Pei Lazash

“Raian! Back so soon I see?” the lumbering orc howled as the lavish jewellery about his pointed ears rattled.

The orc seemingly had no fear of the spitting oil roiling away in the back as he wore nothing above the waist, save for a towel hanging over his shoulder. Despite being modestly tall himself, Raian always felt a little bit inferior in the presence of orcs.

“And you brought a new friend? Where’s the horned one?” the orc leaned downward to meet at their level.

“They’re working – this is Mochi.”

“Mochi, eh? Interesting name. Pei Lazash.” Pei extended an unsurprisingly ringed hand.

The squid raised his brow, exchanging a look with Raian as he just barely managed to wrap his palm about two fingers of Pei’s and shake.

“So, what’ll it be?” the orc turned his verdant visage to Raian, “Did you need another—”

“Just food, please and thank you.” The man loudly interrupted, tapping his fingers.

“Do you have a menu?” Mochi chimed in.

The orc threw his head back in laughter, hardly shying away from baring his prominent, polished tusks stemming from his bottom jaw.

“No, we don’t do that here.” Pei turned to his kitchen, whipping out a well-seasoned wok from an underside compartment, “I like to get a good look at people and get an idea of what they want!”

Mochi shuffled closer inch by inch, watching the barrel-chested orc’s meticulously managed braid swing about without a care in the world as he navigated the narrow kitchen with ease, pulling all manner of ingredients.

He’d never seen anyone cook like this before. In fact, he had never seen anyone cook before. It was an artform; a pleasure on the nose, a feast for the eyes, and a mild attack on the ears given how much Pei beat the devil out of the wok like it owed him money.

The act ate up his attention like nothing, but to Raian, he found more pleasure in watching the awe radiate from the boy’s face. The squid only recognised a handful of ingredients – the evil soy sauce, some kind of sausage, and a few green and white sticks he’d forgotten the name of.

Being in such close proximity to watching the orc’s masterful cooking skills only intensified the hunger of the boy, causing him to swing his legs impatiently.

Soon enough, though, the orc presented the passing duo with a bowl of fried noodles intermingled with a variety of vegetables, a mouth-watering serving of seared sausage, and a perfectly gooey fried egg sitting comfortably on top like a blanket. Of course, Pei couldn’t forget the generous sprinkling of scallions atop.

A pair of chopsticks stuck out from the top, and Raian immediately took to digging in, scooping up a healthy clump of noodles by sandwiching them between the fried egg.

The squid had no such luck however, as this was his first time ever using chopsticks. His handler’s gaze slowly turned to witness Mochi stab away at a chunk of sausage with but one of the sticks.

“Mochi, watch,” his gentle words drew the squid’s attention, “place the first one about the bottom of your thumb, and the other like you hold a pencil, and…”

Mochi watched with intent as every braincell up in that noggin rubbed together to make a spark. Sadly, though, no flames of ingenuity could be sparked on this day as the boy struggled with the chopsticks for several minutes as frustration and embarrassment built.

“I can’t… get it right.” A slight whimper came from him as every scoop of food fell helplessly back to the bowl.

A sharp jolt almost knocked him off his stool as Raian yanked on his seat, pulling him within a few inches of himself as the handler gently pried the lot from his hands, scooping up a decent serving of noodles for the boy.

“Don’t worry, it took me a little while to learn how to use them too.” Raian’s soft tone helped ease those mounting frustrations in Mochi.

The boy opened his mouth, and he was immediately met with an entirely new world of flavours, and Raian fed him little by little. The noodles had a richness to them that was only accentuated by the addition of the egg yolk.

Every little addition to the bowl only complemented the satisfaction – the sesame oil, the probably not-so-evil soy sauce, the fat from the sausages, the fried egg, and the vegetables – it all culminated to the point Mochi could do nothing but close his eyes and enjoy the moment.

The tendrils about his head fluttered with every bite, eagerly opening his mouth every time to await Raian’s next move.

“Good?” his handler asked.

The squid only hummed happily out of affirmation, as with every passing swallow, the moment only cemented its place in his mind as the best breakfast he’s ever had.

The only human in the group slowly craned his head to the sudden nosiness of Pei, who had chosen to take a seat on the opposite side of the counter. Resting his chin upon the palm of his hand, the orc bore a knowing look, darting between the two before him with a hint of smugness.

“…what?” Raian stared daggers.

“Oh, nothing!” Pei sang.

The human continued to frown at his host, setting down Mochi’s bowl for a moment to give the boy a break, and to take the time to dig into his own meal. The moment Raian managed to stuff a whole fried egg into his mouth, Pei opened his mouth again.

“So, how long have you two been together?” Pei leaned closer with an insufferable grin.

A stray noodle caught the back of Raian’s throat, and he inhaled sharply, only making the matter worse as he began to choke and sputter on his food. He’d curse at the man if not for the chunk of broccoli he was bringing back up.

“About six months, I think?” Mochi answered, counting on his fingers.

“Really!” Pei raised his brow in surprise, “I didn’t know Raian was—”

“Handler!” the man shouted, managing to get his food down, or up, either works, “I’m his handler! I take care of him!”

“Oh, I bet you do.” The orc slid a glass of tap water to Raian and turned back to Mochi, “Does he treat you well, at least?”

Mochi pondered for a moment, picking out a slice of sausage from the bowl to munch on in the meantime. His face lit up after a moment, pointing his index finger toward Pei.

“Yeah! We’re on a date right now, actually.” The squid repeated Unali’s intentional misconception of the word.

That water went the wrong way once more as Raian seemed to struggle with even that.

“Hah! About time this boy learned to relax.” Pei cackled.

The orc gave Raian a hefty smack on the shoulder, which wound up helping his situation, oddly enough. A vein protruded from the handler’s forehead as he stood up from his seat, wrapping his fingers about the squid’s wrist and pulling him along.

“But I didn’t finish my food yet!”

“There’s plenty of other places we can sample – you don’t want to be full right away, right?” the man forced a laugh, cooking up an excuse that somehow stuck the landing.

The possibilities flooded the boy’s head, and his first, instinctual thought made him think of the donut stand he saw the second he landed in Falgrove Square.

“Bye Mr. Lazash!” Mochi turned and howled with a wave.

The grinning orc waved back as his eyes scanned the countertop as his smile faded immediately. With the slam of his fist, Pei lurched over the countertop, sticking his head out of his shop.

“Vachok! You owe me sixteen vin!”

“Put it on Unali’s tab!” Raian snapped back.