The Elegy of Valentines (Michael/Amor/Charlatan/Invite)

”Greek sounds interesting.” Pup said, casting his vote only after Mike said that he didn’t care one way or another. Though Pup was all too happy to go out for food, he quickly looked at Mike who stated he would be paying. It was met with a slightly judgemental and disapproving look that was a mixture of a scold and a pout. Squinted eyes and the shifted jaw all followed by a return to normal and the rolling of the previously not visible eyes. ”No way dude. That’s not how this works. I got money...sorta.” He said as he pulled out the thin pieces of rubbish that he had stuffed in his pocket just moments earlier. He seemed to retrieve a twenty and a few ones before pushing it back into his pocket. He looked to Mike and smirked, like he was somehow proving Mike wrong, about an invisible bias that he didn’t even have.

...I...I might need to borrow money for ice cream….hehe. He said nervously as he began to scratch at the top of his head with a slightly embarrassed look. All of the rebellion and stubborn nature, only to come to grasp with the reality that this place was expensive as Hell to live in. Mike had said about possibly meeting this Silus person, or even his son. Shale was it? He then came to the conclusion that because they were the same age they should get along. If that was the solution then how was it possible that they got along as they did now with the ever so slight disparity in age. "Uhm sure...yeah. That sounds fun actually."

He navigated his way around with Mike, eventually reaching the place they were destined for. Upon arriving there, Pup walked up to the person who seated people and seemed to wave. Just before Mike could speak Pup seemed to chime in and speak for the both of them, declaring quite loudly:

”Tha íthela fagitó se parakaló!” The moment that the words left his mouth, eyes were shifting to him. The particular verbiage and vernacular in translation sounding moderately offensive to the modern times. In fact he didn’t notice that there was a rather furious individual that was staring at him appalled.

”You sure about that? Might be too rich for a homeless human child like yourself,” Michael said with a shrug, not being one to argue about who paid for who because he didn’t care much. If he didn’t want that money for something else then than was his own business wasn’t it? It sounded like he realized his mistake when he mentioned having to borrow money for ice cream, not that Michael intended to make him pay for that either. There was a certain amount of stubbornness to the young ethereal that didn’t like being contradicted. He didn’t say much about potentially meeting his son or brother, though that was fine. Meant he wasn’t against the idea right? Kids tended to get along, or pretend they liked each other until they killed one another.

The two walked into the restaurant, smelling of fine Greek food with a woman approaching likely with the intent of showing them to a table when Pup spoke before he could. It was all in Greek and he was sure it was rude by the ways everyone around him reacted. Well, perhaps because one of the words sounded like a slur. ”Please don’t tell me you think they speak actual Greek in this restaurant,” he massaged the bridge of his nose and looked to the woman. ”that was Greek, he didn’t insult anyone based upon their sexual orientation,’ Every part of him wanted not to care but that small part he developed explained the nuances of him not calling anyone a fag.

”Just….just take us to a table please.” he said after a few seconds of awkward silence and they were taken to a table. ”Dolmades and hummus for appetizers,” he said once both were sitting, resting an elbow on the edge of the table and eyeing Pup. ”have you ever been to a restaurant before?”

The small boy looked to Michael as if he were doing something strange. He was uncertain as to why Michael had said that he was speaking Greek and not insulting people’s sexual orientation. It was a Greek restaurant, so they would know that this was Greek right? Was that not how these things worked. This was the whole reason that he didn’t pick Tex-mex. He didn’t have time for their weird taco language, let alone to try and focus down on a strange meximerican hybrid language.

“I mean yeah? Why wouldn’t you speak Greek in a Greek place?” He asked, genuinely seeming lost and confused. Where he came from you had better know some basic language involving the establishment’s house affiliation. Granted this was the reason there was a common language, but hey. He was almost startled that people around him were looking at him awkwardly. Mike had convinced the woman to take them to a table, as she left them there a waiter came forth and received Michael’s opening order. Pup on the other hand leaned forward and looked to the waiter. “Water please. No ice. Thank you.” He said as he handed the menu right back to the waiter. The waiter seemed shocked and confused slightly, but simply nodded and walked off to place the orders in. That was when Mike asked him about his previous experience in restaurants.

“Yeah I just. I mean, Flynn ordered everything from McDonalds. Ruby Tuesdays. I specifically avoided these places because I’m bad at the languages.” Pup said with a slight sigh, watching as Mike seemed to leer at him a little bit. He shifted slightly uncomfortably within the booth. “Dude I was dropped off in a new reality, lost my adult to a shadow dog and then reality altered. It’s been a rough month and a half.” Pup said, finally breaking down under the stare. It wasn’t that Michael was doing anything wrong, or overly intimidating in nature, it was simply the boy’s desire to not look like a total idiot in front of someone he had respect for.

“So Imma get a Gyro. It’s got the cucumber sauce thing. I like cucumber. I like sauce. I also like that one actor. Benedict Cumbersauce so this should be okay.” Pup said as he tried to shift the subject a small smile and a little hum as the waiter seemed to return with the drinks and informing them that their appetizers were in process of being made. "What are you gonna get? Like if you don't need to eat, do you still taste things? Or is it just like...flavors? Do you taste things the same way we do or do you have an increased pallet?"

”The foods Greek, not the people. That’s sorta how the world works in large countries like this. Most Mexican restaurants don’t have actual Mexicans, Mcdonalds has no culture and I’m pretty sure most people in American speak English.” Michael rattled off, wondering what kind of world this kid came from. Was staring to sound more and more incompatible with the one he had found himself in. Not that it wasn’t amusing in any fashion. ”you’re overthinking things honestly. There’s a reason why you don’t walk down the street and hear people speaking to their cashiers in Cantonese or whatever,” he paused realizing he didn’t order a drink quite yet. ”I’ll just have a coke,” He added and the woman walked off, leaving the two of them to talk.

”You’ll need to explain these reality changes sometime. I know I probably wouldn’t notice them because reality was changed or whatever but it wouldn’t hurt,” The waitress returned with their drinks and he sipped away at the dark caramel colored, fizzy liquid through a clear straw. ”promise I won’t call you crazy…considering who my family is.” Not that hypocrisy was unknown to him, though he felt no need to be a hypocrite now. The waiter returned to tell them their appetizers were in the works.  ”probably the Moussaka for the main course, been told it’s pretty good here. Yeah I’ll have that,” Michael added, trying to imagine what the meal would be like while he continued to slowly sip on his drink. Luckily enough they gave pretty free refills.

”Think you got that name wrong though, it’s Cumberbatch I think or Cumbersnatch. Don’t tend to remember the name of celebrities,”

”I mean, I guess that makes sense. See, to us the identity of culture is all Tradition. If you go to a traditional place it’s high class so you show off your status and big-brain by speaking the language. It’s all status and tradition. Tradition is stupid.” Pup said as he seemed to give an earnest look of indifference, shrugging and looking almost entirely uninterested. Though he still gave Mike his attention. Though he seemed to mutter under his breath “Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people.”

Though the humor might have been lost in the moment. Mike then made a comment based upon his family, stating that the concept of reality changing would somehow make him believe that Pup was, at the very least, not crazy. It made him relax a little as he shifted left to right in his seat, squinting at Mike a little and nodding. Mike the proceeded to take a sip form his drink, his eyes peering up for a second to correct Pup’s misspoken name of an actor. Though Mike then proceeded to say it wrong himself, leaving the child all the more confused. With an arched eyebrow he pushed it off and moved on..

”I don’t really know what to say. My last memory was squatting...well where I’m at now. But I had money, I had survival caches from drop points that Flynn told me about. He was The Hound, I was The Pup. He was training me. After I kinda...roped Flynn into helping someone. He was….” The child’s tone dropped and his face immediately reflected a strong aversion to the subject. He had a look of guilt, mixed with a generalized stone-walled stoicism. His aversion of eye contact with Mike pressed on for a moment as Mike took the opportunity to order, being a rather good guy about it. After Mike Ordered, Pup pointed tot he Gyro on the menu and smiled, offering a small thank you under his breath before bringing the glass to his lips. His tongue peeked out as it seemed to curl and fold into a circle and with a quick “whfffffpt” he used his tongue like a straw, taking some in and setting it back down once he could no longer reach the liquid with his tongue.

”Then the next thing I know I...I can’t remember where I’m from very well. I woke up in a house with these people saying they were my mom and dad. I had a big brother who is just...the worst. I still remembered you though. I don’t remember HOW I know you though. Something with vampires, right? Then we were in a church and stuff...” He seemed genuinely puzzled about the whole thing. He did shift his attention to the straw, opening it and dropping it in as he listened to anything Mike might have to contribute.

”Nothing high class about this place. It’s….maybe middle class on a good day but that’s not an insult. High class food sucks as food honestly,” Just expensive ingredients paraded as something people would want to eat. Tradition never interested him anyway because most of it just sounded arbitrary anyway.  Humans trying to force him to do what they wanted through a flimsy social contract he didn’t mostly give a shit about. Michael never felt the desire to kowtow like that anyway. Rather than worrying about that he instead just offered what could be best described as Mike trying to offer empathy to another person. If this was bothering the young humans as much as his own understanding could see, he would open a listening ear.

The young boy explained what he could, which sounded like there were some holes in memories and that just made things even more confusing. It also made him realize that he was forgetting something too. Holes appearing where there never seemed to be before. His head ached dully, Mike reaching for memories that should have been there but they were going against the ones that were there. The drink did nothing to help with that. So much for the pleasure rush of the sugar. ”Were there vampires? I feel like there were but I can’t be for certain,” Michael admitted. Osiris, that was a name that meant something but anyone that was anyone knew who the king of vampirekind was didn’t they? What the young man could tell likely was that he was genuinely pausing for a moment.

Long enough for the waitress to bring their appetizers, which smelled good enough. A bowl of sepia yellow hummus with triangles of peta bread around it, packets of roasted looking grape leaves with their tasty looking fillings. Without thinking Mike grabbed one of the dolmas and popped it into his mouth. Good as always. He had to show Jordan this place sometime. Because Fera just had good tastes with restaurants. ”I…remember that I know you but not HOW I do either, not with any clarity anyhow. Feels like there’s a film over the whole thing when I try to remember it,” Which was strange considering for the most part his memory was excellent. ”I know there was a talking cat and you got torn apart by a dachshund. That much I remember which…actually explains less,”

Mike’s testimony was not helpful in patching any gaps. But it was very helpful in affirming the boy’s gut instinct. The fact they both had a similar gap made it clear to him that whatever tore reality a new one, it had to do with him. Somehow, anyway. There was something that surrounded him and memories of him in a very strange sense. But as he noticed that he was a crux within both his and Mike’s memory lapse, the food found its way to the table. Pup immediately furrowed his eyebrows and leaned forward as he shifted his mop-covered head left to right. He began to sniff like a small dog garnering some strange looks from the waiter. As his nose pointed to the hummus his look twisted into one of distrust and even possible disgust. When his nose shifted slightly to the roasted dolmades the expression almost comically changed. His expression went to one of a pleasant surprise or a genuine curiosity. He then picked up a fork and reached over, sliding some to his plate.

”Grape leaves. You poached them to denature the protein and make them digestible. Rice, eggplant, onion parsley and...is that dill? ” Pup looked to the waiter. After a moment of being creeped out by the small child, ther boy shrugged and took a bite, allowing a mixture of different sensations to wrack his body for a moment. He felt the onion burning his nose while the parsley seemed to frost his skin. The warm rice had such a fluffy texture and shrouded his vision in a light cool hue. Hebegan to taste the colors that merged around him, and it caused a small smile to form, when he finally felt his skin tingle from the grape leaf.

”Woooah! Sweet!” He seemed to almost cheer as he seemed to open and inhale the dolmade, the experimental taste being nothing in comparison to the boy just shoving it in his mouth and chewing rapidly as he seemed to shiver and wiggle restlessly in his seat. After a large gulp, he quickly reached for his water and took a large gulp, resetting his pallet and attempting to purge any lasting effects. He let out a small rumble as he cleared his throat and rubbed his arms. ”Those feel amazing.”

When Mike eventually had talked about the events at Osiris’ manor, he found himself lacking a large portion of memory surrounding the night. Then when Mike stated that he was ripped apart by a dachshund, Pup furrowed his eyes and tilted his head off to the side. The expression looked akin to a friend who’d just heard an unbelievable story, and was about to ask what their friend was smoking when they experienced this event. It had been a weird few days, but to learn that he had died? Well he didn’t feel dead. He woke up in a church after all…

”Yeah, uhm...did you maybe...have the bloodwine? Normal wine? Shoot up heroin before we ended up in the church?” The boy asked, smiling as if he found this lapse the funniest thing in the world, before he quickly snatched another of the grape leaves and began to devour it whole, like a starving anaconda.

”What are you, Shael with a brain?” Michael muttered, though he realized that was uncharitable towards his son. Not that the young spirits mother did not have an influence upon him. Both were simple, though Fera taught her brother not to assault people for simple reasons. Now that was a good thing his daughter did, especially since he was not in the best position to do the same. What was in this dish was unimportant to him, because it tasted good and that was all that mattered when it came to eating. Michael didn’t need nourishment, not to the same extent that those around him needed it. The two of them seemed more focused on the dolmadas than the poor hummus, though Mike did give it a little attention because he did order the stuff.

The young human enjoyed the food, calling it sweet and just popping more and more into his mouth to get at then. ”Want me to order more? Don’t think we’ll have any left if you eat them at this rate,” His expression shifted slightly when the mention of them feeling amazing came up, though he didn’t question that. Something within him brought about an understanding and that was all that mattered. A certain word causing someone to nearly vomit and a desire not to say said word around this person. Still, their conversation moved to Osiris’ manor and what had happened. Which lead to him being questioned if he were on drugs and a sour expression forming on his face. Were this anyone else he might have considered collapsing their throat.

Instead he shook his head. ”The amount of wine, heroin or anything else I would need to imagine that would be ridiculous. I know what I remember, and it was not pretty. There was something else but I can’t recall it,” A promise, one he made just to prove someone wrong but the voice was unknown. Even still he knew he should knows this person but the scene was even darker. As if something were teasing him at the back of his mind but staying out of reach. He washed down his food with a sip of drink. ”I don’t know what’s messing with my memory but I’m not liking it. It’s starting to really piss me off honestly,” He stated, a small but pinching headache beginning to form from trying to force the memories to the surface. ”think I’m going to hurt myself if I keep trying this hard,” As if on someones cue, the waitress brought their food steaming on plates and set them down. It smelled good but not enough to make him forget what now was bothering him.

”mmm-hm” The small boy said in response to the question of ordering more. He shook his head left to right with a small smile as he put the plate more towards Mike, signifying he was done. He sheepishly smiled and sat back in the booth, nuzzling in and enjoying the crawling of his skin with a pleased little hum as he wrapped his arms around the front of himself, looking as if he wanted to stay warm, despite the cozy interior temperature. He seemed to swallow the mouthful, and let out a very satisfied exhale.

”You remember what you remember except what you don’t.” Pup said, almost jokingly calling out Mike’s adamant protests that he KNEW what he remembered, though in previous moments he expressed fuzziness and haze. It was more of a playful jab, but the small boy shrugged and cleared his throat as he reached for the water, taking a small sip this time. ”I mean it could be a fake memory….but...I trust your gut.” Pup said, his joking and teasing ways seeming to give out and reveal that he truthfully was willing to follow Mike’s lead and believe his memories as the standard of fact with a large degree of faith.

As the waitress brought their plates out, the boy smiled and whispered a thank you. Pup couldn’t help but smirk slightly, noting the new server and realizing he must have made the other one too uncomfortable to return. A small feeling of satisfaction came to him as he waited for the young woman to leave, then taking a few sniffs of the gyro.

”...weird.” He said as he began to pick the meat from the gyro, looking to Mike and then speaking on the headache he was getting. ”Then don’t think about it...Hey!” The small boy said as he noted Mike becoming irritable at his inability to recall anything at all. The small boy seemed to lean across the table with his arms outstretched and began waving them in vigorous jazz hands, only ceasing once he had Mike’s attention.

”Anchor it.” He said this promptly, though he said it as if the meaning was obvious. Though he quickly transitioned and explained what he was specifically attempting to get Mike to do. But to do so he seemed to lean off the bench and onto the table a little, reaching over and placed his hand on Mike’s forehead. ”I can feel you. I can hear you, I can smell you and I’m here with you. Right now? This IS reality right now. I’m happy...so think about what makes you happy. What you can touch, and hear...and for right now...forget everything else.” He said with a small carefree smile as he sat down back in the booth and tossed the last part of the meat from the Gyro.

”Besides. If it’s actually different then we are weird. I don’t think we should be able to tell. Which means the more we think about it the more we have to do...and I don’t wanna yet...” He said, almost sounding slightly guilty for not wanting to go through all the work of saving the world or whatever other garbage there was involved with all of this baggage. Especially when there was the whole “survival” thing he had to worry about. He took a bite out of his Gyro and seemed to watch Mike as he felt his senses overwhelm from the reaction his taste buds were having.

This kid was like a black hole. It almost made him think of Jordan, though he had the excuse of being a dragon which he was pretty sure went along with being really hungry. When the waitress who was now decidedly female walked up, he accepted his food and ordered another plate of the dolmadas. Okay, two plates because he wanted some for himself. ”I remember the results, what happened because of things but not what lead to it. Like how I came to know you for example,” There was something tethering the end results to his memories, which lead to him knowing who this young man was. ”my memories could be fake but…I just have this gut feeling they aren’t. Usually my gut feelings are right, so I don’t ignore them,” He explained, taking a bite from his moussaka which was just about as good as he had been told.  At least this wasn’t an example of Shael enjoying anything that didn’t taste like garbage.

It was possible he was being teased, though Mike didn’t let that small potential fact bother him too much. Luckily he managed to get pulled from his deep thoughts, avoiding being lost within what could have been a massive headache. ”Hard to be happy with all this confusing reality nonsense,” Even still, he allowed himself to focus on things that weren’t lost memory. Even if these memories were fake or whatever else they might have been. Focusing instead on what he did know for certain.

”I have a bad habit of caring about the fate of the world, like with that one time,”  He shrugged as their second and third plates of dolmas found their way to the table. ”doesn’t matter. I’m pretty sure we’re hanging out so we don’t have to think deep thoughts about stuff. Though I have to do something real quick after this dinner anyhow, friend of mine badgered me into doing it,’ Well not with her exactly but Weaver had to go on and one about her worlds equivalent of the holiday. Except it didn’t have to be romantic, so he liked that just as well. Getting gifts for his family that seemed to have everything however was difficult. ”so any ideas for what you want to do after this meal?”

”What’s meant to be will always find a way.” Was all the boy seemed to add on the concept of caring for the fate of the world. He seemed to still hold scars, a sudden welling of tears in his eyes as he reached for a napkin. He quickly picked it up and brought it up to his face. Without skipping a beat he cleared his throat and sighed.

”T-that’s hot. Very hot.” He said as he dabbed at his eyes, blinkling as he tried to quickly force himself back into check. With a slight clearing of his throat once more, he resumed taking smaller bites, still playing with the facets that it had been the fault of the food. Mike’s new orders of the dolmades seemed to arrive. The small boy nodded to the waitress in thanks as he reached out and took a sip of water.

Mike recounted that they didn’t have to think of deep thoughts. To which the small child nodded in agreement, which was the whole point of his original point he made. He was stating that he had a friend here, and they were together. That was what mattered to him. He was just happy to have someone else he knew and trusted. Reality could be full of purple alligators in pink top-hats or tentacle enthusiasts that worshipped Cthulhu’s right ass cheek.

Nothing else mattered except this moment. Reality could change for a person like him, in a single moment he could cease to exist. At any single moment his existence could be revoked. He couldn’t stand to live in possibilities of what had or had not been fake. All that mattered to the finite, were what they could experience. He grew solemn for a moment as he realized he wouldn’t likely be able to teach something like that to someone like Michael. He was too strong and too resilient. He had too much power and too much divine right over others. He seemed to shake from it only after Mike had asked him if he had thought about what to do after the meal.

”You got that thing to do with your friend right? You can do that. If you’re free after I’ll be around, most likely. I’ll think something up.” He said with a small smile, his eating still almost lethargic as he tried to pace himself with the water, fixating on his now meatless gyro. He took another small nibble before reaching for the water. Before to took a drink he spoke, simply for the sake of preserving conversation. ”This is pretty good. How’s yours?”

”I doubt you’ll need to split up from me. Just something I’d nearly forgotten for someone, well for a sibling precisely. I’m trying things a little different than I’ve been doing them before. What’s the worst that could happen?” Well, his gesture could be misunderstood though he didn’t expect that to be the case. Well, it was all too possible, but he was trying to be optimistic within this moment. Well it didn’t matter. ”well, I could do it later. I have a whole day to do that don’t I?” Michael stroked his chin, seeming to think over something before shrugging. Still, anything to keep his mind off of existential dread was better than nothing.

They had these tasty dolmades and the dish he was eating now, which was good enough for Mike. ”Gyro too hot for you? Didn’t know it was spicey,” he then questioned, more genuinely curious than judging the small human. He was tempted to test for himself, though he didn’t want to be picking food from someone elses plate. ”I’m sure we could find something to do after this. Though now that I think about it I’m not too good at planning for other people. Do you kids like skateboarding or whatever?” Without thinking he set down a small plastic card when the time came for the bill.

Pup had thought that Mike going to see his friend was going to take a long time, but he must have misunderstood. Which was pretty common for him. Mike would eventually find that out, or at least notice that in some capacity. Hopefully it was something negligible for the most part. He waved his hand and shook his head, stopping Mike when he said that he could do it later.

“Nah, we’ll go see your friend, then we’ll figure it out.” The small boy said as he looked over Mike. He was trying to do things differently? Was that a result of the reality alteration, or was it perhaps a coincidence? He was a detective, he wasn’t allowed to believe in such a thing, that’s what he was told anyway. So it had to be true right? He continued to eat the Gyro slowly, not really paying much attention to his own sense other than listening to Mike as he talked a little bit.

”What’s the point in changing? Oh uh no. Better wording. Why are you changing?” He asked as a genuine curiosity seized him in an unshakable grasp. He was going to let it go, but this was far more important than his own issues, or what they were going to do in the future. It was pretty noticeable now that his consumption was slow, but it was consistent and constant. He seemed to be trying to maximize his digestion time as well as filling himself up, a tactic used by those who were used to intense starvation or hostile and inhospitable environments.

”I guess the best question is do YOU WANT to change? OR is this just something everyone else wants. ‘Cuz you seem cool to me. Except when you threatened….uhm...” And just like that his mind hazed over. It was like reaching out and trying to scratch a phantom itch as the figure who was there with them should have been so clear. But now it’s like they weren’t there. Not like a displaced or a mismatched memory, but like this person just stopped existing within his mind. ”Never been skateboarding… i just normally go through the alleyways and maybe scavenge some stuff for the day. Then I go back to the hideout and wait until 6:50pm. I USED to go with Flynn and we would visit the beach...he hated the sand tho.”

”Friends a….yeah we can do that,” There was the desire to argue but then again that didn’t matter. All semantics in the grand scheme of things her realized yet that didn’t matter. Michael whipped out his cellphone and typed out a quick text message.

Doing anything?

It was to Silus, quick and to the point though his brother tended to expect no less he imagined. Michael was never good with text messaging anyway. It always felt lacking in the social cues he was able to read, and thus made him feel out of his element.  Especially people he had come to call family were much easier to understand when he could see their faces, Zell excluded of course. ”What does it matter to you?” He questioned back, wondering why his sudden attempts at change were open season for the human to prod at.

”We haven’t known each other long. Not many people think I’m actually that cool, once they get to know me,” By charitable human definitions he was a monster, selfish and more interested in his own gain than any kind of greater good. His family was perhaps the greatest good he was willing to consider. Thousands of innocents in turn for them were small prices to pay. ”I’m seeing if a different approach works,’ It was vague but all he was willing to give as he paid the bill, not paying any attention to protests.

”Want to visit the beach? I like the beach well enough, been there enough to get a good appreciation all thing considered,” Who knew dating a water dragon would lead to visiting the beach more often? ”Could skate too or surf. Never been surfing before but it looks fun. If you enjoy falling in the water,”

Mike went out on a limb and sent a message to Silus but a response didn’t come. Though he was quick to ask the boy what it mattered to him. He narrowed his eyes at Mike in a very judgemental way. He held his arms out to the side and gave a perfect WTF look while his head leaned forward. It would have been hilarious to see, if not for the fact he ended up explaining himself to Mike.

”Really Dude! It’s a question. It’s like “Oh I’m losing weight”. If someone says “Why you wanna lose weight” you don’t answer “What’s it to you?” you end up either saying “I want to” or “Just because” if you don’t wanna answer why. If you don’t want someone to question it don’t even bring it up man. I was literally an investigator and tracker. It. My. Job. I ask things. I ain’t trying to annoy ya.” The human sighed as he took a big bite out of the remaining gyro, then almost immediately swallowing it, the large piece slipping down his gullet as he forced his eyes closed and shook his head a little. His eyes then fixed on the glass of water and he seemed to quickly begin taking long gulp after gulp of water until he set the glass down empty.

”Sure, the beach is awesome. Even with the rain. But uhhh...if I see lightning I’m NOT surfing.” ?He said with a smile as he placed his napkin on his plate, his eyes staring at the empty water cup for a moment until the waitress returned. Pup asked for a refill before there was a chime on Mike’s phone.

watchin the . u? was the reply that Mike got on his phone. A sudden ping again brought up a new message from Silus that seemed to elaborate on a few things. ...tht was supposed 2 be rain drops

Michael stared down at his phone, wondering if the reply would be instant or take a few minutes. Instant was not the one, so he just slipped it into his pocket and returned to focusing on the conversation. Which was the child he was talking with lecturing him on even bringing things up. That was how it seemed at the very least. ”If we’re splitting hairs here, I said I was trying something different. Not losing weight or becoming mister universe.” Michael paused and then sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. ”alright that was shitty of me. What I’ve been doing hasn’t been working, I’m not getting the results I want so I’m trying something else.  I hear that’s something people do when they want others to like them,” It sounded strange from someone like him, wanting people to like him. Normally Mike wouldn’t have given two shits but here he was.

”What does lightning have to do with surfing? Afraid you’ll get electrocuted along with the ocean or something?” It sounded almost ridiculous but he couldn’t be for sure with this kid. Even still they were done with their meal and he likely had the whole thing paid for by now. His phone chimed, though he finished off his drink before looking at it. Eyebrow quirking when he saw what looked to be a dancing shark emoji, fully animated and everything.

”Ah, that explains it,” He chuckled a little, returning the text.

been talking with dad again? He always texts like that

Anyhow. Was wondering if you were busy, needed you for a sec if you weren’t busy

Something about chatspeak never sat right with Mike and so he never typed it when texting or otherwise. Sean teased him about it often, though that didn’t change what he did. ”got any surfing clothes or do you plan to just get those clothes wet? Think we might have a few things around your size around my home…if Silus doesn’t mind. He might not mind,” A small shrug followed, Michael waiting for the kid to finish up whatever they had left before standing.