Unexpectedly vegetarian barbecue -- outside

[scots_wolf]

Urquhart reads books about everything that interests him, and he is interested in almost anything. And in MIlliways, you get books from everywhere about anything, even the few things Urquhart finds boring. This is the the candy-land of knowledge that the medieval Scottish murderer always longed for and dreamed of, in his long peregrinations. You don't get what you deserve, you merely get what you get -- and while many people that knew Urquhart briefly before their death would certainly agree he deserved to burn in hell, instead he got this.

There is a small fire burning right now -- in the round medium-sized barbecue which Urquhart has fired up outside, just beyond the kitchen garden. One of the things Urquhart is interested in is food, drink, baking, and cooking; and in one cook-book about the Mediterranean sea, Urquhart read about a kind of cheese you can fry or grill, from Cyprus. Which of course he had to try.

So, Urquhart has several pieces of halloumi, glazed with olive oil and spiked with twigs of rosemary, gently sizzling on the barbecue beside some slices of eggplant; he has a bowl of salad, a baguette or two, and a large bottle of crisp white wine from Greece.

He's sitting out in the sun, content and peaceful, with his dog by his feet  and a glass in his hand. If you happen to walk by, Urquhart will be sure to offer you some food and a glass of wine, too.

And the dog is most likely to wag his tail in friendly welcome.

Comments

[scots_wolf]

"And beyond the studies?" Urquhart asks. "Anything interesting happening at your university?"

[smallgayjew]

"Honestly most of my time is spent with my school work. Except when Stuart makes me take some time away. I've been thinking of joining the choir, though. When there's an opening."

[scots_wolf]

"What choir?" Urquhart asks.

[smallgayjew]

"The, um, chapel choir. I'm one of the alternates."

It's actually quite competitive. Though joining would mean he couldn't attend the May Morning festivities with Stuart.

[scots_wolf]

"You are?" Urquhart says.

[smallgayjew]

"Yes," David says, nodding. "Is that surprising?"

[scots_wolf]

"Yes," Urquhart says. "It sounds so Christian."

[smallgayjew]

"It is. That's why I'm not sure."

[scots_wolf]

"You'll probably have to find out whether you find music more important than religion, or the other way around," Urquhart says.

[smallgayjew]

David laughs. "Oh, I don't care either way. It's just music." Which is, in itself, a sort of religion for David. "It's my parents I'm worried about."

[scots_wolf]

"Then the music is probably more important," Urquhart says.

[smallgayjew]

"To me, yes. But it's complicated."

He really doesn't like lying to his parents.

And Stuart is already trying to get him to be honest with them about...well, everything.

[scots_wolf]

"How that?" Urquhart asks, sipping his wine.

[smallgayjew]

"I could never tell them." He frowns into his salad.

[scots_wolf]

"And it would be that bad to keep a secret from them?" Urquhart says. "Don't you keep other secrets, too? I mean nothing big, just the usual small things that everybody keeps to themselves at times."

[smallgayjew]

"Yes, but...I don't like it. And this would just be one more big thing."

And he can tell Stuart doesn't like it the he feels like he can't tell his parents about them.

[scots_wolf]

"The other big thing would be your preference for men?" Urquhart says.

[smallgayjew]

"Yes, that's a big one," David mumbles.

[scots_wolf]

"I'd guess your time doesn't exactly celebrate that with great joy yet?" Urquhart says.

[smallgayjew]

"No," David admits. "And even if they did, my parents wouldn't."

[scots_wolf]

"You're their only son, and they want grandchildren?" Urquhart guesses. "Yes, sounds a bit like what I ran away to the Crusades from, and I didn't even prefer men. I hadn't even properly discovered them at the time, and I still ran."

[smallgayjew]

"That's part of it, yes. But there's the religious aspect as well."

[scots_wolf]

"Religious aspects were always there, in my time," Urquhart says. "Life was steeped in them. So I more or less took them for granted."

[smallgayjew]

"It's not about society's religion, though. It's about my parents'."

[scots_wolf]

"But I can understand, that way, how religion can be as important as one's child, to religious people, and that that is a serious issue," Urquhart says.

Beat.

"Actually, as I say it now, I do feel it's all very preposterous of any religion to even expect of its followers to put it before their own children, whether they end up doing so or not, but then, I guess that's religions for you."