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It was about as nice a day in Lungmen as you could ask for. Cold, gloomy, rain-filled, all the Lungmen classics one would come to expect. When the highway's cacophony was enough to drown out the rumbling sky, that's when a person knew they were in Lungmen.
Down below the highway's rushing current flickers Lungmen's nightlife- not that there's much life to it right now. Not a lot of foot traffic to go with the stalls, only foolhardy passerby who wanted to chance the rain. Most stalls were closed too, their owners calling it a night thanks to the threatening rain.
Most stalls.
There's a stall by the corner that's still shining in the cold, slick orange lights like fishballs in sauce. In the middle of that's Jaye, grilling as always, no heed paid to the chill of the sky. The grilltop warmed his hands right up, even as they constantly buzzed over sizzling meat.
He mostly goes off instinct and muscle memory, even as his knife sinks into flesh and splits them in twain. Then again and again, dicing until all that were left were clean cubes of glistening meat. He skewers them onto a wooden stick, then sets them over the grill.
Across the counter, Waai regarded the cutting with a patient eye, ear flicking amusedly. They're the only two still ones in the constantly moving city, waiting for cold air to get chased away by grilling meat.
Watching the deft bladework, she nods approvingly. "Well done, as always."
"Just keeping in practice, is all."
Waai raises an eyebrow, a small grin on her face. "Is that so? Catch."
She pitches an orange at him, which he catches with his free hand. With one smooth motion, he pulls out a second knife and pierces it's skin, before smoothly peeling off the rest of the skin with a smooth twirl. The peeled orange sits for a moment before Jaye flicks it back, flecks of juice following like a comment.
It's orange like her, he amusedly notes. She'd tried to offer him half the first few visits, but he'd usually need both hands when cooking. No use splitting the orange if it was just going to sit on a counter.
Waai doesn't come here often- that's a lie. She came often, but left just as quickly. She's just as busy as him most of the time, with all the juggling she does between three lives. The reason she's here this time? He could make a guess. "Rough day at college?"
"Discipline must be applied in all places." She sighs, yawning to herself. "But, yes, it has been rough."
The meat's sizzling now, teasing them with it's aroma. Jaye flips the batch over, running a brush over them to not dry the meat out. "Theses?"
"Sharp as always."
He works in silence, mostly. If people talk, they talk. If they don't, they don't.
"I just noticed..." Waai begins, curiosity peeking over the rim of her glasses. "You never talk about your college."
"Hm?" Jaye never looks up from his cutting. "Oh. 'Cause I don't have one."
She nods absentmindedly for about three seconds before suddenly bristling up. "Wait! We're the same age, aren't we?"
"More or less."
"I thought this was your part time." She leans across the counter, poking him in the shoulder. "Don't tell me you're planning to be a Seafood Hawker your entire life?!"
"Eh." Jaye brushes it off, pouring soy sauce into a plastic disc. "I don't mind too much. Someone's gotta watch the stall."
"It's just hard to believe someone WANTS the job." She offhandedly remarks, before suddenly stiffening. "I mean-"
Jaye raises his free hand, his other one digging through a box of peppers. "No insult taken. Not too glamorous to be cutting up fish or frying at a stall, I know, but someone's gotta do it." He stirs the soy sauce, crushes a small pepper into the mixture. "Besides, I like to keep things simple. Couldn't do that old man Lee's job, for example."
He turns the skewer batch over for the last time, giving the meat's colors a quick glance over. Satisfied, he checks back in on Waai. "So, what's your plan when you finish up college?"
"To be someone who protects the weak, and stops evildoers in the name of justice!"
"I mean- What job do you want?"
Waai's face darkens as she glances away.
"No need to talk about it, then." Jaye picks up one of the skewers, turning it in his hands. It's a rich golden brown, bits of oil glinting in the light like gold. "They're ready. Want them for free?"
"You already know my answer." Waai already had her wallet out, her fingers digging out a few coins.
"It's not robbery if it's gifted." Jaye mumbled, slathering some sauce over the the skewers before passing one over. "Just pay me half."
But she didn't take them, not until she managed to fish out some LMD to hand straight back. They've had this generous debate at least a dozen times, to nobody's victory. The most they could ever agree on was a half-and-half.
"Seriously. You undercharge, you know?"
Jaye shrugs. She wasn't wrong. "Good business isn't always fair. That's what makes it good."
"Now you sound just like Mr. Lee."
It's a compliment, even if she didn't mean it so. Jaye takes it, as he takes all compliments.
The skewer in Waai's hands is picture-perfect, really. Gold cubes glistening with oil, warmth slowly radiating off against the chill night air. If not for the sounds of the highway above, she could almost close her eyes and imagine herself by a warm campfire. And when she takes a bite... It tastes like a firework, she thinks. A burst of spice and flavor and oil dancing on her tongue like flaring embers, with lingering aftertaste slowly fading out like the night sky slowly dimming sparks. It tastes like Lungmen, if Lungmen even had a taste.
"Mph... Even if worst comes to worst, then you've always got a future in culinary arts."
And that was a compliment, and one he'd gladly take with him.
They hang around in this emptied place for a while, under soft orange lights with the warmth of the grill. Their conversation waxes and wanes like clouds over the moon, shifting from one thing to the next in-between bites of meat.
The sky rumbles overhead, as if it too hungered. But they knew better.
"Rain." Jaye observes, seeing the first droplets splatter on the ground.
"How unpleasant... My fur mats when wet." Wai looked up at the gathering clouds, realizing her lack of an umbrella. "I prefer not to be caught out."
"Want to swap places?"
"Huh...?"
"My shift's not over, but nobody's coming in this weather." He motions his hand around the cramped space. It's not much to offer, but it's still an option. "If you want in, go for it."
They trade places, and suddenly things look a lot less fitting. Jaye's not used to sitting outside his own stall, as if waiting for food from himself. Evidently, Waai thought so too, judging from the way she started fiddling through the drawers.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm making something." She frowns at Jaye's expression, determinedly pushing on. "Shush. I'm only paying you back."
Jaye doesn't argue- not that he could when Waai set her mind to something, anyways. Instead, he leaned his elbows on the tabletop, letting her dig through the frozen food packets. Finally, she settles on two slabs of some indeterminate meat, tearing apart the plastic before dropping them on the oily stovetop.
"Maybe you want hel-"
"I've seen Lee and Hung cook. I'm hardly a beginne- Whoa!"
A burst of fire erupts from the pan, singing a few of her hairs as it snapped at her face. Thankfully, it died as quickly as it lived.
"The stove's already warm- no need to turn it up to max." Jaye yawns. "I don't have warranty on anything here. Please don't get too fancy."
"Duly noted." Waai muttered, turning the stove down. "Let's try this again."
Guiltily sliding the charred meat into the bin, she decides on something simpler. Taking an egg from the mini-fridge, she carefully taps the edge of the stove with it.
It's uncracked.
She hits the corner a bit harder, and is rewarded with the satisfying sensation of the shell giving way. She quickly pulls it apart, pouring it's contents onto the sizzling grill.
Laser-focused eyes glare down the egg, waiting for the liquid to harden. As soon as it sizzles, a spatula slides between metal and egg, precisely flipping it over. Fast and precise- that was her. With barely any wasted movements, she drops the egg on it's back, perfectly even.
Jaye just watches. There's no room for conversation with Waai's style. When she commits herself, she does it with everything she has.
She sprinkles some salt, considers trying to add some spices as well. No, keep things simple. Slipping the spatula underneath again, she lifts the egg up, ready to drop it on a... plate.
A... plate. In a food stall.
Ah.
Jaye yawns, finger lazily pointing up to a shelf the customers couldn't see. Stacked on were all the containers the customers would use. Improvising from the lack of a plate, Waai slides the egg into a Siomai tray. Despite earlier setbacks, it didn't look all too bad.
She hands it over with a satisfied look on her face.
"Thanks." Jaye smiles.
He bites in, and it crunches.
Waai cringes at the sound. "Ah... Must have been a bit too forceful..." That cringe turns in an expression of disbelief as Jaye shovels a second bite into his mouth. "Just throw it out. It's not good, anyways."
"I'm not keen on wasting food." He shrugs. It's mostly edible, anyways- it'd be a shame to waste a whole egg over a few shell shards. As he eats, though, he keeps just enough of an eye on Waai to notice her dismay. "Hey, it's nothing to be shamed of. Nobody's a master on their first go."
"I'm aware, but..." She trails off. A small part of her believes that she ought to be better, that a little bit of talent should have leeched off onto her. She knew that wasn't how it worked, but that little nagging sense of failure wriggled in her head regardless.
He knew, of course.
"Mr. Lee's quite a good cook, you know? Maybe even better than me."
And she knew as well, knew what he was trying to pull off. "I guess I'll ask him for some lessons, then. When I get back here, I’ll show you everything I’ve learned."
They chuckle, and to Jaye's surprise, he can hear it. Looking upwards, he sees a clearing sky, and silent puddles where ripples once were. "Hm. The rain's stopped."
"I guess that means it's time to go."
She steps out, and Jaye closes up shop. He walks her home- or does she walk him home? Neither and both- their roads just stayed together a bit longer, until the splitting point. An intersection, splitting off into two separate paths.
Waai takes the left road, goes back to her college. Graduation is soon, then who knows? Maybe she'll track down her father, maybe Lee's agency would get whisked away someplace far. Who knew? All they knew was that she wouldn't be staying forever.
Jaye takes the straight road. Back to his apartment, back to his mundane life of street food and vendoring. He won't be staying forever, either. There are crowds to catch, people to visit, and food to cook. Ms. Oni had mentioned a place called Rhodes Island, and there are things beyond that, too. Someday, he'll drift away too.
Waai takes a breath, steadies herself. It was almost time to go now. "... Thank you."
Jaye looks back. "For what? I didn't do anything."
"For just... being around." She lets out a flicker of a smile. "Hope we see each other soon."
Jaye feels a breath flow out of his lungs, looking at his own road. Once they follow their split roads, there's no guarantee they'll ever meet again.
But that's just the gamble they take every time.
"Yeah." Jaye shrugs. He walks away with an easy smile on his face, looking up at the faint lanterns.
"Hope we meet again."