บท 29: Chapter 5.5 Friends?
He was brought with them to a small street eatery, on a street that was literally in full swing, in the shopping district that was on the way to the elevator. It was a narrow street, but very long. Many people were passing around.
Sirion carefully picked at his plate with a spoon, watching as the others enthusiastically devoured the strange dish. The liquid in his bowl was thick, with a cloudy tint, and here and there either the remains of a fish or something more exotic floated to the surface. A slug, lazily crawling along the edge of the bowl, completed the picture.
"Is this really edible?" he muttered doubtfully under his breath, putting the spoon back down.
"Of course it is edible!" Ekko exclaimed, slurping loudly. "It's a classic of the local cuisine!" Dream Street Stew. It's... how can I say it... energizing.
"And tests your stomach for strength," Mylo added, grinning at Sirion. "What, newbie, are you scared? Are you from some wealthy local family that you don't eat this?"
Sirion just shook his head, deciding not to go into details. Instead, he looked around, allowing himself to be distracted from the questionable dish. They were sitting at a long wooden table on the open veranda of a street eatery. The tabletop was worn, and in some places covered in unknown stains that had clearly survived more than one generation of customers. The establishment itself looked unkempt, but cozy. The walls were made of metal sheets, decorated with rusty signs and old flags, and dusty lanterns hung from the ceiling, giving off a soft blueish light that harmonized perfectly with the neon signs.
The street where the eatery was located was bustling with life. Narrow, but infinitely long, it stretched along the entire block. There was a constant noise here: traders shouted out their offers, children ran, laughing, and somewhere in the distance, street musicians played. People scurried back and forth, dragging bags, boxes and other utensils, and the smell of oil, spices and metal dust hung over all this.
"Well, are you going to eat or not?" Vi interrupted his thoughts, eating another part of the dish with her bare hands. Her plate was already half empty. Of course, he was used to the fact that due to the wealth of the local population, they ate whatever they could get their hands on, but the same Jerry served him food, although not the best quality, but at least it looked like food!
"Yeah, why waste such beauty in vain?" Claggor chuckled, moving his empty plate to the edge of the table. He licked his fingers and patted his stomach.
"I'll try it later, I guess," Sirion said evasively, pushing the bowl away.
Powder, sitting next to him, giggled, watching his reaction:
"Don't worry, when Vi first brought us here, I thought I'd get food poisoning too. But then it's okay, I got used to it. It's delicious!" She smiled at Sirion and took something that looked like a small fish out of the plate with her fingers, twirled it in front of Ekko's face, and ate it.
Sirion smiled crookedly and looked back at the street. Deep down, he envied their ability to accept life as it was. Zaun was a harsh, dusty place for him, but these guys seemed to see it as something more—a home, despite all its flaws. He looked at his plate and was about to take something out of it with a spoon, but a loud thud from the cooking area distracted his attention. The cook, the owner of the establishment and his only employee, chopped the head of a fish with a cleaver.
The shopkeeper was a figure that was impossible to miss. His massive, amphibian-like figure filled almost the entire cooking area. His head, covered in rough, wrinkled skin, resembled a cross between a fish and a toad. Small fins hung from one side, and from the other, sparse, almost dried gills peeked out, moving slightly with each movement.
The patch over one eye gave him a stern and even menacing look, although the other eye, sparkling with a golden hue, was always vigilantly watching what was happening around him.
On his broad shoulder, a homemade wooden shoulder pad adorned himself, covered in deep scratches and dents. Knives stuck out of it, which he deftly used in preparing dishes. He was holding one of them in his hands right now - a huge cleaver, the shine of which involuntarily made him shudder.
He was dressed in simple but rough clothes, which seemed to have seen more than one decade. An apron, stained with grease and sauces, hung down to his knees, and massive paws with webbed fingers confidently held everything he took hold of. Sirion watched as the seller easily chopped the head of the fish, as if it were not a cleaver, but just a stick. Then, without thinking twice, he dropped the fish's head into the cauldron, from which steam immediately rose, saturating the air with an even more intense smell.
The seller, noticing Sirion's gesture, chuckled, and the corner of his huge mouth slightly rose in a semblance of a mocking grin. His single eye followed the boy's every move, and the gills on his neck twitched slightly in time with his movements. Sirion felt a chill run down his spine when he realized that this mute cook seemed to be deliberately teasing him.
The clerk seemed familiar. His bulky frame and distinctive features floated into his mind: this cook had appeared in one of the memories that had been transmitted to him along with his observations of events in Zaun. He remembered Vi, her confident walk when she returned from prison, and the same street food stall, where the clerk silently handed her a piece of paper.
"Uh… no, thank you," Sirion forced out, still feeling the mute cook's gaze literally burning into him.
Returning to his plate, he caught a glimpse of Vi and the others happily devouring the stew, not noticing anything strange. They seemed completely unfazed by the appearance or taste of the dish.
Sirion sighed and looked away from his plate, trying to find his inner motivation. "Food is energy. It's just a means of survival," he repeated to himself, but mentally fought the urge to simply leave it as it was.
Finally, making up his mind, he winced, grabbed one of the slugs with his bare hands, quickly threw it into his mouth and immediately closed his eyes so as not to see how the thing moved.
"Wow, look how brave you are," Mylo said, laughing and slapping his knee. "And I thought the newbie would give up!"
"Well done, Sirion," Vi supported him, although there was a slight mockery in her voice. "You can't survive in Zaun if you can't handle the local cuisine."
Sirion forced a crooked smile, chewing his "catch," and quickly washed it down with water. "At least he didn't die," he thought, inwardly admiring his endurance. It tasted better than he had expected at first, somewhat reminiscent of sushi, only made purely of fish, which was stuffed with various seasonings. He looked at the plate again and continued eating, hunger had taken its toll after all, and considering that the food was really not that bad, he devoured the plate in a couple of minutes. True, with his eyes closed, so as not to see how disgusting the food looked.
The seller chuckled, continuing his business. Despite his frightening appearance, he seemed to radiate some kind of peace, as if he were the very soul of this noisy, chaotic place.
Sirion wiped his mouth with his hand and set the plate down on the table. Vi sat across from him, her arms crossed over her chest, watching him with narrowed eyes. The others waited for him to speak, their eyes full of interest.
"Well," Vi began, leaning forward slightly. "Tell me what you do, Sirion. You're new here, I haven't seen you in our area before."
He looked away, as if considering his answer, then shrugged.
"I wander around, here and there. Trying to earn a little money."
"Um, I see," Vi said, but she frowned and asked another question. "And your parents? Where are they?"
Sirion felt his shoulders tense. The parents... of this body. He hadn't thought about it much since he'd arrived in Zaun. Sirion quickly ran through the possible answers. Tell the truth? Absurd. Lie? Safer.
He lowered his head, hiding his expression, and answered with a hint of bitterness:
"They died. During the uprising on the bridge."
There was silence for a few seconds. Even Milo, who was usually not shy about commenting on everything, said nothing. Powder looked at him sadly, Ekko looked away, clearly uncomfortable in this situation.
Vi exhaled and reached out to clap him on the shoulder. Her hand was heavy, but the gesture was more encouraging.
"Piltover," she said with a dull hatred, bowing her head. "He took something from all of us."
Her words echoed in everyone present. Powder seemed to sag a little, her face clouded with memories. Milo frowned, looking down. Only Klaggor remained outwardly calm, but his silence spoke for itself.
Sirion nodded, at a loss for words. He felt their hatred of Piltover unite them all, become their common ground. It helped them fit in, even though he still felt like an outsider inside.
"Okay," Vi said, breaking the heavy silence. "Let's change the subject. We need to figure out how to spend the time. We have a week. What do you suggest?"
The question quickly cleared the air, and the others perked up, switching to a lighter tone again. Only Sirion remained sitting a little to the side, considering how deeply this new, difficult world was drawing him in.
"Okay" Vi said, breaking the heavy silence. - "Let's change the subject. We need to figure out how to spend the time. We have a week. What do you suggest?"
"So, we need to pay" Vi rose from the bench and patted her pockets. " How much do we owe?"
The seller turned around, his one eye narrowed, and with a short movement he threw a piece of paper in their direction with the inscription: "3 silver gears."
Vi took a bag of money from her belt pouch, opened it and frowned. Sirion, interested, looked inside. The bag was filled only with bronze washers.
"Damn" she muttered, counting the money. The fingers quickly ran over the coins, but the situation did not change: there was not enough silver.
"Something wrong?" Sirion asked, sensing that something was brewing.
"No, it's fine," Vi waved her hand, throwing the bag into her pocket. She looked at the seller and, smiling, raised her hand in a conciliatory gesture. "Hey, Gekko, I'll bring it next time, okay?"
The seller frowned, his toad-like face distorted with displeasure. He grabbed a knife from his wooden shoulder guard and pointed it threateningly at Vi.
Sirion tensed, but the others only giggled.
"Oh, come on, Gekko," Vi waved her hand, clearly not taking this seriously. "We've been through this before. I always bring you my debt, right?"
The shopkeeper let out a low growl, and his gills flared in irritation. It seemed like he was actually ready to plunge the knife into the table, but Vi was not afraid.
"Okay, guys, plan B!" she announced, turning to the others.
"Come on, sorry, Gekko, next time I'll bring it, like usual!" she shouted, already rushing into the narrow passage between the tables.
Milo, Powder and Klaggor, barely holding back their laughter, ran out after her, as if this was a pre-planned ritual. Ekko paused for a moment to wink at the shopkeeper.
Sirion remained seated, watching the scene in bewilderment. He looked at the shopkeeper, who sighed in disappointment, put the knife back in his pauldron and began wiping the table.
"Is this a joke?" Sirion muttered quietly, getting up. But the shopkeeper ignored him, clearly used to such scenes.
Gekko sighed, throwing the knife back into his shoulder pad, and looked at Sirion carefully. His one eye narrowed slightly, and the gills on his cheeks twitched slightly, as if he was considering whether it was worth wasting his time on him at all. In the end, he turned away, waving his hand, as if to say: "Do what you want, you don't have any money anyway."
Sirion remained standing. He looked at his pouch, feeling a slight tension. Of course, he hadn't planned on paying for someone else's lunch, but the situation was clearly out of the ordinary.
"Eh," he sighed quietly, taking out the pouch.
He carefully poured out the coins, counted three silver gears and placed them on the counter. The jingle of the coins made Gekko turn around abruptly. His eye widened, expressing a mixture of surprise and respect. He took the money silently, nodded in acknowledgement, and went back to his business.
Sirion glanced toward the alley where Vi and the others had disappeared. He allowed himself a slight grin.
"Chaos," he muttered under his breath. "What a bunch of company..."
He walked slowly out of the diner, catching up with the noisy group, who, judging by the laughter he could hear, were already turning the corner. Sirion walked calmly, deciding in his mind whether to mention that he had paid for the meal, or to let it remain his little secret.
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