First Outing

She cannot keep in her excitement. The most she could do is fidget with the seatbelt in the backseat. Looking out at the window, she is absolutely mesmerized by the view. It was like her picture books coming to life. Many buildings and people walking and talking and being busy in their own lives. The various flashing lights and loud music playing frightens her but she knows there are downsides to everything, even the world she has not seen before.

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Up until now, she has only seen the view from her house’s windows, which were only a few other small, two story houses with nature practically consuming them. There is also a lonely grey road connecting all of the houses to an even bigger grey road. Sometimes she can see it from a different angle if she went upstairs to her bedroom, other times the sky is dark or pouring down drops of water or bits of ice.

She doesn’t even get to see other people, whenever she draws people, she only draws family pictures. She would draw herself first, a short brunette with high pigtails. Her mom has the same shade of brown hair, so she would draw her with matching low pigtails. She got the blue eyes from her father, but he has long teal hair which still baffles her to this day, she makes sure to take the extra step to make his hair very long in her drawings.

“Shouldn’t we do this for our daughter?”

“But what if someone sees…you know…”

“She is already 8, she knows what to do. She can hide them easily.”

“…Let’s see what she has to say.”

…

“Yes! I would love to go!! Please? Just this once is fine too!”

“You heard her, Megumu. She cannot stay shut in forever, and this can be the first step.”

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“Kiyabu, would you like to eat a burger for the first time?” The girl’s father, Chenya, asked, “They are loved by the people around here, and they go along with what they call fries, which are just deep fried potatoes.”

The girl, Kiyabu, in the backseat happily nods. “I saw burgers and fries in my picture books, Papa. They look very good and they must taste really good too, right??”

Chenya’s nostalgia hits him and agrees with a smile. “Yeah, I remember a fast food place that has the best burgers. I wonder how they are doing…”

As the father and daughter chat away, the mother, Megumu, leans against the window with tears welling up in her eyes. She promised she would not cry…but she couldn’t help it. Aside from her being worried for her daughter, she is also concerned about anyone who comes across the car and possibly recognizes her. Her sobbing might make her even more recognizable, but again, she couldn’t help it at all. It has been years since she has left, but her paranoia still hits her like rocks, boulders to be exact.

Chenya can see it from the corner of her eye and sighs. He loves his wife and feels sympathetic for her…but…sometimes he doesn’t know if he could comfort her enough. He continues to drive until he reaches a parking lot. Wait, there is only one car? I thought I would have trouble finding a spot since it’s so popular…oh shoot…is it a holiday today? Chenya spots a slightly worn out door that has a huge sign that says “OPEN” with blinking lights on the border. It…is open…as in open for business? But there’s nobody inside…? I need to see what is going on.

“Papa? What’s wrong??”

Chenya freezes. “...Oh, I was just wondering what we should eat, that’s all…” He attempts to sugarcoat, unbuckling his seatbelt, “Okay, come on, let’s go.” The family gets out of the car and heads over to the restaurant, both Megumu and Kiyabu clinging onto Chenya out of worry. Chenya stops at the door to see if he really wasn’t hallucinating, but he can see a vague figure inside. There’s some hope. 

And Chenya finally opens the door with a bell’s jingle. It was the same restaurant that he remembers; Colorful, bold posters and dangling lanterns of the delicious burgers, fries, soda, milkshakes, chicken wings…it made the father’s stomach rumble. The only difference is that there is nobody else other than the sizzling noises from the kitchen. “Hello??” Chenya calls out, “Helloooo?”

The sizzling noises stop. The figure finally comes out of the kitchen and it reveals to be a dark skinned tall male with straight black hair barely passing his shoulders. He is wearing an apron splattered with grease, mustard, ketchup, and other condiments. The long ears, the heterochromic eyes, and golden leaf bracelets…it’s a Serhli? Chenya has not seen a Serhli in a long time, nor has Megumu. The couple exchanged confused looks and then looked back at the tall Serhli. Kiyabu looks up at her parents, thinking to herself why haven’t they taken a seat like in her books.

“…Um, hello, hi, greetings. Are you sure you are in the right place?” The Serhli guesses, waving a hand awkwardly.

“I’m sure we are- Is this place closed? Should we come back tomorrow-”

“Oh, it has been closed for a long time, mister. That open sign is a lie. Nobody wants to come here anymore.”

“What?”

“The Big Gryll closed 2 years ago. I thought everybody knew that.”

“But didn’t everyone love this place??”

The Serhli rubs his temples and sighs, “Just…just go home. I have nothing to serve you. I’m sorry, but you could’ve had safer food at home.”

Disappointment fills Kiyabu up, making her tear up…she has to go back home again? She has been good…she hasn’t revealed…that…the whole time she has been in the outside world. Her opportunity was given to her but it was immediately taken away. She hates it. She absolutely hates it.

“…No. You clearly have something cooking in there,” Megumu suddenly speaks up, Chenya looking at her in shock and disbelief. His normally shy wife actually spoke up? “Can’t you at least give us some lunch? We’ll pay you…please…?” Megumu reads the name tag, “Ummm…Teiljo?”

Teiljo looks down at his clothes. “…Oh. I actually have it on. Force of habit.” He pauses for a moment before agreeing to making the family food. “Fine. But you better not come here ever again after this.” From the corner of his eye, he can see Kiyabu wiping her tears and her face brightening. He doesn’t comment on it. “What do you want? I can make pretty much anything fast food-y.”

Chenya recites his regular order, it is still fresh in his mind. “A deluxe B-Burger meal with extra fries and a vanilla milkshake, no pickles.” He knows that Megumu and Kiyabu would practically eat anything, so he goes with, “Make that two deluxe B-Burger meals, and a kid’s meal with lemonade.”

As if it was out of reflex, Teiljo takes out a notepad and scribbles down the order. He then walks back to the kitchen to start with the order.

The family takes a seat near the kitchen, twiddling their thumbs in anticipation for their meal. Megumu takes a few deep breaths and looks up at her husband and daughter. They’re both staring at her. “Ah- Sorry you had to see that side of me, Kiyabu…I just wanted you to have the experience of fast food…and there’s nobody else here! It’s perfect, right?” She frantically explains, her hands swarming around, “We can um…go to another place with more people another day…?”

Kiyabu gets even more giddy with excitement. “This has been the best time of my life, Mama! I love it here!! Thank you so much, Mama, Papa!” The excitement Kiyabu felt went off the charts to the point a pair of sparkly and blue butterfly wings appeared on her back.

She already messed up.

Megumu’s shy face has crumbled up and been thrown out. “KIYABU. How many damn times do I have to tell you to hide those things?!” She yells, making her daughter’s pupils shrink five times its size.

In a panic, Kiyabu tries to put them away using her hands, but the wings wouldn’t allow her because of the amount of overwhelm she feels doing so. “I…I’m sorry Mama…I’m sorry- I really am sorry…” She lets out a choked sob.

As the traditional head of the household, Chenya feels like he has to be the one that calms the two of them down before Teiljo could pop in. “Megumu please- Kiyabu…it’s okay…calm down-”

“Now what is going on here?” Teiljo comes out with two trays of food and sees…the mess that the family have gotten themselves into. “…Uhhhh, so what should I do with the food- Should I just-”

Before Teiljo could finish his sentence, Megumu gets up and starts running towards the elf, winding up her fist. But before she could even get a nanometer close to Teiljo’s face, he lets go of the trays and Teiljo’s body quickly envelops in an orange aura and using his right hand and eye, he releases magical energy to stop both Megumu and the trays from making a mess on the floor. It is a technique that neither Chenya or Kiyabu has seen before. He is really skilled…

“There must be a reason why you guys came to my restaurant, but I did not think you guys needed a brawling arena.” He says, floating the trays over to the family’s table and repositioning Megumu back to her seat. He permitted her to talk for one second and all that could come out of her mouth were inaudible loud noises. “Okaaaay no,” Teiljo shuts the woman up and gives the family a stern face, “What the hell is going on here?”

Before Chenya could speak up, Kiyabu asks, “…Why didn’t you freak out?” She wipes the tears from her eyes, only the puffy red outlines remain on her eyes.

“Kiyabu, it’s fine, I can explain it from here-”

“I…I have wings, mister…why didn’t you freak out?”

“Why do I need to?” Teiljo gives the little girl a confused look, “I’m not a viaxerio, you’re not viaxerio, heck, your parents may not be viaxerio if they could produce a child like you. And that’s fine isn’t it?”

Chenya is stunned. Chenya nor Megumu has not left the house except for groceries and work, and this is what they have been missing the whole time? People finally coming together to accept one another? Kiyabu could have had a normal childhood in this world if not for their paranoia. With his lips curving into a smile, Chenya finally speaks up, “...Thank you, Teiljo. Not just for the meal, but for breaking up this…mess. You may keep the change once we leave.”

Teiljo also cracks a smile, but also a chuckle, “Well, enjoy your meal will you?” With his pointer finger, he shoots a line of magic to let Megumu go and walks back to the kitchen. “What a weird family…” He mumbles to himself, “Well, it’s reasonable. If only other people treated anyone with wings like those as a normal person…instead of a god. That poor girl deserves more friends…”

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“Papa, this is so delicious!” Kiyabu exclaims before taking another dive into her burger, “Burgers are now my favorite food! It’s better than the spaghetti you make sometimes!” She kicks her feet excitedly after the sensation of the third bite.

Chenya lets out a laugh. Kids are so honest, and for what? “Now Kiyabu, don’t talk with your mouth full. And I’ll be making sure to make my spaghetti even tastier now that you’ve said that,” He says light-heartedly.

“But Papa, you’re also eating with your mouth full. Being a hippo-kit is bad.”

“It’s ‘hypocrite’, sweetie. I thought I got you normal picture books, not books about hypocrites.”

Megumu has been silent the whole time. It isn’t from the after effects of Teiljo’s magic, it was because she thought he was suspicious. But she has to stay silent, she doesn’t want to ruin the fun of her husband and daughter. She finally takes a bite out of her deluxe B-Burger. Oh my god, it is delicious. No wonder Chenya was raving about coming to The Big Gryll for their first ever outing. Her suspicion levels are decreasing, she feels like she could let her guard down all because of food.

“Isn’t it good, Megumu? I told you it would be good.”

“Yes…it is very good, I suppose… Teiljo cooks really well, doesn’t he?”

After eating the meal and paying for their meal, the Chenya drives the family home. To him, it feels like they feel like they could do more outings from the experience at The Big Gryll. Perhaps finally enrolling Kiyabu to a school so she can socialize more.

Chenya is excited.