Constantinople, 1129
One day before the return of Ioannis Komnenos to the Magnaura.

Having slept through most of the Emergency Senate Session, Isaakios Komenos awoke once the moderated bickering had ascended to shouting. He yawned loudly.

"Food," he thought.

He looked around, saw nothing of interest, and left. He walked briskly out of the Magnaura. Each step brought him closer to food. However, his thoughts about lamb were interrupted by a voice coming from behind.

"Hail, son of the Great Basileus!" said the voice.

"Huh?" Isaakios said, stopped, turned around, said "Oh," then took another step and stopped again. "Hail, uh..." he continued and paused. Who was that? It was a Senator. The new guy. What was his name? Nikolaos something... Nikolaos Lambios? No, that probably wasn't it. Still, he needed to continue his previous statement. "... good Senator."

The Senator, who shall for the moment be known as Nikolaos Lambios, ran up to Isaakios, and said, "Mind if we take a stroll down to a nearby Tavern? I'd like to talk about things with a son of the Basileus."

Aha! This man's sudden coming into existence was not fundamentally anti-food after all. That was good. "Yeah, alright, I'm starving," Isaakios said.

They quickly made their way through the crowded streets to a nearby tavern. You could describe this tavern using ornate and descriptive prose, but as far as Isaakios was concerned: food. It was here. There was strong evidence to suggest its existence. His thoughts drifted again to lamb as Nikolaos found them a table and called over a barmaid, at which time the thoughts of lamb had permanently vanished.

"Woman," he thought.

"Drinks for two!" said Nikolaos, "What have ye, Isaakios?"

"I'm not sure," he said and turned to the woman, "perhaps, a recommendation?"

"I like the Ionian wine myself," she said.

"Ionian, eh? Yes, very interesting. I've not had it before, I mostly drink Crimean."

"Crimean?" she asked.

"From Crimea. It's pretty rare, but we have quite a lot of it," he said, and added "you know, I'm the son of the Emperor" as an aside.

"Uh huh," she said.

He parted his cloak a little, just enough to show the tunic embroidered with purple patterns.

"Oh my god," she said, "sorry, I.."

"No, no, no problem," he reassured her, "we'll take that Ionian. I'm sure it's very good. Bring us some food too. Surprise us."

She left and as they waited, Nikolaos struck up a conversation again. "So lad, what you think of the talk in the senate, eh?"

"I've slept through most of it, to be honest. Seems like most everything is being blown out of proportion. Much talk over little action. And everyone could stand to relax a little."

"Aye, I agree, I slept through most of it too! What would you see then? What would you have be done or said?"

"I--" Isaakios started and was interrupted by the arrival of the barmaid with the order. "Thank you," he said to her with a smile, "thank you so much. I am eternally thankful. Well, maybe not that much. I mean, thank you in a sort of a moderate amount. You know, I mean, I appreciate it, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I don't want to overstate it, and mislead you. I would never do that. So yeah, thanks, in a sort of an average, normal sense."

She laughed and said, "you're welcome in a sort of an average, normal sense."

As she left, Isaakios turned to Nikoalos. "She laughed, and that wasn't even funny." He raised his eyebrow and grinned.

Then he turned to look at her again, and in an extremely distracted way he said, "Yeah, I just want to see the Empire be stable and prosper. Carry on with what father started, and what have you. I don't know how much I'll be able to do, but we'll see. There is certainly tension between some of the factions, but I think peace and cooperation will prevail. And besides..."

His speech sort of trailed off at that point, as he continued to follow the woman in the distance. There was some noise coming from the direction which was previously known to be occupied by Nikolaos, and which perhaps still was. Something about Caesars, Grandmasters, and Emperors. Isaakios got up, said something, hoping it was something that made sense as an answer, and walked to the woman.

She smiled when he got to her, and he smiled back. "I think you will soon be done with your work for today," he said.

"Sorry," she responded, "not until sundown."

"Oh, but," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder, "I think the Imperial government disagrees. Let's go talk to your boss."

They went to a shortish, balding man in the back of the tavern, who screamed, "Hey! You can't be in here!"

"Hi," Isaakios said and showed off his purple tunic again, "I'm Isaakios Komenos."

"Oh! Sorry, sir. We are very, very honored to have you in our establishment. I hope--"

"Yes, it's great. Listen, this lady is done for the day, is she not?"

"Uh, I guess, I suppose that's not a problem. If--"

"Excellent. Love the place by the way. I'll tell all my friends."

With that they left. As they walked down the street, she asked, "Why did you do that?"

"Well, I had to," he said and put his arm around her waist, "after getting such a good wine recommendation. I still prefer the Crimean, though."

"Is it that good?"

"Well, no. I won't lie to you. It's not really that great. It's mainly that it's rare. You know, it's pretty cold up there. But don't tell anyone."

"Your secret is safe with me," she said and giggled, "I'm sure the rarity makes it taste better."

"You can try it if you'd like," he said coolly, "I have a small cask of it in my room."

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Nikolaos by YLC