Theme: Exotic
Food: Escargot, Foie Gras
It was pouring hard and the streets were flooded. The sewer system could barely keep up with the surge of rain that had befallen them for the past three days. The city was dim, as if it were evening, though honestly it was afternoon. The citizens carried glum expressions, hoping for positive sunlight.
Bridget, Ky assumed, had probably just reached Paris, France. He had ran int Ky-- literally-- as he skipped in the deeper puddles. He was soaking and all smiles, though most of the people on the streets were scuttling back to shelter as fast as they could.
"I'm sorry sir--" Bridget lifted his head and gasped. "Mister Kiske!"
"Bridget... was it?" Ky hesitated to say the name, afraid to offend if he were wrong.
"Yes. Ah... do you know where I could find a place to eat? I don't mean to be rude but I just came into the city and..." His growling stomach finished his sentence.
Ky chuckled. "So I hear. Hm, the only restaurant nearby is Le Chambre Bleue on Arago Boulevard, but--"
"Okay! Thank you, Mister Kiske!" With a wave, he spun on the balls of is feet and speeded around the corner.
"Ah! Wait! Bridget, it's..."
Ky stopped, the boy was too wrapped up in his hunger (or too far away) to hear him. Ky ran after him around the corner. A few blocks after, Ky found he was too late.
"Just you, sir?" A man greeted him; he had a thin mustache, curled on both ends. He was already reaching for the stack of menus before Ky replied.
"No. I'm meeting a little girl wearing a nun outfit. Is she seated?"
"This way, sir."
The host retrieved one menu and walked, passing couples and parties on the way. They were at the far back of the restaurant, away from most of the chaos, when they stopped. The host set the menu on the table and walked off sullenly. Bridget slowly raised his eyes from the menu he was reading, curious about the shadow falling over him.
"Mister Kiske? Did you want to eat dinner with me?"
"Yes, if you don't mind," Ky half-lied. It wasn't his initial intention, but he saw that the bounty hunter was already comfortable at the table, and he was starving. The restaurant that Ky had had in mind for him was cheaper, but farther away.
Bridget shook his head and Ky pulled out the chair across from him.
"I've always wanted to try French food, but now that I'm here there's so many choices that I can't decide!"
He peered over the menu. "What should I order?"
"Anything that isn't foie gras or escargot. Most foreigners can't stomach even the idea of those dishes."
"Huh? Why's that?"
The waiter arrived before Ky could answer. "Are you ready to order?"
"Actually--" Ky's voice was drowned out by Bridget's high, cheerful request.
"I would like to try the foie gras and escargot, please."
"Soup or salad?"
Bridget's expression went askew over the mention of vegetables. "Soup please."
The waiter turned to an exasperated Ky. "As for you, sir?"
"The chef's choice," Ky said simply. He had seen it advertised on the chalkboard at the entrance.
The waiter scribbled the order down with finesse, then exited through the swinging kitchen doors. Not long after, a bus boy filled their wine glasses with water.
"Are you sure about what you ordered?" Ky warned.
"Of course! Like I said: I want to try French food and what I ordered sounded the most French. So what is foie gras and escargot?"
Ky held his head for a moment before answering, expecting a disastrous reaction as he had heard most foreigners had upon leaning about these dishes.
"Foie gras is from a goose who has been force-fed until it dies. The dish is made from the fattened goose liver."
"That's not weird at all." Bridget frowned. "But... that poor bird."
Ky was not relieved yet. "Escargot is cooked snails."
Bridget was extremely silent.
"If you'd like, we can cancel the order."
He stubbornly shook his head, thought his stomach curdled at the thought of escargot.
"You have to try everything once, right?" He forced a laugh.
A glass and a bottle of wine were set at Ky's right hand and a bowl of soup was set in front of the other blonde. Bridget watched as Ky expertly held the wine glass at a slant and poured the cranberry-hued liquid, filling the clear glass cup to three-fourths. He also watched as Ky lightly swished the wine, moving his hand in a slow, circular motion before taking a sip.
Bridget set his soup spoon down. "Can I try it?"
Ky's eye drew from the young boy to the wine he held in his palm, and back to Bridget again, eyebrows raised. "You're underaged."
"I know, but I just want to know what it tastes like." He clasped his hands together and his eyes seemed to grow bigger, pleading. "Just one sip."
Ky hesitated, then eyed the restaurant. No one seemed to be watching so he caved to the younger one's request. He reached over the table, while Bridget sat up on his knees and leaned forward for a sip. During the short time, Ky watched the room, hoping no one noticed and that if they did, that they wouldn't care. Ky turned back to the boy and chuckled at the disgusted expression he was now wearing.
"It tastes like medicine." Bridget pouted, disappointed. "Well, a lot better than medicine but..."
"I used to think so too once. I guess it's an acquired taste." He took a sip of said wine. "Are you still bounty hunting?"
"Mmmhmm. I think I'm close to proving myself."
Ky inwardly sighed. It was a shame someone so young was risking her life-- and the very fact that her parents let her wander off on her own--
"The sum I left you wasn't enough?" His eyes locked on the young boy, who averted his eyes and toyed with the hem of his dress anxiously.
"No Ky, it was more than enough. I guess I'm scared that even that amount won't convince the village I'm not bad luck."
"Bridget, I gave you that money because I don't like the idea of a young lady putting her life in danger. I'm not saying you can't be a bounty hunter... just you should wait until you're older." Ky's eyes lowered. "You're only a child once."
"Thank you, Mister Kiske, but... I have to do this now or no one else will."
"Do what?" Ky refrained from shouting-- barely.
"In my village, twins of the same gender are considered bad luck. Ah... you see... I'm actually a boy."
He paused and briefly raised his gaze. He felt unrelieved that Ky was quiet.
"My parents disquised me as a girl so my brother and I could both live."
"So the reason you took up bounty hunting is to disprove the superstition."
"Yes."
They stared at one another, unsure of what to say next. They were both at ease when dinner was set in front of them. It changed the subject hanging heavily on their minds. Bridget dared not to look at the escargot just yet. and dug into the foie gras. Ky quietly ate his steak and duchess potato, glancing at the boy in-between bites. He wondered if Bridget would eat the escargot, and he wondered what he could do to help him in his situation.
Bridget finally came to the escargot, tapping the long snail fork on the edge of the table. He stabbed one of the mollusked morsals but before it reached his mouth, he stopped and pushed the plate away. Ky silently took the dish and ate it for him. He didn't understand why the food was so disturbing that Bridget couldn't bear to even watch him eat it. For once he felt the gap of culture between him and the boy.
"Would you like dessert?" the waiter inquired, picking up empty dishes. "Tonight we are serving creme brule, an apple tart, chocolate soufflé, and pate a choux swans."
"The cook used to make use breakfast soufflés... I already know what those are like... I'd like the swans, please," Bridget said.
The waiter turned to Ky, who raised a hand in polite refusal.
"Then I will bring the bill with the dessert."
The man gave the vaguest of smiles, the kind that seemed forced but held a sense of warmth. Many waiters and waitresses carried this sort of expression, Ky noticed. Even Jam used it on occasion.
"Bridget, if your village persists in the superstition despite your efforts, know that you have a place here in France."
It was the best he could do for the boy. Nothing was going to budge Bridget.
"That's very sweet of you but there is no need for that. Everything will be all right because I'm giving it my all... and because God is watching over me."
Ky's frown remained, he found that for once in his life he wasn't relieved even with the idea of God overlooking someone. Ky didn't want God to watch over Bridget, Ky himself wanted to be there for the boy.
"Pata a choux swans," the waiter announced.
A plate with two swans sitting on a lake made of crystallized sugar, tinted blue, was set in front of the blonde. The waiter left the bill in the middle of the table. Both hands reached for the slip of paper.
"Allow me," Ky said, but the petite hand snatched the bill from under his palm. Bridget reached under his collar and drew out a small coin purse. Attached was a gold cross glittering under the restaurant lights. He eyed the bill as he rummaged through his coin purse. He counted the wad of cash and then stopped. His lips thinned.
"It's my treat, okay?" Ky reached again.
"I'm sorry. I'm so used to my dad taking care of money that I never realized how much things can cost." He silently ate his dessert, impressed by the taste, but the aftertaste was guilt, for having to ask Ky to pay for the food that filled his mouth.
"Don't worry about the bill," Ky said outside the restaurant. "It was nice having dinner with you."
Bridget shook the gloomy air inside him and forced a smile.
"Then..." he pressed a finger to his lips thoughtfully, "next time I'll treat you to lunch-- or dinner."
Bridget held both hands behind his back. "Thank you very much for dinner..."
Ky opened his mouth to reply, but Bridget continued.
"And Ky? Someday I'm going to grow up to be just like you."
The man blushed, both modest and shocked. "What are you saying that all of a sudden?"
"Because it's the truth." The bounty hunter winked and waved farewell.
Mid wave Ky looked at his hand, it had stopped raining moments ago yet he hadn't noticed it. He turned towards his office then back again, realizing it wasn't safe for a kid to be out late at night.