Light of Dawn

Chapter 4 - Culture Shock

Jake was waiting at his roadside table alongside Eve who was resting her head on his shoulder while Rex and the others went to get them some food. They'd landed close to four hours ago in Tokyo before they'd gotten aboard the bullet train and made for Kyoto. Jake was already dead tired despite having slept n the flight over as well as on the train because in LA it'd be roughly 3:00 am as opposed to 5:00 pm. Even the dark elves looked like the jet lag had hit them pretty hard but they didn't have much of a choice but to keep to going. At least that's what Jake kept telling himself as he fought his body to stay awake.

Rex returned just as Jake's eyes were beginning to win the fight and close on him, and the dark elf brought with him a very strange looking dish that looked like it hadn't even been cooked. Estelle was right behind him carrying a tray with cups each with their names on them and Jake couldn't help but note just how much more peppy the two of them looked as they slid the food and drinks to them. Jake hadn't eaten anything solid since the morning they left so he wasn't exactly in the mood to be picky as he woke Eve up and very sloppily used his chopsticks to pick up a small pink an white blob wrapped in a leaf and popped it in his mouth.

Though as soon as he took a bite he forced himself to swallow it whole but not before nearly puking in Eve's lap. The dark elves gave him an alarmed look as Jake now fully awake began to wipe his tongue with his hands and napkin. "Ugh, you should've told me I was eating sushi!" Jake said fairly loudly, telling them how he didn't really care for it as he grabbed his marked cup and tried drowning that taste out of his mouth. However once his drink his tongue he started to gag. "Holy-" Jake paused before hitting himself in the chest as he forced that god awful drink down his throat. "What the hell was that?"

Rex and Estelle looked at one another before Rex finally answered. "Espresso."

"Oh my god that's strong!" Jake said putting it down on the table and settling for his complimentary glass of water. "I thought you're only supposed to take shots of that stuff? I don't even like coffee what the hell are you two trying to do poison me?"

"Espresso? I like espresso." Eve said groggily as she took Jake's cup from him and began to sip on it. Jake watched in amazement as Eve's eyes slowly opened up again and she sat up now looking fully awake. How someone could put drink that stuff was beyond him since he knew that it was virtually like drinking cocaine. Eve saw the tray in front of them and she smiled at it before grabbing her chopsticks and began to dig in. "I love sushi!"

"Are you sure you two should be dating?" Rex asked with an amused look on his face as he began to eat his own bit of sushi as did the other dark elves. "And Jake I'm sorry I know you'd hate the espresso but it was either that or I could've held you down and poured hot sauce or some sake down your throat."

"I'd rather you have." Jake said reaching for a bowl of spiced rice and began to pour some soy sauce on it. "Did you guys get anything spicy? I need something to get that liquid cocaine of my mouth."

"Well we got some curry," Rex said pointing at the medium sized bowl which Jake grabbed and dumped on his rice. "But I don't think that you should-"

Too late. Jake popped it in his mouth and began to chew it. It tasted nice and sweet at first and it was actually quite good. But then it was like someone had just flipped a switch and suddenly Jake felt like he was going to start shooting steam from his ears like in those old cartoons. He froze mid chew literally dropped his dish and sticks before he stood up completely frozen. He was trying to swallow it but it was like the heat had completely stunned his mouth and he couldn't get his tongue to move. Rex's eyes went as wide as the dishes they were using before he dropped his own plate and took off toward the nearest food stand that he could find.

"Jake?" Eve asked but he didn't even acknowledge her. "Jake, are you alright?" She asked setting her food down and standing up beside him just as Jake began to pour with sweat. He let out a whimper as response and began to shake his head as quickly as he could. "Oh my god swallow it!"