“Do you think she’ll be okay?” asked Sable.
“Like I said, she just needs to rest.” I disliked repeating myself, but Sable fretted about the small dragon. “Using one’s magic can be tiring, you know this. She used bigger magic than normal.”
Sable nodded softly, and let out a sigh. “I shouldn’t have let her do it. We could have found a different solution.”
“Indigo is a dragon, dragons do what they want to do.” Much like Fey Lords, sometimes to their own regret. I didn’t say that part, though. She didn’t need to worry about consequences for acting against the fates. The little one would recover this time, I was sure of it.
She tucked the heated blanket around the small dragon on the couch. She turned the nob, making it warmer. The buzz from the thing made my ears twitch.
“Are we eating the quiche for lunch?” I asked as I watched.
“Let’s hold off on that, I don’t want Indigo to miss it…” Sable patted Indigo's side with a frown. “I’ll figure something out.”
My stomach growled, and Sable had to be getting hungry as well, but she would not leave Indigo's side.
I could solve this. I would solve this.
I leaped off the back of the couch and headed to the archway. The room shifted as I stepped through to the downstairs. The shop knew what I had planned.
Ordering Chinese food shouldn’t be too difficult, especially since I’d get what we normally got. I’d reordered food before, and everything had worked out perfectly. This way we’d get fed, and Sable didn’t need to worry about it.
I pounced on the counter and padded over to the register with the screen on it.
Most of these technological artifacts from Sable’s world, and worlds like it, were evil things that didn’t like my paws, but if I used my nose, I usually could get them to work.
I nosed the ordering button and recent orders.
So far so good.
The Chinese food appeared second from the top. I tapped it, but accidentally held my nose to the screen a moment too long. Instead of the normal screen that said in big letters ‘Re-order’, it now listed everything that the order included.
I needed to scroll to the bottom. I hated scrolling; it was hard using my nose.
I moved the screen up a little and the button I needed appeared. Yet, right next to it was my order of the chicken.
What was this?
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Three out of five stars?!
I should get the best chicken they had. I was a Fey Lord, after all, even if I had paws right now.
My tail flickered wildly behind me at the notion that I’d only been getting 3 out of 5 stars. I deserved better.
Carefully, I clicked on the five stars. Then, I checked the noodles that Sable usually ate. Again, it only had three out of five stars.
Sable was worth five stars. Of course Sable was worth five stars.
Again, I changed it.
My nose ached from the repeated use, and I decided that was good enough. One last scroll to the bottom, and then the green order button popped up.
I tapped it gently.
That wasn’t hard at all. And now, we’d be getting their best food, as we should.
I rubbed my nose with a paw, and for a split second, I longed for the warm spring waters from within my forest. This form hated water, and even trying my best, I couldn’t get a single paw into the heated pool on the roof.
Bright light came through the window and landed perfectly on my chair. Excitement shot through me and I couldn’t resist the siren call. I leaped in that direction and then padded my way over before pouncing up and curling into a ball in the glorious light.
Warmth pulsed on my dark fur, almost as good as a soak in a warm spring.
###
Knocking on the door made me jump, and I left Indigo behind on the couch, hurrying to the archway. Instead of the normal upstairs, the front of the shop stood on the other side. I made my way to the door and opened it to find the Chinese food delivery guy. He held out the large bag, which I quickly took, and he rushed off without a word.
“What the…” I mumbled as I closed the door.
The Cat stared at me from the chair in the window.
“Ah, food got here.”
“You ordered food?” We hadn’t talked about Chinese, and usually I ordered it. It did solve the lunch problem, though, and I was hungry.
“Yes, we both needed food.” The Cat leaped off the chair and headed to the kitchen, leaving me behind holding the bag.
Shaking my head with a small smile, I hurried after him and set the bag on the counter. The plates and bowls we usually used for the order sat on the island, ready to go.
“Thank you, Betty.” I unpacked the order, setting Indigo's soup to one side. My mouth watered as the sweet tangy smell filled the air, along with a hint of spice. Opening the chicken order, I piled some on the Cat’s plate, along with mine.
Something felt different about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I then added noodles to both our plates, along with an egg roll on mine.
“Here you go.” I set the Cat’s plate in front of him. “Thanks for ordering food. I didn’t even think about it.”
“Of course.” The Cat nodded at me, then stared at the chicken.
For a second, I thought he was going to say more, but didn’t.
I snagged my fork and speared a chuck of chicken before popping it into my mouth. Sweet, tangy, then the slow heat crept in. And kept creeping, well beyond normal. My eyes watered as I quickly chewed.
“Is it good?” asked the Cat.
I snagged my waterglass and didn’t reply.
“They were only giving us 3 stars. 3 stars! Can you believe it?” He shook his head sadly. “We are worth 5 stars in any universe. The best food.”
Before I could warn him, he took a big bite of the chicken. It vanished like it always did, but within a few seconds, his tail snapped straight out behind him.
I took another gulp of my water to cool my mouth down a little. My eyes watered, but the food still tasted good. Just way spicier than I normally liked. But I couldn’t complain, I was too busy using every ounce of willpower not to laugh at the Cat.
His eyes grew wider, then wider, than his pupils suddenly got tiny.
“Spicy…” He coughed and wheezed a little. A small saucer with milk appeared next to him.
