Despite being completely alert, the only thoughts running through Halle's mind are "what, what what, what's going on, oh crap — " over and over again in steadily-growing volume. Did Leon read my notes? No, he never managed to get close enough. Or is it the notebook? But I never mentioned what my reviewing notebook looked like. None of my readers know what I look like or who I am, how did he —

"The reviewer — Puff, that's what they call themself — has a really fancy style," Leon's voice cuts through their panicking. "Their descriptions are absolutely amazing, it's like you can taste the dishes yourself."

"Ah," they squeak.

"And some of the places they review aren't far from here! If I had the money, I'd go to the restaurants myself." Leon scrolls down their website, and Halle just stares at their past reviews like they weren't struggling to write them just weeks ago. "Puff always tries the weirdest dishes. Like, no offence to them, but just the mention of chocolate-and-hare stew would send me running for the hills."

They remember trying the lepre o coniglio al cioccolato at an Italian restaurant four months ago with Erika and Ella, and, like most of the weird combinations they've tried as reviewer, it was surprisingly good. Chocolate is cemented in most peoples' minds as part of desserts, they wrote in that review, but after sampling it, I can say without hesitation that it can work well with savouries, too. Most people will be put off by the thought of chocolate and red wine, especially when hare's meat is involved, but truly, those with a cultured palate will know to appreciate the rich indulgence of 90% dark chocolate, fragrant wine and tender hare.

"I always read their stuff when I'm hungry." Halle realises they drifted off again when Leon continues talking. "It's so easy to imagine you're at the restaurant in person, eating all the amazing foods they are."

"That's interesting." They manage to choke out. "But, uh, is there anything you don't like about the reviews?" Might as well get criticism while they're at it.

Leon drums his fingers on the table in contemplation. "Well… I think the one thing that kinda irks me is that they always seem kinda… elitist, I think is the word I'd use to describe it. Like, sometimes when I read the reviews I get the idea that they're being a bit pretentious. Like they're looking down on people who don't enjoy the gourmet stuff they write about."

What the — am I elitist? They take another sip of tea to calm themself. Gourmet fusions just happen to be the type of food I like best, the fact that the places serving them are a bit snobby is just coincidence, isn't it? "Uh." Halle clears their throat. Their vocal cords seem to have copied Stellan's and frozen completely. "W-What do you mean?"

"I don't know if 'elitist' is the best word to describe it, but Puff only reviews places serving fancy food, for one." He clicks onto the second page of their review list. "And sometimes, the way they describe the weirder dishes makes it feel like they're implying only people who are all 'cultured' and are used to high-class gourmet food will understand how tasty it is, and anyone who doesn't is clearly some rube who wouldn't know good food if it kneed them in the groin." Leon shrugs. "But maybe I'm looking too much into it. Maybe Puff just likes fancy food. That's just how their tone comes off to me."

Another big gulp of tea. "That's definitely — That's definitely kind of obnoxious. But I'll give them a try. Thanks for telling me."

"Any time. You might not be bothered by their tone, it's probably just me. Puff is super-popular for a reason." Leon takes his phone back for a while to scroll furiously, only letting them look at the screen again when it displays one of their older works. "This review is pretty good."

The review turns out to be of a restaurant called Rapture, which Halle visited last September with Stellan and Henrik. It was all right — not the best place ever, but decent. They pretend to read through it while Leon rambles, taking note of his comments about how they apparently didn't spend much time talking about how fancy or unusual the dishes were, just going straight into how it tasted. They like straightforward reviews, they note silently. No faffing around, no waxing poetic about random stuff. Just get to the point about the taste.

"Hey, you look really awake now." He shifts closer. "Nothing like some good writing to give your brain a jump-start."

"Uh-huh."

"I hope I can write like Puff does one day. Doing what they're doing, making money just by writing about the things they love?That'd be the dream."

Leon's warm, somehow giving off heat like some sort of human radiator. The shock of finding out he's a fan of their writing (even if he doesn't know it's them) is wearing off, and Halle's eyelids threaten to droop again. "I know, right?" They try to respond. "All writers have that moment where they go, 'why does one need to contribute to society? Isn't it enough to write pretty things and get paid for it?'"

He laughs. "Yeah, pretty much."

The kitchen door swings open and Vicente strides out, his apron caked with flour. He takes it off and folds it up neatly while approaching their table. "You're taking your break early?"

"I wanted some quality time with my favourite customer, that's all," Leon says nonchalantly. "You abandon your cooking all the time to make eyes at Madeline."

"Yes, but that's different because she's my girlfriend." He sets the apron down on the table. "Anyways. Did you remember to buy pears yesterday?"

"Nope."

Vicente rolls his eyes. "Yao's gonna give you an earful for that. You know how he is, he thinks not eating fruit is a slippery slope that leads to colonial cancer."

Halle squints. "That leads to what?"

"Colonial cancer," he elaborates. "Uh, it's like cancer in the colon. Apparently it can happen if you don't eat enough fibre."

Leon corrects, "no, dummy, that's colorectal cancer. Colonial is something related to colonies."

"Well, colonialism is basically cancer, so he wasn't that far off."

They both stare at them. Vicente lifts a hand to cover his mouth. Leon snorts. "Amen to that. I — " He dissolves into laughter. Halle feels their own mouth twitch, watching his eyes light up with mirth and his lips smile so widely, and stifles a few giggles of their own. When Leon stops, he's grinning so brightly that they can't help smiling along.

"You need to get the pears." Vicente's hiding a smile. "You can nab them during your next break, or tomorrow morning. Just make sure Yao doesn't find out."

"You know I can hear you, right?"

Who appears to be the eldest of Leon's brothers approaches them, having caught up on Leon's mistakes. Halle can see the similarities between the three brothers — Vicente's hair is the same ebony-black as Yao's, though the elder wears it longer, and Leon has his deep-brown eyes. He crosses his arms, looking every inch an indignant mother hen, and demands, "you forgot the pears again?"

"Mayhaps."

He stares. "Is that a real word?"

"Mayhaps it is."

"Oh, screw you." Yao leans forward to prod Leon's forehead. "You gotta get back to work soon, I don't think Yue Ling is used to working alone."

Leon glances at his sister dismissively. "Yeah, sure. But you two need to go back to the kitchen too. I'm just trying to have a friendly conversation with someone here."

For what appears to be the first time since reaching the table, Yao notices Halle. "Oh, hello there."

"Hi." The chef is as unprofessional as the waiter, they want to put in their review.

"How are you liking the food here?" He dodges a kick from Leon. "We don't get new customers very often, so it's nice to see a stranger. Kind of unusual, I know, but — "

"Don't you have to get back to work?" Leon cuts in loudly.

Vicente smiles. "All right, all right, we'll leave you be. But don't keep Ling on her feet for too long."

Once they've disappeared back into the kitchen, Leon stares up at the ceiling and groans. "See, this is the problem with being the youngest brother. The two of them are constantly breathing down my neck."

"I know how you feel." Halle acutely feels his hair brush against their arm. "My older brother treats me like a baby sometimes."

"So annoying," he agrees. Leon glances at his phone, face illuminated by its harsh white glow. "Listen, I probably need to get back to work."

Ugh. "Okay."

"It kinda sucks that we usually can't talk for long. Why don't we meet up somewhere else? Then nobody can interrupt us."

"That would be nice." Halle barely notices themself leaning closer into Leon's reassuring warmth. "Do you have a place in mind?"

"There's a place called The Cove that makes really good drinks. Not alcohol ones," he clarifies quickly, "just, like, coffee and tea and hot chocolate and stuff."

"The Cove it is, then. Are you free on Sunday?"

Leon shrugs. "Probably. Do you want to meet up right in front of the cafe, or…"

"That's fine. I'll see you there at four o'clock?"

"Sounds great." He turns to smile at them, then stands up. The warmth at Halle's side vanishes, quite disappointingly. "I'll see you there."