It was a calm day at the Veritable French Dinner. Larry was supposed to just watch the adults working, to learn how to properly serve the customers and how to discretely pass secret messages. He dressed like the other waiters, and sometimes he did participate in the work, but still being an apprentice, most of the time he was supposed to just watch.

The Veritable French Dinner was not a VFD base disguised as a restaurant, it was a VFD base and a restaurant; just like Larry was not a volunteer disguised as a waiter, he was a volunteer and a waiter, and each job was as important as the other. Many costumers didn't go there for secret information, they simply wanted good food and to have a good time. It was Larry's responsibility to provide it all.

The young man who entered just then seemed to be interested in both, secret information and good food. It was not because it was written on his face, not even figuratively, but because said face was familiar to Larry. Ignoring the orders to just watch, he approached the customer to offer him a table. He spoke as he would speak to any customer, and the young man spoke as he would to any waiter: politely, but distantly.

Larry offered him the menu.

"May I suggest the lunch special, sir?"

The young man shook his head.

"I will have only the tea today, please."

"I didn't realize it was a sad occasion."

For someone listening this may not seem an appropriate comment. There's nothing particularly sad about having only tea, except missing on the Veritable French Dinner's lunch special, that is often praised. But for someone who received the same education as Larry or his costumer, that was exactly the right thing to say.

"The world is quiet here." The customer replied, smiling. It was the right answer.

"Jacques Snicket."

"Larry Your-Waiter."

Hearing his name in Jacques' voice brought a warmth to Larry's chest. It had been a few years since the two had last seen each other. Larry wasn't even sure if Jacques would remember him.

The last time they met was still at the academy. Jacques was a model student. His parents were considered heroes (though nor Larry nor any of the other kids understood well why). He was intelligent, loved by their instructors, brave, friendly, and spoke loudly against injustice. For what Larry heard, he grew to be a model apprentice, and was now a model volunteer, despite his young age. Meanwhile, Larry had always been just average. A boy from a small town, who always received average evaluations and was so far having an average apprenticeship, preparing for an average job and average missions.

He knew his job was important, but he would never be a hero. People like Jacques were heroes. People like Larry just helped from the shadows.

"What can I help you with?" Larry asked.

"Just the tea, please. I am not on a mission right now."

Larry gave a nod, and walked to the kitchen to get his tea. His thoughts were not on the task in his hands, but on his memories. On the times he had spent with Jacques.

Jacques was always friendly and kind to everyone, unless they were unkind to him first. That's why Larry tried not to think much about the kindness he showed him. Jacques had a lot of friends, and Larry was just one of them. Just another background character in his glorious story. Of course he didn't want to be only that. Of course he wanted to be more, but he was only Larry, the average boy. He couldn't possibly expect to be special to Jacques Snicket. So he kept his feelings hidden for a long time, and his dramatic teenage heart, he felt like he died a little every time Jacques smiled at him, because he smiled like that at everyone.

But at some point something changed. Larry couldn't really tell when, but they seemed to spend more time together. More time alone together. Were friends normally this close, in the physical sense? In the emotional sense? Would Jacques tell anyone about his fears and worries like that?

Larry wasn't sure what to call the relationship they had back then, and it sometimes still kept him up at night. But it didn't matter, Larry told himself, as he served Jacques his tea, together with a sugar bowl that he knew his old friend wouldn't use. It had been years ago. Jacques could have that sort of relationship with anyone he wished to. He could be in one right now, maybe with someone he would meet at the restaurant or outside, after he finished his tea. Even if Larry used to be special once, and he couldn't be sure he did, he was not anymore.

"So, how is life going?" He asked, as Jacques took the first sip of his tea. As a waiter, it was improper to stay near a table after serving a customer. But as someone who hadn't see a friend in such a long time, he could be excused. Maybe. Some of the waiters were already looking at him in a way that usually meant he would be scolded.

"Same as always," Jacques said, in a tone that showed he didn't mind Larry's manners. "I'm taking a break from... looking for my brother."

At the mention of his brother, Jacques' voice got sadder. Larry didn't know the details, but he had heard, like everyone in the organization, about the disappearance of the youngest Snicket in the middle of his apprenticeship. Being an only child, he couldn't imagine how Jacques felt, and so had no words to offer. He didn't need to, as Jacques soon spoke again.

"And how is life going for you? How is it to live up to your name?"

Larry gave a small smile at the old, familiar joke. His curious name earned him a lot of teasing, both friendly and otherwise, since his young years. In the academy, he was tormented to no end. You would expect that the kids carefully chosen by VFD would not be mean, but there are mean people everywhere. Some of them grew up into mean adults, some changed sides, some were still around. But coming from Jacques, the joke was not mean and didn't bother Larry the slightest.

"Not very eventful, but it's good. Maybe it's fate." Larry laughed.

Jacques laughed with him. How Larry had missed that laugh. Of course it was different now, deeper, but it still sounded unmistakably as Jacques.

"When does your shift end?"

"At 5 pm."

Jacques checked his watch.

"That's in 45 minutes. Do you have any plans?"

"Not really." Larry felt hope rising inside of him.

"Why don't you meet me outside after you are done. I got a taxi. Maybe we can hang out somewhere, like in the old times."

"Like in the old times..." Larry repeated, in a whisper, trying to be sure he really heard these words. He couldn't be sure if Jacques meant like in the old times when they were friends, or the old times when they could have been something more. "I would love to."

He was sure he would love to either way.