The First Step

As soon as he had the strength to pick himself up, Lee sat in his seat and finished off the rest of his spicy noodles, albeit hunched over the table and his elbows wobbling as they supported him through his endeavour.

He rolled up the map, and multitasked, shrugging his travel supplies off his back, and laying down the pack onto the floor for him to open up more easily. He unrolled the top and opened up the knots that he had made to tie everything together. While he chewed on his food, letting him swallow the large amount that he had put in his mouth, Lee rolled up the map, and placed it within the collection of items that he called his belongings. He summarily tied everything back up, and went back to his meal ambivalently.

The waiter from before arrived, as soon as Lee put his chopsticks down, and bowed once, before informing Lee that his meal had been paid for, and that there were a box of food for him to take, ready to pick up at the counter.

Lee had blinked a couple of times, before gathering together his wits, and giving his thanks. His knees wobbled, and his knees shook a few times, as he made to stand up from his seat at the table, falling back and leaning several times, before the waiter sought to inform him that a room upstairs had been prepared for him, and was his for the night, with a breakfast tomorrow as well.

Lee looked up incredulously at the man and without thinking, blurted out," Why are you doing this?"

The waiter's face remained unmoving and stoic.

"I am employed by this establishment to provide you the best service possible. If there are any complaints that you wish to make, then you are free to make them, and I will act accordingly to improve your experience?" he replied back in a smooth voice that sounded almost impossible to argue with.

"No- I mean, why is a God... working here in a restaurant?" Lee asked instead, stumbling over his words and pausing awkwardly to find the proper phrasing half way through embarrassingly.

He could feel blood rushing into his face, as he shyly looked up to the waiter, trying to assess him for any change in demeanour.

The waiter, to both Lee's relief and slight annoyance, still looked perfectly poised and ready. His black hair was still tied back immaculately and his uniform crisp and stiff. He looked like the ideal employee: smart, hardworking, and polite to a fault.

But Lee knew that all those traits were simply present because the God in front of him had to be smart, hardworking, and polite. If he wasn't, then he wouldn't be such a great employee and would come under more scrutiny from customers, who may not be so aware that they were addressing a God as one would address anyone else.

He was simply just showing the people around him what they wanted to see to blend in, with Lee being the only obvious outlier here.

He was obviously the God of Deception then, fooling everybody for some gain that only he was aware of, whether that goal be a good or bad thing.

But Lee wasn't being deceived. Did that put him on some sort of radar or list of potential victims to be killed for his knowledge? Probably not, considering that the God of Deception, in front of him, was collaborating with the God of Secrets.

Idly, Lee wondered if there were any Goddesses, or when he would meet any, considering all the heavenly officials that he had the pleasure of knowing were all very intimidating men, and he'd prefer to not suffer anymore major scares ever again.

"You should be able to see why I am here, you-"

The God of Deception in front of Lee began suddenly choking, his eyes bulging, and his his tongue sticking out of his mouth, swollen and useless, as he gagged on something that had only decided to make its appearance now.

Lee quickly threw himself towards the God, and threw his hands around to his back, thumping down as hard as he could to help relieve the God of Deception in front of him from his imminent death, or prolonged extreme pain.

Just as Lee was about to open his mouth, and scream to one of the employees for some help for their waiter, a hand grabbed his own and Lee felt as if he were falling.

He watched himself, from outside of his body, fall backwards slightly, and step back several paces, before standing still.

The waiter continued to choke, keeling over, back contorting in ways that no human spine could, off to the side, as the God curled into himself, his limbs shifting around to hit himself in the back, over and over again.

The force of those blows dwarfed whatever meagre attempt that Lee had displayed, and looked to be doing some good, as the God's hacks began to lower in volume and intensity, each cough and choke no longer looking as if it held the power to potentially crack the God's very bones, and throw his body to all four corners of the room.

The people of the restaurant, both customers and workers alike, went on about their day, giving no indication of even perceiving that a man could be dying in front of them, let alone comprehending that he might be needing help and medical attention.

Lee ran at them, waving his arms about, hoping to gleam their attention, and make them see what was happening here. He screamed out at them to do something. Anything.

A man was dying right there, and nothing was happening.

Nothing was happening.

Nobody could see what was happening.

Lee gritted his teeth in despair and turned back to his useless body, and the God of Deception, leaning heavily over the privacy screen, looking as if he were sapped of energy and barely standing.

Lee gulped as he watched his body, those dull eyes unmoving and unfocussed, and the slight swaying of his limbs as he stood, as an outside looking into the sanctuary that was his own.

He looked down at his hand, and gaped in horror as he realised that he could see the floorboards through the limb.

He looked at his limp body, and watched, eyes wide, pupils blown, as it moved as if it were a marionet, attached by strings, swaying with all its limbs hanging, towards the God of Deception, lifting him up, and letting him lean down on one shoulder, wrapping an arm around him as if they were hugging.

Lee felt as if he might be sick, when he heard his own voice come out of his body, call over another waiter.

He recoiled viscerally at the noise that he heard, and wished that he could forget it. That wasn't how he sounded, Lee thought to himself, rejecting what he had heard.

He noted dimly, while stumbling back into a table, currently occupied by what looked like a father son duo, that he could interact with solid objects.

He briefly wondered the veracity of throwing something at the waiter, to make him surrender control of Lee's body, so Lee could reclaim it, then wash it vigorously to wipe of the unfortunate memories that he had just made.

Two waiters had made their way over to the God of Deception, and one picked him up, into his arms. The old lady, from behind the counter, walked over to Lee, and bowed in apology for the faulty service and for making him suffer that experience, and Lee watched himself bow back at her, respectfully addressing her as his senior, and explain that all was well, he was not bothered in the slightest and that the server needed to get some rest, and the best of health to him.

Lee turned around to glare at the God of Deception, for taking control of his body, and forcing upon him an eloquence that he would not be able to match at all later, forcing him to act under an obligation that was not mandatory, and he would not be able to fulfil.

Lee huffed and marched back to his body. As soon as he grabbed his own hand, he felt lightning running through him. He felt like he was burning, his clothes, hair and everything on fire. He felt the entire world around him turn black as he felt as if he were falling into a black pit, only the ropes of pain keeping him tethered to reality and the restaurant.

He looked up, registering that his eyes were present and functional, and saw the wooden boards of the roof and the concerned face of the old woman. He could hear her calling for additional help and a doctor.

They were the final words that Lee heard before he sank into the blissful state of unconsciousness - a land without pain.