The food arrived exactly when expected. The waiter delivered their food with practiced hands and walked off after the practiced question of additional needs. Of course, the ladies’ had exactly what they wanted.
After the waiter left, Chaeri leaned onto Tosca and couldn’t help but comment, “You think we should swap our orders to confuse them?”
Tosca smiled and returned her lean, “They’d probably get our food right anyway.”
“I like what I get,” Adrianne added before taking the largest bite possible into her spiced pulled meat sandwich.
Much more than liked, Adrianne loved the food at this particular restaurant. It was always better than she remembered. There was a Ge’s in Rubin’s Trail but it wasn’t as authentic. The meat wasn’t as fresh; the vegetables weren’t as flavored; the seasonings weren’t quite right. At the first family’s restaurant, the old techniques were still used. Some of these techniques were frowned upon in the big city.
Leaning onto and laughing with her co-worker, Tosca was happy that she didn’t let the past bitterness stop her from joining her sisters. Though a small portion of it lingered, there was a pact among them separating work from personal life. Both sets of lives were important but one directly affected the future of entire kingdoms.
Chaeri looked around to make certain that they weren’t being watched then placed a device the size of her finger in the center of the table. As it activated, sound and light outside of their table was warped signaling its sound muffling effect.
Now safe to discuss important matters, Tosca spoke up, “How was the experiment?”
Adrianne continued eating for a while. After a few seconds she swallowed, looked up with a smile, and simply said, “Perfect.”
“How perfect?”
“Turned rock to glass in a heartbeat”
Chaeri stopped leaning on Tosca, to make sure she heard Adrianne correctly. She knew exactly what it implied but had to check just in case, “What about steel?”
Adrianne, grinned back at Chaeri to make sure she understood, “Didn’t have time, but it should work.”
Tosca now leaned heavily onto Chaeri, looked at her and stuck out her tongue, “So?”
Chaeri held a stiff expression for a little while but after a few seconds gave a defeated sigh and said, “Fine, I’ll buy.”
Adrianne just now realized what was happening and shouted, “You two?” Her face twisted in frustration, “No gambling!”
“It was so statistically improbable,” Chaeri reasoned, “So technically… It wasn’t really gambling.”
“But you lost,” Tosca reminded her of the obvious.
“Okay fine,” Chaeri knew when she had lost a battle but at least it was good for the clan. Still, curiosity overcame her pride, “I’d like to see the video.”
Adrianne took another bite of her sandwich before removing her communicator from her coat pocket. Soon the holographic recording of the missile test was displayed for those inside of their distortion bubble. Their eyes widened as the missile head broke into parts and grabbed the rock and melt it in midair. The dirty heap landed and rolled, setting fire to the grass. Droids put out the flame before it got out of hand. The beautiful and precise device would serve them well in the trails, incredibly well.
“Whoa,” Tosca shouted, “That’s better than I thought!”
Adrianne held her grin during the entire recording. She correctly predicted their responses and knew what should come next. “So,” said still smiling, “to celebrate?”
“Hunting?” Chaeri suggested. It wasn’t her favorite pastime but Tosca loved it. As a form of apology for earlier bitterness and acknowledgement of Tosca’s recent victory, it made sense.
“Yes!” Tosca cheered pumping her free first into the air.
It worked.
Adrianne too wasn’t particularly fond of hunting, but there was something about it that kept their senses sharp. Also, the animals around here were particularly strong, heavy, and kept the restaurant filled. “Well, they’re always looking for more meat,” she said before taking another large bit of her sandwich.