Chapter 26: With Opportunity Comes... Salt?

"I'm sorry you have to take the trip to come here. It must be exhausting for you." I said as I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

"It's alright. I insisted." Darryl replied as I observed him taking of his jacket and loosening his tie as he tracked up the mountain after me.

I slightly felt bad for him because I didn't tell him I had a teleportation machine that I actually hid at the foot of the mountain. Besides, it's another handsome man, I could secretly stare at him if he walked up together with me!

"Do you always walk this way everytime you head to town?" Darryl asked as he wiped his sweat off with a folded handkerchief.

"Ah... Yes. But only if I need something urgently. My friend often stays over and help me out with errands, though I tell him not to." I said as I thought about how Aries often came over that it sometimes felt like it was also his house.

"Friend? Even though he does this?" Darryl asked as he slid his finger down the back of my neck.

"Ahhn...? Wha..." I moaned before covering my mouth. What was that?

"Oh... my bad... It just smells like... a mutt was here." Darryl said as I saw his eyes glow dangerously.

That's weird? Maybe it's the just the reflection of the light.

"Mutt? Oh... I'm taking care of a.... Big... dog..." I said as pondered whether a wolf could be categorised as a dog. Wolves are also a type of canine so I guess I could categorise them together... ish?

It would be terrible if I told him I was taking care of a wolf after all. No sane person would. Not to mention, I haven't been seeing Little Aries lately.

"I'm... a little scared of dogs. They are prone to violence you see." Darryl said as he gave me an insouciant shrug, the complete opposite reaction to what he had been saying.

"I'm sorry, I'll make sure to keep him away from you then. I don't think he'll be back now. He likes to visit at night." I said as I faced forward, noticing the familiar sight coming into view.

"Only at night... So its like that..."

"Pardon? Did you say something?"

"Oh, it's nothing of importance. Did you want to say something?" Darryl asked as he shifted his gaze towards me, the cuspids showing as he spared me his toothed smile.

"Oh... Ummm... It's just that we're... Close to my place." I said as I felt flustered from seeing his smile.

We walk in silence before we reached my lab. I rummaged through my suitcase as I pulled out my keys.

"Just make yourself comfortable." I muttered as I dropped the keys into the bowl near the door and tossed my suitcase by the couch.

"May I come in?" Darryl asked as he smiled awkwardly by the door.

"Hmm? Sure. Come on in, Mr Darryl. I'll get some iced tea ready for you while you go through the documents." I said as I placed the documents on the coffee table.

"Thank you. I'll enter at leisure then." Darrly said as he shut the door behind him and sat on the couch, lifting the first page of the document.

***

I yawned before quickly covering my mouth. He had been reading since the time we came back. It seemed like he was a very thorough man.

"Are you bored of conversing with me?" Darryl asked as he sneaked a look from behind the paper in his hands.

"N-no! It's just... I was so excited to attend the meeting today... I didn't get much sleep. I'm sorry that I was rude." I shook my head as I didn't want him to misunderstand, pinching my hand beneath the table to stay awake.

"It's alright, it's your home after all. I'm sure you feel very comfortable here." Darryl smiled before turning back towards the papers.

"You can take a nap. I'll wake you up if I need to inquire about something." Darryl said as he flipped the page, his hand finding the glass of tea I had left for him to drink.

"Oh, no. That would be too rude of me." I insisted as I shook my head, trying my best to keep my eyes from shutting.

"Sure then." Darryl hummed in reply as he flipped to another page.

After looking at him reading in silence, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Much too heavy with the weight from the lack of sleep that I drifted into a world of darkness.

***

I felt a shaking on my shoulder before opening my eyes to a beautiful man. I thought I fell asleep, did I actually die and met an angel?

"Sol, your work is splendid. There are some that could use some work but with deeper studies, we can definitely sell them."

Oh wait, it's Darryl the sponsor.

"T-thank you. I'm glad that you liked it." I grinned as Darryl held my hand and shook it.

"I look forward to working with you. It seems to be pretty late. I'll take my leave now."

"Oh! I can walk with you." I replied as I got up from my seat.

"It's alright. I take it the nap was insufficient for you, seeing as I woke you prematurely. Please get some rest. I'll contact you once I've prepared the contract." Darryl said as he smiled.

"... Okay. Have a safe trip. Goodbye." I said as Darryl smiled and headed down the mountain.

I watched him until his figure faded from view before locking up and preparing a light meal. He was right. I did feel exhausted.

If Aries were here, he'd have sent me to the bedroom and demanded I sleep. Just thinking about it is able to make me laugh. I hope he gets whatever he needs to do done.

I headed into the kitchen, struggling to reach a non-stick pan. After securing it, I clicked my fingers to turn on the radio and started prepping the raw ingredients for my meal.

Staring at the raw ingredients reminded me of the one time Aries wanted to show off his knife skills and cut his finger. Too bad for the show-off. But his precision and speed was very impressive.

Thinking of Aries... I still haven't conducted the tests on him. He had been missing for a month, then disappeared after that to solve some personal issues.

Come to think of it, he is a terrible test subject! ... ... But then again, nobody wants to be a test subject on purpose.

"Ah... It's so boring without him." I sighed as I turned on the stove and heated up the pan.

I stared at the pan before recalling the first time Aries used my kitchen. It felt like he sat me in a metal chair, flashed the table lamp at my face and interrogated me as to why I was using the classic stove when the newest one didn't require gas nor electric. You know, like those old classic shows where they do that to people they wanted to squeeze info out of.

I gave him an insouciant shrug before he continued lecturing me. In the end, he gave up and continued to use this stove without much complaints.

Look, I know I'm sort of a scientist, developer, tinkerer and what not but I like retro and classic stuff. Plus, the new things always break easily. It's more than fragile, really.

Even that teleporting device my junior makes only can be used a certain number of times before it breaks and you have to replace it. That's why I hid it. I'm too broke to buy a multitude of that teleporting device.

It's also a secret from Aries, though I'm sure he knew of its existence. He saw me fixing it up before I placed it at the hidden location. So it wasn't much of a secret by then.

Just like that, secret exposed. I swear, the amount of times I find Aries coming over... I might as well get a bedroom ready for him and stuff. It's as if he was my housemate.

"Sigh.... Who am I kidding... His apartment is so much better than this place. If I had the money... I'd buy a large lab in town just like that Gab. .... Ugh, what a vile name on my tongue." I said as I quickly gargled.

Gab was cute and all when he hadn't made it big. Now, he picks a fight everytime we meet and loves to rub it in that he is already more successful than me.... If I ever was successful.

He picked so many fights until I felt my day became unlucky if I ever said his name. Just his name or face was enough to turn a bright sunny sky into a cloudy and rainy day. Even the heavens agree with me.

*Thunderclap in background: No we don't.*

"I wonder when Aries will be free. In the meantime, I'll just prepare the materials needed to test on him." I muttered to myself as I shook some salt into my dish.

"Agh! I knew it! That guy's name just jinxed it!" I exclaimed as the entire cap fell into the dish, pouring an excess of salt into my food.

"Darn... How do I fix this..?" I frowned as I used a spoon to scoop out the mountain of salt.

*You can balance out the saltiness by adding some sugar. But first of all, pay attention when cooking. The kitchen is hazardous.*

That night... All I could think about was the Dead Sea.

"I... Will not eat anything with salt in the meantime." I mumbled to myself as I was reminded of the numerous times I went to the bathroom to gargle after my meal. Even then, my mouth still tasted so salty.