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<05/13/2011 - 20:00 | Olive Garden, Marietta, GA, USA>

One special benefit that I have with telepathy at this age, is that I can drag Lumina along with me wherever I want without anybody knowing in advance. It's the reason I was twice as excited as usual to come to Olive Garden's restaurant in my area. Of course, I'm only here because my parents are the ones who agreed to take the four of us, I mean, five of us out to eat.

I've been to Olive Garden before, so I know already that their pastas are to die for, but Lumina has never really been inside of a fancy restaurant, until now.

"Wow! It looks like they even have their own butlers and everything!"

"They're not butlers. They're just servers and waiters who act like butlers." With that in mind, I sat down at the table with the other parts of my family, Ivan, my mom, and Peterson. Peterson's not really part of my family, not figuratively at least; he isn't deserving of the title. But, as long as he behaves, I have nothing to worry about. Since we're out in public, I know he won't become belligerent here. Mother would never tolerate it.

As soon as I was settled, the butler, er, I mean, the server prepared his order sheet and prepared to gauge our interests. "So, what will you have to order?"

I knew he was talking to me, but my eyes were glued to the open menu in my hands with a new light. "No way! They have a special shrimp Alfredo pasta!" I was about to drool on my own menu just looking at it. I've only ever had this dish once never to see it again. But here it is!

"You must really love pasta and cheese."

It's a recurring theme of food for me. What will I have for lunch? Mac and Cheese. Dinner? Mac and Cheese. Second dinner? Also Mac and Cheese. Afternoon snack? Something with cheese at least. "You should try it." "Shrimp Alfredo Pasta please." I was fully decided on this now.

"Oh! That reminds me!"

"What? What is it?"

Before I could find out what got her excited, the server asked me more questions. "And what would you like for your side?"

"Let me pick the side, okay?" Lumina was practically begging me to let her have a go at the menu, which forced me to take my time a bit.

"Uh, sure." I held up the menu again, letting everyone know I was going to need more time to decide. I forced myself to read through all the side options, since Lumina can't actually read them on her own if my eyes are not right there focused on the words.

"Let's see... I got it! Seasoned asparagus with fresh salad blend!"

I'm normally one to avoid vegetables, so this should be interesting. "I hope it's good." "Let's do the asparagus."

"Good choice sir. And, your drink?"

On instinct, Lumina and I both synchronized our answered together. "Water."

I waited on everybody else to order after ours was in, waiting patiently just to even think. It's kind of jarring to pay direct attention to Lumina when so many people are around, people I can't afford to mess up in front of. At school, I could care less. But these days, I'm wanting more and more to keep Lumina a secret from those in my family tree. The reasons are obvious.

Once the waiter finally left to put in the order, it allowed me to take in the fresh sights of the place. I never noticed how roomy the area was until now. The decorations and coloring of the floor, ceiling, and walls were setting a perfect atmosphere, a real air harmony. I wouldn't be surprised if one of these waiters stood at tables and started playing violins.

"It's a really nice place."

I'm glad Lumina can enjoy the scenery and atmosphere like I can. Even the noise level is tolerable. "Anyway... I thought it was fishy before, when you said that you can't taste food too well due to your poor sense of smell. But now suddenly, you want to eat all my food? I thought the Altiri people never got hungry." It was hard for me not to blush and smirk, since I knew I was only trying to get another rise out of her. If Lumina wants to taste the magic, she has to earn it somehow.

"Huh? What's with that weird look on your face?"

I quickly reset my expression, telling my mom she was imagining things. But it wasn't fun to have her scare me like that. It's annoying that even though I can hide our thoughts from others, I can't always hide the expressions I make within those conversations.

Lumina on the other hand ignored the moment entirely, focusing only on what I said, accepting the challenge. "I— I can still taste the foods that you taste. Just because I don't get hungry doesn't mean I can't enjoy the flavor of a meal." Watching her struggle to justify her place in my dinner is so cute! "However, it's also true that it might not taste the same for me. One spice for you might seem like something different for me. I'm not so sure we can like the same things."

"Hm... So even our taste buds can share information?" I already knew they could, but I wasn't getting tired of hearing her explain it to me more than once. I mean, it's an incredible concept to me. She can really taste the food I cram into my own mouth, just like that. It means if I eat something wonderful, she gets a second row seat to the flavor too, assuming she does like it.

"In a limited state, they can. Since Altiri taste buds are slightly different from humans, combined with us having a totally different smell, it reduces some of the detail that gets shared. It also means I can't smell a single thing that you smell. So when it comes to taste, it's not unexpected that the sensation I get will differ from yours entirely."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Well, this will be a good test of the food then. There will still be a wait, so let's talk about something else until it arrives."

With that, it was a good thirty minute wait for most of our food to emerge from that kitchen of bliss. After waiting for so long, I wanted to eat more than I did before, and Lumina was getting the same anticipation about tasting good for the first time in her life.

When they set out the steaming plates of meals in front of us, it was pretty much time to chow down. "Wow, this looks so good!"

"If you're this excited, it must be good!"

Her secondary reaction reminded me that this will be unlike other dinners I've been to before. On top of having Lumina along with me, we get to taste the very same foods. I'm curious to see what she thinks of it, being an alien and all. "Okay. First, I'm going to try the pasta." I have to sink my teeth into this first. Trying anything else before this would be an insult to the Alfredo Gods!

When I did put that first bite into my mouth, even though I know I've had something like this before, my mood shot through the roof! My eyes nearly rolled back in my head, and the activated nerves on my tongue spread around like a wildfire of pleasure! Just that first bite was totally amazing! I must be in heaven!

Lumina also had the chance to react to the flavor as it splashed around in my mouth. "Hm... Not bad... But it could use some more spice or something. It's kind of bland to me."

"How is that bland?!" I beg of you Lumina! Please don't insult the Alfredo Gods! "Man, you really don't taste things the same way I do... I feel bad for you now." There's actually not a lot Lumina has ever admitted to liking when tasting foods from my world. I guess eating just isn't something she could enjoy.

"Let me try that piece of steak your mother ordered." Still undeterred, Lumina saw an opportunity to try something she thought she would like.

I wasn't about to turn her down either. So, when nobody was looking, I used my fork to yoink a small piece of the steak right off her plate, plopping it into my teeth. Amazingly, nobody else seemed to notice me doing that. Sneak skills are still as maximum! "Wow! This steak is amazing too!" I still enjoy the pasta in first place.

But Lumina had her own opinion on its flavor. "It's overcooked."

"What?!" No way! That steak is barely medium-well! She needs her taste buds checked.

"They burnt all the flavor out of it!"

"Jesus. You must prefer rare then." It's weird, but some people have preference in flavor based on how long steak has cooked.

"I think I'd prefer it raw."

"What is with—" I was almost yelling at her, trying to find out what was wrong with this girl and her tastes. It nearly spoiled my dinner just to think about eating the meat totally uncooked. But then I remembered something from long ago. "Oh right. You once told me that you ate raw horse meat, and loved it."

"It would have been a better meal choice than this."

For once, I'm speechless. I know Lumina isn't joking around either, but I should have expected something like this to happen. She's not a human like the other people on Earth are, so of course she won't like anything we set out. "I think I understand this now. You must only like incredibly bitter, spicy, or sweet flavored things. Your sense of smell and taste are actually so weak, that even pastas like mine are incredibly bland to you. When meat is raw, it's usually quite bitter, which means it registers as something to you. I'm not grossed out, I just feel really bad that you can't enjoy all this stuff."

"I guess I should try the asparagus then."

I almost forgot that she ordered it to begin with. I don't know what about this made her want to try it. "What? This green slop?" Despite saying as much, I poked the fork onto a piece, and bit off the top stem, trying it for the first time.

It's nearly impossible for me to describe the way my entire face contorted with disgust and agony. It looked like I had eaten the sourest food on the planet and was forced to hold it inside. My eyes squinted until they were just lines, and my cheeks sank in just enough to change appearance into something else entirely. Luckily nobody saw my expression, because it would kill them through laughter. "Oh wow! This stuff is horrible."

"Hmmm... Yes! That's it! I want some more of that! Keep on eating Reed."

Why does God hate me...? Of all the foods she would finally like, why did it have to be something I cannot tolerate? "You've got to be kidding me. If I eat any more of that, I think I'm going to hurl! I take back what I said earlier... I don't feel bad for you. If I had your taste buds, eating healthy would be so easy for me." I'm trying my best not to insult her right now, but it's so difficult.

"What? You're not going to eat anymore? But I really wanted to keep tasting that good asparagus!" I'm not sure if it was on purpose, but Lumina was making that cute voice and expression, begging me to do it just for her.

I want to curse so bad right now, but I resisted all urge to mess things up. I had to at least consider that she wasn't yanking my chain here. I promised Lumina I would let her eat all she could if she ever found something that she liked. "Fine. Don't be a baby. I'll just eat the veggies with my pasta at the same time. But I'm only doing it this one time! You were right about one thing; our taste buds do not match."

"Yeah, sorry about that." It kind of sounded like she was holding back laughter.

"I will compliment one thing though."

"What's that?"

"I still see it as something incredible! That you and I can hang out together, and even taste each other's food in the same moment. And all while it's happening, other people around me have no idea what you and I are up to."

"It's sneaky," she paraphrased.

"I don't know why, but this kind of sneakiness gives me some interesting ideas." I turned my head away from everybody else, knowing that I was making such a naughty expression.

"What kind of ideas would let you make that expression?!" Lumina was already onto me, freaking out in a panic to where my mind was going.

But she could not be more wrong. "Oh stop. I was just joking. Besides you can't even see my face to know my expressions."

"I can still feel it! What were you just thinking about?"

"You should know, right? Ms. Mind Reader."

"You didn't project it well enough."

She still doesn't realize I was only teasing her from the start. "Whatever. My mom and evil stepdad are kind of on this ugly date. I've been blocking most of it out, cause it's gross to see the two of them getting all smug. But it has put the idea into my head. I want the two of us to try out the movie theater together. You ever looked inside one of those with your clairvoyance before?"

"Yeah, but I think the experience loses value because it was only clairvoyance. The movie setup there is nothing like what we have." Lumina meant to iterate that her world has no movie system whatsoever, and I knew it's what she meant based on what she told me before.

It's all the more reason to give it another try. Ever since she had the awesome idea a while ago to hang out more with more activities and events than with chitchat, I've been having a blast, and I want to keep this going for as long as I can. "Well then, prepare to spend even more time with me. At least with you there, it won't be total hell."

"Hell? You don't like going there?"

"We just never get to see a good movie is all. But this time, I saw something good coming out, so I planned to reserve it for a juicy proposition. I already got my mom to agree to go to the movies next week. She'll be seeing one with Peterson, and then I'll split off to watch one by myself. I mean, she thinks I'll be by myself at least."

"It does sound like fun. If you can get the connection to be strong that day, it will be perfect! So, I'll join."