her throat. It was... nice.

< "I... I hope so. More than anything though...!" > she leaned in closely over to Jocelyn with an eager look (inadvertently giving a nice view of her cleavage), < "I want to fight other people from around the world! Master taught me much of the Chinese arts, but there are different styles in other countries that I wish to see as well!" >

She rambled excitedly, a slight flush coming to her lips. Martial arts were her greatest passion after all. Well... maybe second to food. Her inhibitions already giving way, she graciously took the second helping of sake, raising the dish once more.

"Kanpai!"

Jocelyn said it again and downed the next drink. She raised an eyebrow at Mei-Li's eager words. She was so optimistic and cheerful that it was sickening. She was so used to casual abuse mixed with cruel bursts of pleasure from Allison and unmitigated simpishness from Yi Lan that she hardly knew what it was like to be around someone who was normal. Or, at least not completely whacked in the head.

Jocelyn, now on her second drink and slowly pouring the third for the girls, was less discreetly ogling Mei-Li's chest. However the food soon arrived in earnest and Jocelyn pushed aside her sake as the meal was set in front of them.

Jocelyn was a little more eager to eat the main course and began to pick some things out of her broth filled bowl with some chopsticks. She tried to be dainty, but it was proving difficult and annoying. <I don't think AFW is the way you think it's going to be...> Jocelyn said, trying not to sour the girl's mood, but being a bit realistic.

That sort of comment probably would have raised some of Mei-Li's suspicions, but already feeling a bit tipsy from the sake, and with real food now laid out before her, she barely gave it a thought (nor took any notice of Jocelyn's wandering gaze). Replying with just a shrug and a grin, she picked a nice piece of meat out of her boiling nabe with her chopsticks, blowing on it rapidly to try and cool it off.

< "Ahhh, it looks so good!" > she gushed happily before sticking it in her mouth, before reaching for her bowl of rice and shoveling in a few clumps to follow it.

Jocelyn watched as Mei-Li dug in. The girl seemed to have no reservations and suddenly Jocelyn felt a little silly for how she was eating. She took an aggressive mouthful of rice as she spooned some of it into her mouth along with a few vegetables.

Mei-Li seemed to be able to put the Chistralian at ease every time it seemed like she was finally getting around to finding something wrong with the girl. <So this is the first time you've been out of Zhangguo?> She asked casually, pouring another cup of sake. Two shots was already beginning to loosen up the smaller girl. Usually she did ok with beer. She could drink a couple and just get a nice buzz. However, the hard stuff was really hitting her and her cheeks were quite rosy.

She slid the shot over to Mei-Li and continued to eat her food.

"Mmhh... mmpppgg...!" Mei-Li tried to answer, but with a little too much food in her mouth, she was forced to swallow it down first, letting out a very content sigh before continuing, < "Yes, my family was very poor, so I never really traveled very far from home." > Forgetting completely about her low tolerance, coupled with the fact of how easy sake was to drink, she graciously downed the shot before returning to her meal.

Between the steam rising from the boiling pot before her and the effects of the alcohol quickly kicking in, Mei-Li's face began to grow red, with tiny specks of sweat starting to form on her brow. < "Whew, it got quite warm in here." > she commented, pulling at the front of her tank top rapidly to try and fan her body, giving brief flashes of her cute teal bra underneath.

Jocelyn was now pretty openly focusing on Mei-Li's chest as she began to try and fan herself by pulling at her tank top. Jocelyn's cheeks were red already, so at least her blush was hidden. She tried to disguise the ogling by eating as well and looking up at Mei-Li's cute face as well.

<I'm sorry for your troubles.> Jocelyn said as she turned her head while she chewed on a piece of shrimp. She wasn't really sorry, but what else could she say? Jocelyn hadn't seen much of the world at large either but when it came to this particular slice of the globe, she was fairly well traveled. She had seen most of the interesting parts of China, Australia and Japan, plus some vacations and business trips to the island nations. How would Mei-Li feel about that?

Probably excited. This girl and her attitude...

<I don't feel it, really...> Jocelyn said. She went to pour another drink but the cup was empty. Jocelyn frowned and turned around to look for a waitress.

"Oi!"

When one passed, she barked, motioning to the two of them. Something wholly un Chinese came from her mouth, but what followed was a quick string of Japanese. <Bring us some beers!> She demanded and motioned between Mei-Li and herself.

More or less focused on her meal, Mei-Li failed to notice Jocelyn's strange call, or even the fact that more alcohol was coming. Blowing intensely on a steaming chuck of tofu, she eventually let it slide into her mouth, inhaling sharply as the scorching hot soy-bean curd touched her tongue. The food was unimaginably good, compared to the diet of fast food she had more or less been stuck on these past few weeks.

It was such a desperate gamble approaching a stranger like that, but as she was now enjoying a delicious meal with a new friend, Mei-Li couldn't help but feel lucky. < "Li Jiao, you're such a nice person..." > Mei stated rather bluntly, as she looked across the table with a silly grin on her (flushed) face, starting to sway gently from side to side as the alcohol continued to sink in.

Jocelyn had shoved a big bite of rice into her mouth when Mei-Li spoke. Jocelyn's eyes widened and she practically choked on her bite. She coughed  and thumped her palm against her chest and looked at Mei-Li with bewildered incredulity.

<W-What?> She asked. <How could you say that? We just met.> Jocelyn said and furrowed her brow.

While she scrutinized Mei-Li the beers were set down in front of them and Jocelyn took a big swig from the frosty glass of amber liquid. "Ahhh..." That seemed to settle her down a bit and her head was definitely swimming now.

<You really shouldn't say things like that to a stranger.> Jocelyn said, waving her chopsticks at Mei-li, accidentally flicking a grain of rice onto the girl's exposed cleavage.

'Shit...' She thought and held up her chopsticks, hoping Mei-Li didn't see. <Try the beer. It's Japanese.> She urged.