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The late morning sun shone upon the pair as they found their way down the street. Silver listened as flickies chattered amongst themselves, cars drove past, some with music blaring loud enough that they could hear it. People on their cellphones, talking to their bosses or friends or family, groups of mobians walking together, be it on the same path as their own or going their own way. As happy as Silver was to see all the world that he seldom visited, he couldn’t quite fight back the sick, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Silver?” The familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts to see that Blaze had turned to face him. He had fallen a few steps behind.
“O-oh, sorry, Blaze,” he apologized, his face a little warm as he rubbed his neck and caught up to her. “I guess I’m a little distracted.”
“I figured as much,” Blaze replied warmly, a smile gracing her features. “Everything here must be exciting for you.”
The moment she said this, a new feeling known as guilt jabbed Silver in the gut. “Um, actually…” he started, and her smile fell to confusion and concern. “… do we have to go? To the, uh, restaurant?”
“You don’t want to go?” she asked.
“I--I do , it’s just---!” Words couldn’t quite find their way past his throat as he stood there, mouth agape yet silent.
But just as the urge to slap himself snuck up on him, Blaze’s expression shifted. She had a smirk on her face. She looked… Amused?
And then she found the words that he could not. “You think it’ll be too fancy for you?”
Silver felt a wave of relief wash over him and he breathed out a “Yeah...”
Blaze let loose a little laugh as she took his hands in her own. “Don’t worry, Silver,” she reassured, “this place isn’t the least bit fancy.”
This brought Silver pause, a blip of calmness yet still a persevering anxiety. “Are you sure?” he finally asked after a moment.
“I promise.”
Silver took a deep breath, and followed Blaze to the restaurant.
After all, it can’t be that bad, right?
They made their way along the sidewalk toward a strip mall. It was as they walked that Silver could hear loud music coming from one of the establishments just ahead of them. When they arrived at the place with the loud music, Blaze held the door open for him as they both entered.
To say that Silver was surprised by Blaze’s choice of eatery would be an understatement. This place didn’t even look like a restaurant. As soon as they entered, there were arcade games and children and toys as far as the eye could see. A massive jungle gym with a ball pit stood over them like a giant and discarded tickets sprinkled the floors.
As a small screeching child ran past them, Silver found himself reaching for Blaze’s sleeve. “Uh, Blaze, I think we’re in the wrong place.” He bent in close so she could hear him over the ear-splitting noise.
“No, this is it,” she reassured, “the not-at-all fancy restaurant that I promised you.”
Silver’s eyes shifted around, darting from corner to corner in complete and utter disbelief. The princess of the Sol Empire wanted to eat here? Before he could ask any more questions, Blaze declared, “Come, let’s go find a table,” and left him scrambling after her.
Apparently, there were, in fact, tables where people sat and ate, children and adults alike. Some were seated at a very long table with balloons tied to silvery weights.
Amidst it all was loud music over the speakers, loud music from the creepy robot band at the front, loud children screaming. It was so loud that Silver didn’t realize his head was starting to hurt.
Blaze found a table for the two of them by the windows. It was about as far as they could get from most of the commotion as well as the arcade games. Silver sat across from her and imitated her as she looked at one of the menus.
“I forgot how loud it gets here,” she commented before looking at Silver. “It’s not too loud for you, is it?”
Silver brushed off the twinge of pain in his temples and smiled. “No, not at all.”
“Are you sure? Because there are some other places near here that aren’t as loud.”
With the wave of his hand, he brushed it off. “Don’t worry about it! I like it here, it’s so different from what I’m used to.”
Blaze smiled- a little concerned but a smile regardless- and turned back to her menu as they tried to decide what they wanted.
Soon, a lady came by their table. She introduced herself and asked if she could get them some drinks. Blaze wanted tea. Silver, though tempted by the option of chocolate milk, asked for the same as Blaze. Even though he hadn’t had chocolate anything in years, everything about the situation made him feel uneasy.
In fact, as he sat there feeling anxious, he couldn’t help but notice his headache. A few minutes ago, it was just a twinge. Now---has it got worse?
It’s fine. What was a little headache? It was probably from the noise. And he had been stressed lately.
Can you get headaches from anxiety and jitters? Probably.
It was fine.
The waitress came back. She had a black metal tray, balancing their drinks on the surface. As she placed them on the table before them, she asked if she could get them something to eat.
It was at this moment that Silver realized he hadn’t been looking at the menu. At all. He held it in front of his face just as Blaze did, but he didn’t read it. He didn’t even look at the pictures of food.
Was it just him, or was everything a lot harder to see than it was five minutes ago?
Scrambling to look at his menu, he strained himself trying to make out what was on the menu. So much, in fact, that he didn’t hear his name being called.
“... Silver? Silver!” Suddenly snapped out of his vained efforts to read the menu options as Blaze pulled down his menu. At least, he assumed it was Blaze.
Weird. Even though she was less than two feet away from him, he couldn’t make out her face.
“Oh, sorry, what did you say?” he asked, though as the wave of heat that came with embarrassment approached, there was something much worse lurking beneath it.
“I asked if you wanted to share a cheese pizza,” she repeated. He could only just barely hear the questioning tone in her voice.
“Oh, yeah, that sounds good,” he replied. His voice sounded strange to him.
Blaze said… Something to the waitress and… The waitress walked away.
Silver’s head was starting to throb.
Was it… Louder than before? Straining his eyes, he tried to look around—discreetly, of course—and it seemed like there were a lot more people in here than before. Many more tables were filled to the brim with kids, lines started forming at the games, and waiters and waitresses seemed to have multiplied—or perhaps just the number of trays balanced in their arms.
Maybe it was louder.
Silver did his best to focus on what was in front of him, despite his pounding head. “This, uh, seems like a popular place,” he commented.
Blaze seemed to nod. It was hard to tell. “I used to come here as a child myself.” She paused. “Are you sure you’re okay, Silver?”
He might have jumped out of his chair at that moment, had they not been in a dining establishment and it being rude or strange behavior. “Blaze, I’m fine!” Though his voice was insistent and may have even sounded normal to her, he could barely hear it. He stretched his lips until his face split in two. After all, a smile makes everything better, right? “Actually, I’m interested in hearing about when you used to come here. It’s funny to think about a princess coming to a place like this---no offense, of course, it just seems out of the ordinary.”
The blob known as Blaze’s head seemed to nod in compliance as she began to recall her childhood trips to the restaurant.
Too bad Silver couldn’t hear a word of it.
No matter how hard he tried to pay attention and listen, because he was truly interested in her stories, the throbbing in his temples only got worse.
Well… It’s okay if you’re not listening as long as you look like you’re paying attention, right? Maybe he can ask her to tell these stories again sometime in the future, long enough for her to forget about this so she doesn’t realize he wasn’t hearing it.
Too bad that day wasn’t today, as Silver struggled to hold his head up from pain.
As his head continued to throb, he continued pretending to listen to Blaze’s stories. He doesn’t know if he’s making eye contact with her or not. It’s all a blur now.
He thinks she stops. The waitress came back. It smells of pizza now.
Blaze reaches for Silver’s hands. Is she praying?
She pulls out a drippy triangle. Silver copies her.
Nom nom.
Oh, wow, what a delicious melty, hot triangle.
Totally tastes of… Flavorless cheese and… some kind of mild sauce.
Totally not in pain right now.
This is so much worse than a fancy restaurant.
The slice makes contact with the plate.
He can’t hear it when he excuses himself to use the restroom.
He can’t see anything in his peripheral vision, and barely more than two feet in front of him as he walked to the back of the restaurant. If any small children ran into him, he apologizes.
He opened the door to the men’s room.
He locked himself in a stall.
He can’t see.
He can’t hear.
There is only pain.
A minute passes by.
He holds his head and tears threaten to break loose.
Two minutes.
If he’s crying out, he can’t hear it.
Five minutes.
It’s started to ease. He did start crying.
Ten minutes have passed. The pain got better, but not completely. He can’t stay in here forever.
He’s having a lunch with someone.
Lunch in a nice, loud restaurant.
He stands up. He feels weak.
He brushes himself off.
Ready to head back out.