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The Gift

Daniel's Storyline, Chapter 2.4

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Kon was quick to interject. "Well... seeing how Aiden and I are hurting so bad for spirit energy, maybe you should make us a sandwich too so we can join you for lunch!"

Herne snorted. "Looking to gain footing while Talapus isn't around to compete?"

Seeing where the discussion was going already, I figured the best way to avoid causing problems would be to make a sandwich for all of the spirits, even if it would mess with my food budget. Grabbing the bread loaf I pulled out another eight slices of bread and went to the fridge to grab the lunch meat, cheese, mayo, and mustard. I listened as Kon explained sandwiches to Aiden. "In general most sandwiches you'll find in the area involve meat, cheese, and some kind of sauce-- usually mustard or mayo or both."

The Bat laughed. "Yeah! I see commercials all the time. Sub sandwiches especially! You know what must make a great sandwich? Bacon and lettuce and tomato and onion and bell peppers and avocado and--"

Talapus, who remained near the front door interjected "Sometimes the best things are the simplest."

Aiden glanced to the Coyote, ears up. He sounded excited. "Oh? What kind of sandwiches have YOU had, Talapus?"

"The people of this land had flat bread that they folded around smoked fish or deer or elk. Does that count as a sandwich?"

Kon seemed perfectly content to start trouble with Herne. "You hear that, big guy? People around here ate Elk. Kinda sucks to be a prey animal, doesn't it?"

I knew Herne wouldn't handle the comment amicably so I stepped up instead. "Kon... I'd like everyone to get along, okay? Can you maybe NOT antagonize him?"

The Fox's tails swished; I found it strange how he sometimes had one and, at other times had a second. "Alright, Daniel... as a favor to you I'll be nice."

When Herne spoke up, surprisingly, it wasn't to address Kon or to chastise me for how I was handling myself. He actually took part in the conversation. "The first sandwich I had was cheese and butter."

Something about him joining in on the talk made me feel immediately better, especially as Aiden moved over and began asking him dozens of questions. Rather than pushing the Bat away or telling him off, the Elk actually engaged him in talk. Looking back, I think it wasn't just about him being comfortable in his own fur around the other spirits-- it was probably also a subtle jab at Kon's attempt to get him to act up. Either way, at the time, I was just glad that everyone was getting along.

As I began opening the little plastic packages of cheese I addressed everyone as a whole. "Everyone good with cheese?"

Kon turned back to me, tails swishing rhythmically in unison from left to right. "Anything you make for me will be wonderful, Daniel."

Talpaus flicked an ear. "I have never had cheese. If you are offering, I would like to try it, yes. Please."

Aiden asked some much more pointed questions. "What kind of cheese? Is it brand name or generic? Where did you get it? Why do they wrap the slices individually? Is it a 'stinky cheese'? What is a 'stinky cheese'?"

He probably would have kept going if not for Herne speaking over him. "Make the sandwiches as you will, Daniel. I do not believe you will find picky eaters among us."

Kon grinned wide, snickering to himself. "Well... you might eat those words instead of the sandwich. If you've never had American Cheese you'll REALLY be in for a new experience. It's... different!"

I had a hard time telling if the Fox was trying to instigate something again or if he was just excited. Rather than try to figure it out I finished up putting bologna on each sandwich and closed them up. Considering my work for a moment I went back and grabbed a knife so I could cut them all in half. My mom used to cut my bologna sandwiches on the diagonal but I'd taken to cutting them right down the center. People have different likes and dislikes so, for a split second I tried to figure out the 'right' way.

Herne brought things into focus, as if reading my mind. "You will not find picky eaters among us, Daniel."

"Uh... right."

With the sandwiches done, I grabbed a paper grocery bag and loaded them all in, then went back to my chip selection. I never really cared for bbq chips so I noticed I had quite a collection of them; considering I was already facing the prospect of running out of sandwich fixings before my next payday I realized that I had a chance to at least put the undesired chips to use. Tossing four of those into the grocery bag I grabbed it and my own sack lunch and turned to face my guests. "Okay. Ready!"

* * * * *

The day did turn out to be beautiful. Despite what I'd heard about the Willamette Valley it didn't ACTUALLY rain all the time. It wasn't quite 80 degrees and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The trip to the park was a little further than work or shopping but the bus was still a good option, especially since my car was still in the shop. The early afternoon bus was full of the usual passengers going from here-to-there and was a lot busier than the night time runs; I was still able to find a place to sit but it didn't leave a lot of room for my spirits. To make matters worse, halfway to the park a gray haired man with glasses got on with what looked like a black and tan Coonhound following him.

I was particularly surprised first because the bus line doesn't let non-service animals on board; second, I was even more surprised when the dog rose up onto his hind legs, suddenly dressed in what looked like one of those old-fashioned gentleman's suits and walked down the row between the seats after the old guy he was following. Kon, who was sitting on the seat behind me on (or should I say he was sitting IN) the woman there behind me leaned forward and whispered "Don't pay attention to the Dog. If he knows you're a Seer he'll cause problems."

Focusing on keeping my attention facing out the window I did my best to ignore the presence of yet ANOTHER spirit. The old man passed by me and I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise up, as if I could tell I had the Dog's attention. When he spoke it was with the voice of Clark Gable right out of Gone With The Wind. Yes, I've seen it-- it was one of my grandma's favorite movies. "That's a lot of sandwiches for one young man to eat."

Talapus' tone was almost confrontational. "He's on his way to have lunch with some friends at the park. Keep walking, Hound."

The old man lingered in the aisle for a moment, catching himself on the seats to either side of him as the bus started moving. It was just long enough for the Dog to make another comment. "Quite a few spirits following one Human around too."

Kon spoke up next. "Yeah? Well, the others are just passing hangers-on. I'm still working on kicking them... this one's mine."

Aiden, before any other spirit had a chance to talk, quickly interjected. "Hey... you're only a little older than I am, aren't you?"

Although I couldn't see the Dog's face I could definitely imagine his gruff expression thanks to the 'hrumph' that preceded his statement. "Better watch the others, Bat... old spirits are the most aggressive when they're arguing over a human-- I've had to handle a few in my day and they usually put up a fight."

Aiden, was situated in front of me ALMOST managing to squeeze himself between a mother and her son on the seat as if trying not to occupy the same space as either. His positioning let me see his expression of surprise and alarm. "I don't want to have to fight anyone. In this day and age you're only raising your fists if you've already failed to win."

The old man mumbled something to himself before coughing. Once the bus was up to speed he managed to get to the rear of the bus and practically collapsed into the only available seat at the back; the grunge-punk who had been sitting next to him quickly stood up and made even more room for him. Even though I was looking out the window I'd somehow managed to notice, which suddenly caught me by surprise. I was about to turn around to verify that what I thought was happening really was until I saw Herne's reflection in the window; he shook his head, and I quickly changed my mind.

The Hound finally went past us and sat down in the seat vacated by the punk. He reached back and encircled the man with his arm as if they were old friends. Only once things had calmed down did Herne bother speaking and then it was only his reflection in the window; I somehow heard his voice in my mind. "The old man is a Seer."

The statement caught me by surprise. I remained frozen in place for several stops and only snapped out of it because the park was coming up. I reached up to pull the cord to signal my desire to get off the bus but, surprisingly, before I could, someone else had. Although I didn't recognize the word Kon spoke in Japanese I could tell it was a curse word, especially when he huffed it under his breath. "Kuso."

Once again, I could tell what was going on without really knowing: the old man was also getting off at the park. Realizing that, I--