One-Time Celebration

"Why the hell would you enter your apartment like that? Are you going nuts?" Obed asked his friend.

Luke just continued breathing heavily.

Obed, who felt like Luke was ignoring him, left the kitchen and walked till he was in front of Luke.

Only when Obed got to Luke's front did he notice Luke's heavy panting.

"Hey, Luke are you alright? Did something bad happen?" Obed was now in tension.

"I… I'm sorry but I think this is worse than bad.' Luke replied, still breathing heavily.

"What happened?" Obed asked once more.

Luke inhaled deeply and then exhaled. "I think I saw death in person."

Obed chuckled. "Come up with a better lie."

"I'm serious though. He spoke to me, saying I'm an odd case." Luke walked to the chair close by and sat on it.

Obed tried to hold in his laughter. "If it was really death, as in the grim reaper, did you see his scythe? He's always with one."

Luke shook his head. "I think he left it this time but it really felt like death."

"Puahahaha…" Obed burst into laughter before he noticed that his friend wasn't smiling. "...are you being serious right now?" He asked for confirmation.

"Do I look like I'm pulling a prank right now?" Luke retorted.

"So what are you planning to do?" Obed with a serious face sat opposite Luke.

"Me? You're saying I'm in this alone?" Luke asked with disbelief written on his face.

Obed chuckled and nodded his head. "Well yeah, he saw you only. Why am I involved? Besides, if he's really the grim reaper like you said, which I still don't believe, I see no reason why I have to die in vain. He'll just pluck our souls and go back to hell or the underworld or wherever he resides."

Luke had been taking off his shoes when Obed was speaking "Damn you." He threw the pair at Obed.

"That's the truth, isn't it?" Obed caught the shoe and laughed.

Luke knew Obed was saying the truth so he just smiled and nodded. "Well, whatever it was, it would definitely end us before we even have the chance to breathe in front of it."

"I'll be back. I need to check the pot on the fire." Obed stood up and headed to the kitchen.

"What are you making?" Luke asked before Obed went far.

Obed answered Luke's question while walking "It's potato soup. I made it with deer meat and trust me, you're going to love it."

"Ohh, deer meat." Luke could already see himself stuffing his mouth full of meat.

Knock! Knock!!

Someone knocked on the door.

When Obed heard the knock, he called out to Luke. "Luke, help me open it and take what the person gives to you. I'm expecting an item."

"No way in hell am I opening the god-damned door. What if it turns out to be the grim reaper? Again!" Luke immediately rejected Obed's request.

Obed immediately scolded Luke. "It's not the grim reaper so don't be stupid, and just do it. As I said, I'm expecting something and I'm pretty sure the person outside brought it."

"Fine! I'll do it." Luke stood up and walked to the door.

He opened the door and spoke to whoever was there.

Obed didn't hear a thing but when Luke closed the door, he was holding a rectangular wooden case.

"What's in it?" Luke asked as he tapped it.

When he arrived in front of the dining table and dropped the case.

Obed put off the fire and held the hot pot with gloves. He walked to the table with the pot in hand.

"That's a wine from thirty years ago. Be careful with that. It's pretty older than us." Obed dropped the pot on a wooden board that was on the dining table.

"Pull it out…" Before Obed could finish talking, Luke had pulled out the bottle from the case.

"Woah, it looks good. I bet it tastes good too. How much did it cost?" Luke admired the blue transparent bottle. It had a long neck and distinctive sloping shoulders, making it resemble a cone but its bottom was slightly thinner than the middle of the bottle.

"Between 100 and 150 golds." Obed answered Luke's question.

Luke was dumbfounded "What the hell? I bet you used the money I gave to you."

"Exactly." Obed nodded.

"That's crazy expensive," Luke grunted. Even fixing the house didn't cost that much.

"I know right? It's for tonight. We're celebrating our awakening as Chosens." Obed chuckled.

Luke now understood why Obed had made Luke's favorite dish. "Oh, so that was the occasion. You should've made more dishes. Potato soup alone isn't enough."

"Well, I did make other dishes." Obed walked back to the kitchen and opened one of the cabinets.

One by one, he pulled out different dishes, surprising Luke.

Luke just stood there, with his mouth open.

"Don't just stand there, help me take them to the table." Obed called Luke to help.

Luke snapped out of his daze. "Sorry, I was lost for a moment." Luke walked over to help Obed set the food on the table.

Luke opened the wine and poured it into two glasses.

The wine was red like most wines but its berry scent filled the room.

"Cheers to…" Before Obed could give a toast, Luke's glass was empty.

"That's not how it's done!" Obed yelled at him.

"No one tells me what to do." Luke shrugged and filled his glass again.

"Well, let's just make a toast, and then you can drink all you want. Cheers to us becoming Chosens." Obed raised his glass for a toast.

Luke reluctantly raised his glass and responded to the toast after which they dived into the dishes. Of course, Luke's main focus was the potato soup.

Thirty minutes later, all the plates on the table were empty.

"Ahh… I'm full." Luke tapped his belly, and so did Obed.

"I'm heading to bed. Because I don't think I can sit anymore. Thanks for the food." Luke stood up and walked to his room.

He opened the door, entered, and closed it.

He opened it again. "Leave the dishes and head to work. I'll clean it up later." He closed it.

"Ah, I need to tell you something, we'll be heading out for bloody training pretty soon. I just remembered to give you a heads-up." Luke's door opened again and Luke spoke through it.

He closed the door and Obed heard him say good night.

Obed smiled and stood from his chair and walked into the bathroom. He needed to wash up before going to work.

Luke fell asleep the moment he climbed into his bed. Little did he know he was going to experience another episode of those weird dreams he had been having every now and then.

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