The Way to my Heart

I didn’t know what it was that Nela had brought us, but I was hungry enough not to question it.

“Hier, bitte schöön!” With a big smile, she brought two plates over to our little gaming corner.

“Kennst du Labskaus?”

With those words, she sat a plate before me, and looked at me expectantly. I blinked, and quickly glanced at the meal she had brought me. On a big, off-white plate was… something. It looked like raw meat, but it was also too red for that, while the texture only made me think of something that birds would feed their offspring. I shuddered. At least it didn’t smell that bad—but there was that sweet and sour smell of something pickled, probably coming from the slices of beetroot that decorated the side, together with something that looked like a flattened, then rolled-up fish. At least it was topped off with what I could easily identify as a fried egg. It made… a nice contrast, at least?

“What’s this?” I asked her, pointing at it.

“Labskaus,” she said, again.

I forced a smile on my face. “Labskaus,” I repeated, but stumbled over the word.

Just don’t show your disgust, I thought. It’s fine. Probably. It won’t kill me, right?

While she watched me with her bright, sparkly eyes, I took a small spoonful of the Labskaus, together with a piece of fried egg.

Oh, I thought. Oh.

This was better than I had expected. The hearty taste of meat mixed with the sweet and sour notes of onion and pickled gherkin, together with the egg, was surprisingly, really, good. I took one more bite, and then another, and sooner than I thought, I had eaten it all.

“Dat weer lecker, oder?” Nela grinned at me. She had finished her own plate in record time as well.

“That was good,” I said, nodding. “Lecker.”

Without asking, she took my plate, going back to where she had put the food down.

“Denn doon wi mal wieder mit wat sööt!”

And quickly, she brought two bowls of soup with her. I stared at it, and wondered just how different our meal traditions were. Usually, you would eat soup first, right? But after the Labskaus, nothing could surprise me. Or so I thought.

But I did not expect the soup to taste sweet. It must have some fruit as a base—the color was a deep purple, almost black, or as black as food can get without artificial colorants. There were some chewy yet fluffy white pieces in there that vaguely reminded me of dumplings, or even cut-up, fluffy pancakes. Some slices of fruit were also present. It was strange, and yet, oddly fascinating. And, again, not as bad as I first thought.

“And what is… dat?” I asked Nela, while I pointed at the soup. Some words were familiar, and I hoped that she would understand.

“Fliederbeersuppe,” she said, her eyes sparkling with delight.

I nodded. “Suppe,” I repeated.

It wasn’t that difficult to remember. I was already trying to piece together what I could from the language, if only to understand her a little bit better. And my efforts were immediately rewarded by her big, bright smile.

“Du büst so klook! Ik heff keen Ahnung, wat du seggst, aver du kannst al wat seggen! Ik meen, wi köönt uns ok so verständig, aver dat hier is eenfach goot. Du büst fein, Leo!”

Okay, that was still above my level of understanding. I still nodded, but I was unsure. Just how much was she holding back, trying to communicate with me? I could tell that Nela was someone who was excited, who liked to talk and laugh and gesture while doing all that.

I smiled at her. She was beautiful, and cute—in her cheerful, slightly awkward way. I didn’t know if that feeling was love, or adoration, or something else. But it told me to hold her close, to spend my time with her, to never wake up from this beautiful dream that somehow, had become my reality.

As if she could read my thoughts, suddenly, Nela stopped, and blushed. With a speed I didn’t think anyone could have, she finished her own sweet soup, with little flecks of purple flying everywhere. She took our bowls faster than I could say anything, and then, she plopped down next to me.

“Denn laat uns mal wiedermaken,” she said, and I could hear a tinge of nervousness in her voice. Or was it excitement? It was hard to tell with her, but her smile was genuine.

In-Game, her character jumped, and promptly fell down two stories of the old tower we were currently exploring. I sighed, but all with my very own smile.

“Focus,” I told her, but promptly jumped after her.

***

I didn’t know how long we spent gaming. I only knew that it had gotten dark outside some time ago, and I was feeling sleepy, despite my focus still being on the puzzle we were currently solving.

Nela was having the same problems. We both couldn’t think as sharp anymore, and maybe, one or two of my more silly suggestions to solve the puzzle (like running into the wall, to see if it would catapult me over the edge) led to me laughing harder than I ever had in my life. I was fine with not progressing any further for the day, but I didn’t want this to end, so I said nothing. Instead, I spun in circles around the plateau, thinking of something we hadn’t tried yet.

But it was when her shoulder suddenly brushed against me that I jolted awake again. I glanced at her, her eyes half-shut. She was breathing softly, and the feeling of her hair against my arm sent goosebumps over my skin. I couldn’t help but stare, and at the same time, I was frozen in place.

But that couldn’t be a comfortable sleeping position—once she woke tomorrow morning, she would surely feel the pain. And I didn’t want that to happen to her.

“Hey, Nela,” I said.

She didn’t respond. Was she already asleep?

“Nela, you have to get to bed,” I said, my voice so low that I could barely hear myself over my hammering heartbeat. “Nela.”

“Hmmmnh?”

“Get up, go to sleep,” I said, even though I knew she wouldn’t understand me.

“Leo…”

She yawned, and stretched her hands. Only then did she look around, as if she had to reorient herself. Her eyes met mine, and for a moment, that energized spark came back.

“Leo!” She grinned at me, before looking outside. “Dat is al temlich laat, huh? Ik heff de Tied ganz vergeten.”

She got up, and brushed some crumbs from her dress. Then, she yawned again. She clearly was more tired than she pretended to be.

“Sleep?” I pleaded, pointing at the bed in the middle of the room.

Nela looked like she might fall asleep any moment, and I wasn’t sure if I could carry her into bed if I needed to. But thankfully, she nodded, and made her way over to the bed, where she promptly fell into the mountain of pillows.

I stood there for a moment, unsure. I was fine with sleeping on the floor. But before I could decide on a spot to lay down, Nela poked her head out of the pillows, and threw most of them off the bed.

“Kaam her,” she said, motioning for me to come to her with her hand.

“Uh…”

At least, in the dark, she couldn’t see that my face was bright red. She was already scooting over to the side, placing only a pillow for her head and another one on the bed. The rest had been unceremoniously thrown to the ground. I stood next to the bed, my hands up in the air.

“I’m not sure if I should…”

“Kaam her,” she repeated, more insistent this time. “Dat Bedd is groot noog för uns beid.”

I was tired. I couldn’t understand what exactly it was she said, and I couldn’t give her an answer, and I couldn’t react fast enough as she took my hand and yanked me forwards. I fell on the bed, and for a moment, was once more engulfed by her scent.

It was warm. Soft. And so, so comfortable. And with second, I felt my heart slow down, and my breaths became more relaxed. Maybe I could rest my eyes, just for a moment. Maybe this bed was big enough for the two of us. Maybe…

And for the first time in forever, I fell into an easy sleep.