食べ物

Despite everything, the sun still rose again.

Footsteps went to and fro on either side of the busy streets, people young and old, wearing more shades of color than were in a rainbow. Ads blipped in and out of existence near the stores, drones flying overhead, and the sound of a train traveling above covered the sun for an ever fleeting moment.

“Asta… Asta you there?”

“In the flesh.” Kat annoyingly tugged against my leather jacket as I barely gave her a glance.

Last night, after I’d tired out the entire police department with my harassment they’d finally given me access to Caspian’s case file. There wasn’t much to the sheet–barely five lines of text saying they didn’t know anything–but even this was more than anything else I’d gathered.

Now, I couldn’t last a minute without giving it a glance. Any day, any second, an update could come, and I wouldn’t miss it hell or high water.

A guitar riff joined the pounding of street drums–old weary buckets converted to something new, something better. There was something so freeing to the music. I couldn't help but hum along, even with Kat looking me dead in the eye.

With reluctance, I finally shoved the police report aside. Kat was right. I’d die at thirty from stress if I dedicated every bit of my life to this. Iero didn’t have disappearances without a happy result.

The stores varied more than the rooms at Protel, a traditional flower shop without a bit of tech to be seen on my right, a game shop with enough lights to blind the son across the road. Even the clothing stores were an amalgamation of physical wares and dresses only the digital world could comprehend.

“Here we are,” Kat dragged me to a quaint little tea shop, one of many in The Kivo district, where every student of Provo was tossed into one big melting pot of apartments.

“Hello there!” The waiter, a human for once, greeted us with a smile. “How many people are in your party?”

“Three,” Kat said.

“Three?”
“Sky’s joining us. Free food was the only thing that’d finally get him to leave the club room. You both really are two of a kind?”

“Please, I actually leave my room once in a while.”

“Yet, when’s the last time you spent more than five minutes away from that police report, and not even the Prime Chancellor knows how long you spent tinkering away at your bike before that race. I don’t think even free food would have lured you out of there!”

“It’s different,” I said, the truth striking down like lightning. “Anyway, let’s grab a table. I for one could eat a house right now.”

Our table had a quaint feel, tucked away near the back of the shop around a glorified jungle. The amount of vines growing on the ceiling caused an ever-so-noticeable tilt. Not even my virtual gardens were so… vibrant.

“Get me a water,” I said, taking my seat. “Kat?”

“Ice tea.” As I leaned against the chair, Kat’s back sat straight–posture perfect as always. Her eyes scanned back and forth against the digital menu projected against the wall. “Sky said to order whatever, as usual.”

I could feel my eyes roll up the back of my skull. “So that eliminates half the menu.”

“Only half? Damn, his palette must have exploded out in the last week.”

We both laughed, an infectious sound that echoed even through the plants.

“So what do you think Asta,” Kat asked. “Knowing Sky, he’ll want something sweet, and with how this place works we’ll all be sharing.”

“Sharing?”

“You order one big entree and split it across the party, no buts about it, just the way this place operates.”

“So Sky’s dragging us along at the waist with the palette of a five year old. What has this city come to?” I sighed, chest falling.

After what felt like a day’s worth of deliberating we narrowed our choices down to two: The grilled ham and cheese platter, or the soup triad. Personally, I was pretty neutral on the ham and cheese, and Sky would be overjoyed, yet Kat made it more than clear she wouldn’t touch that with a ten foot pole. Yet, the soup was a solid good not great for all three of us.

“What do we do Kat, what do we do…” I muttered, voice trailing off. “Let Sky have his fun, or wallow in a sea of mediocrity?”

“If Sky’s so picky he should have come himself,” Kat said.

“Sure, but, is it better to let one of us have something they love, or all three be somewhat happy.”

“When did you get all philosophical?”

“Blame class, this is my punishment for actually going.” I grabbed a hanging strand of my blond hair, twirling it around. “Are you willing to suffer to let Sky be happy?”

“Absolutely not!” Kat crossed her arms. “Sky’s not the center of the world, he can suffer eating the same well made soup as the rest of us. Better for everyone to be somewhat happy than deal with that pile of undercooked bread they call a sandwich.”

“Yeah, I guess,” either worked for me. Sandwich, soup, a seven out of ten stayed the same no matter what form it took. “Ok, riddle me this, is Sky’s happiness worth the–”

“My happiness? Considering the world revolves around me, that should be priority number one.”

“Sky! I thought you weren't going to be here for an hour.”

“Yeah, an hour ago.” He sat down, waving his light brown hair effortlessly behind him. What I’d give to naturally have that smooth of hair. “What’d you two decide on?”

“We haven’t,” Kat muttered. “Has it really been that long…”

“Well, that sounds like a universal agreement on the soup! Waiter,” I called, getting dirty looks from Sky and Kat in turn. “What? Should have taken a stand.”

“Yeah yeah…” Kat said, not looking exactly disheartened.

A few minutes passed before our food arrived, Sky typing away at the document Caspian sent without another word said. Honestly I was impressed we got three sentences.

Our soups simmered, the smell of the roasting chicken mixed with tomato and spinach to create the perfect concoction. One tomato soup, one chicken noodle, one spinach. At least with this, no one could say there wasn’t something for them.

“Still nothing?” I asked.

“Nope, this may take a bit longer than I envisioned…”

“Sky, I don’t know if Caspian has that much time.”

“Relax,” His hands scooped up a great big serving of the chicken noodle. “I still think he just got lost down there, don’t let your imagination get ahead of you.”

“Wow… I feel so much better now.”

“I’ll let you know when I do though Asta, I may… be pretty close to a breakthrough.”