Bloom

62. roses on turning tables

Haven

"It's a dinner meal, here? Pancakes, I mean." Zephaniah furrowed his eyebrows, pouting his lips lightly as his gaze was fixed upon the restaurant in front of us, his eyes blinking faster when they landed onto the flickering restaurant sign.

"Or for lunch, yeah. Can't imagine, can you?" I wondered, Zephaniah hummed. "They're like really big here, though. It's not to compare to the pancakes we know. Thin also, but not as thin as crepes. Plain ones are often eaten with treacle, some sort of apple butter or sugar. But, but!" I said, Zephaniah's eyes meeting mine. "You can also eat it with slices of bacon, apples, cheese, whatsoever. It's like, baked within already."

Zephaniah seemed skeptical still, glancing at me and back to the restaurant with his lips still pouted, eyebrows furrowed.

"Do you want to try it?" I wondered, chuckling lightly at his expression.

"I guess?" Zephaniah fiddled with his fingers, slowly licking his lips while he watched some people, that had just eaten there, leave. "They're not green." He mumbled out, laughing a little when he glanced at me. "It was a joke. People turn green when they're nauseous. That's a joke too, it doesn't happen in real life, only in cartoons. It is unrealistic.."

Laughing, I listened to him in amusement. The fact that he always pointed out that it was a joke warmed me, I thought it was sweet. "Let's go inside, then?"

"Alright, pannekoek." He pronounced the dutch translation funnily, chuckling because of himself. He hid it by biting his upper lip, though.

Chuckling myself, I took the lead and walked inside the restaurant, smiling when somebody from there walked over to me immediately. "Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes, uhm, I'd like to eat here with him. Is there a table available, still?" I asked, noticing how packed it already was.

The waitress, clicked onto her computer, scrolling for a brief moment until she nodded her head. "Yes! You're lucky. The next reservation would be in an hour. Is that enough time for the both of you to eat? Otherwise there will be a place available at four pm.."

I turned my face to Zephaniah, but he hadn't listened. He was whispering things to himself, his eyes falling onto the most random things- details I wouldn't ever see without him. "Zeph? Is an hour enough for us to eat?"

"Who eats hours?" He answered, his eyes meeting mine for a brief moment.

The waitress stifled a laugh, she most likely didn't know he was, in fact, pretty serious about it. I smiled, though, sighed softly. "As in, time? I mean, can you finish the food in an hour?"

"Sure." Zephaniah shrugged, his voice quiet as he noticed the woman in front of us. He turned his face away.

"Great! That's settled then. The table for two is over there, please follow me." The two of us followed the waitress towards a table that was, luckily for Zeph, at the back of the restaurant. I let him sit against the wall, so he had an overview of the restaurant, knowing it made him feel more at ease.

We sat next to the window, we could see the many tourists strolling by, the canals and boats being our view. It was lunchtime, that didn't stop the waitress from lightening a candle. I awkwardly cleared my throat, wondering if she was thinking it was a date, because in that case, she was wrong.

She placed a vase with two roses onto the table after that, handing us the menus. I simply thanked her, glancing at Zephaniah. He didn't link the roses and candle to something being romantic, it seemed. He hadn't said anything about it, only frowned at the rose.

"Never seen a restaurant who has roses on the table. It's like.. it's like as if she thinks it's for a date." He mumbled, looking up at me. His cheeks colored, but he rolled his eyes playfully to hide his embarrassment. "She thinks that? Oh."