"Are you craving any certain type of food right now? I'm liking the idea of Mexican food if not somewhere that serves breakfast, but it's up to you," She asked, her eyes wandering over the different signs and businesses. Anything that she could eat seemed good, as long as she didn't have to eat fish or seafood.
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(I have to work this weekend so I won't be on much)
Oscar tilted his head curiously. "What's Mexican food like? Is it good?" He'd read a few books about Mexican culture and several Mexican cookbooks at the library, but in his opinion the knowledge was nothing compared to actually tasting a new food.
(Ok!)
Honor nodded, "I think it's good, and as for what it's like, it has a lot of flavors, to say the least. I think having you try it will be the best way to explain it." She drove through the town slowly, smiling when she saw a sign advertising Mexican food, as well as a parking space on the street right outside of the restaurant.
(thanks for waiting!)
"Okay. I'd like to try it then." Oscar's mouth was already watering at the thought of a square meal, even though breakfast hadn't been that long ago. "Look, the sign says kids get free coloring books. Do you think we could pretend I was a kid?"
(No problem!)
"I don't think they would fall for you being a kid, but I'm sure if we ask they would most likely give you one anyway," She admitted, shutting off the truck and hopping out happily. Her stomach growled loudly, sounding more like a wild animal than her stomach. "The only way to find out is to ask though, and that means we should probably head inside." Honor patted her pocket instinctively, checking that she had her wallet as she walked to the door and held it open for Oscar.
Oscar stepped inside, glancing around at the half-full, half-empty booths and the sign by the door asking people to wait to be seated. The lady at the counter gave them a smile and cheerfully told them she'd be with them in just one minute.
"This place looks nice," Oscar said quietly to Honor. "I like it way better than that other stupid town already."
She nodded in agreement, looking around and studying the inside of the building. It looked like a nice place, something that she liked, plus it looked like they would be able to get a good solid meal in for the first time in forever. "This place really does look nice, I hope their food is good too," Honor added, waiting patiently for the lady to get back to seat them.
After a minute she walked over to greet them, smiling brightly and not batting an eye at Oscar's bandaged head. "Hello, welcome! Will it just be the two of you today?"
Oscar nodded, and she whisked them over to a smaller booth by the window. "Can I get you guys anything to drink?" she asked as she gave them both a menu.
"I'll have a lemonade, please," Honor started, smiling at the waitress as she took the menu and started to scan over the different things they served. Everything looked amazing, or at least good, even the food on the kid's menu. It would definitely be difficult to decide on just one thing.
"Sure! Anything for you, sir?"
"Um….could I have a lemonade too?" Oscar hesitated, then blurted, "And a coloring book? Please?"
The waitress looked surprised for a minute, but nodded. "Yeah, if you want one! I'll be back in just a second." She bustled off, humming.
"What's lemonade?" Oscar asked in a hushed voice once she was gone.
She didn't respond for a minute, still looking through the menu before she looked back up and tried her best to explain. "It's a drink that people make from lemon juice, water, and sugar to put it simply. It's really good though, I think you'll really like it." Honor tapped the menu once she finished explaining, clearly trying to decide between a few options that they offered, "What are you going to get?"
"Uhmm….I don't know." Oscar frowned at the menu, trying to absorb the information written on it while also absently practicing his math skills on the prices. "Maybe one of these cheese and bean and rice things. It looks filling. What does 'spicy' stuff taste like?"
"I'm not sure how to describe it…it's hot, but not from temperature. It's easier to just try it," She said, humming as she tapped her decision, "I might get the chicken quesadillas, they sound good." Anything sounded good, but as she scanned through the items, it stuck out from everything else.
Oscar nodded. "Okay."
After a few more minutes, the waitress returned with their drinks, as well as a pocket-sized coloring book and pack of crayons for Oscar. "Here you go. Are you guys ready to order, or would you like some more time?"
"I'm ready," Oscar said bravely. "I would like…..this, please." He was suddenly gripped with uncertainty about the pronunciation of his choice, and simply pointed at it to avoid embarrassing himself.
The waitress smiled. "Okay, gotcha. And you, ma'am?"
Honor smiled back at the waitress, tapping her own choice, "The chicken quesadillas, please." She folded her menu up neatly once she was finished and slid it towards the woman, seeming calm and hoping that Oscar followed what she was doing.
(I gotta go to bed but here)
Oscar quickly copied her, and the waitress collected their menus briskly. "Great, I'll get this to the kitchen and your food should be ready real soon. Just let me know if you need anything else."
Once she was gone, Oscar unpacked the crayons and started curiously flipping through the coloring book. "There are a lot of strange smiling animals in here. Do you want to color any of them, Honor?"
"I'll pass for now," Honor replied, declining his offer with a soft smile, "If you don't recognize any of the animals I can tell you their names, but I bet you read about them all at the library." She propped her head up on one of her hands and took a sip of the lemonade, ignoring how hungry she was.
"Yeah, I think I know them all, but I've never seen them look this weird. I think this is a tiger, and this one's a monkey, and this is a….toucan, I think?" Shrugging, he chose a color and got to work. "I've wanted to do art every since I read about it. I'm gonna color these so good, just wait Honor."
His determination alone made her smile grow considerably and she watched him for a minute, "I don't doubt you will, tell me when you're done so I can see what they look like." Honor didn't shift from how she was sitting, just zoned out after a minute into her thoughts.
"I will."
After a while of working in silence, Oscar spoke again. This time his voice was more serious. "I wonder if Ernie's finding enough to eat out there. I bet he doesn't have money for the food at a restaurant…."
"Ernie's smart, I'm sure he'll find some way to feed himself," She replied, though it was clear she was now slightly worried about him. Honor shook her head and pushed around her glass, slipping back into her thoughts with no indication of what she was thinking about.
"You're probably right." Oscar realized he was expressing concern for someone he had originally hated and quickly shut his mouth in embarrassment, but at the same time this strange feeling of empathy wasn't entirely unpleasant so he decided to stick with what he'd said.
After another few minutes, he noticed how quiet and distracted Honor was. "You look….thoughtful. Is everything okay?"
She nodded softly, still zoned out slightly but answering his question, "Everything's ok, I'm just…..thinking." Once again, she sipped at her drink, not going into any more detail about what was clouding her thoughts as she snapped back to reality. "How's the coloring going?" She asked, smiling gently at him and glancing at the animals on the paper.
(gosh dang you sure got me curious about her and her secrets xD)
He eyed her for another minute, then looked down at his work. "It's going….good, I think." He held up the picture for Honor to see. "I think I'm gonna run out of black and red, though."
Somehow, he'd managed to turn the cartoony tiger into something entirely different. The colors melded and mushed together in a way that seemed purely chaotic at first, but after a moment, shapes began to appear in the swirls of black and red and yellow. The tiger was now a many-eyed, many-legged beast with otherworldly patterns on its skin and unnervingly disjointed anatomy, and it was camouflaged so neatly against the scribbled background that from some angles it looked like there was nothing there at all. The only thing even remotely tiger-like about it was the striped face and mouth full of oversized teeth.
Oscar smiled proudly. "I like coloring so far. I'm gonna ask the waitress if I can keep the crayons and book when she comes back. Do you like it, Honor?"
(Muahahaha :D)
Honor was surprised with the picture, to say the least, staring at the picture with a mix of being impressed and being worried, though the former was the one that was clear on her face. "It's impressive," She said, looking over the picture at all the detail he had been able to put into the area with a hint of a smile, "I've never seen anything like it. Maybe I'll have to get you a coloring book and crayons from the store for while we drive." The picture was terrifying and intriguing all at once, and it drew her curiosity as much as she questioned why it did so.
Oscar brightened excitedly. "I'd like more stuff to color. Are we going to the store right after this? We could get more food and books and maybe clothes and maybe some paints? I want to try painting too." He went back to the small book and flipped to a new page, selecting the blue crayon this time. "If we have enough money, I mean. I don't know how much paint costs."
"We'll go to the store after this, yes. And can maybe get you some clothes and paints too, along with crayons and coloring books," She said, nodding as she watched the ice in her lemonade float and bob in the liquid, "As long as you don't want the fanciest and most expensive things I should have enough money." Honor's stomach protested silently with the lack of food still present, but she didn't bring it up, just glanced around the restaurant and waited patiently.
Oscar nodded. "I don't want anything that costs a lot." Noticing Honor's shifting attention, he followed her gaze and his eyes darkened—just a bit. "Don't worry, the waitress will bring our food here soon. she's really nice, isn't she? Can we give her a tip when we leave? I read about tips."
Honor smiled gently, once again nodding, "She is nice, and I'll definitely give her a tip. I would feel bad if I didn't." Hopefully, Oscar was right in regards to the food, the sooner she could start eating the better. Even if he was wrong though, she knew it wouldn't be terrible, she could handle waiting longer to eat, even if it was going to affect her mood.
Whether or not Oscar had actually foreseen it, the food arrived within the next few minutes. The waitress set their plates down in front of them and refilled their drinks, still smiling politely.
"Here you go. Just let me know if you need anything else, okay? Ooh–I see you're getting some mileage out of that coloring book."
Oscar looked up from his work, caught in the middle of methodically turning a robin into a splash of feathers, stars, and rainbow scales. "Yeah, um, thanks for giving it to me."
"May I see your drawing? It looks incredible."
"…Sure."
The waitress studied the picture with raised eyebrows. "I have to ask, do you make art professionally? That looks like something I'd see in a gallery."
"Well no…." Oscar frowned. "You mean people can make art for their job? Like, they sell their art?"
"Absolutely! I bet somebody would pay a lot for that if you framed it and gave it a nice name." The waitress smiled and straightened. "Anyway, I'd better get back to work. Enjoy your meal, both of you."
Oscar set aside his crayons and began to eat, his mind awhirl. "Honor, was she telling the truth?"