Chapter 33 Callie
thirty-three
Callie
It was perfect.
Sesame seeds on a golden brown bun that had that shiny quality all good hamburger buns had, with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, onions, and—fuck me blind and move the furniture—was that bacon?
Tears pricked my eyes when the chef placed the burger on my plate and I saw that yes, yes it was bacon, crisped to perfection. Oh sweet baby Jesus, it smelled fucking delicious.
I looked at Rathal in open mouthed shock. “What?”
He nodded his head at the chef—who then grunted and left—and gestured to the burger on his own plate.
“The ingredients were hard to find and expensive, but of all the Earth media I’ve studied, the hamburger seems to be on the top of your country’s list of favorite foods.
I know that you are partial to only meat now, but I figured I’d give it to you as a whole for the full effect and you could decide what you can eat or not. ”
My hands shook as I reached for the burger and picked up the warm miracle and brought it to my mouth. I took a long sniff and nearly wept before taking my first bite.
Flavor kicked me in the teeth, all American flavor, full on normal Earth flavor. This burger could have been from any one of the restaurants back home and it made a thankful sob escape past the food in my mouth.
“It's good then?” Rathal asked, his voice quivering with barely suppressed laughter.
I nodded rapidly as I chewed and took another bite and sniffed a little against the tears that wanted to rain down my cheeks. A fucking burger. Thank you, God.
I absolutely ignored the way the lettuce sorta tasted like dirt and how much I hated tomatoes because I had a good old fashioned American hamburger in my hands right now and fuck my alien DNA for trying to mess this up for me.
When the last crumb disappeared into my mouth and I licked the flavors off my fingers, Rathal waved to the next chef who did the same as the first, though he revealed his prize with more flourish than the grumpy guy.
“Tacos. Taco Tuesdays, Taco dogs, Taco bells. You Earth dwellers love tacos.” Rathal plucked the flour tortilla stuffed with grilled chicken, red onions, and cilantro off of the serving platter and squeezed a dash of lime over it before placing it on my plate.
“Personally, I don’t understand the appeal.
It seems very basic to me, but then I prefer my food with more flare. ”
I held up the street taco and looked at him over it. “This is flare, you cretin. Talk shit about tacos at your own peril.” I took two huge bites and moaned, sitting back in my chair hard while I chewed manna from heaven. I could die right now and be happy.
Rathal tossed the taco into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully before nodding once and dabbing his mouth with his napkin. “Not bad. Though little more than a mouthful.”
I snorted, swallowing the last of my taco and gestured at my plate. “Usually with tacos there are several. Three is probably the sweet spot, but one can never judge another on the number of tacos consumed. It's a sacred law.”
“Ah, I see. Well, in that case I will apologize for the miscalculation of taco to mouth ratio and we will move onto the next course.”
He nodded at the last chef, who had the largest covered platter. The chef wheeled his cart over to us and lifted the lid.
My hand came to my mouth with a sharp intake of air.
Apple motherfucking pie. With ice cream. Oh, holyfuckingshit there was churros with caramel dipping sauce, and a chocolate malt shake with two red and white striped straws sticking out of the whipped cream.
“I couldn’t decide on what desert was the most popular in your country so I just picked the first three that kept coming up in your media.
I looked at him with a quivering lip and reached for the malted shake first. That first sip made me shimmy in my seat and Rathal laughed.
“Which one is your favorite?”
I held up the shake. “Chocolate malt shakes all the way. It’s like an American staple.”
He got me all dressed up for chocolate shakes and burgers. It was a good thing we’d already exchanged our I love yous or I’d have blurted it out right here and now.
This was an A plus plus date.
He was getting his dick sucked for this.
“Why are you looking at me that way? It's making me nervous.”
I snickered and continued drinking my shake while thinking of all the filthy ways I was going to reward him for this. Once I got to the bottom of the glass, Rathal served me and himself a slice of apple pie with a side of vanilla ice cream and added the churros and caramel sauce as well.
After my second mouthwatering bite I sat back with a sigh and looked at him.
“Thank you for this.”
Rathal paused with his fork in midair before setting it back down on his plate.
“You’re welcome. I know what it is to miss home.
Something simple like a favorite meal can make all the difference.
Though my chefs may kill us both if we make a habit of ordering Earth food.
The vanilla beans were viciously hard to get. ”
He made jokes but I knew heartache when I saw it.
“What was your favorite dish from Ara’Ama?” I asked before biting into the surgery mess of the churro.
His right ear flicked to the side, the rings clinking together softly.
“There was a small cafe just on the outskirts of the Imperial city that served these little fried balls of bread called essa, stuffed with a spicy meat mash. Those paired with a nice cold glass of beer is what I would call my favorite meal. Though perhaps there are the grilled meats my mother used to prepare. She would spend all day preparing them, the spice blend was very exact, and then marinate them overnight so that they would be ready for the open flame the next day. It is a tie, I think.”
I glanced at the churro in my hand, noting that it was exactly like one I would find on Earth, down to the ridges.
What would it be like to never have that again?
My planet was still there, still alive and well, and once this stupid ass war was over, I could visit if I wanted.
Before Anu had Jack’s antibodies to synthesize a cure, Ara’Ama was dead.
It had been thousands of years since Rathal had tasted the spices of his homeworld.
I couldn’t imagine never tasting my mother’s tamales or my father’s famous chili.
Food was such a diverse part of people’s culture, and to lose it forever?
Or at least in Rathal’s case, for thousands of years? Awful.
“I’m sorry you’ve lost so much,” I said, reaching my hand out to cover his and giving him a little squeeze.
He smiled and laid his other hand over mine, his rings warm against my fingers.
“Thank you. But before you go starting to feel too sorry for me, know that I intend to gorge myself on all the flavors of home until I fall into a coma in which there may be no recovering from once the Rijitera crush the will of the Unity under their claws and resettle Ara’Ama . ”
Laughter burst out of me around my mouthful of churro and ice cream and I covered my mouth to keep the food where it belonged. “Well alrighty then, sounds like a plan. What are we gonna do? Go house to house and demand payment for our war efforts in home cooked food?”
He tapped his chin and then snapped his fingers at me. “Or we could have a celebration day where everyone must bring one dish or else. It must have ingredients from the planet and the more original the recipe the better.”
“We could have a beer garden too! Get trashy and well fed. Best post war celebration ever.”
He shook his finger at me and grinned. “I like the way you think, darling. Truly I do.”
I twirled my last churro in an air bow and dipped my head in acknowledgement. “I’m a genius, I know.”
Still chuckling, Rathal waved an attendant over who brought forth a final tray.
On it was a sophisticated coffee carafe with matching sugar and creamer containers.
Dainty porcelain cups and saucers were placed in front of us.
Rathal thanked the attendant and took the tray from him and sat it down on the other side of the table before pouring a dark steaming liquid into each cup.
It smelled suspiciously like coffee. Real coffee, not the slightly off root powder drink that we’d been drinking here in space.
“Is this?—” I asked, picking up my cup to smell it.
“It is,” Rathal answered, taking a sip and smiling at me over the rim of his cup.
I gasped and took a quick drink, ignoring how it burned my taste buds and closed my eyes with a groan as the flavor washed over my abused tongue.
It was coffee. Good coffee, medium roast with a bright flavor profile with hints of chocolate and blueberries.
I opened my eyes to meet Rathal’s and could have married him on the spot just for this.
This right here, was high bar shit. This was an over the top, end of the world effort to give me something I enjoyed.
“How did you even know where to get this? I mean, this particular roast? How did you know I liked medium roasted coffee?”
He placed his empty cup onto its saucer and settled back in his chair. In the suit, his arrogant posture with his ankle perched on his opposite knee and his hands folded across his stomach was something worthy of gracing a dark romance novel cover.
“I researched, darling. I listened. I remember hearing you tell Jack during one of my long nights watching you on the security feeds that dark roast was just burnt beans and an abomination and that it had the least amount of caffeine.
I filed that away for later use. I then sent a team to Earth to start gathering supplies.
There is now a well to do coffee shop that is missing its roaster and it's very nice Kees van der Westen Spirit espresso machine. I did steal several hundred pounds of raw beans and several coffee trees, but I left compensation to the farmers in the form of some very valuable gold coins so I count that particular theft as a legitimate purchase.”
What he said processed in my brain and I blinked at him slowly. “You stole a roaster… Are you trying to tell me you roasted the beans?”
“Of course. While I had my pirates steal the supplies and the chefs cook the meal, I wanted something that came from my own efforts to give you. The videos and books were easy to follow and with some trial and error I have found the perfect roasting technique. My espresso beans are something I’m rather proud of, and while most of my latte art still needs work, I think my rosetta is near perfect.
My foam is the right consistency, I just need to work on my wrist movements to get the swan correct.
The tulip, for some gods forsaken reason, is the hardest for me to do.
I think I bring the pitcher too close to the cup during the pour. ”
I stared at him, lost for words.
Rathal tilted his head. “What? What is it? Just now discovering that I am an exemplary male that you were foolish to wait so long to claim and cherish forever? I have been telling you that from the beginning. The multiple orgasms should have been the final clue you needed to believe me.”
There it was.
I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. I brought my cup to my mouth to hide my smile though. It would encourage him and Rathal needed no help with his arrogance.
“You need not thank me, your speechlessness is thanks enough.”
My god, he was so full of himself. Living with him for the rest of eternity would never be boring, that was for sure. He was the most caring male I’d ever encountered and I’d have been a fool to let him slip through my fingers.
Not that I think he’d have allowed it anyways.
I watched him preen for a few seconds before placing my cup back on its saucer and getting serious for a moment.
“I know you say you don’t need me too, and maybe you don’t but still. Thank you for this, Rathal. It’s the best date I’ve ever been on.”
His eyes softened. “You are welcome. Pampering you is a privilege that I cherish. It will be an enjoyable challenge to one up myself in the years to come.”
Oh god.
This fool was going to drive me nuts.
“I love you,” I said, my voice low but steady.
He rose from his chair, coming to kneel before mine and laid his big hands on top of my thighs.
“And I love you, Callie.”
I must have been looking at him a certain kind of way because he laughed under his breath.
“No, my love. I think both of us need our rest this rotation. I did not set out tonight in the hopes of seducing you. This was simply because I enjoy pleasing you. Now, if you’re finished?
” he asked, pointing with his chin at the table.
I could barely speak past the knot in my throat but I managed to nod yes.
“Good. Let's get you back to our room, showered, and tucked into bed. We have a busy day tomorrow.”
I don’t think I’d ever gone on a date where there wasn’t the unspoken expectation of sex afterwards. It almost felt kind of weird—in a good way, but still weird.
“Okay,” I finally managed to say. “That actually sounds amazing.”
I don’t know how many hours exactly I’d been awake, but it had at least been a full twenty-four hours.
Light had passed during the Assembly and it was nearly halfway through Dark now.
I didn’t seem to need as much sleep as I did when I was wholly human but I’d been busy these last few days and I was beyond exhausted.
Rathal pulled me to my feet with his hand at my elbow.
We walked back to our room with our arms around each other and I didn’t pay enough attention to see if anyone gave us any looks.
When we got to our room, Rathal helped me strip and removed all my jewelry to put it away.
He had even gone the extra mile and got me a shower cap so my hair didn’t get wet and then we took a completely domestic shower, with no sexual touches but for some reason just washing next to him seemed the most sensual thing I’d ever done.
He then sat me down and did my entire nighttime hair routine by himself, tied my wrap on and carried me to bed. We cuddled. Just cuddled. No grab-assing or anything. I fell asleep smiling.