All in all, the dinner was great. Mason had the buffet because he could have anything, and as much as he wanted. Raven had egg soup,
beef and broccoli, and orange chicken.
When the bill came, Raven took it, and after writing a tip, put his creditcard in the billfold. The waitress came back, and Raven
spoke to her in chinese before she went off to process the bill. Mason was shocked that his friend and roommate knew chinese, and
decided to start learning languages himself.
The waitress returned, giving Raven back his card, as well as the receipt. She surprised Mason by holding a platter of fortune cookies
and telling him to take two. Usually, he and Raven were just given them. In a show of ceremony and formality, after briefly looking at
Raven, Mason closed his eyes and placed his hands over the platter to pick up a fortune cookie with each hand.
Impressed, or amused-whichever the case may be-the woman smiled and let Raven chiose his own fortune cookie as well. Usually, the
waitress liked to watch people open their cookies and reveal their fortunes, but she knew that these two boys had made it a habit to
open theirs at home. Just about every chinese restaurant in the area knew that. So, shaking her head, she left them to their routine.
They didn't really talk on the drive home, and that was okay. The silence was a companionable one. Raven knew that Mason was stuffed
from dinner, And Mason knew that at night his friend always thought about the day, and planned for the morrow.
First thing when hr got home, Mason pulled the spy set from his bookbag and asked if he could open it. Raven smirked and shook his
head, pointing to the fortune cokirs, "Not until we open those."
"Aww," said Mason, but he went wnd wat on the couch, bringing his present, of course. He waited until Raven sat down, too. At his
friend's gesture, Mason unwrapped each cookie, then broke them both open, pulled out the strips, making sure the blank side stayed up.
As Raven opened his own cookie, Mason started eating the peices.
"You go first with one of yours, I'll read mine, then you read the second," Raven instructed.
"All right," Mason grinned, turning one strip over. "You will become a force to be reckoned with," he read.
"Ooh, scarey," Raven quipped.
Mason blew a raspberry at his friend. "I thought I already was."
At that, Raven laughed, then flipped his slip of paper over. "That which you have thought will come to pass." He laughed. "That would
be cool."
"What would," asked Mason. But Raven gestured for him to read his other fortune. "Evil will fear you." Mason cocked his head,
thinking, then said, "I'm definitely becoming a spy!"
*That's not the only thing,* thought Raven. "Now you may open your gift," he told the younger boy who in turn squealed and shouted,
"yay!" Raven shook his head, laughing as he watched.
Despite his exhuberence, Mason carefully opened the box. He didn't want to damage anything. But he needn't have worried, cor he pulled
out a steel case with black leather covering the outside, ans supposedlr the inside, too. Steel corners gleamed, as well as the steel
combination locks, and the links connecting the leather-encased handle to the case. It was beautiful.
Raven didn't think the combination would be 000 on either of the locks, even as Mason tried it. From the way Mason nodded, Raven knew
that Mason had had the same thought. The older boy pulled the boxover to him and starterd to read, to see ifthere was anything about
the combination locks. There wasn't anything on the outside or inside about how to open it.
Not that it mattered, for Mason had put his ear to the locks to listen, and had gotten them unlocked. The one on the left was 404, and
the right was 747. *Interesting,* thought Mason. *It couldn't find the file on the plane.* He chuckled as he opened the case.
The older boy wanted to see what the case contained. It wasm't just because he was curious, but it was also because Raven could
feel... an energy eminating from it. Almost as if it were, somehow, alive.
Mason grinned and looked at the spy set peices nestled into place, indents in the foam to show where each peice belonged. He wasn't
sure which to pick first, then decided on the watch, as that was the reason why Raven yook him out in the first place. The watch
itself was disassembled. Two bands lay on one side, a black one, and a silver one. On the other side of the watch face itself were
several different covers, with a few different styles to each color. Mason used the black band and red face cover to go with the watch
face that had taken on a gold tone. It was perfect.
After seeing the individual peices, Mason's roommate stood up and stretched. "Hey, I'm going to get some reading in, all right?"
Again, he had that device he called his all-in-one. It seemed to Mason that his friend never put it down.
"Sure," Mason said, waving him off. "I'm just going to get to know my birthday gift. Thank you again, Raven."
"You're welcome," Raven replied before going into his room and shutting the door. He would just read his manual until he fell asleep,
probably. Well, that, and check to see if/when a certain new wizard would be added.