I said Monday-ish. Sunday/Thursday will likely be my posting schedule. Also, feedback is appreciated, enjoy, and thanks for reading.
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Chapter Two: Food, Glorious Food
Her digital alarm clock blared out a song Misha couldn’t understand, waking her up from another damn dream about the two of them left alone in the Student Council room. The alarm said it was 8 am, so Misha went about getting herself ready, finishing up in the bathroom and wearing a clean light pink summer dress for the day.
In the roughly half an hour getting ready had taken, she had become aware of a few problems. One, she had no food, nor a way to store food. Two, her university meal plan didn’t start until Tuesday of next week. Three, she was in an unfamiliar city, with a rudimentary grasp of the native language at best, and no idea where to get food.
Mentally shrugging at the minor inconvenience, she grabbed her garish, flowery pink purse and opened her front door, to see Henry and a slightly shorter young man standing in front of her door. Both wore polo shirts and blue jeans; Henry’s shirt was green, the other’s orange.
“Hello,” she said, unsure of what language to use, and opting for the obvious.
“Hi,” Henry said, resolutely staring at the ceiling; Misha’s dress didn’t leave much to the imagination in the chest department, and both her short height and Henry’s stature made his field of vision very pervy if he chose to make it. Oblivious to this, she turned to his companion, “who is your friend?”
“This is Will, I mentioned him yesterday,” Henry said, finally deciding her left hair-dec was a suitable focal point for his eyes. Will was a bit shorter than Henry; short enough he could look down at Misha up close and not get slapped for it, if she cared. He had dark brown hair that went past his shoulders, small square glasses, and piercing green eyes.
“Hello,” he said, smiling, the smile of a man doing so out of politeness, rather than genuine good nature, “since you might be confused, I’ll tell you now; I do not speak Japanese.”
“He’s our Middle East guy,” Henry said, “well, one of them; interest in that region picked up about seven years ago. Anyway, he’s pretty fluent in Turkish, and right now he’s looking at Arabic, too,” lowering his voice to a mutter, he leaned toward Misha, “and he says all the Asian languages look like scribbles, when he’s studying the languages that look like a pre-schooler’s doodles.”
“How very culturally sensitive of you to say,” Will said, a few words going over Misha’s head, not that she cared; something about Will amused her, and she found herself smiling. Will, focused on Henry’s head, didn’t notice, “please forgive my friend’s rudeness; he’s still upset that I’m right about Daniel Craig being the superior James Bond.”
Groaning, Henry wheeled around to jab a finger at Will, “I am not having this conversation twice in the same day; we’ve all ready had it a million times for the last two years! Sean Connery has been, is, and always will be the superior James Bond.”
Will threw his hands into the air, “fine, and the prequels are better than The Original Trilogy, and Godfather III is the best. Do you hear yourself?”
“One movie, he was in one movie. Connery was in seven!”
“Quantum of Solace comes out in two months.”
“He’s still superior!”
The two stopped abruptly as they heard Misha’s distinctive laugh. Turning to face her, they saw her, her hands on her hips, and laughing loud enough to wake the dead-and then make them deaf.
“WAHAHAHA~ You two are so funny!”
The two stared at each other, unsure what to do. After a minute, Misha calmed down and spoke before the two could resume their argument.
“I agree with Henry. Sean Connery is the superior Bond. Now, why are you two here?”
“Oh, right,” Henry said, “well, I realized-”
“Who realized?”
Henry groaned, “Will realized that I had more or less left you at the mercy of the city for the next week, food-wise, and that I should probably get you acclimated-used to, that is- some of the surrounding eating and shopping locations, until the meal plans kick in-start- next week.”
“I also said it might be less awkward if I came along, so here I am,” Will said.
“Yeah, not awkward at all,” Henry grumbled, “anyway, if you like, would you like to go to breakfast with the two of us?”
“Sure sure~” Misha said, smiling and bolting out of her door and closing it behind her, her purse nearly getting stuck in the door along the way.
“You may want to be clear about payment,” Will said to Henry, pulling out a mail envelope from a pocket and handing it to Misha, “here, this is a gift from the Office.”
Misha took the envelope and raised an eyebrow, “where is this money coming from?”
“I sell my extra leman russes and sentinals on ebay,” Will said, “and use them to help Henry with work, since most of the Office’s budget goes to scholarships and paying our pathetic salaries.”
“A few of those scholarships you yourself earned,” Henry added.
“Sen-tin-al?” Misha’s brain was trying very hard not to explode.
“Warhammer 40K,” Henry said in Japanese, “it’s a game based on armies of miniatures that you assemble and paint yourself.”
Sounded like a more complex version of Risk; Misha made a note to bring it up to Shizune when she called on Saturday. Misha smiled to Will, “thank you, Will.”
“You’re welcome,” Will said, smiling genuinely for the first time, “so, time for food? I need coffee.”
“Christ on a bike, me, too,” Henry added, pinching the bridge of his nose, “let’s get the hell out of here before I murder Will.”
“You’ve had five years to do it, you know.”
“Where are we going?” Misha asked to stop another argument, as amusing as it would have undoubtedly been.
Henry scratched his head for a second, “there’s a local coffee/tea restaurant place that has a decent breakfast, and it’s only a few blocks north of here.”
“That should work,” Will said, “I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if we brought her to a Starbucks on her first day here. How does that sound to you?”
Misha smiled, “sounds great, Wichan.”
Will blinked and turned to Henry, “I’ve been nicknamed, haven’t I?”
“Yeah.”
Sighing, Will gestured for Misha to follow Henry out of the dorm, Will following the two. The walk to the restaurant gave Misha a chance to appreciate how tall the buildings were. Everywhere she looked there was some monolith of glass and concrete, or glass and steel, peppered in with the more traditional city buildings. And the people; herds of them, roaming everywhere with a purpose and discipline she envied. The three made their way through it all, and as they did so a thought struck Misha, a thought she liked very much.
No matter how strange, weird, or different a person was, in a city this big, they could be practically invisible.
The restaurant itself reminded her vaguely of the Shanghai; it was modern yet traditionally designed, it was small, and it didn’t look very crowded. When they walked in, the place even looked the same; square wooden tables and chairs strewn about. The counter to the left was different, though; people ordered at the register and picked up their food to the left of it.
“Welcome to Roy’s,” Henry said, “or is it Dave’s now?”
“It’s a Panera’s that lost its franchise,” Will said.
Sighing, Henry walked past the chairs and tables to the register. A young woman was waiting there, and behind her, the menu and prices. To her left, behind a shield of glass, was a mass of food, treats, and even chilling drinks, all waiting for someone to ask for them.
“How can I help you, Henry?” the cashier asked.
“I need coffee,” Henry said, jabbing his thumb at Will. The cashier laughed lightly as he continued, “large coffee, black, two sugars, no cream, and one of those coffee cake things, the ones with fruit on them. I want to at least pay lip service to the major food groups.”
“All right, and for you?” she asked Will. Will ordered a small mocha and a scrambled egg wrap with ham and cheese, giving Misha time to examine the menu and calculate things in her head. Reaching for the envelope she had placed in her purse, she quickly counted the sixty dollars Will had given her. Between that, her pre-loaded card, and what her parents gave her for the week, she’d be fine until they mailed her a small allowance-assuming she kept her grades up.
“I’ll have a medium green tea, and the strawberry yogurt parfait,” she had to start finding her favorite parfait sooner or later. She stumbled a bit on a few words, but the cashier didn’t say anything.
Paying for their food and drinks, the three picked a table by the front window while waiting for their order.
“It won’t take too long,” Henry said, looking outside at the mass of people.
“How did you two meet?” Misha asked, her curiosity getting to her, “are you both juniors?”
“I’m a sophomore,” Will said, “second year student,” he added to her confused look.
“We met in high school,” Henry said, “we’re not actually from the city; we come from a small town out west near Pennsylvania,” Henry paused and quickly explained what Pennsylvania was before continuing, “because I was taking Japanese back then-it was an odd school-, all the cheerleaders wanted to hang out with me; they were all huge anime fans. That got me in with the popular crowd, and I was able to use my influence to protect the geeks and nerds of our school. One of them decided to follow me here.”
“You never complained,” Will said, smiling to show he didn’t mind being called a geek, a nerd, or a stalker.
“It must have been nice to have someone protect you from the bullies,” Misha said, staring at the table.
Will glanced at Henry, who glanced back. When their order was called, Henry went to get it.
“Misha?” Will asked. She looked up at the young man, frowning, “you okay?”
Misha considered the question; she wasn’t, really; hearing the story had brought up bad memories, memories of insults and rumors and things stuffed in lockers. She didn’t want to burden her new friends, but she didn’t want to lie, either, although being honest nearly crushed her, too.
“Well… When I was in middle school, I was bullied a lot for…because I was,” she wasn’t sure how her sexual orientation would be taken just yet; it was a controversial topic in America, and she didn’t want to burn bridges anymore then her oblivious nature tended to. She wasn’t sure on the details of her personality yet, anyway.
Will nodded, “ah, and you were thinking it would’ve been nice to have someone there for you, like Henry was for me.”
Henry silently rejoined the two and distributed the food and drinks. Misha nodded to Will and the conversation died off as they ate. Will looked odd for a while, but spoke again after a minute or two, “if the past is that upsetting for you, you may want to consider a counselor, or therapist.”
Henry sighed, “what did you do?”
“Nothing,” Will said, “she was bullied in middle school.”
“Oh,” Henry said, and resumed eating. His coffee cake was large, hot, and sticky, so he spent a lot of time wiping his hands on napkins. Will’s wrap was much easier to eat, and Misha found herself enjoying the small parfait she had ordered. The tea was…fine.
“I’ll think about it,” Misha said, then turned to Henry, “oh, by the way, can I join the tour tonight?”
It took Henry a few seconds to realize what she was talking about. When he did, he nodded, “sure. It’s a Chinese/Japanese group, with one of our Chinese interpreters. Nicole is the name she goes by. Also, dinner comes with it, generously paid for by the school.”
“Great~” Misha beamed, then a new thought occurred to her, “why are you being so helpful to me? Not that I mind.”
“He’s trying to get in your pants,” Will said, ignoring Misha's blank look of incomprehension.
Henry choked on his coffee, gasping and barely swallowing it before starting up a hacking fit. While he was trying to not choke to death Will clarified, “I’m kidding; he just likes to take an unhealthy dedication to his work to make up for his girlfriend still being out of state.”
Catching his breath, Henry finally spoke to Will, “you jackass, I’ll get you for that,” with Will giving a “come at me, bro” shrug, Henry turned to Misha, “and I only do it for special cases. Some students come from overseas with family here, or friends, but you, you’re alone. So I wanted to make sure you were used to things first; all my other student charges have someone else for help.”
“Well, thank you, Henry. And you, Will; you did not have to give me any money.”
“I’m a sucker for a nice rack,” he said, finishing his food and once again ignoring Misha's comprehension at what he has said.
Henry groaned and quickly said to Misha in Japanese, “He just says crap like that to annoy me. That’s not why he did it anyway; he helps me out because he thinks he owes me for high school, though he doesn’t.”
Will gave a theatrical cough, “that’s rude, you know.”
“He’s right,” Misha said, “sorry, Wichan. He was just saying what a great guy you are.”
“Reports of my good nature are greatly exaggerated.”
“Bullcrap,” Henry said, “that money you gave her was from a sentinel you need for your new army.”
“I did need it, but fortunately I managed to trade a squad of kommandoes for one,” Will said, “Jerry’s greenskins will suffer when he dares face the might of the Emperor again!”
Misha gave a quiet-for her anyway-laugh at the two’s bantering. Problems or not, it was nice to know she had options for dealing with her own issues, and people willing to help her through them.
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Not the best chapter ever, but not too bad. Hopefully adding the html italics in the word doc will save me some time.
