CHAPTER 31: Just Great

Antigua and Luna were sitting down at the four-chair corner table at the restaurant where Oceano had cooked under his uncle's management. They had been waiting for Oceano to come out of that hallway to personally serve them his specialty, which Antigua forgot the name of. All that he could remember is that it had beans, rice, and meat according to Oceano, as well as a ton of spices from around the world. Sounded heavenly to him, and even more so to Luna. She had already tasted many of his foods, but this one was supposed to be the be-all-end-all of Oceano's dishes. A masterpiece so tender and satisfyingly filling people from around the province would walk two days or even travel on those new "bikes" being brought in from overseas for the moment while more advanced metalworking was slowly becoming a mainstay in various parts of Tangente's empire, especially in the southern province, the most industrial of the four. Antigua had learned so much in only six months, but he still could learn much more. The training was hard, as learning how to fight and command is not simple whatsoever. He had been working day in and day out, this day being one of the only vacation days he took in order to hang out with the other generals. They had spent countless hours together, and now had become quite inseparable. With the clapping of hard shoes on wood, Luna's eyes lit up and Antigua smiled with his shiny fangs, much to the awkwardness of the humans around them. To the average person, they were magical, perhaps spiritual beings. After all, they were the first people to own the wings of the moth and the butterfly. However, they saw Antigua as something much more sinister. They gave him their respect, but only out of fear of his sharpened fingernails, glaring teeth, and unusual yellow eyes. Antigua was slightly uncomfortable, but was energized and brought to strength with the presence of his friends. Had he been alone, he thought to himself, this unsaid ostracization would have silenced the joy in both his voice and his heart.

"Looking good, Oceano! Look at that little tie… That's what they're called, right?"

"Yep. These were the clothes I wore before I became a bug! Though I did have to cut a hole in it for my wings. Thanks for the selvage, Luna! I have to say, I am most impressed!"

Luna looked down "NO PROBLEM! HA! I'LL DO IT FOR YOU ANYTIME" she said before becoming self-conscious and wanting to scream. Antigua had to hold his hand over his mouth and nose to prevent a bursting laugh from escaping. It half-failed, and Antigua's eyes became bloodshot and almost popped out of his head.

"Smooth." Antigua slipped in a quick, quiet comment.

"What did you say?" Oceano said in a curious, almost prying voice with a slight smile. Antigua could've sworn he knew. Or did he? Antigua didn't know which one, and the anticipation was killing him. With his hand still on his face, a second burst of laughter erupted and air exploded from his nose this time, sending a little bit of snot in his hands. Oh shit. Antigua stood up, covering his nose, rosy with embarrassment.

"Nooooo! Wait a second, wait a second! I gotta go to the restroom! Where is it?" Antigua looked around frantically to see Oceano's finger pointing to the door. He rushed as fast as he could, with some children laughing at him on his way. As he grabbed the door with his clean hand, Antigua looked back at Luna and gave the "you better tell him this time" look. He and Luna had gone through all sorts of measures these past few months to set up a perfect confession. Luna chickened out every single time. It was by mere coincidence that Antigua sneezed and left them alone, but it was another perfect time and perfect place. Luna had even brought a very nice gift in exchange for Oceano treating them. It's gotta happen now. Antigua disappeared behind closed doors to give the soon-to-be couple their space. As Antigua was washing up, he remembered with excitement their next destination, his home village. He couldn't wait to see his family again, after all this time. Tangente didn't feel like sending him all the way over to them after his procedure, and instead had one of his men already stationed there give them a "phone", as they called it. He talked with them, and learned that there were some new additions to the family and that his brother got married, After all this time. Though matchmaking was still done by the majority of people in the empire, marriages of two consenting individuals were also recently becoming popular. Such was the decision of his brother. Perhaps Antigua, too, could marry the person of his dreams. The thought of free choice amazed Antigua, as it had only been properly implemented one generation before him. There was a silent princess of sorts in his village, one whom everyone admired. If only he could have her as his wife. It wouldn't hurt to try. He used to be just skin and bone, but muscle was slowly but surely developing on him, partially because of his training, partially because he was a different creature altogether now. A thought crossed his mind: could he even have children with a human? He had learned more about genetics from quick talks he's had with Tangente here and there… leaving doubts in his mind about the possibility of children, and whether or not they would be immortal or not. Some modified human variants had been shown to be compatible with humans, others… not so much. However, one thing was certain: the same variant of modified humans could without any genetic issues, though it was not advised. A constant increase in population without deaths to balance would lead to chaos. Regardless, an immortal pairing with a mortal is a tragic loss waiting to happen. Your lover grows old and frail while you stay youthful even after their death and beyond. That would be lonely… so lonely… but Antigua didn't care. He wanted her more than anything right now. As Antigua exited the door, he saw Oceano hurrying to the kitchen with his new present. He didn't say a word, but his movements said everything. Antigua rushed to Luna's table.

"Sooooo?" He smiled.

"MMMMMMMM..." Luna hummed, her body struggling to contain the pent-up energy as she swayed back and forth in embarrassed delight. "First date's gonna be soon!"

Antigua shot up from his chair, only to realize halfway that he was in a public place, and sat back down. He rested his elbow on the glossy wooden table, the second-hand excitement rubbing off on him. He had wanted to see them together for so long now. He had taken many bumps and bruises to be the best wingman the world had to offer, and he was not disappointed to see the fruits of his and Luna's labor. Oceano came back, three bowls on his arm, around his neck lying an amazing piece of artwork in the form of a scarf. Its base color was a gray that complemented Oceano's aquamarine hair, and diamonds of different shades of light lavender enriched the piece of cloth as well-matched well with his chocolate skin. Antigua wasn't much of a fashion person, but even he got goosebumps at the raw beauty enhancement of Oceano's aesthetic. The scarf itself was extremely fine-knit and made of some form of foreign silk that was both thin, strong, and smooth. Thin enough to stay cool with it in the sweltering heat of this climate, but thick enough to protect from the sun in the day and the chilling wind at night. It was even elastic, from what Antigua could see. Just how much time and resources did Luna use on such a present? Who knows. All Antigua knew that he was jealous of such a great gift. You couldn't get that quality of fabric in the northern province, especially with a farmer and baker as parents. Nevertheless, Antigua was proud of Luna, as well as Oceano. He had gotten to know Oceano, picked on him a little, and respected him for the shy, polite, and pretty intelligent guy that he was. Oceano had even learned his own set of clever comebacks against Antiguas onslaught of insults. Though they were adults, Antigua felt like he had raised them like his children. He truly was the father of his friend group, and he loved it. Oceano placed the three bowls down by their respective owner and quietly took a seat. In front of them, a round ball of frosty brown that had air whipped into it was laid out in all of its sweet-scented glory. The ball was very slowly turning to liquid at the edges of the bowl, and a slight vapory fog radiated from the sphere's surface. So this was ice cream. Oceano handed out the spoons to eat such a messy dessert. They were much smaller than the ones for soup that Antigua was accustomed to, but they had their own little charm. Antigua raised his spoon, and took a delicate scoop before lifting it to his mouth. As the sweet and rich taste filled his entire mouth, so did a refreshing coolness. The chill of the ice cream spiked its flavor and made it so very desirable. Upon examining its texture, Antigua was stuck between the natural chewing that his mouth was so used to and just letting it sit and melt on his tongue. After a couple of bites, he decided option two was so much better. He looked at Oceano, who was well-mannered and straight-backed as he politely consumed his ice cream while Luna in comparison blew on the ice cream to see the smoke come off of it. They were so contrasting, yet Antigua thought it was cute. They had many great moments where the calm butterfly and the hyperactive moth were on the same wavelength, even if it was just for five minutes. Antigua couldn't help but notice that Oceano couldn't stop staring at Luna, and looked away when Luna was the one to look over at him. Interesting. Very interesting. Antigua somewhat wanted to sneak around a little and see how their first date would go, but privacy in this crucial period of theirs was a must, and Antigua wanted their relationship to last. As the three ate their last scoop, Antigua sat back in his chair, thoroughly satisfied. This was the best dish he's ever had. He could see himself enjoying this stuff on occasion for centuries to come. His all-time favorite food.

"Oceano, do you have any more of this? I can't stop eating it." Luna said, scraping the syrupy mixture from the bowl's bottom.

"No, sadly. We have limited storage space in our freezer. Only one bowl per customer every week. The main flavoring of the ice creams are chocolate and vanilla, which are pretty hard to get, but those could be substituted for a more native flavor. Thankfully, some people from the northern province sold us some cows once they knew what we could make. The sugar can be sourced from a variety of places now, but the hardest part is electricity. Only a few people are given a supply of it, as they have to appeal to Tangente. Luckily, we got electricity as soon as I became a general. That's how the freezer works in the first place, and we only have enough for one this size. Running an underground city is only barely within Tangente's reach as of now, that's why he wants those nuclear power plants built so badly."

"Oh come on, there's gotta be some more..." Antigua said before an idea popped in his head and a mischievous smile crossed over his face. Oceano grew concerned, what the hell was he planning to do. With exhilarating speed, Antigua stood up and grabbed Luna under the arms. "LUNA BOMB!" He yelled as he swung and threw the poor little moth above the table at Oceano. As Oceano's first reaction was to catch her, Antigua zoomed past the tables towards the back hallway. He stumbled upon the fridge with a wide-faced grin. With hastened, shaky movements, he struggled the latch off its hinge and opened the thick, ice-covered doors. He spared no time displacing meats and parts to foods he had never seen before and finally uncovered the greatest of treasures that came in all four flavors. He snatched them like a fox and scurried for the back door. Locked. He made his escape through the way he started through and saw Oceano at the door, a glint of light illuminating his tropical-sea-blue eyes as his hands and wings were out-stretched to cover the exit completely.

"You're not making it out of here with both those things AND your life!" Oceano grumbled. A worthy opponent for this fine treasure. Antigua got in his own stand he had been taught as the customers watched in confusion and terror. Two godly beings, fighting to the death over the few last tubs of ice cream. Such a mystical battle would surely go down in history as the "Monday Mint Massacre". Suddenly, Luna stepped in to save the day. Luna wrapped her arms around Oceano's thin waist, and with wings that covered the entire restaurant wall, they took off soaring. That is, if there wasn't a roof in the way. Oceano went straight into the ceiling, leaving Luna hanging on to Oceano's dangling body. Luna hung there in confusion for a little bit, but soon let herself glide to the floor. They both looked in silent terror at the unresponsive Oceano, whose entire head had lodged itself tight inside the restaurant's infrastructure. They gaped at each other, ice creams still in hand, and Luna shrugged with guilty shock plastered across her face.

"He'll be fine. I think..." She remarked, her wide eyes now looking at the ground. Antigua pulled her arm as he himself started towards the door.

"He isn't staying like that for long… quickly!" He pointed to the spoons. Luna quickly took them and the two criminals dashed away from the crime scene. Meanwhile, their audience looked back up at their waiter, who was currently swaying with the wind of the closing doors like a wind chime.

"Are you okay?" One person said amongst the small crowd.

"Myah, Eweting's Jus Gwayt." A muffled voice responded.