The air felt thick, like breathing in the smoke of a fire that that never quite went out. The heat, it clung to everything, to his skin, to his clothes, .....making him feel like he was slowly being roasted from the inside out. Every breath came out as a gasp and seared his lungs. He felt a bead of sweat trickle down his temple, only to be replaced by another as his mouth burned.
"This.. this is not possible," Ace muttered, his voice cracking. "This....this is inhumane...."
"I think it's fine."
Sun, sitting across from him, stirred the bowl of stew absentmindedly. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, clearly uncomfortable with the heat but eating at a steady pace. His hands shook slightly as he picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks.
"I mean, it's... it's just a lot of spice." Sun said, his words hesitant but calm. And it's good? People eat this all the time." He looked up at Ace, a nervous smile tugging at his lips.
Ace stared at him like he was out of his mind. "You're enjoying this?" he rasped, grabbing his glass of water—again—for the fifth time. It didn't help. The fire in his mouth was relentless.
Sun shrank back a little, unsure how to respond. "I mean... I'm not... not really enjoying it? I... It's just really spicy, you know? And it burns. A lot. But, uh... it's... it's bearable."
Ace's hand fell back onto the table with a thud, spilling some of his stew onto the table. "Bearable? Bearable?" He leaned forward, staring at Sun with wide eyes, his face an odd mixture of desperation and disbelief. "I feel like my insides are being scrubbed with molten steel."
Sun fiddled with his chopsticks, a nervous laugh escaping him. "I mean, it's not that bad... right? You just... uh... you need to, uh, breathe through it. Like... let it pass, and then it gets better. Kind of."
Ace closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, wondering how he had gotten himself into this mess. "Why," he muttered, "did I listen to you?"
"Well, uh... because, you know," Sun fumbled with his words, looking a little embarrassed. "I—I thought it would be fun? This is what people do. And you said you wanted to explore, do fun things, so..." He trailed off, his voice becoming quieter as he spoke.
Ace shot him an incredulous look. "You—you thought this would be fun?!"
Sun shrank back a bit, holding up his hands as if to calm Ace down. "I—I didn't know it would be this bad, okay? I swear!" He looked around the restaurant nervously, as if seeking reassurance from the rustic walls. "I mean... it's, uh, it's really popular here. A lot of people... eat it."
"Great," Ace muttered. "I'm part of some village's twisted ritual now." He pushed the bowl of curry away from him and leaned back in his chair, trying to regain some semblance of dignity.
The elderly owner of the restaurant shuffled over, her eyes bright and kind despite the intimidating amount of chili wafting from the table. She gave them both a warm, encouraging smile. "Good food, yes?" she asked.
Sun smiled back, though it looked a little strained. "Y-yes, it's good. It's... um... strong. Very strong."
The woman beamed and patted Ace's shoulder. "Good for heart. Strong heart."
Ace blinked, still struggling with the heat, his lips tingling and his throat dry. He barely managed a glare before the woman left them to their pain.
Sun looked at Ace nervously, his eyes glancing back and forth at the stew and at the sweat on Ace's face. "I think... maybe it gets easier the more you eat it?"
Ace stared at the bowl with disbelief. "I've been eating it for ten minutes, Sun. If this was going to get easier, I think it would have by now."
The tension thickened as Ace's demeanor darkened, a subtle but oppressive aura radiating from him. A faint, sinister glow seemed to flicker around him, and in that moment, Sun was starkly reminded of the precariousness of his position.
"It is a vacation you know..." Sun interjected, his voice dipping lower, "and sometimes you got to take the good with the bad?" He sounded unsure even as he said it. "Like, if you push through the pain, you get... uh, something good out of it?"
Ace stared at him, his face contorted in pain. "You're really stretching for a positive spin here."
The two sat in silence for a moment, the hum of the restaurant filling the space between them. Despite the overwhelming heat, Sun kept picking at his food rather disinterestedly having lost all his apptetite . Ace having calmed down just kept staring at the stew, dreading the next bite but not quite able to look away.
Finally, Ace sighed, leaned forward again, and speared another piece of meat with his chopsticks. Sun winced slightly, almost as if he could feel the pain.
Ace shot him a look. "If I die from this," he said, his voice low, "I'm haunting you. For the rest of your life."
Sun gave a sheepish smile, looking like a boy caught in a harmless prank. "I-I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to... uh... give you a hellish experience."
"Hellish? This," Ace muttered, shoveling another spoonful into his mouth, "is absolute hell."
Sun laughed nervously, picking at his own food. "Well, it's... it's a little spicy." He swallowed. "But it's good, right? Kinda?"
"Not a chance."
Sun's grin slipped slightly, but he nodded, his voice soft but sincere. "We'll do something fun next time and take a break from this."
Ace could only groan in response, but despite the agony, something in him—a stubborn, unyielding part—was starting to appreciate the challenge.