As Amiel and I were setting up the beds, moving the tables out of the way to create an open space, Ael was in the back making food. I can begin to hear my stomach rumbling at the thought of it. I was hungry for real food, not the canned food that we were eating in the bunker, or the half-assed food from the medical center, but food—food that was heated up properly.
"Is it almost ready!?" I screamed out, hoping to hear yes.
"Give me a few more minutes!" He screamed back at me.
"You said that 10 minutes ago!"
I could see him past the counter that was between the cafeteria and the kitchen. He turned to me, waving a knife he was using to cut up some vegetables like a madman. "Do you want food?!"
"Yes," I said, quieting down.
"Then wait!"
Amiel seemed to be amused by our interaction. He didn't show it much, but I could tell.
"You hungry?" I said, turning to ask him.
"Kind of?" Amiel replied.
As we finished moving the last of the tables to the side where they folded up against the walls, we headed to where we had placed our sleeping bags. It was directly in the middle, a bit closer to the cafeteria counter than the front.
As we arrived at our sleeping bags, I lay on top of mine while Amiel searched through his bag looking for something. After a few seconds of digging around, he took out a knife and a piece of stone. It was flat.
Sitting down on top of his sleeping bag, he began to dig into the stone with his knife at an angle. He was sharpening it.
"Not sharp enough?" I questioned.
"Could be sharper."
Looking up, almost to look behind me where the counter was, I yelled, "Can you hurry up!?"
"Wow, you really are impatient, huh?"
His face poked out from the counter with two plates in his hands. "Here it's ready."
Getting up from the ground quickly, I make my way toward him. Amiel, not falling short behind me, puts his knife and stone down.
"Wow, this looks good," Amiel said, almost surprised.
"Hurtful." Ael let out.
"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that." I stepped in. "You just don't seem like someone who can cook."
"It's one of my many talents," Ael said with a snotty face. He placed his hands on his hips. "What's that look for?" He turned toward me, seeing that I was staring him down.
"Nothing."
'This man really has no room for being humble, huh?'
Sitting down, I end up taking a closer look at the food. The plate held food that I would never see in the wastelands: scrambled eggs, rice, some asparagus, and some type of sauce to the side. Most of the time in the wasteland, our food consisted of beans and bread. That's all we could afford to live on. But here at the academy, they did not spare a penny on treating their students to the highest degree. Well, except for meat. Meat was a luxury only for big events.
I looked up, meeting my eyes with Ael's. "Thank you."
"Well, at least one person is thankful." He turns to Amiel. Amiel ignored him as he took a bite from his food. His face turns to shock.
"Is everything okay?" I asked.
Taking a few seconds to compose himself, he doesn't take his eyes off the food. "Yeah."
Turning back, I faced Ael. "Come on, eat up," he told me.
'Was it bad? Was that why Amiel was acting like that? Oh no, is this one of those things that when something looks good, but actually turns out to be awful?'
I can still remember eating a plant that grew in the wastelands. It looked delicious, but was bitter as hell.
I took my fork, grabbed some of the food, and brought it slowly to my mouth. Ael just sat there looking at me, waiting for me to take the first bite. Finally munching down on the food, a blast of flavor exploded through my mouth.
'It's good—really good in fact. Better than the chiefs would make here.'
"So? How is it?" Looking up to him, I can see a smug look on his face.
"It's alright." I turned my eyes away, not being able to tell him face-to-face. I did not want to bolster his ego; if anything, this man had to be humbled.
"Oh, that's not what I was hoping for. I guess you won't want seconds then." He turned away, walking back to the stove to turn it off.
"Now wait, I didn't say that. Just because the food is alright doesn't mean I'm not hungry. Right, Amiel?" As I turned toward him, I saw that his food was gone. 'Huh?'
"Can I get seconds?" He said, holding out his plate.
'What the heck do you mean by seconds!'
"Of course you can!" Ael turned to make more food. In the midst of making the food, he turned towards me, making eye contact. He wasn't going to give me seconds without admitting it.
Finishing up the food on my plate, he walked by, giving Amiel his seconds. I let out a cough to catch his attention.
"Yes, Eirian?" Ael said, replying to my cough.
"Can I get seconds?" Not making eye contact, I can still imagine his smug face.
"Oh, but I thought it wasn't good enough for you?"
'He is going to make me say it isn't he.'
"It's... It's good," I said quietly.
"Sorry, I can't hear you." He put out his ear with his hand behind it.
"It's good," I exclaim. "Is that what you want to hear!"
"Yup."
As he walks away to make my seconds to look at Amiel eating his seconds. With his mouth full, he said, "What?"
***
Finishing up our meals, I was full. After so long down in the bunker, I needed something like this. I think my stomach grew a size or two.
"Alright, you guys ready?" Ael walked through the door that connected the cafeteria and the kitchen. "Ready for what?" I asked.
"Well, Amiel and I did explore a bit, but we still have more to map out. And what better way than to go to the top of the clock tower?" He pointed up, saying this.
*dong dong dong*
"Plus, never been up there, two birds one stone." Ael held out both hands as he shrugged his shoulders."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Amiel gets up from his chair, grabs his knife, and straps it to his waist. "Was thinking of walking around more, but this should be quicker."
'The tower?'