milliways_bar | Cycle 030

With Merle studying at the monastery, and Magnus doing his little league stuff, Lup’s been spending a lot of time with Taako this cycle.

Luckily, there’s plenty to do. They’re in the heart of a bustling city, and with warfare a thing of the past, culture is thriving - they go to plays, concerts, art exhibitions.

But the best part, by far, is the restaurants. After trading him a mortar and pestle Merle had carved, a street chef has been getting them cosy with the chef community in the city.

They’ve been visiting a new one nearly every week, and eating like fucking kings.

The restaurant they’re at today might be the best one yet. It’s in the basement of another restaurant, where there’s just other chefs. And they clearly know what they’re doing.

“I am loving the spices they’re using. I’ll have ask what they are later.” Lup swallows her mouthful of soup. “How’s your sandwich thing, Taako?”

She turns to him. But Taako is spacing out, staring into the distance, miles away.

“Taako?” She calls again. “Did you hear me?

“What?” Taako shakes his head and blinks. “What’s happened? Where am I?”

“We’re in this restaurant,” Lup says, a little perplexed.” This food is fucking unbelievable, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah that’s the word for it,” says Taako, still distracted. “Unbelievable.”

Now back in the present, Taako glances at their plates.

“What are those little cookies?”

“The maitre-d mentioned them,” Lup says, wiping her mouth. “They’re called fortune cookies. Apparently you break them open and they’ve got little slips of paper with fortunes on them.”

“Like, magical fortunes, or…?”

“Who knows?” She nods at the cookies. “One way to find out, though.”

“Cool, me first!” Taako picks up his cookie and pulls apart the ends. Sure enough, it reveals a tiny slip of paper

“What does it say?” Lup asks.

Taako reads aloud, “What is lost can always be found again.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“No idea,” Taako shrugs. “Maybe it’s talking about that sock I lost the other day.”

“Nah,” Lup grins. “That’s just karma for all the socks you’ve stolen from me.”

“I can’t help that we have the same size feet, Lulu.” He glances at the cookie on her plate. “What does your say?”

Lup cracks hers open and frowns at the paper inside.

“Mine just says “Wait.””

“Wait for what?”

“It doesn’t say.” She leans back in her chair. “Fortune cookies suck.”

“Agreed.”

She shrugs. “Well, that’s one dud out of all these amazing dishes. I’d call that a win.”

—-

She’s on the ship, going over some notes, when a timid knock sounds at the doorframe. She turns to see Barry, who gives a little wave and clears his throat.

“I…wanted to show you something.”

“Sure, “ Lup gets up and moves towards him. “What’s up?”

“So, some folks at the monastery mentioned that there’s a species of butterfly on this planet that migrates through the outskirts of the city this time of year.”

“Yeah?” She smiles. “You hoping to catch it?”

“Yeah, this evening. But, uh…I was thinking…” he shuffles his feet. ‘Maybe we could watch it…together?”

Lup can feel her face heating up a little bit, too.

Thirty years of traveling together - how are they still so bad at this?

She nods. “I’d love to.”

—-

That evening, Lup and Barry sit in a grassy field, outside the city, overlooking the edge of a forest. They talk a little, but they mostly just take in the peace of the evening, watching the stars come out, and enjoying each other’s company.

Just as the moon begins to rise, they appear, over the trees.

They’re stunning. Their wings are an iridescent blue, and they reflect the moonlight as they flutter overhead. Like fireworks enveloping the sky.

Then she turns to look at Barry.

His face, turned to the sky, is lit up, his eyes and smile wide with wonder and sheer joy.

Lup can’t help it. She throws her arms around him, enveloping him in a hug.

“This was definitely a good idea.”

After a moment, he hugs her back, even going so far as to spin her around a little.

There’s nowhere - in the world, in the universe, in the multiverse - that she’d rather be right now.