Persisting the dizziness continued as strange energy flooded Gordon's body. Unable to think clearly for the time being he sat still. Hoping to limit the vertigo effect he tried Gordon also closed his eyes. Vaguely realizing that this must have something to do with his pet's new black iron level skills Gordon calmed his heart. There was nothing to do at this point but wait for whatever outcome would result from this event.
Hours later there was another knock on the door and Gordon's eyes flashed open. For a moment there might have been an after image of countless stars behind his eye lids, but just as quickly the sense was gone.
Standing up he stretched his body a little while calling out.
"Coming, just a sec!"
After doing one more neck stretch he opened the door. Expecting to find Taylor again with a cart and a plate of food instead Gordon saw Taylor, but next to him was another man roughly the same age as Taylor in his mid twenties. They were holding hands and as Gordon was about to speak Taylor blurted out.
"This is my friend, Roy. I told him about you and he really wanted to meet you. We never see people from places like the pits!"
Suddenly self conscious Gordon couldn't think of anything to say.
"Hi."
Waving a bit to Roy, Gordon looked confused. His mind was still on his recent experience. He could tell that whatever it was was still having an effect on him. A mysterious energy was still cycling through his body.
Did being from the pits make him into a circus attraction? Why did Roy want to meet him so much? Being an object of interest was extremely foreign to Gordon. At the same time his experience from his first life told him that this was one of those times in life when something important was about to happen.
"Come on, let's go to lunch and talk a bit. It will be on me."
This came from Roy who wore a nondescript t-shirt and jeans. Taylor was also out of his uniform and wearing a t-shirt with a band logo in front and jeans as well.
"Sure."
Gordon shrugged and directly stepped out of the cabin between the two men. They naturally let go of each other's hand and smiling led him down the hall one in front and one behind.
Instead of going to one of the restaurants on the decks above Roy went through a door marked 'Staff Only' and then through a maze of tight corridors and metal stairs to eventually come out in a kitchen.
Stainless steal surfaces and immaculately kept kitchen machines gave the space a laboratory type feel. An older woman dressed in a chef's outfit there calmly cutting some potatoes. The front of her apron was freshly smeared with some type of unknown food substance. Which stood out to Gordon because she wasn't fat like he would have thought a chef might be. Instead the shape of her body in the chef's outfit hinted at curves and a grace that put her chosen profession to shame.
"Hey, Auntie!"
Taylor called and the chef looked up and smiled at them. She put her knife down and after cleaning her hands carefully with soap and water she came over to tousle Taylor's hair.
"Hey, yourself, you little scoundrel. Looks like you brought someone special to my kitchen today?"
"Yes, this is Gordon, he is from the pits in Talon!"
Taylor answered the woman's question as if this was the most exciting thing that had ever happened.
"The pits? We don't get many like you around here. My name is Angelica. It is nice to meet you."
Much more calm than Taylor, Angelica offered her hand and when Gordon responded in kind shook his hand firmly.
"It is nice to meet you too."
Replying back Gordon felt as if this woman had some kind of status in Taylor's world.
"Why don't you go ahead and sit over here. I am making some baked potatoes. Would you like some?"
Angelica pointed to one of the steel counters that had three backless stools positioned before it and like they were automatons Roy and Taylor immediately went over and sat down.
"Oh, I can't wait, Angelica's food is the best. She is the head chef in charge of meals for the plane's top clientele."
Taylor whispered some words of explanation into Gordon's ear as he sat down on the only seat left. Gordon had lingered for a moment, not wanting to just obey some random person's request. But then decided that the situation seemed okay.
Now he sat on one side of Taylor and Roy sat on the other. The two of them linked hands once more as Roy started to talk. Leaving Gordon to discover that the stool he was on could swivel. Just by rotating his body slightly the stool would turn so he could face anyone in the kitchen and preserve the position of his body. Realizing he could sit up straight and improve the circulation of energy in his body Gordon instinctively did so mirroring the way that Taylor and Roy were sitting as well.
"You must be wondering why we invited you down here?"
Gordon really was curious.
"Yes, I feel so out of place. You can imagine that this is not like my usual haunts."
Indeed Gordon was well used to going hungry and sneaking into abandoned sections of the pits. Places that had been deemed too dangerous for human inhabitation as a kid.
As they talked slowly more and more chefs and serving staff entered the kitchen. Soon a huge meal production engine was engaged. All of it was mysterious to Gordon, but as each plate was made the serving staff would walk by them and place down a tiny portion of whatever they were serving.
Always there would always be three plates, one for each of the 'boys' as Angelica was calling them.
The first dish to arrive was a little bowl of sprouts in sauce. With Gordon's first bite he was transferred into heaven. He had never tasted anything so good in his life.
Longing rose up within him as he savored the small mouthful. It was really less than a bite and then an interminable ten minutes later there was another tiny plate with a small slice of raw fish on rice with a drizzle of some sort of black sauce and topped by a bit of deep fried vegetable that seemed to be corn.
Again the small bite transported Gordon's taste buds to heaven. He was completely distracted from what Roy and Taylor seemed to want to talk about.
"This is so good!"
Unable to contain the words Gordon expressed himself fervently.
A slight blush rose in Angelica's cheeks, but she did not betray her attention. Instead she called out to the boys.
"Remember to sit up straight, keep the stomach engaged, don't pinch anything off by sloughing or twisting. You want everything working well to enjoy the meal to the fullest. Also remember to smell everything deeply first!"
"Okay, auntie!"
Taylor and Roy replied enthusiastically doing whatever it took to keep Angelica happy. It seemed like this was also a rare experience for them.
Next came a fruit and each one of the received one section of the pale flesh. Perfectly ripe, this time there was no sauce or garnish, the fruit cleaned their palettes.
"We can talk more seriously later. Let's just catch up on what the pit was like."
Roy made a statement after seeing that Gordon wasn't going to be able focus until the food had all arrived. It seemed like there was something that he was really intent on discussing. Gordon had no idea where this was leading and just decided to go with the flow for now.
A salad came next and this time they received a medium sized bowl with enough vegetables doused in sauce for at least three bites. Again it wasn't enough, but it was earthy and after the zingy fruit this salad course was just as refreshing, but in a different way. Gordon couldn't imagine what might be next. His stomach was primed and ready, though. He couldn't wait, but wait he had to.
Following the salad there was a larger time gap, maybe about twenty minutes, where there wasn't any food. During this time the boys just talked about random experiences, things that had happened to them. Roy and Taylor were getting a lot more info about what it was like in the pits and comparing that to their own upbringing going from one contract to another on different planes.
When the baked potatoes arrived they finally received something that would go a lot farther towards filling their stomachs. Sitting up straight and taking time to appreciate the food was hard. Angelica was really asking them to do the impossible. Frustrated with the process and also realizing that he needed to put his own thoughts aside Gordon took his time eating the delicate golden fluff that she called a baked potato.
Chives, sour cream, cheese, broccoli, and a seasoning sauces on the side that gave the potato several different flavor profiles from sweet butter to a dill rosemary combination and finally to a chili. The skin of the potato was crispy which seemed hard to do since it hadn't been fried. When all that was left on the plate was the skin Roy actually showed Gordon how to salt the skin and then roll it up so that it could be eaten like a taco. This too could be dipped in the sauces.
Contrary to Gordon's experience Taylor and Roy left a bit of everything on the plate. Gordon couldn't believe that they wouldn't eat it all. In the pits you ate till you couldn't anymore and then you ate some more. Pit people never knew when their next meal would come and it was especially so for the kids who were given more than the adults, but felt the hunger more.
Still it was important to show respect to their customs so Gordon left a little of everything on the plate. Although it was much less than they left.
Sometime while they had been eating the chefs had finished, efficiently clean up and had all left. Now only Angelica was left with the last two courses of the meal. She called them courses, but really one of the courses was a drink and the other was dessert. Both of which didn't qualify as courses in Gordon's mind, but he was not one to talk.