Family Begins With You

by Jmaster49

Arc VII Episode III: Food Science

Meanwhile, out in the dining room…

Tiara and Keiji were still having casual conversation like before. The latter was speaking quite highly of a certain race of bloodsuckers…

“...If you ask me, garlic’s pungent odor is what drives them off. It’s not necessarily poisonous.”

“Uh…huh…” Tiara replied slowly, “But what about the sun? Doesn’t their skin burn off into dust?”

“Daywalkers exist,” he said casually, “They have a sliding scale of resistance to the sunlight. Some just need sunscreen--others are perfectly fine.”

“Woah…he knows a ton…” Tiara thought to herself. This boy knew a lot more about these Transylvanian creatures than she had ever cared to know about before. It intrigued her quite a bit--especially since it was a conversation with someone she didn’t know very well… “That’s amazing,” she muttered wondrously, “Sounds like they’re cooler than I thought. And they don’t need to suck out of people’s necks, do they?”

Keiji shook his head. “Nah. It doesn’t help that most folks aren’t willing--squirming, stressed-out necks are not fun to deal with. So we generally prefer to drink blood out of a pack or something.” And in his casual state of conversation, he overlooked his choice of words…

Thankfully, Diamond Tiara didn’t quite pick up on it right away. “Yeech. I can’t imagine my food wriggling around while I’m trying to eat it. Speaking of which…” She paused and looked around towards the kitchen, “Where’s our order…”

Almost as if it was on cue, Pinkie rolled out to them carrying two plates--each with a burger and fries--though one was marked with a pink toothpick to indicate that it was rare.

“Here ya go!” Pinkie chirped, much to the wide-eyed shock of the pair at the table, “Your shake will be out in juuuuust a sec--”

Keiji was about to open his mouth to say something. “Uh--”

But before he could, Pinkie had already rolled away from them.

“...Huh. Wonder what she means,” he wondered as he looked down at his plate. One look at the ‘bloody’ nature of the burger was enough to steal his attention. “But I’ve got other plans.”

Diamond Tiara grabbed the nearby silverware that was wrapped in a napkin. She placed one of them on her lap, and started to cut into the burger with a knife and fork as if it were a steak. “Hm. Smells delicious.” And she would eat elegant little bites once she had cut into it…

Keiji stared at the strange method of eating what could be described as a hot sandwich. “...Why is she using those?”

Tiara noticed the fact that he was staring and pointed it out. “Ahem. Something wrong?”

“Oh nothing it’s--” he looked up at her and continued, “I notice you’re using utensils to eat that. Is that’s how burgers are usually eaten?”

“Not usually,” she answered once she swallowed her most recent bite, “But it’s how mom’s raised me to eat certain foods.”

“...Hm…you know there’s a--” he stopped himself mid-sentence and shook his head. “Nah. Never mind. You probably won’t care.”

But to his surprise, she was interested in what he had to say. “No no,” she put the utensils down and leaned forward, “Go on. I’m listening.”

With that in mind, Keiji continued. “Oh. Alright. Well, studies have shown that certain foods tend to taste better when using your hands instead of cutlery.”

“...” Her jaw dropped. This was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing. “...Really? How’s that possible?”

“Long story short,” Keiji picked up the burger from his plate, and held it, “When you’re touching something, your brain’s receptors pick up what your hands come in contact with and that sends signals to your mouth to indicate that you’re about to eat something good.”

“Really…” Tiara looked down at the plate with a confused stare.

Meanwhile, Keiji had begun eating. “...Damn. This is pretty good. The humans know how to make good food. Much better than whatever the hell my parents tried to make back home.”

Tiara shifted her eyes around to make sure no one in particular was watching her. Then, once she was certain, she picked up the burger and took a bite out of it. “...Mm…”

And as fate would have it, Keiji was correct. The burger did taste better than when she was eating it with a knife and fork moments ago.

“Wow…that…it tastes even better,” she paused and put it down, looking at him once more, “How did you know that?”

Keiji came up with an answer on the spot. “I…suppose you could say that I know a lot about biology. Yeah--biology.” He put on his best grin to hide his uncertainty. “Hopefully she buys that. There’s no way in all of the nine circles of hell she’d accept the real reason.”

Luckily, Tiara was none the wiser. “Huh. Once again, I was wrong--you’re smarter than you look.”

Keiji stared in her direction with a flat expression and annoyed eyes. “What’s that supposed’ta mean?”

But before she could respond, Pinkie rolled up to their table, and placed a large sundae glass with two straws poking out of it in the middle right between them. “Here ya go! A cookies ‘n cream milkshake for the two of ya! You two enjoy yourselves and call Sonata if you need anything else!”

“...Thank you?” Keiji replied as Pinkie started to roll away.

All Diamond Tiara could do was sigh to herself. “Seriously? The couples’ shake? Was that her plan? Doesn’t she know that this isn’t a date?”

“Wow…just wow,” Keiji saw right through it also, “I’m just gonna pretend that she didn’t just do that. I barely know you--no offense.”

“None taken,” she replied with a roll of her eyes, “You still seem like a delinquent but not entirely trashy.”

“Pfft. That’s rich. Or should I say broke,” he replied with a snicker.

“Just stop,” Tiara huffed, “You suck at comebacks.”

“Well I suck at multiple things, but let’s not get into that.” He stowed his thoughts and took a sip of it. “Huh. Not bad at all.”

On the other side of the diner…

“I’m going on break, Sonata,” Pinkie called out as she rolled down the middle of the diner and through the double doors to the back of the building, “Hold down the fort for me, kay?”

“Sure!” Sonata agreed, then promptly did a double-take once she realized what she had just said, “Wait…what?!”

Outside…

Pinkie had taken off her dress-uniform as well as her skates and changed into a casual pink hoodie, jeans, and regular shoes. She then started to take a look around the parking lot. “...No demons or magic here. Better check the nearby streets and the front of the building.” While she was normally very scatterbrained, Pinkie couldn’t be stopped once she had an objective.

“Big…big…how big are we talkin’ here?”

Little did she know, a spider had been crawling after her...

Comments

[Natedogg2006]

Wow, he not even trying to hide it really