Three minutes into the silence, Lyria finally took her first bite of the feast that laid before her; she did not seem that elated though, I guess she's familiar with the food in front of her since she worked here most of her life. If I had to describe the cuisine that I was eating it would be a surf n' turf, there was lobster, steak, and some bizarre purple meat that had a weird yet satisfying texture.
As soon as you take a bite it instantly breaks down into smaller cubes and dissolves in your mouth, since my sense of taste didn't work so well I would occasionally take a sniff of the bite to try and imagine the taste. And that seemed to bother Lyria, reasonably.
Lyria: You know the food is professionally cooked and cleaned right? You don't have to check your every bite.
Claudio: I can tell, it's just that for the last weeks my sense of taste greatly deteriorated over time, so I am trying to imagine the taste of what I'm eating based on the smell.
Lyria looked distraught by my answer, her question seemed pretty rude. She got up and gave me a sincere bow
Lyria: I'm so sorry please forgive me.
Claudio: All is good, sit down please.
After another awkward 5 minutes of eating, Lyria asked me the most diabolical question out of the blue:
Lyria: Claudio, are you gay?
Claudio: Excuse me?! No, why did you ask me that all of a sudden.
Lyria: Sorry it's just that, I don't know what to expect from you anymore.
Claudio: Care to elaborate?
Lyria: At first when I met you, you kept staring at my face constantly, and you still do, so I was expecting something to happen tonight with us. But after I took off my pants revealing my skin your first instinct was not lust, but to care to my injury?
Claudio: Oh that… sorry it's just that your eyes are really pretty, I've never seen anyone with eyes like that in my life.
Lyria thought between herself 'Really? My eyes? Not my curves and bust and features? I guess I am dealing with a child after all…'
Claudio: I know what you're thinking Lyria.
Lyria jumped at the voice that interrupted her thoughts, she choked on the shrimp that she was chewing on at the moment.
Lyria: I wasn't thinking of anything.
Claudio looked both serious and sad at the same time and told her everything to clear up any misunderstanding between them:
Claudio: Oh? And why did you react like that? Anyways that doesn't matter, I recently lost everyone that I cared about in my life, EVERYONE! And right now, I feel my strength being weakened day by day from Mageia. So no, I won't waste my time on some meaningless sex. Am I clear?
That came out way louder than expected, shit, I guess I'm at the anger stage of grief now, I went through this bullshit once before and ended up slitting the throat of some random kid at the park.
Lyria saw Claudio angrily playing around with the food that was in front of him, she had no idea that the man in front of her was grieving the whole time, she wanted to cheer him but couldn't, after 5 minutes of awkward silence, Claudio spoke:
Claudio: *Sigh*, what's with you anyway? Am I really that revolting in the first place?
Lyria: A little bit, but it's just that I'm afraid, sorry for troubling you with my anxiety.
Claudio: Afraid of…
Lyria: Yes.
Claudio: Hm, that's a first, I heard of people not interested in sex or disgusted by it, but fear is a first.
After another 5 minutes of silent eating, half of the food was gone, Lyria decided to try to cheer up Claudio:
Lyria: I've never seen people with your eyes either, I think they are beautiful.
Claudio: Hm? What do you mean?
I was confused, I didn't really look that Asian in the first place, I looked mostly Caucasian like my mom.
Lyria: The color, only some type of mages but mostly cripples have a dark eye color.
Claudio: Lyria, my eye color is the most common one in the world, what the hell are you on about?
Lyria: Maybe that is true where you came from but not around here.
Now that I think about it, until now I've never seen anyone with dark brown eyes, most of them ranged from very light brown to blue, and scarlet red now that I met Lyria.
Claudio: Actually, it's not dark, it is just dark brown, look.
I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight, aiming it at my left eye.
Lyria: Is something supposed to change? They still look the same to me Claudio.
Claudio: Very funny.
Lyria said with the most serious none joking face:
Lyria: I am serious Claudio, are you okay?
I got up from my seat and rushed towards the nearest mirror to check on my eyes, and lo and behold, my eyes were literally pitch black, void even, how is this even possible? I got Goosebumps all over my body from the new discovery, after calming myself down from the new fact I got back to the table and sat down 'Great, she must think I've gone crazy now, WeLl ActhualY tHeY are dArk bRoWn' god I am such a fucking loser.
Lyria saw that Claudio's face turned red, probably from the embarrassment from earlier, she was glad that for a moment he turned around from his earlier grieving state, so she threw in one last hook:
Lyria: I also think your eyelashes are very beautiful, they're thick and girly.
Claudio: Hm? Thanks, anyhow I have another question, since you were so worried about that subject, why didn't you "read" my soul? Pretty sure my intentions were clear no?
Her teasing fell face flat, she looked like an idiot now.
Lyria: It would be rude of me to take a peek Claudio.
Claudio: But you did it multiple times already, so why did you decide to grow a conscience all of a sudden?
Lyria thought to herself 'FUCK HOW DID HE KNOW' and decided to ask him:
Lyria: Oh, sorry about that, so you can tell when someone takes a peek?
Claudio: Oh no, not at all, in fact I have no idea how that mechanism works in the first place but thanks for exposing yourself.
Lyria got got, her face was red from the shame of getting caught in the stupid trap, after a few minutes of awkward silence, he decided to ask her:
Claudio: So, How do you "take a peek" at my soul? Do you just look at me and can tell what I was thinking?
Lyria: I just stare at your eyes and can have access to your soul's state, it is the only way for me since I am not a soul mage.
Claudio: So if I cover my eyes, or give you my back, you can't "read" my soul?
Lyria: Basically, yes.
I covered my eyes with my right hand and began asking her:
Claudio: Lyria, I want to check something out, can you read my soul right now?
Lyria: No.
Next, I removed my hands and closed my eyes.
Claudio: What about now?
Lyria: Still no.
Claudio: Okay, Lyria, there is a bug on you.
Lyria: Very funny.
I opened my eyes and told her:
Claudio: No really, it's on your left shoulder.
Lyria jolted awake, grabbed the little critter, and threw it at Mach 3 out of the window, she turned around, her face was pale and red at the same time and said:
Lyria: Claudio. How long has it been on me?
Claudio: Since you came with the food?
Lyria: THAT LONG?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME???
I made a smug face and answered her:
Claudio: I thought it was your pet?
Lyria was furious, she thought that she could get away with pissing me off but boy is she wrong, she took a deep breath and decided to set back down to continue eating her dinner, the food was mostly finished, we were just sitting there silently and eating what little left on the plate.
Claudio: So, I wanted to ask something if you don't mind.
Lyria dropped her shoulders and gave me a nod
Claudio: How old are you?
Lyria: I turned 29 this year.
Claudio: 29? Wow, you look so much younger than that.
Lyria: Thanks, I take great care of myself.
Claudio: Mhm, I can see that.
Lyria was anticipating me revealing my age but of course, I would not reveal it back, she decided to fuck with the wrong bastard, she was staring daggers at me, waiting for me to share my age back but all I did was play with the gravy on my plate. Since she could explode at any moment right now, I decided to ask another question that will caught her off guard.
Claudio: So, why were you walking around without undergarments yesterday? That cannot be comfortable.
Lyria got up from her seat, her face was red, I don't know if it was from embarrassment or anger, and retorted:
Lyria: YOU!!! You pervert! What are you talking about?!
Claudio: Oh? I'm the pervert? I wasn't the one who stood around the apartment like an idiot and did a bow without panties after I was done stitching their injuries.
Lyria: Go to hell Claudio.
Lyria gathered all of the plates at lightning speed and stormed off to the door, before she closed the door behind her, she said in a shaky voice:
Lyria: There is a panty thief, I wasn't at fault.
Claudio: Yeah yeah I don't really care, wake me up at first light.
She slammed the door behind her and my ears were ringing for the next minute, it was really late at night, we spent two hours eating and conversing during dinner. I probably have a good 5 hours before first light, that is if I didn't toss and turn around the whole night and woke up every other hour from my nightmares.
I brushed my teeth as fast as I could and rushed towards my bed, as soon as I placed my head on my pillow, blow magical strings were coming out of it and they were entering my ears and nose, I saw myself quickly falling asleep almost instantly.
***
I can hear someone shouting over my head, yelling my alias over and over again, I was so comfortable in my bed that I forgot who I was and where I came from. Suddenly the warm sheets were pulled away.
Lyria: GOD DAMN CLAUDIO! ARE YOU A HORSE?
Claudio: Hm? What? Where am I? What is going on?
Lyria: Wake up already, it's my third time coming to wake you.
Claudio: FUCK!
I rubbed my eyes when my memories kicked back in, that was the best sleep that I had ever had, no nightmares, pure bliss, the pillow was cold all the time and smelled heavenly. Last time I slept this good was after swimming for two hours when I was a kid and ate a fat tuna sandwich.
Lyria: Fack? Who is that.
Claudio: I am awake thank you, comeback in 10 minutes when I am properly dressed, pervert, and give me my damn sheet back.
Lyria: Whatever. 'Bastard'
She threw the sheet back at my face with enough strength to wake me up permanently, 'Wow are you sure you want to play like that bitch? we'll see'. I got up and took a quick cold shower, I did not recover from the short sleep cycle so I need to use everything so that I can stay awake and focused for today.
Lyria came back later and was surprised at how fast I readied myself for today; I was making some instant coffee and invited Lyria to join me.
Lyria: What is that? It smells delicious.
Claudio: Smells delicious but tastes bitter, doesn't the sanctuary sell it here anyway?
Lyria: We usually serve tea here; it's my first time seeing this black water here.
Claudio: Well enjoy, if it's not to your liking you can add this powder over here to make it more bearable.
Lyria took a sip and her iris expanded creepily, than a nostalgic look appeared on her face.
Lyria: I remember now, my grandpa once sat me on his lap and dared me to drink something similar to this, I remember him laughing at my reaction that day, but this right here is of higher quality than the drink that I tried with him last time.
Claudio: Glad you liked it, it helps block the need for sleep, I assume you are just as tired as I am.
Lyria: Thank you Claudio, maybe you are not that bad after all.
Claudio: Likewise.
I waited for her to finish her drink before asking her a genuine question:
Claudio: Did you find your panties?
Lyria stood up angrily and said:
Lyria: You bastard! Can you be normal for a heartbeat please?!
Claudio: I am serious, today is important and I can't have you walking around me like an itchy goblin.
Lyria calmed down and answered:
Lyria: Unfortunately not, guess I will have to bear with this for now.
Claudio: Lyria, I don't mind if you took a peek at my soul at all, in fact it would help with clearing a lot of misunderstandings.
I got up, went to my rucksack, and tossed her a pair of my boxers, she looked at me confused at how small they were but I told her that they can stretch, and that anything is better than a chafing thigh.
She went into the bathroom and got out satisfied and relaxed. Her pants looked fancy but it was only that, they caused her great itchiness and pain all the time.
Claudio: We wasted enough time; let's head out to the bastards' guild
Lyria: Right behind you.