Night 64: Chiave, Wrath of the Siracusan
The Late Night Diner is a part of Rhodes Island's canteen. That goes without saying – to whom had anyone ever heard of a diner in the boiler room?
As the name implies, it opens around midnight. There are only a handful of customers at a time.
Operators off their night shift could take an order and bring back to their quarters. Night owls could sit dining-in while leeching off the Diner's wi-fi. The Doctor would come for instant noodles from time to time.
Drinks are in the cooler. Anyone burdened by their own thoughts could take one and chug it down, anytime.
Menu? No such thing exists. What the Chef prepares is what you get. It all depends on his mood of the day.
Welcome to the Rhodes Island Late Night Diner. In here, you might even meet a familiar face or two.
"Evening Boss! You didn't make anything with green bell pepper tonight, right?" An ear-piercing, boisterous voice echoed loudly in the quite Diner air. A few operators silently enjoying their food raised their heads, and saw a red head young man was leaning on the bar counter and looking towards the Chef with a sly smile.
"Even if I did, you gonna eat it up." The Chef replied. "Whatever I cook, you eat. Don't come picking at my Diner."
"Aww, don't be like that Boss. Say, I also owned a store once. The way I see it, you gotta make your customers happy. Once they are happy, their money would become your money. If you always put a long face like this and not letting us pick an order, Boss, that's not the way to treat a customer." Chiave said, knocking his index finger knuckle softly on the counter, as if teaching a newbie a lesson.
"Yeah, as if it's the way you put it. You, all of you, had always come in and asking for specifics." The Chef glared at him, and said. "Why do I feel that you are implying that there's something that I wasn't able to come up with? As for you, I outta let the Canteen blacklist you. Your fancy Strawberry Mapo Tofu from last time had even angered the Sui Regulator of Yan."
"Really now. It's not that serious, is it?" Chiave said nonchalantly and opened up a bottle of beer. "I think it tasted great. Strawberries toned down the spiciness of the traditional Mapo Tofu, though I do admit it tasted a bit...odd at first bite...Why are you looking at me like that Boss?"
"It's my pity and care for someone who lacks the sense of taste." The Chef stared at him and sighed. "The moment Nian heard you exploit, she instantly flipped the Majon table. She swore to start an unceasing flame in her forge, and make nine-thousand different blades just to hack you into paste. Ling, Dust and Chonyue rushed in to calm her down, yet when they got the news from her they had all flipped out and was about to come after you. Good thing the Sui Regulator got here fast as they could. Afterwards they left a message, saying if next time Rhodes Island make the Sui fragments go berserk in unison like this, they would make the land ship and all its inhabitants disappear from this land without a trace. And they know how to do that, you know..." Then he took a long pause, and a good look at Chiave, and said. "So blacklisting you is the least I could do. Why, I should really hire some Cleaners, chop you up and mix you into a cement block then ditch it in an unknown elevator shaft somewhere on the ship."
"Aw c'mon, don't be like that! It'd be your loss if I'm dead. Broca and Austa won't come to the Diner if I'm dead, nor would my other best buddies! Your earnings will suffer!" Chiave started quickly drawing crosses on his chest. "I swear on the good names of Il Familiso, I would never ever do weird stuff with food ever again! For..for the safety of the Diner and Rhodes Island. Em...please boss, I want a plate of plain spaghetti, and a serving of pan-fried fowlbeast liver. Also an order of fresh fruit cutlets with chocolate sauce please! I would like something sweet tonight."
"You...sure?" The Chef glanced at him with doubt. "Plain spaghetti huh. I never knew you Siracusans could eat pasta with no sauce."
"Ah...well...heh." Chiave chuckled awkwardly. "I'm...allergic to tomatoes."
"Really? You just had tomato cream soup a few days ago."
"...it's seasonal." Chiave argued. "I just need some spaghett for carbs. Besides, I miss the Siracusan taste."
The Chef shrugged. He boiled a plate of spaghetti for Chaive, then a few minutes late produced a plate of nicely fried fowlbeast liver and a plate of freshly cut fruits before him. Also with it was a large bowl of chocolate sauce. The liver was cut into finger-thick slices, and would easily be pasted with just a little pressure from a spoon. It looked quite tantalizing.
Chiave brought his tray of food to a vacant corner of the Diner. He looked around, and after making sure nobody would mind his actions, nor spotting any other Siracusans nearby, he cut the liver slices into smaller chunks and poured them over the boiled spaghetti, then added fruit pieces and a thick layer of chocolate sauce -
"So this is the infamous Gaulish dish I heard about? Eh, not as bad as I thought." He watched as the spaghetti was stained by the chocolate sauce into a deep brownish colour, then raised his fork. "But why was it called 'Wrath of the Siracusan'? I don't get it..."