He ordered cottage cheese and spinach stuffed ravioli in marinara sauce for you. It was piping hot when it arrived at your table, the aroma was wafting towards your nose, making your mouth water.
The presentation was marvellous, gold flakes were garnished on top along with perfectly cooked chicken shreds and bacon strips. There are two pieces of garlic bread, lightly toasted on the side. You could spot sliced pepperonis and chunks of Italian sausages within the sauce. Overall, the amount was quite satisfying too.
He ordered something else, you deduced that it's black rice, shaped into a puck with some octopus tentacles resting on it. Gold was sprinkled on it along with some greens. A dark sauce was smeared artistically on the side of the plate, a single basil leaf lies on it.
You raised an eyebrow at the difference in amount.
"H-hey, why's yours... uh, tiny? I'm having a whole buffet in my plate here while you have that... disk of rice and a drop of sauce?" You sucked in your inner cheeks, hoping he wouldn't be upset. The children already seem to place a damper on his mood.
Surprisingly, he chuckled. "I ordered this from the children's section of the menu. You eat as much as a hyperactive child, your tastes are no different. Well, at least, that's what I infer from your favourite choices of food."
Your eyebrows twitched up. That's odd, usually, the adults eat much more than the kids. "Maybe being rich is like living in a parallel universe. What the hell?"
You looked around, he was right. The adults around were only eating a quarter of what you have while the children are eating twice the amount of yours.
You pulled your injured hand out of the ice bucket and gently flicked the water off. You proceed to pick up your fork and knife, it was such an excruciating task to do especially the injured hand was your dominant one.
Vasilios eyed your hand but kept quiet about it.
You tried your best to make it move 'normally' and gracefully. You did a wonderful job, but it almost brought you to tears.
"Would you like to try my dish?" He asked. You froze up a bit, his food does look a bit intimidating.
"S-sure." He picked up an amount on his fork and brought near your mouth. You hesitantly took a bite, preparing for the worst, you closed your eyes.
It was terrible. You forced yourself to swallow it then you quickly masked the taste with a ravioli. Vasilios smiled, he expected this reaction.
"Your tastebuds are still immature." He wiped your mouth with a napkin.
"What was that?" You're still wincing over the taste.
"Squid ink, olives and bitter gourd risotto. If I'm not mistaken, basil and lemongrass were also used." He gathered a bite-sized amount on his fork and started eating as well. You grimaced.
"Well uh, since I tried yours... w-wanna try mine?" You nervously asked.
"Aw, how sweet of you. Thank you, darling. However, I decline." He ended the conversation with a loving smile. If both of you had a normal, healthy relationship together, your heart would have skipped a beat at his alluring looks.
But his rotten actions made you very biased against him. You wished to roll your eyes at him, self-control is such a wonderful thing.
You and Vasilios continued eating in silence, the screams of children and the quiet murmuring of their parents enveloped the both of you like a blanket.
At the corner of your eye, you saw the same boy who approached you along with a few of his friends staring at your table. You turned to face them, they grinned from ear to ear.
When Vasilios turned to see what distracted you, their grin turned into a fearful frown. They then hid behind the chairs and tables nearby.
"They like you." Vasilios told you, dejectedly. "How... unfair." He mumbled quietly and returned eating his meal.
You squint at him. "Oh, now you're talking about unfairness?" You wished to slap him right there right then for making you go through hell but you knew better.
For the first time, you saw some new emotions in his face: discomfort and insecurity. "Huh, The great Vasilios is actually capable of feeling inferior!" You intended to leave him feeling like that for a while. However, it was getting harder and harder to eat while watching him suffer from the foreign feelings.
You set your utensils down on your plate. This took Vasilios's attention.
"'Scuse me for a second." You got up and walked towards the group of children. Their face lit up when they saw you approaching them.
"Hi, miss! Would you like to play with us?" You squat at their level.
"See that sad man there?" You (a bit rudely) pointed at Vasilios with your pointer finger. They were intimidated by his blank gaze, they huddled closer to you.
"He ain't that bad. He's...err—" you couldn't find anything positive to say about him.
"But miss, he's scary!" A chubby girl whispered.
"I know right? He's a mean machine, sent from the future to kill a certain John." You told them. They all gasped. Your shoulders shook as you snicker at their reactions.
"B-but I'm John!" A boy shakily whispered to you.
"Ooh, better start running John. He's gonna terminate your ass— I mean butt." Some laughed some gasped.
That piqued Vasilios's interest, his full focus was on you and the children now. They suddenly became silent and shied their eyes away from his gaze.
"I-Is he going to hurt us? He looks angry." A scrawny girl moved closer to you.
"M-miss, I think he heard you." A short boy told you.
"Ha ha ha! Just kidding, squirts. But he might be your moms' favourite." All of them said 'huh?'
simultaneously.
"That's right, your moms' crush." You smirked. The girls giggled and blushed. The boys stood there, frozen and dumbfounded.
"He's scary! He can't be my mom's crush!" A boy half-whispered.
"Hey, when someone's scary, it doesn't mean they're ugly. In fact, that guy right there is pretty hot, ain't that right, girls?" They giggled and their blush got deeper. The boys still did not get it.
"Don't believe me? Ask your moms. Shoo shoo, go." You gently pushed them by the back. They finally dispersed to their respective parents' tables.
You stood back up and straightened your back. You sighed and walked back towards the table. "What did you tell them?" The male asked you, his green eyes were gleaming with an unknown emotion.
"I told them you're not that scary because their moms are fans of you." You placed a ravioli in your mouth. He opened his mouth to speak, but then it was cut off by someone else.
"Mister Vasilios!? O-oh, Hi! Sorry to interrupt your meal, but may I have an autograph...?" A middle-aged woman stood next to the male with the chubby girl you talk to just now.
She's holding with the front cover hidden behind opaque wrapping paper. You believe that she didn't want people to know what is she reading.
"Mister Vasilios...?"
"Oh! It's Mister Vasilios!"
"I love your works!"
"Sir, may I have your autograph?"
Soon, a group of women flock to him with books wrapped in different opaque covers. Your jaw dropped when you saw a few men also joining in with their own books.
More and more adults gather around him and so did their curious children. Now they aren't afraid of him, but they weren't willing to play with him yet.
Vasilios looked over to you. You were busy finishing the rest of your dish.
He grabbed a pen from his pocket and started signing. Vasilios was just glad that the children stopped treating him like some sort of hideous monster.
Now he felt like an abstract piece of art in a museum, many are just gawking at it because they couldn't understand the meaning.
It was still better than being treated as a scary abomination.
He grinned, he is sure to reward you later.
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A/n: i hope yall get a teeny weeny reference i shoehorned in :)