After the portals completely vanished and Lucian was safely back on the mattress, Sir Vael decided that the entire group needed a massive change of scenery to celebrate his recovery. With a wave of his hand, he guided us all out of the inn room so that we could find a nice restaurant in the middle of the town to enjoy a hearty meal together. We walked through the busy streets for a few minutes until we arrived at a large, bustling dining establishment that had plenty of space for our large group. King Nishighi, Ishighi, Hanashighi, Zhandra, Celes, Eufrien,Alea,and Salphy followed closely behind us, while Celdrich, Elphyete, Euphyne, and I walked alongside Lucian, who was already fully awake and looking around with a mischievous glint in his eye. The moment we stepped through the front doors of the building, a polite host greeted us and immediately led our entire party to a massive wooden table located right in the center of the main dining room. We all began to take our seats around the large table, pulling out the heavy chairs and settling in for the celebration. Lucian, working with extreme speed and deliberate focus, quickly scanned the seating arrangement and slid directly into the chair located right next to Sir Vael before anyone else could take it.
Sir Vael noticed the sudden movement and let out a soft, heavy sigh, his shoulders dropping slightly as he realized the boy was going to sit right beside him for the entire dinner. As soon as the waiter handed out the menus to everyone at the table, Lucian immediately began his mission to make Sir Vael as annoyed as humanly possible. He opened his large menu and lifted it completely sideways, blocking Sir Vael's view of the text entirely while pretending to look at the list of dishes with extreme intensity. Sir Vael blinked in disbelief, shifting his head to the left to see around the cardboard cover, but Lucian smoothly moved the menu along with him, keeping the view completely obstructed. Sir Vael cleared his throat loudly, his eyebrows knitting together in early frustration, and used one finger to gently push the edge of Lucian's menu down. Lucian immediately brought it back up, tapping his chin thoughtfully and asking Sir Vael if he thought the fried rice or the noodles looked more yellow today, speaking in a highly exaggerated, overly dramatic tone. Sir Vael simply closed his eyes for three long seconds, taking a slow breath to maintain his calm composure while the rest of the table ordered their food from the waiter.
When the drinks finally arrived at the table, Lucian took his tall glass of water and immediately began to slide it across the smooth wooden surface until it was touching Sir Vael's glass with a loud clinking sound. Sir Vael moved his glass three inches to the left to regain his personal space, but Lucian smoothly slid his own glass right along with it, keeping them perfectly locked together. Sir Vael glared down at the two glasses, shifted his drink another four inches away, and watched as Lucian instantly matched the movement without missing a single beat of the conversation. Sir Vael let out a sharp breath, gripping his napkin tightly in his hand while Lucian took a long sip through his straw, making an incredibly loud, gurgling, and obnoxious slurping noise that echoed clearly over the ambient chatter of the restaurant. Sir Vael's left eye twitched slightly at the continuous sound, and he turned his head slowly to look at the boy, his expression turning incredibly stern. Lucian merely smiled back with total innocence, blinking slowly and asking Sir Vael if he could help him untie the little paper wrapper from his chopsticks because his hands were supposedly too tired from falling through the portals earlier.
The primary dishes were brought out by the kitchen staff and placed in the center of our table, filling the air with a wonderful aroma that made everyone incredibly excited to eat. As the large platters of grilled meats and steaming noodles were distributed, Lucian immediately reached across the space and grabbed the large metal serving spoon. Instead of serving himself or passing the food down to King Nishighi or Celdrich, he began to hover the spoon directly over Sir Vael's empty white plate, moving it around in tiny, erratic circles. Sir Vael watched the shadow of the spoon dance across his plate, his jaw tightening as he reached out his hand to take the utensil away from the boy. Lucian suddenly pulled the spoon back, scooped up a singular, tiny green pea from the main dish, and carefully dropped it right into the exact center of Sir Vael's plate with a highly satisfied grin. Sir Vael stared down at the solitary green vegetable sitting on his large plate, his face turning a slight shade of red as he slowly picked up his fork. Lucian immediately leaned over, resting his chin heavily on his own hand, and began to watch Sir Vael's face with extreme, unblinking focus, tracking every single micro-expression as the man tried to take his first bite of food.
Sir Vael tried to ignore the intense staring by looking over at Ishighi and engaging in a polite conversation about the quality of the restaurant's interior decoration. However, Lucian refused to let him enjoy a single moment of peace, interrupting every few seconds by making quiet, rhythmic tapping noises against the side of his glass using the edge of his butter knife. *Tap, tap, tap.* The sound was incredibly consistent, sharp, and annoying, cutting right through Sir Vael's sentences and making it completely impossible for him to focus on his conversation. Sir Vael stopped speaking mid-sentence, his knuckles turning completely white as he gripped the edge of the table, turning his head to glare down at the offending knife. The exact moment Sir Vael looked over, Lucian stopped the tapping, tossed the knife casually onto his napkin, and reached into the bread basket located near the center of the table. He picked up a small dinner roll, broke it completely in half, and began to roll the soft interior bread into tiny, round dough balls, lining them up in a perfect, straight row directly along the border of Sir Vael's placemat.
Sir Vael's chest rose and fell with heavy, measured breathing as he desperately tried to maintain his legendary patience in front of the king and the rest of our classmates. He reached out with his hand, picked up one of the tiny dough balls, and dropped it into his water glass, looking at Lucian with an expression that clearly promised a very long and terrifying portal ride the next time they returned to the inn. Lucian, completely unfazed by the silent threat, simply giggled softly and picked up his straw once again, leaning down to create an even louder, more resonant bubbling sound in his half-empty glass. The noise was so incredibly disruptive that a few diners at the neighboring tables turned around to see what was happening, causing Elphyete and Euphyne to cover their faces in slight embarrassment while Celdrich tried to hide his amusement behind his hand. Sir Vael finally reached his absolute limit, slamming his palm flat against the surface of the wooden table with a dull thud that made all the silverware rattle loudly. He turned his body completely toward Lucian, his eyes narrowing into two sharp slits as he prepared to speak a highly detailed and thoroughly intimidating lecture to the troublesome boy.
But before Sir Vael could utter a single word from his mouth, Lucian suddenly sat up perfectly straight, grabbed his napkin, and wiped his mouth with total politeness as if he had been a model citizen for the entire evening. He looked over at King Nishighi and announced in a loud, cheerful voice that he was completely full and that the celebration had been an absolute, undeniable success from start to finish. The king nodded his head in agreement, standing up from his heavy wooden chair and signaling to the rest of the party that it was officially time to return to our accommodations. We all began to push our chairs back, gathering our personal belongings and wrapping up the final pieces of food left on our plates. Sir Vael stood up as well, his movements incredibly stiff and rigid from the sheer amount of tension he had been forced to hold in his body for the past hour. He adjusted his jacket with a sharp, angry jerk of his hands, glaring down at Lucian who was already bouncing on his heels, completely energized by his successful mission of disruption.
Our entire group moved away from the large wooden table, walking in a long, structured line through the center of the main dining room toward the front of the restaurant. Lucian made sure to walk directly behind Sir Vael, intentionally stepping slightly too close to his heels with every single step we took toward the exit, causing Sir Vael to repeatedly glance back over his shoulder with a face filled with absolute annoyance. We passed by the polite host who had greeted us earlier, moving through the inner lobby of the building and approaching the heavy glass doors that led out into the cool evening air. King Nishighi pushed the doors open, leading the way out onto the concrete pavement outside. Celdrich, Elphyete, Euphyne, and I stepped out right behind him, feeling completely satisfied with the wonderful meal and the joyful celebration of our friend's recovery. Lucian took one final, incredibly close step behind Sir Vael, lightly bumping into his shoulder as they both cleared the threshold of the building, and the entire gathering came to a complete stop on the sidewalk exactly when we left the restaurant.