XXVII: Dinnertime:

It’s time for dinner. They sat across from each other. It’s not a feast tonight. It was just going to be a simple meal. Rice, pickled vegetables, and yams. He has salmon on his plate. This was shipped out to them. The owner of the house said they could do deliveries. He was surprised they could do that.

“How is that even possible?” he asked.

“There’s a small restaurant down the road,” the owner said. “No one eats inside. They just order takeout and deliveries.” That sounded odd to him. But he didn’t question it. He just hungry.

“Let’s eat,” she said. He nodded and picked up her chopsticks. It was much but that was what they could afford for now. They were going to need more money soon. The question was where was he going to get it.

“How is it?” he asked. She nodded as she took a bite. She was too busy eating to talk.

“Heh,” he said. Dinner had been standard for the past couple of days. Same with the other meals. He already knew what they were doing tonight. Best not to force it. Let it come naturally. He paused when he thought he heard her say something.

“Hm?” he asked. She looked him in the eye and shook her head. More rice goes into her mouth. He doesn’t try to push her. More salmon is pushed into his mouth. He glanced up to see her staring at him.

“Can I have a piece?” she asked. He raised his eyebrow.

“You sure?” he asked. She slowly nodded. He shrugged at her.

“Sure,” he said. He set a piece of salmon on her rice.

“Thank you,” she said. She takes a bite. He kept his eyes on her.

“So… how is it?” he asked. She nodded.

“Good,” she said. “It’s good.” She took another bite. He took another bite of his salmon. The sounds of crickets filled the silence. They said it was going to rain later tonight. There might even be a thunderstorm. He hadn’t seen a single cloud in the sky. Still, he wasn’t an idiot. The weather here could be quite unpredictable. A storm could trap them here for weeks and they wouldn’t know it. However, he couldn’t think about that now. There were other things on his mind.

“Hm? What was that?” he asked.

“What are we going to do tonight?” she asked. He thought about that for a moment and shrugged.

“Not much,” he said. “I am going to have a drink later.”

“Okay,” she said. She had already finished her rice. She reached over for one of her pickled vegetables. They didn’t speak for the rest of dinner. They didn’t need to. They just needed the night, food, and each other. The steamy stuff was going to come later.