Day 5 - Pasta

After school I run home for a moment and hitch a ride with Tony to the mall. Flame is clinging to the back of my shirt, tail swaying excitedly. It's always hard to tell whether or not she wants to come with me, half the time looking at me unimpressed and curling back into bed whenever I'm leaving. I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I wish I could do the same.

Today she has just itching to come along when she realized I was going to go see Cecil. She would hardly sit still during the car ride and if it had been mom that was driving she would've thrown us out halfway there. Tony on the other hand doesn't give a shit.

The moment the door is open enough Flame jumps off me and dashes through. I can hear Cecil's delighted laugh when he sees her and I can't help the smile that rises on my face.

"Hey there, nice of you to drop by," Cecil says as he looks up at me. Flame is curled into a ball in his arms and she's making a soft purring sound.

"Hi," I say, smiling stupidly. Then I notice the trench coat he's wearing and the bag on his shoulders. "Oh, this isn't a bad time, is it? Are you going somewhere?"

"Actually, I was just about to step out for some late lunch, or I suppose early dinner," he says, glancing at his watch. "My, when did it get so late. You know, I got all caught up in my research. I've been studying this phenomenon that occurs once a decade, usually coinciding with May Day. There's these lights that appear on the sky, like aurora borealis, but much bigger and more colorul, and not just in the winter and the northern areas. It's happening again this year, and with the solar cycle at its peak, I think they will be very strong..." He trailed off and blinked. I watched him silently.

"I'm sorry, did you need something?" he finally says and looks at me so intensely I feel a shiver run down my spine.

"N-not really," I stutter. "I just wanted to drop by and y'know...."

"Oh! Well, why don't you join me for some lunch? Or dinner... Or whatever."

"I could eat," I say. It's been nearly several hours since school lunch anyway. Cecil smiles brightly at me.

"Excellent! Let's go."

~x~

Cecil takes me to a small Italian place down the road. I've walked past it several times but never actually tried it, but Cecil swears up and down that it has the best pasta in the whole town. The waiter immediately takes to liking Flame, who sings her a small song when she comes to ask us our drinks. She doesn't even mind when Flame sits on the table and starts to suck on the tall white candle that was on the table. In fact she seems to find this very endearing.

We order our food and Cecil picks up his explanation of the mysterious light phenomenon, which apparently are visible from all of the British Isles, though they often seem the strongest over Ireland. I do recall seeing some kind of pretty lights in the sky when I was a kid, but I never thought too much about what they were, especially since I never saw them since.

The pasta arrives and is every bit as good as Cecil said it would be. Cecil goes on to explain other kinds of things that might be uninteresting from someone else, but he has a way of making everything sound so exciting. I then tell him about the dream we shared with Rachel and Leea last night and then he gets really excited. He asks me to show him too and I agree to meet him in the dream tonight. He talks a little about his time at the NALMC headquarters and the work they did there, and at some point we fall into a companionable silence as we finish our meals.

We've walked all the way back to the tattoo parlour before I collect enough guts to say what I came here to say in the first place.

"Here," I say, digging out the small box I'd put the watch in from my bag. "Merry Christmas. Or something."

Cecil looks surprised, but happy and he opens the box. My palms are sweaty as he pulls out the silver watch from the chain.

"Oh," he says and then he smiles so brightly I fear I might go blind if I look directly at him. I stare at the watch, my ears burning.

"D'you like it?" I manage to ask.

"I love it, thank you," he says and he is so sincere, how can anyone be so sincere? I smile and then clear my throat.

"I, uh... Good." My throat is closing up, but luckily this is the point Flame decides to chime in, pulling at my pant leg. "Oh, I think Flame wants to go," I say, slightly relieved and only a bit disappointed.

"Right, I should get back to work too," Cecil says and places the watch carefully back in the box.

"Thank you for lunch. Or dinner. I'll see you tonight?" I say as I pick Flame up. She's singing impatiently. Cecil smiles.

"Yeah, see you tonight," he says and I leave before I say anything stupid.
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I think you can see where I'm going with this. And there's nothing you can do to stop me muhahahahaa!!!!

Good night.

Pie out.