087: FOOD

"So who cooked this meal?" Jenny said, smiling as she sat down beside her date. Gilan smiled back at her, taking her hand underneath the table, almost as a sign that yes, they were finally together.

Will glanced at Alyss, a smile playing on his own lips. Alyss sat herself across from Jenny, sliding onto the bench by tucking her hands underneath her bottom to make sure her dress was beneath her. "I did," Will said from the small kitchenette that the Ranger cabin had, "I thought I would try that recipe you gave me a few weeks ago."

"Oh, the breaded parmesan chicken?" Jenny leaned forward eagerly, sniffing the air. "That's one of my favorites."

"Hope I don't disappoint," Will said after hesitating a moment. His eyes flicked to where Alyss sat, and she returned his gaze with a slight shrug and an eye roll.

Gilan stood from where he sat, his hand sliding out of Jenny's hand. "Here Will, let me help." He was over in the kitchenette with Will before he could protest. Sidling up beside him, Gilan began helping him collect the dishes, glasses, and utensils, allowing Will to hold the platter with the chicken pieces by himself. "You have no idea what she's talking about, do you?" Gilan whispered, eyeing his friend.

Pursing his lips, Will heaved the platter up, and looked to him. "No clue."

Moving around the table, Gilan placed some dishes in front of the women, and dishes in his and Will's spots, while Will placed the platter in the center of the table, in between a bowl of fresh fruit and some fresh baked bread.

"Bon appetite," Will smiled, flourishing his hands.

Jenny crinkled her nose, looking suspiciously at the dish.

"When did you make this, hon," Alyss said quickly, leaning forward. Will hadn't seen Jenny's face, but both she and Gilan had. "I don't remember seeing you work on this?"

"I did it when you went to fetch these two. I knew Gilan was a day behind in his travels, so I knew you would be there for a while." He winked, looking between his two guests and his wife. "Time management, right?"

Gilan smiled, the sun-burned skin around his eyes crinkling. "Next time I come here, I'm not letting you know if I left late or otherwise."

Sitting back down, Will patted Alyss' thigh, before reaching out with a knife to get a piece of the chicken. "Who wants the first piece?" Even before he had finished speaking, both Alyss and Gilan had picked up their plates, and held them out. Dishing out the pieces, everyone but himself and Jenny had taken one. "Which piece, Jen?" Will said, oblivious to her expression.

It was a long moment, before she spoke—and it wasn't until later that Will found out that she had only spoken because Alyss kicked her shin underneath the table. "Oh," the cook murmured, eyeing the meat, "I think I'll have that one there." She motioned towards the piece that was slightly smaller than the other, and held out her plate, somewhat hesitantly, while Will picked the piece up and set it on her plate. He put the last piece on his plate, before finally sitting down beside Alyss.

No one had started eating yet, all staring down at their plates while awkwardly avoiding Will's eye contact. "You waiting for me or something?" he asked with a nervous smile, lifting his knife and spearing the chicken with his fork. He started to cut into his piece, slowing down once he realized that no one had followed suit. ". . . everything alright?"

Alyss smiled, taking his hand instead of her fork or knife. "I think we're just waiting for the host to take the first bite. It's the polite thing to do."

Will frowned, looking suspiciously between his wife and guests. "Really? I've never heard that."

"It's a new fad," Gilan said, his mouth full of fresh baked bread. His chicken lay untouched. Raising his eyebrow, Will appraised Gilan, suspecting some sort of trick. Gilan nodded, both eyebrows going up. He smiled to compensate for Will's dubious look.

"Go ahead, Will," Alyss said, putting both of her hands on her lap, "I'm dying to try some."

Looking down on the meat, he looked back and forth between their meal and Alyss' face, which looked . . . different. After a brief hesitation, he speared a cut piece on his fork, and put it in his mouth, eyes flicking between Gilan, Jenny, and Alyss, all who stared at him as if waiting for something. It made him think that they knew something he didn't. He swallowed.

And then the taste hit him.

Gagging, Will stumbled to his feet, pushing back the bench. Alyss grabbed ahold of the side so she wouldn't topple over herself. Jenny watched from the other side of the table with amusement on her face, as well as Gilan. Will ran to the sink, spitting out the meat and gagging some more. "What the . . . what the hell?" he gasped, as he coughed out some more chicken bits.

"Did you use the meat in the freezer?" Alyss said quietly, coming up behind him with a glass of water.

"Yea? Why?"

"Don't you remember me telling you that you needed to get rid of that meat because it was getting a bad smell?" She set a hand on his shoulder, and threw a glare over her shoulder at Gilan and Jenny's snickers. Will leaned over the sink, taking sips of the water and swishing it in his mouth before spitting it out in the sink.

"My employees should still have the eating house open," Jenny said from her spot, "and we have this new mocha pie that should take that moldy chicken taste right out of your mouth!"

Glancing over the rim of the sink, Will looked at Jenny, his eyes narrowing. "Sounds good to me," he mumbled. From the way she said it, it almost sounded as if she planned for this to happen.

And then his eyes went wide, and he doubled back over the sink, his shoulders heaving.