Journeymaster 4
Fu didn’t really expect Nikko to accept his invitation to dinner. So, when she did, he found himself in a flurry of confusion to get ready for the occasion. While they talked and sometimes walked through the city together, this was his first time going on a prospectively romantic-type outing. Ever.
His best non-Journeymaster robes needed spot-checking. His hair needed a bit of a trim – when did it get so long? He needed to find the right place to eat. The cafeteria was certainly not a choice.
Then there was the question of whether to bring flowers. Or not.
Would it be too presumptuous to display affection like that? Does she expect it? Or will it be too forward?
In the end, he decided against the flowers. Just one more thing that could go wrong. It was always something he could pick up later, if dinner extended into a moonlight walk.
Waiting for Nikko to arrive at their aforementioned place of meeting, Fu debated about what to do with his hands. Did he fold them in front of him? Behind him? Was that too stiff? Surely hanging at the sides would only seem sloppy.
Before he came to a conclusion, he felt a tap on the shoulder. Turning, he found himself face to face with a grinning Nikko. Fu’s breath wooshed from between his lips in a sound that he’d rather he’d not made.
She looks stunning.
Certainly, time was at work, for the better. Nikko wore a well-fitting gold dress with soft white trim that accented the beads and weavings within her long hair. She, too, must have deliberated over what to wear and how to present herself, because the sparkling visage that stood before him was nothing like the school girl Fu was used to walking home at night.
Her eyes shown with laughter when she realized he was speechless. Never one to beat around the bush, she patted him on the cheek. “Wake up, Fu.”
“Huh? Oh. Sorry,” he responded sheepishly. Then he began to wonder if his own robes were anywhere as classy as what Nikko wore.
“I take it that you like the dress,” she prompted.
Fu ran his tongue over his lips awkwardly, trying to find the right words. He laughed nervously instead. “I assume this is the moment when I should offer a compliment?”
“Yes, I think that’s how this goes,” Nikko said, looking sympathetic. She knew things like this were hard for him, and waited with patience for him to figure out his own way.
“I cannot find one,” he admitted.
“Oh?” Her eyebrows lifted.
“You are lovely beyond any mere compliment.” Fu cracked a slight grin, knowing how corny it sounded.
Nikko, however, covered her mouth to hide her laughter. It shown in her eyes, and in a flush of pleasure across her face. “You’re absolutely adorable sometimes, Fu.”
“I am?” He couldn’t hide the surprise as he walked over and offered her the crook of his arm. People called him many things at the Manor, but adorable was not one of them.
“You can be, when you’re not trying to terrorize everyone.” She accepted his arm and began to walk with him.
“So why are you here? With me? Like this?” Fu tilted his head and watched her from the corner of his eye.
“Because you have moments when you are adorable,” she grinned back at him, teasingly. Then she pushed some loose hair up behind her ear and asked, “Where are we going tonight?”
“There is a place. An eatery. Where the Masters frequent,” he tried to describe. “I have never been inside, but it is nothing like the cafeteria, I heard.”
“Is it okay to go there?” Nikko looked concerned.
“I am a Journeymaster. They will let me in,” Fu nodded.
“I’m just a student, Fu,” she warned him.
“If they cause you issues, they will have to take it up with me.”
“Fu. No fighting on my account.”
He blinked over at her, the words coming before he realized. “I would always fight on your account.”
Nikko appeared taken aback by the comment, mouth opening for a reply that didn’t come. Finally, she asked, “Is that really how you feel? About me?”
“Yes, of course,” he answered as sincerely as he could. “I think you are an amazing person.”
She let out a short breath, as if releasing fears he didn’t realize she had. “So says the most amazing person I know.”
That’s when Fu realized that Nikko felt the same as he did.
With that insight rattling in his mind, he opened the door to the dining area for her. The first thing they encountered as they stepped into the narrow hall was an uppity looking doorman who gave them both a disapproving frown. As if they were peasants who did not belong there.
Quickly, Fu displayed his Journeyman’s badge. The doorman took it without a word, inspected it front and back with a disgruntled look, then handed it back to Fu with a shoulder shrug towards the waiting door.
Nikko held tightly to Fu’s arm, looking at the doorman nervously. However, once the admission was given, the doorman simply ignored them as if they were nothing more than dirt on his boot.
“Kinda tense, isn’t he?” she whispered to him.
“Appears so,” Fu responded, hoping that the rest of the establishment would prove more comfortable than the initial inspection.
The atmosphere inside was quiet and somewhat muffled, as if always under expectation and scrutiny. They had no issue finding a place to sit, as there were far more tables open than occupied. If anything, it felt as if most of the people dining there – likely Masters in the Manor – kept to themselves in secluded booths along the edge of the room.
The list of food was unusual to both Nikko and Fu, but they chose what seemed the least offensive dishes on the menu. The waiter took their order with a mostly-silence that matched that of the doorman. Fu was surprised when the man returned to bring them their drinks, and reassured them that when their meal was ready, it would be brought to them.
“It seems like eating food here is a form of social entertainment,” Nikko noted in a quiet undertone. There wasn’t much in the way of conversation between the patrons, which made it feel as if their voices could easily carry across the whole room.
“It is peculiar, is it not?” Fu agreed.
His mind drifted back to meals that he once shared with his family as a child. Back then, dinners were a family time, between himself and his parents. Back when he could actually talk to both of them without the current-day stress.
Meals in the Manor were different. They were on a timer, served to a mass of students from a cafeteria. Everyone ate the same thing. Everyone was responsible with getting or bringing their own food. It was treated as an essential part of the day, simply because in order to live, one had to eat. While it was a social time for students, it wasn’t the same as leisurely coming to a food establishment like this.
Fu could see that Nikko wasn’t sure what to make of it. She seemed somewhat uneasy at the whole thing, which was not the impression that he wanted to leave her with. So, he took the forefront of the situation, and pretended that this was all perfectly common and usual.
I must make this look good. I am a Journeymaster.
It became easier when the food arrived. Despite the strange name for food, it was all quite tasty. Nikko appreciated the flavorful exploration, trying a little bit of everything and prompting him to do likewise. Forgetting her surroundings for a while, the girl slipped into her normal, easygoing ways, laughing at Fu’s misadventures and taking delight in adventurous eating.
Their fun was cut short as one of the patrons approached their table with a disgruntled tone, “Children aren’t allowed in here.”
Nikko paused in mid-laugh, her gaze flicking up at the sound. Her instant reaction was to slightly recoil, the color draining from her face.
Fu followed her gaze, locking eyes with man, whom he instantly identified.
Oh, no. Not Zemus. Not on my first date! Can I never get rid of him?
Putting on his best apathetic expression, Fu responded, “I see no children here.”
“I do,” the dark mage responded without hesitation.
“We have every right to eat here as you do.”
Zemus leaned closer, as if to intimidate. “Just because you have the Journeymaster’s badge doesn’t make you invincible, boy.”
Fu arched an eyebrow in attempt to show his lack of concern, though ever fiber in his body recoiled at being mere inches away from the other man. “Oh, you mean the badge that was given to me by the Manor Lord. Who, if I remember correctly, trumped your protests at every turn.”
Though Zemus didn’t allow his frustration to show, Fu could sense it rolling like a storm through his mind. “You really do believe you’re untouchable, don’t you? So insolent.”
“You do not like it, do you?” The mind mage broke into a grin, just to demonstrate the definition of insolent. “Someone upstairs approves of me. That much is obvious.”
“Don’t rely on that too much,” the dark mage responded, a true hint of warning in his voice as he once again gave Fu appropriate breathing room. “It always changes. There are things at work that you’d rather not champion.”
Fu saw Nikko’s pale face on the other end of the table. Her eyes reflected with fear, tension keeping her limbs stiff. She held her breath, afraid that the mind mage and the dark mage would exchange more than just a battle of words.
“I will keep that in mind,” Fu told him, brushing off the front of his robes. Then he turned to Nikko. “I think I have had my fill of this meal. What about you?”
She just nodded and gathered her things.
“If you will excuse me.” The mind mage rose to his feet, eyes never leaving Zemus’ gaze. Never backing down.
“Certainly,” Zemus gave a half bow to Nikko, then strode back across the room to where Fu assumed was his booth.
He suppressed his shudder as the Zemus-feeling followed the dark mage, leaving the two of them alone again. Then he promptly paid the bill, escorted Nikko out, and swore he’d never eat at that place again.