An Immortal's Favour

Jack- To Preserve

*

A large man plunged a mop into a nearby pail of soapy water and began wiping at the veranda of the small restaurant- Chichini's as Kai called it -that we came over to. He lifted a hand in greeting, nodding at Kai, and returned to his work as the three of us made our way inside. From somewhere a stray cat meowed, the sound of its cry floating with the yellow dust that would be kicked into the air every once in a while by shuffling feet. Above us, a bell tingled when Kai pushed the door to the establishment open.

The restaurant was homey, that much was true, but the chairs, tables and napkins didn't match, and were probably a hasty collection of whatever the owner could get their hands on. The door creaked shut behind us. Kai led us to a small table at the centre of the eating area, right in front of the counter where a bored-looking guy drummed his fingers against its surface.

"I apologise for the inconvenience I've caused the two of you," Kai began. The man from the counter stalked over, a pen and notebook in hand.

"What can I get you?"

"Uh..." I scanned the table, even stopping to check underneath it, but I found no menu. "I...er..." There was no kind of menu board behind the counter either. To his credit, the waiter was patient, pointing out that there was a menu board on the wall outside. Kai rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly, deciding to order some braised beef for us all.

"Sorry...again. I always order the same thing, so I've never needed to look at it all that often."

"It's fine," Gale assured.

The food came in half an hour's time, was piping hot, and smelled rather good. Kai nodded to our waiter, though he continued to address Gale and me as he spoke.

"So that's the deal with the tunnels?" I asked, gaze firm on Kai as our food was set out for us.

"Yes. Those tunnels are an important part of our culture. We let them do this, and then what? How long before they demolish our homes and split our families? I won't stand for it. I know what this country's like. The money they could be using to improve towns like this is being wasted on showing off to other nations, on pandering to foreigners by building useless shopping malls and skyscrapers." The edges of his eyes crinkled; years worth of grief poisoned his features.

Kai reached for the pocket of his tunic when the waiter read out the bill.

My own hand shot out before I could stop it. "Wait." I pulled out the last of my vedais, the bills crumpling slightly in my grip. Kai said nothing for a moment, but the slump of his shoulders spoke for him.

"Thank you. But I invited you here. Allow me." Despite my insistence, he pushed away my hand, dropping his own notes into the server's open palm. He let his eyes rise and fall back down again, as though he'd just looked at Gale and me for the first time. "About my out-"

"It's okay. This means a lot to you, doesn't it?" I said.

"Truly. Some friends and I petitioned for the tunnels to be saved, but it did little. Now I don't know what to do."

"Perhaps you need more of a voice," Gale suggested, her idea giving rise to my own.

She snapped her fingers, just as the two of us burst, "I've got it!" We turned to each other, smiling, before looking over at Kai.

"What? What is it?" 

Bending towards him, the woman squealed and fisted her hands. "Jacob's a magnet for the paparazzi! We'll get this place the attention it needs with ease!"

Thirty-four minutes later, with our bellies full and a solid plan, all three of us emerged into the bright light of the mid-afternoon sun.

"Just thought of something," I said. "There's nearly no chance we'll find any of the paps out here, unless they've decided we were worth following."