Nothing like an Italian pizza

[John Black]

It was the middle of the day in Florence, and John was feeling peckish. A cloud passed briefly across the sun shining high in the sky offering only a moment of shade from the warm day while he made his way along the streets with interest.

There was so much to see, but he had no idea where to start. It was his first time in Italy, and while his mild expression didn't do much to reflect his internal excitement, he was interested in seeing all the sights.

However, at the top of his list was finding some quality food. It was Italy after all, and if he didn't try some of the food here he would surely be missing out on a memorable experience. Besides he'd arrived early just for that reason. He didn't need to worry about the meeting he was having till much later tonight. Which gave him at least half a day to explore, eat some food, and see some sights.

Eventually, he stopped by a bench to have a seat while he looked around. He supposed he could ask someone about a good location to eat. So he tried to keep an eye out for someone he could ask too.

[Gaz]

Ellie #1

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With the sun beating up high the people that were wandering around Florence were all doing their best to escape the heat, be it popping into the busy high street or just diving into restaurants or museums. It gave the ancient city a buzz of life that could only be described as actively lethargic, one that permeated the air in most Mediterranean climates.

Ellie had come for a day trip, taking a break from all of her training, she had decided to take a stroll in a new scenery that was far away from the bustling streets of Rome. Today was a day that she wandered the world in her civilian clothes, ditching her devil hunting gear to fit in more. Today’s outfit was simple, a light pair of white sporty and breathable trainer shoes, blue jean shorts that stopped above her knees and hugged her body and a loose fitting sleeveless red t-shirt, tied up in a way to expose her midriff to the world. The face paint was ditched but her oversized sword was not as it was always carried in a long case that was strung over her shoulder… just in case.

With her smart phone in hand she examined a map, scanning for each and every restaurant around and picking up some of the reviews to help her decide where would be the first place to look for good Pizza. Then it hit her… “Why didn’t I just go to Piza?!” She grumbled to herself before letting her arms fall to the side as she scanned the area. Then a man caught her eye, only because he looked shifty as he looked about as if he were a meerkat.

“Can I help you, bub?” She asked in english before raising an eyebrow and then repeating the same in broken Italian “Posso aiutarti, amico?”

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Ellie: f96157

[John Black]

He was wearing the same clothes he would have while hunting devils or not. He was lacking his sword since he doubted he could get away with it walking through the streets of Florence for very long, but he certainly felt the lack of it. Still, he did keep his 1911 handy, though tucked away. It did mean he could not take off his coat without revealing it strapped to his lower back, but there was no way he would leave it behind after leaving his sword back on his boat. He could get his sword pretty quickly if he needed it, and even unarmed he wasn't helpless, but even so, he wasn't going to risk going anywhere unarmed if he could help it.

He looked up when he noticed someone approached him first, looking them over with calm brown eyes. "I don't speak Italian. I'm American." He replied, not trying to be rude, but making it clear that if she tried to speak Italian to him, he would be completely ignorant about whatever she might say.

"And yeah, if you don't mind helping me out, I'd like to find a good place to eat. It's my first time in Italy, and I figured that while I am here, I should try some pizza from what could be considered its motherland." He offered, trying to explain himself a bit in the hope she would help. It was more than he might usually talk. He was generally very brusque when he made conversation. But the woman seemed friendly enough to approach and ask if he needed help. So maybe it helped open him a bit more.

[Gaz]

Ellie #2

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The young woman raised a brow at the man as he spoke with an American accent, damn. Another hockey hating southerner. She flicked her red hair back as she walked over to stand beside him and his beck perch. What was that he said? He was looking for a good Pizza place? Hearing that she paused in her steps and brought her free hand to her chin in contemplation.

“Okay, you and I are looking for the same thing.” She noted before sitting next to the man, placing her case down between her feet and holding her phone up to look at the map where she had crossed off weaker contenders and highlighted some potential winning places. The level of planning was insane as each pin was also colour coded for likeliness of being the best Pizza.

“I feel like best in Italy would likely come from Rome or Piza, seeing as Piza is where the name came from.” She explained before pinching the map on her phone and zooming in closer to them. “I was going to hit every place marked in green and try a single slice. From that I can determine which is more likely to be the best in town. From there it’s a battle royale between a multitude of factors.” Ellie explained, with an unusual passion.

“The winner of that will be the best in Florence. Luckily for us, I am only using the old town so our bracket is rather small… if I included the greater city, well we’d be here for days.” It was at this precise moment the Canadian realised… she sounded crazy and there was no going back from that now.

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Ellie: f96157

[John Black]

while John had no idea what she was thinking, he did actually like hockey. It was an insane sport where you chased around a little black puck with a stick while sliding around at high speed on skates, and aside from simply smashing into each other, it wasn't impossible that a fistfight would break out between two people in the ice rink. While he didn't personally play it, he would enjoy watching a game, and personally thought it was probably one of the most brutal sports on Earth. He would have been hard-pressed to think of a more dangerous sport that wasn't just fighting, like boxing or MMA, or a flat-out blood sport.

"We are?" He asked a little surprised hearing that she was also looking for a good pizza place. Of course, it was indeed the case that she was looking for the best one, it became very clear by the time she sat down, and explained her process, that he had just bumped into someone that took pizza very seriously.

He better be careful in case the topic of pineapple pizza came up. If she was half as fanatical about pizza as she sounded if he offended her by admitting that he didn't mind pineapple on his pizza. She might either fight him or abandon him for what some might consider "poor taste". Though when it came to these people he always wanted to point out that tomatoes were also a fruit, and those were a key element to creating a pizza. Therefore the idea that fruit didn't belong on a pizza was asinine.

However unless she personally brought it up, or indicated she either didn't care or thought along the same line he did, he intended to stay miles away from the topic and stick to eating good old cheese pizza with mushrooms and olives. That was his favorite kind of pizza generally anyway.

When she finished her explanation concerning her process of elimination he nodded.

"I would not mind doing that. Have you already started to hit pizza places, or shall we begin now?" He asked curiously, fully intent on joining her if she let him. Why not? Going to various pizza places to sample their slices sounded amusing to him. And it was clear at least that she did not have a solid answer to his question yet, but he assumed at the very least she had a baseline that would prevent her from going to any pizza place that didn't have a minimum level of quality she was looking for.

[Gaz]

Ellie #3

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“I was just about to start!” The young woman announced shifting to grab her case and sling it over her shoulder with the strap. It was quite the odd accessory for someone to be carrying around for a day trip, one that got the young red head a fair few looks from the locals.

Her phone vanished into one of the pockets in her jean shorts, if one knew their fashion could tell that these were likely a small man’s pair as they had decent pockets to allow for phones and the likes to be stored. Then her hand was outstretched to the man before her for a proper greeting. “Call me Ellie, it’s nice to meet someone from back over the ocean that appreciates a good pizza.” She said with a thick Canadian accent, allowing herself to give the man a soft smile, something she was not very familiar with as the corners of her mouth twitched a few times before she looked away and made a move towards a shaded side street.

The first port of call was just down that shaded street, a solid target for the pair to go to. “This one is Giorno’s, Family owned and as old as they come. One of the first to be established in Florence.” The tall young woman explained as she took the lead, happy to have company that she would never have to really work with or get to know in the future… some one she can be weirdly relaxed around.

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Ellie: f96157

[John Black]

He was glad to see that this woman had found him at just the right time. It seemed he was going to get something of a tour of all the local pizza places where they could sample and discover the best local pizza place. He wasn't sure how often he would end up visiting Florence, but if he ended up coming back he would certainly want to hit the best local place around.

When she offered her hand he took it to shake before offering her a light grin in return. He wasn't that much more experienced in showing his emotions than she seemed to be. His emotions were often rather muted, and internal. Not that he didn't often experience emotion, just that he often failed to display them. His expression was often more than not set in natural neutrality. But he did occasionally practice making expressions in the mirror, so maybe that helped.

"Are you not from around here either then?" Her accent was something that sounded familiar, but certainly not one he would expect here. He wasn't sure if her comment indicated she wasn't local either but supposed she could have just moved here from elsewhere.

"Nice to meet you though, Ellie. My name is John. It's a pleasure to meet you." He offered politely.

"Old and family-owned huh? That does sound promising." He agreed eager to see the place she had in mind. It wasn't a guarantee that the place would be good, after all it only took one owner to stop caring, or even hate the business to bring it down. But for a family who had a passion for pizza? He hoped this case was the latter. He wanted to see what passion could make into a pizza.

[Gaz]

Ellie #4

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The pair entered an ancient building through a door that looked to have been in place since before the great wars nearly a century ago. It was a low door and made Ellie duck ever so slightly to get the clearance she needed. As her eyes rapidly adjusted to the shift in light they came to see a very ornate and rustic restaurant, the furniture was old stained oak. The chairs each having hand made plush pillows sat atop the word. In the back everyone could see the kitchen, where the magic happened. There was an enormous set of old stone pizza ovens that looked to be maliciously kept to temperature. The floor was a cool grey slate and the countertop that separated the bar from the dining area seemed to be of the same material.

“A good start.” Ellie mused as she took in a deep lung full of air through her nose to get a good taste of the scent. Fresh. She nodded and headed to a table to get seated and to place her cased weapon down. She looked over to John and inclined her head to get him to come and sit at the table.

“Oh this menu is cute too!” She spoke, snapping it up from the table and scanning down it to see what was on offer. It was in both Italian and English, which was a bonus because her own ability to read Italian was spotty at best. Aside from the classic pizzas that were on offer elsewhere there were a few chef specialities that caught her eye. They also had an entire list of Calzone and pasta options too; the pasta was quickly ignored.

“This place is promising already!” She whispered with enthusiasm, waiting for a waitress to come over and take a drinks order.

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Ellie: f96157

[John Black]

The place looked nice, but that was about all that John could have said about it besides that it looked old. He'd likely need to duck into the place too, finding the interior very historically rustic. He liked the design for the most part, although he could not really have said if it was actually any good as far as decor went. He was a pretty plain man when it came to that sort of thing. His home whenever he used it was frankly sparsely decorated, and only then because his mother had added a few extra features so that it did not appear so lifeless and empty.

However part of the reason for that was that John was very much dedicated to his work. He was rarely home, and even more rarely had anyone over to see it. His work was his life, and he was trying to do some good by bringing humans and devils together. At least the devils who were actually interested in joining human society rather than destroying or overtaking it.

The smell as well was something he enjoyed, and he had an extremely keen nose. His moniker of Bluthund was due to his keen nose and his ability to track down demons by scent. In this case, though, he had little doubt that this place kept fresh ingredients and made pizza he would consider to be of high quality. Although even with his keen nose it could be that Ellie had a better grasp of good pizza than he did keen senses or not. Though that might just be a matter of experience. Ellie seemed passionate about pizza, and while John did enjoy it a lot and had decided to explore the town for the express purpose of enjoying a good pizza, he certainly would not have put in the time and energy on his own to find the best pizza place this city had to offer. But with Ellie around the whole process was just a little more enjoyable. He only hoped that his company would be just as welcome to her as he found hers to be to him.

When Ellie noted that the menu was cute, John examined said menu with curiosity. "Is it? I think it looks nice. But I would be happy with any place so long as the menu is legible and easy to read. After that, some nice decoration to support the text is always welcome." He mused lightly as he skimmed through the menu.

"Do they have any special drinks here that differ from what I would normally drink in America? I don't mind trying something new, though I do prefer my drinks to be on the sweet side. I don't like bitter things very much usually." He noted in case Ellie could advise him a bit.