Vegetarian coda
Got a complimentary comment on that last minifill from a vegetarian. And then this happened. I don't even know. *laugh*
***
Charles had not expected this. They'd been traveling all day, had pushed two hours later than they usually would have - Erik singularly focused on something at their destination. Once inside the city limits, Erik had proceeded not to their usual type of hotel... but to a restaurant.
Insalata caprese with avocado - Erik had smiled like a wolf, inscrutable when he had ordered it. Now he dragged a single finger through the blackest balsamic Charles had ever seen, drizzled across the plate.
A wolf eating salad: it should have been funny. Charles inhaled sharply when Erik tasted the sharp note of vinegar on the tip of his index finger, his tongue a curling pink contrast to everything around them - the red of the tomatoes, the green of the avocado, the darker green of the basil... even the white of the plates.
Hot peppers stuffed with risotto - the second course arrived before Charles found his own capacity for hunger, his own appetite instead of a reflection of Erik's. Knife and fork, the same precise movements. "I had not anticipated your fondness for vegetarian cuisine." There - enough conversation to prove that Charles was also a man with some table manners. The spiciness of the pepper had Charles reaching for his water glass.
"Surely you've realized, Charles, how little stock I put in what others expect from me." It was not a question. And the look Erik gave him from under his lashes could almost be called coy. "Besides, one must eat ones vegetables if one wishes to remain... healthy."
Charles counted to ten as he inhaled, ten again as he exhaled. Then he served himself a rather more generous portion of roasted sunchokes in soy sauce. He rather did want to be... healthy after all.
***
Charles had not expected this. They'd been traveling all day, had pushed two hours later than they usually would have - Erik singularly focused on something at their destination. Once inside the city limits, Erik had proceeded not to their usual type of hotel... but to a restaurant.
Insalata caprese with avocado - Erik had smiled like a wolf, inscrutable when he had ordered it. Now he dragged a single finger through the blackest balsamic Charles had ever seen, drizzled across the plate.
A wolf eating salad: it should have been funny. Charles inhaled sharply when Erik tasted the sharp note of vinegar on the tip of his index finger, his tongue a curling pink contrast to everything around them - the red of the tomatoes, the green of the avocado, the darker green of the basil... even the white of the plates.
Hot peppers stuffed with risotto - the second course arrived before Charles found his own capacity for hunger, his own appetite instead of a reflection of Erik's. Knife and fork, the same precise movements. "I had not anticipated your fondness for vegetarian cuisine." There - enough conversation to prove that Charles was also a man with some table manners. The spiciness of the pepper had Charles reaching for his water glass.
"Surely you've realized, Charles, how little stock I put in what others expect from me." It was not a question. And the look Erik gave him from under his lashes could almost be called coy. "Besides, one must eat ones vegetables if one wishes to remain... healthy."
Charles counted to ten as he inhaled, ten again as he exhaled. Then he served himself a rather more generous portion of roasted sunchokes in soy sauce. He rather did want to be... healthy after all.