It was a perfunctory action, borne of necessity rather than any particular interest in the food. He was so distracted by trying to work out justhowhe was going to explain any of the countless weird things about his life to Diana that it took him a few seconds to realize that the omelet was good.
Damngood.
He took another mouthful, paying closer attention this time, and was almost blown away by how good it was. The eggs were light and fluffy and cheesy, and the diced vegetables that had been liberally added were fresh and crisp and bursting with flavor – the perfect counterpoint to the smoky, rich, slightly spicy sausage.
Part of him wanted to slow down and savor it, but he knew that what he wasreallyhere for was the waffles, and it would be a travesty to not eat them at their peak freshness. If they were half as good as the eggs, then he definitely wanted to fully enjoy them. He’d only ordered the omelet as a savory cushion for the sweet waffles – he hadn’t been expecting to enjoy it so much.
He finished off the omelet in record time, pushing the empty plate out of the way so that he could dedicate his full attention to the main event.
And boy, did it look good.
The plate was piled high with rich, brown, chocolatey waffles, decorated with seductive swirls of lusciously thick cream and a vast assortment of colorful, shiny berries – at a glance, Calvin could see strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, a riot of reds and pinks and blues and purples that seemed to almost leap out from the whiteness of the cream.
The whole thing was topped off with a gleaming dark cascade of hot fudge sauce, and an enormous sprig of the greenest mint Calvin had ever seen.
And thesmell–!
Without even realizing that he had moved, Calvin suddenly found that he’d leaned forward to take in that heavenly aroma, probably looking for all the world like some sort of strange dessert sommelier.
It’s like when you first open the oven door after a chocolate cake has just finished baking, and that wall of warm chocolate smell justhitsyou, he thought dreamily. Except somehow ten times better.
Suddenly, he was keenly aware of the feeling of Diana’s eyes upon him.
Sheepishly he looked up, to see her watching him with a strangely hungry look in her eyes.
“Dig in,” she said, her voice low. “It’s so good, oh my God.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, picking up his cutlery and looking for the best place to start.
Where to begin? Should he taste each component separately first, or just gather every possible flavor onto his fork and shove the whole thing into his mouth?
Hedidreally want to try the waffle itself, so he managed to locate a section that was free of toppings, and levered it carefully out from beneath the rest.
The crispy outside of the waffle made a delightfulcrunching sound as he cut into it, steam rising up into the air as he pulled it apart to reveal the soft, fluffy center.
Could this possibly taste as good as it looks?
He took a careful mouthful, and…
Oh man, that isamazing.
It was like someone had taken all the world’s deliciousness, and concentrated it within this one mouthful of waffle. Which was pretty lucky for him, Calvin supposed.
He took his time chewing it, just enjoying the warm, soft chocolate waffle as it practically melted on his tongue.
All too soon, though, it was gone, and so he moved on to one of the strawberries, keen to find out if it could possibly live up to the waffle.
It looked like something out of a commercial, it was so enticing. Deep red and shiny and flawless, it was like the platonic ideal of a strawberry.
Or like something that a unicorn grew,his wyvern muttered.Not that I would know anything about these things.
Clearly it was still hanging on to its unicorn theory… but really, Calvin wasn’t entirely sure he blamed it. The food herewasbeyond anything he’d had anywhere else. The lemonade he could pass off as a fluke, or as a function of it having been made by his mate, but apparently everything in this town just tasted amazing.
He bit into the strawberry, and promptly had to keep himself from making some kind of embarrassing sound at just howdeliciousit was. It was the sweetest, juiciest,strawberry-est strawberry he’d ever tasted.
A sound from across the table got his attention, and he looked up to see that Diana clearly didn’t have any qualms about making noises of her own – she was chewing on her fried chicken waffle, eyes closed, a blissed-out expression on her face.
I’d like to see more of that expression.
