Arc 3 Part 3
“This seems more like a restaurant than a bar.” Vil commented looking around as both he and Pearluna had menus in hand.
“We can ask Cepha about it when she comes back.” Pearluna put the menu down. “So what do you want to eat?”
Vil studied the menu. There were a lot of options for seafood. Unsurprising with the bar’s close proximity to the docks. But he still didn’t know what to try. “What do you think?” He asked the witch.
Pearluna shrugged. “All of it seems really good.” She then had a gleam in her eyes. “But if you want to be able to have something in your hands for a bit we could get boiled crabs.”
“Sure, I’m willing to try it.” Vil put his menu down. “Can’t be that hard to eat.”
“You’ll be surprised at how difficult it is to get the meat out of one.” Pearluna put her menu down as well.
Seeing their menus were down, Cepha approached the couple. “You two ready to order?”
Pearluna took initiative. “We’ll have six boiled crabs.”
Vil blinked in confusion. “Six? I thought we were getting two.”
Both Cepha and Pearluna giggled at the blacksmith’s confusion. “You really haven’t had much seafood have you?” The cuttlefish naiad chuckled.
Pearluna stopped giggling as well. “There isn’t a lot of meat in a crab. An average serving for the ones we are getting is three per person.”
Vil shrugged his shoulders. “Well, you’re the experts.”
Cepha then asked. “And to drink?”
“Water please.” Vil replied.
“I’ll have a water as well.” The vampire said.
“Alright, I’ll be back with your drinks and the utensils for the crabs. Is there anything else you need?” Cepha asked.
Vil took the chance to ask. “So why do you call this place a bar? It looks more like a restaurant.”
“You noticed.” Cepha smiled. “It’s actually because this place used to only be the bar area.” She pointed to where some patrons were drinking at the bar. “But being close to the docks made it easy to have plenty of costumers. So we were able to expand quite a bit. It is more of a restaurant but everyone still calls it a bar since that is how it started out.”
“Thanks for letting us know.” Vil replied while Pearluna nodded.
“Of course. Many from out of town ask that question.” With that the naiad walked away.
Now that it was just the two of them, Pearluna then pulled out a heartfruit juice vial and drank half before putting it away. Vil was at a loss for what to do now. Dates were supposed to be special. However, he was drawing a blank at what to do now. They have eaten together enough times at their house after all.
“Something wrong?” The witch looked concerned.
“I don’t know what else to do.” The blacksmith admitted. “This is a date. But besides being here instead of the house. It doesn’t feel different from when we eat together normally.”
He saw Pearluna’s eyes soften. “Remember what I told you when we first decided to try being in a relationship and on the couch?”
“You said, ‘People in relationships just need to enjoy the presence of one another.’” Vil remembered.
“Are you enjoying my presence here?” Pearluna turned her head to see the Schmidts still playing on stage before turning back to Vil.
“Yes.” Vil said simply.
Pearluna placed a hand on Vil’s that was resting on the table. “And I am enjoying your’s.”
Before anything else could be said, Cepha and some waitresses arrived. One waitress placed a large piece of paper on the booth’s table followed by Cepha placing two glasses of water down. Another waitress placed crab crackers on the table for the two along with plates. Finally the last waitress placed a large plate with boiled crabs on it in the middle.
Vil was looking at the red crabs before he noticed something. “There are seven?” It sounded more like a question than a statement as he stared at Cepha.
“Oh well. Looks like you two will have to split the last one.” Vil failed to register Cepha’s wink at Pearluna with that answer. The waitresses behind her also giggled as they walked away to perform other duties. Cepha then said. “Remember to leave all the shells on the paper. Enjoy your evening you two.” As she walked away as well.
Pearluna grabbed the nearest crab and placed it on the plate. Vil followed suit. “So what do I do?”
Pearluna gripped one of the claws near where it connected to the crab’s main body. “First you grip one arm or leg at a time. Then you twist and pull.” There was a popping sound after she twisted the arm, but it came right off when she pulled.
Vil did his best to mimic the witch. The armor poked his hand as he gripped the arm. “If the armor is irritating you use the crab cracker to grip it instead.” Pearluna picked up one of the crackers and demonstrated on the other crab arm on her plate.
Vil chose to use the crab cracker on the arms. But when Pearluna started working on the legs. He noticed that it was easier to pull those off because they were smoother. All that was left now was the main body.
“Okay, flip the body upside down. See this?” Pearluna was pointing at a part that was at the back of the underside of the crab. “Peal this and pull. It will take the entire top off.” She grabbed the part and demonstrated. The top of the crab body resisted a bit, but she added more force and it popped off. “There is no meat here, so you can discard it.” She placed the empty top on the paper.
Vil followed suite. As he pealed the bottom part and got to pulling the top off, he realized the resistance there was. He applied more force and the top part, with a satisfying crack, came off. “So what do we eat?” He asked looking at the bottom part with things in it.
“You can’t eat the gills.” The witch clarified. She picked up the bottom of the body and place two thumbs on the inside. “Fold it inward a bit like so.” She slightly folded the body. “Then fold outward and tear it in half.” And with some popping and cracking sounds the body was pulled in half.
It felt strange puttying his thumbs inside the crab body. The sounds when it was folded also could be felt in its entire. But Vil had to admit, the tearing part felt very satisfying.
The vampire then pointed to where the meat was on both halves. “That is all that is edible from the body.”
Vil was surprised. “All that tearing and that is all there is inside?”
“Yep, that’s why I said that a serving is usually three.” Pearluna pulled out some of the meat and started eating. She then picked up a claw and placed her cracker on it. She pressed down and then there was a cracking sound. She then pointed at the leg. “You crack the armor and then tear it open to get to the meat inside.”
Before taking meat from the body, Vil decided to try getting meat from the arm. Following her motions he got the crack from the crab cracker. He put his thumbs inside and started to pull the shell open. With some effort the juicy meat was revealed.
“And now you know how to eat crabs.” Pearluna said as she pulled meat out of a claw.
Vil took a bite of the meat. It had a unique texture and the flavoring given to it when it was boiled was very good. Eventually he started getting the meat from the crab body.
The two ate in silence as the restaurant’s atmosphere took hold. But it was not awkward for the two of them. Pulling apart the shells and digging for the meat made everything around them feel like a blur.
Pearluna liked how this date has gone so far. Teaching him how to eat crab, him asking her to go out. It just made her happy that he liked being around her and that he appreciated her help. Be it for how to eat new things, helping in the forge, or either of them cooking for each other.
Vil also was enjoying this date. Pearluna had been supportive of the idea of them being in a relationship. He has done his best to not force anything on her and keep things simple. Her red eyes always seemed to encourage him in a comforting way.
Before the pair even realized it, the seventh crab was the only one left. “We can split it.” Vil suggested.
“You go first then.” Pearluna put her hands down.
Vil took the crab and pulled off the legs on one side and then handed the crab to the witch. Pearluna did the same with the remaining crab legs and arm. She even pulled off the top of the crab body before handing the bottom part to Vil.
As Vil’s hand grasped the crab, Pearluna did not let go. “We’ll split it together.” She said.
“On three.” Vil replied. “One, two, three.”
Both pulled at the body and the armor gave way to them. It split perfectly in half, give a fair amount to both the blacksmith and the witch.
The pair finished their meal together when Cepha arrived. “I see you two enjoyed it.”
“Thank you for the food.” Vil politely said as he and Pearluna split the bill and handed money to the naiad.
“You’re welcome. I hope you both have a good evening.” She replied as she started to clean the table.
The pair bid the naiad goodbye and began their journey home together. As they walked, Vil noticed that Pearluna was closer and had her arm wrapped around his. Their hands were also holding each other. “That was a good date.” She smiled at him.
The moonlight made her white hair and skin seem to glow. Vil found himself almost getting lost in how her eyes seemed to give off their warm welcoming look. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
The continued their walk home without interruption. When they got home, they both changed into their night cloths and found themselves once again in embrace on the couch. They just stayed in this position as the moon had continued to rise.
“Can we stay like this?” Vil blurted out. He then realized what he had said. “Just for tonight?” He immediately clarified.
The now kimono wearing vampire, who was laying on top of him of him rolled over so that their eyes met. “Of course.” She softly said as her eyes slowly closed. Her arms embracing him.
Vil absentmindedly stroked her hair. She gave no indication for him to stop. It was so soft and silk like. Eventually his arm stopped moving and he gave in to the call to sleep. The pair never saw the three cloaked vampire women looking through the window in panic.
“Not it on reporting this.” The youngest vampire shade said.
