Dinner For Five

Arcturus could not believe what he had heard. This man in front of him was Souhait? He found it utterly unbelievable. The Souhait he knew was a dragon; he never heard of him being human. He took a good look at him. With the way the man calling himself Souhait had lavender hair that was the same color as the scales of his revered dragon and had lavender and gold eyes with slits on the same location, he was a bit convinced, but he was still doubtful.

He took a deeper look. Souhait's face was rather beautiful; while Nova had an androgynous feel to him, Souhait looked rather exotic. He had almond shaped eyes and a sharp jawline, but what had fascinated him the most was how asymmetrical his traits were. In addition to having two different eye colors, he had two different colors of eyebrows and eyelashes; for his eyelashes, the right was black and the left was lavender, and for his eyebrows, the colors were inverted with the left black and right lavender. His hair was also fascinating for he had black roots while the rest of his hair was lavender; his hair parted towards the right. Souhait was looking at him while smiling, which he had also noticed the asymmetry with him having a snaggletooth only on the left side.

It's really hard to deny this now that I got a closer look at him. He is Souhait. Arcturus took a deep breath before responding, "You are Souhait."

Souhait nodded. "Indeed, I am."

"Having a human form was something I did not expect at all."

"I do not really use this form all that much since I do not have people to show it off to other than Nova. Fortunately, with you here, I can use this form to communicate now." Souhait's nostrils expanded as he started sniffing. His eyes started glimmering. "I smell food."

"Do you want to sit down?" Murphy asked.

"Can I?"

"Sure…" Murphy seemed a bit uncertain, but held back.

Souhait sat down. When Sophia and Constance came out of the kitchen with the pot, they were startled to see Souhait.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU AND HOW'D YOU GET INTO MY HOUSE?" Sophia yelled; her face contorted into a scowl visible.

"Calm down, Sophia." Murphy responded.

She slammed the pot down onto the table and then went back into the kitchen to grab the unwashed ladle. "Tell me who you are right now or I'll report you!"

"Whoa, Sophia, down girl." Murphy cooed as if he was trying to tame a wild animal.

Constance approached Souhait and stared at him. Arcturus noticed how uncomfortable Souhait looked as Constance's blank stare was drilling into him. She tilted her head to the side. "I sense the Charlatan coming from you, but you do not look like him at all. He has golden hair, but yours is lavender. Who are you?"

Souhait just smirked. "Well, I am glad you asked!" He climbed up the chair. "I am Souhait, the creator of Terrenter! I look thirty-one, but I am much older. I am five feet and eight inches tall! I like every type of food and have no particular dislikes."

Sophia then smacked the ladle on his back. "I don't care who you are. Don't put your feet on the chair. Sit down and eat!"

Souhait blinked before obeying her commands. Arcturus noticed how he looked like a puppy with its ears sunken and tails hiding between its legs. He still couldn't believe how the creator of the world was terrified of a commoner woman; it was both an amusing and a fascinating sight to behold.

Once the soup was finally at the center of the dining table with some bread, they all started eating except for Constance. Arcturus quite liked the soup. It was spicy in a very balanced way; nothing was too overpowering, but nothing was too underwhelming as well. He quite liked how much seafood and vegetables were in the soup; he particularly liked the texture of the scallops. I never knew scallops could be this squishy… He wondered what the broth was made of and what sort of spices it was mixed with. Chili powder? Cayenne? Ghost chili pepper powder? Because he was so hungry, he decided to lessen his analyzing and focus more on eating. He was just happy to be eating something substantial. Rather than eating the soup by itself, he preferred dipping pieces of bread into it and savoring it. I don't even like bread, yet it tastes amazing!

His excitement over the food came to an abrupt end when he sensed Constance's intense gaze on him. She made him feel nervous to the point that his chewing became slower. He slowly raised a hand to his face and used a finger to see if he had anything around his lips.

He then glanced over at Souhait who was eating rather slowly. It was as if he was trying to savor every bite of the food. He liked eating the bread and soup separately. Arcturus suggested that he should dip the bread into the soup. Souhait tried it; his eyes glistened at the new discovery.

"How's the soup?" Sophia inquired.

"I love the spice." Arcturus remarked. "The seafood and vegetables taste great too. I quite like the scallops."

"That's good to hear. I always try to get good seafood for my family and for the townspeople." Murphy remarked with a grin. "For the veggies, we like to grow our own–they're very expensive here."

"You are a fisherman?" Souhait asked.

"Yep! I even have my own boat!"

"A boat, you say?" Souhait became deep in thought as he ate.

The revelation of Murphy having his own boat made Arcturus become lost in his own thoughts as well. Using the boat would be an ideal way to leave the island, but he had no idea where the routes around the island would take them; he also didn't want to deprive Murphy of his livelihood as well. There was also the issue with Nova's motion sickness.

If we want to escape this island later on, I should ask if the boat was built or if it was given. If it was built, then maybe I can try to build one by scavenging the garbage dump I was in. If it was given, I could ask for information on where Murphy got it so that I can wish for the money to buy one later on.

Before he could interrogate Murphy, Constance spoke up by asking, "Can you explain to me why you have an Ally Shiftie's earring?"

Arcturus put his bread down as he placed a hand to his earring. He played with it as he thought about Kori. "It's a memento from a dear friend."

Constance looked intrigued. Arcturus noticed how full of life and animated her eyes were. They were much more vibrant than Kori's. "A memento… Does that mean your Shiftie is no longer with you?"

"Yeah. He decided to help me escape an exploding airship. He refused to get on as he wanted me to have all the time to escape." Arcturus sighed as he recalled the unpleasant memory. He ripped a piece of bread, dipped it into the soup and popped it into his mouth.

Constance's ears sank as she looked down; her shoulders did the same. "I'm sorry for bringing up a sad memory."

"No need to apologize. I just need to keep moving forward and not let his sacrifice be in vain."

The dining table became silent. All Arcturus heard were chewing and slurping noises. Constance still had her head down; seeing her like this made him feel unusually guilty. He decided to think back about how Constance found him in the garbage dump.

Come to think of it, how did she find me? Before asking his question, Arcturus finished the last of the bread.

"Constance, may I ask you a question?"

She looked up at him. Her ears twitched. "Yes."

"How did you find me at the garbage dump?"

"It's because I sensed the presence of another Shiftie all of a sudden. Following it led me to you."

"Why did you reach your hand out to a total stranger like me?"

"Because I wanted to."

Shifties could not lie. They also had an immediate response to any question given to them. Those were considered normal. Arcturus could tell Constance had her own free will, so for her to give him that answer meant she really did help him out on a whim.

Despite knowing this, there was a part of him that doubted her words.