#picky eater

You : Refuses to eat anything else except chicken nuggets and frozen pizza.

*Both of them are dating for eight months* *Jamil has managed to slip in some crushed vitamin pills in the cheese successfully*

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ🐦‍⬛ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧: *✧: *✧

Sylus was confident in his decisions, and tonight it wasn't any different. The restaurant was the best in the city, nice and elegant with its floor-to-ceiling windows that gave a breathtaking view of the skyline under the starry night and the classical music played live from the band.

He knew she was impressed and took pride in it because he outdid himself. When he had asked her out for a date, he immediately pictured the two of them sitting across each other, sharing fine wine and a haute cuisine.

But of course, he understood her nerves. He felt kind of restless too. His hands held the cutlery with a too-tight grip, misjudged as calm firmness, as he took a bite from his plate. And his eyes glanced over at hers, still intact, before meeting her avoidant gaze.

Her fork was barely stained with the sweet and sour sauce as she poked at... a piece of food she couldn't figure out yet. Her left hand rested below the table, and she fidgeted with the hem of the napkin spread over her lap while she tried to master the courage to have at least one bite. But she felt a knot tightening on her stomach at the mere idea of tasting... whatever it was on her plate.

“Something's on your mind?”

His low, warm voice made her sit up straighter on her chair.

Her cheeks burned from the embarrassment as she forced out a chuckle when Sylus raised an eyebrow.

“I- uhm... I was thinking that it's very nice here,” she lied blatantly because she really didn't know how to be honest with him.

Sylus looked like a dream tonight -the tailored suit hugged his broad figure just right and its dark colour enhanced the crimson of his eyes. And he had been such a gentleman so far... taking the coat from her shoulders, pulling the chair out for her, booking the table with the best view of the whole restaurant.

She couldn't say that she didn't like the food.

She would've sounded ungrateful, and very likely she would've hurt his feelings. He had put so much effort... only for her damming finicky taste to ruin everything? Absolutely not.

Without giving herself time to rethink it, she picked some food with her fork and brought it to her mouth. The corner of her lips stretched wide as she forced herself to munch over it but her stomach recoiled at the taste.

She hoped that he didn't see the tears gathering in the back of her eyes while she kept up the pretence until he returned back to eat, looking away from her, and she could pull the napkin from her lap to cover her mouth.

As discreetly as possible, she spat it out, unable to gulp even one bite down, and crumpled the napkin in her other hand under the table, away from everyone's sight.

She reached for her glass and took a long sip of wine to wash the taste away. Luckily, Sylus had chosen a red, fruity kind that was strong enough to burn the way down her throat.

“Is there anything I can do for you, madam?”

A waiter came to their table to politely check if they were satisfied with their dinner so far. She was glad that Sylus replied for them both, reassuring the waiter that they didn't need anything yet.

But the waiter noticed her still full plate and looked expectantly at her. She felt mortified when the attention was all directed on her.

“My apologies, I might not be very hungry tonight.” She excused herself and allowed the waiter to take the plate away.

“Would you like to order something else?” Sylus questioned, dabbing his mouth with the napkin as he put down his own cutlery.

And the waiter stayed there, waiting for a new order she didn't have any intentions to do.

“I'm fine like this-”

“Madam... if you trust our chef, we have a special second dish that made all of our clients ask for a second helping.”

Her eyes widened at the offer.

But her hesitation got misunderstood.

“Bring it over,” Sylus nodded in agreement. He hoped that this second dish would be finally the one she could enjoy... maybe even offering a bite to him just to flirt a little.

On her seat, she dreaded the moment other food came from that kitchen.

Clearing her throat, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear while she tried to come up with something that could spare her from this suffering without being rude about it. But her mind was empty, just like her stomach, and she wished that she had-

“Kitten...”

His hand reaching across the table to gently grab hers interrupted her spiralling thoughts. When their eyes met again, Sylus grinned subtly, his thumb caressing her knuckles in a soothing manner.

“Did I tell you already how beautiful you look tonight?” He praised her genuinely in an attempt to calm her nervous state.

And involuntarily he had just made her feel worse.

Her fingers twitched in his hold.

She couldn't do it anymore.

She needed to-

“Madam.”

Right when she was mustering the courage to speak up, the waiter returned to their table and Sylus squeezed her hand affectionately before letting it go.

“Bon appétit,” the waiter smiled while serving a second dish the chef was surely proud of.

She looked at it, and her heart sunk into her stomach.

It looked worse than the other dish. Colourful sauces painted the wide ceramic plate, dishes of... unidentified vegetables were set aside while the main food sat in the middle, buried beneath a crispy kind of... things that reminded her of hay.

Her hands trembled as she grabbed the cutlery and internally prayed to not throw up right there. She could feel Sylus staring at her, curious to find out whether she would like it or not, and it made her feel pressured.

“Woah... it's-” she was at loss of words, her knife brushing aside the hay-thing to take a look at the food beneath and... no, it definitely didn't look inviting in that way either.

“-it might be too much just for me,” she chuckled nervously as she cut it in half and she mentally cursed when a juice oozed out of it.

Sylus frowned at that.

He wondered how it could be too much when she had merely drunk wine for the whole time. He watched her poking at the food and noticed how stiff her shoulders were, the tight lines around her mouth as she forced herself to smile and-

Oh.

“You don't have to force yourself to eat something you dislike just to spare my feelings.” He said, taking the napkin off his lap and folding it neatly before leaving it on the table.

Her face flushed red as she looked at him like a deer in front of the headlights. Panic washed over her, and the cutlery fell from her hands.

“I do not dislike it. This is... nice, it's very fancy. Yeah... I just-”

“You don't like it.”

Sylus stood up, cutting her rambling off, and stepped closer to her, offering a hand for her to take.

She blinked, stunned.

Her eyes flitted between his face and his outstretched hand.

He didn't look angry.

His expression was as serene as ever... maybe a glint of amusement shining in his gaze.

“Come along, kitten. I have another idea.”

She hesitated before following his lead.

Guilt churned at her guts while she watched him pay for a dinner they couldn't enjoy because of her picky taste.

But Sylus didn’t even let the cashier hand over the bill for him to check -he simply slid his black card on the counter and took it back without batting an eye after the payment. He didn’t care about the money. His priorities were entirely reserved for her.

Even if she kept her head low, he stepped behind her and draped her coat around her shoulders, his hands lingering a moment longer than necessary. He could tell that the evening didn’t go as planned but… he would fix things and have her smile again, he was sure of it.

Once they stood outside in the restaurant's parking lot, she didn't get inside the car after he had opened the passenger door for her.

“I- I'm so sorry...”

Her voice broke as she looked at him, standing tall and handsome under the moonlight, and knew that she had messed up the nice date he had programmed for them.

“Why are you apologising?” He tilted his head slightly to the side, confused by the sight of unshed tears glistening in her pretty eyes.

“I ruined everything... our dinner-”

Stepping closer, Sylus clicked his tongue in retort and with a hand cupped her face tenderly. He lifted her chin up while he leaned down so she could see it herself that he wasn't mad about what had happened in the restaurant.

“You didn't ruin anything. Don't need to apologise or feel bad,” he murmured reassuringly, his thumb stroking her warm cheek.

“B-But...”

“But you should've told me that the menu wasn't of your liking,” he didn't allow her to protest and take the blame for something she didn't have any control over.

An amused huff escaped from him as he recalled the hour they had spent at the table and now understood that her lack of appetite didn't have anything to do with feeling nervous around him.

“...if you had done that, we would've been somewhere else already. And you wouldn't starve yourself,” his lips pressed a soft, lingering kiss on her forehead.

Sylus pulled back only when he felt her lean in, melting under the affectionate touch and stopping blaming herself. His thumb brushed under one of her eyes, carefully wiping down a single traitor tear.

“Let me take you somewhere you can finally fill your empty stomach.”

It was one of those places Sylus wouldn't have ever imagined to step in. Not because he had so many prejudices, but due to the fact that it was a really small place where there were just a few tables, a cashier and the kitchen almost in the same room. Despite the simple atmosphere, he could see that it was well-organised and clean, making it feel like stepping into a family's house.

The booths were made of leather and comfortable to sit in, even if the table was so low that his knees bumped against the underside of it whenever he shifted. He didn't mind, though, too busy staring at her sitting across from him.

Sylus rested his chin on his palm, leaning over the table, the tailored jacket of his suit stretching lightly over his broad shoulders, and he grinned in amusement.

Finally, he was blessed with the sight he had longed for all evening.

Her mouth opened wide and took big bites of the food she had ordered, her eyes closed in two crescent moons as she hummed happily at the taste.

She was eating with gusto, and Sylus was content to have her comfortable and satisfied.

Her shoulders were relaxed, her hair brushed past them to not bother her while she ate, and even if her outfit -and his as well- was too nice for a place like this, he found her glowing. Impossibly more gorgeous than she had been under the fancy lights of the previous restaurant.

He took a mental note to do some research in the area and found more places like this to bring her over for dinner in the future.

“That's definitely an improvement,” he hummed lowly as he picked a tissue from the metal box and reached out across the table to clean the corner of her mouth for her.

She blushed hard at the tender gesture as she realised that she had dug into her food as soon as it had been served, forgetting her manners.

Sylus laughed, warm and genuine, before gesturing to her to keep eating without worries.

“Of course a kitten like you has such a selective taste.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ🐦‍⬛ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧: *✧: *✧

Oh, this might become a collection of “here is one tiny thing that makes my real life annoying; now let's see how the LADS men would handle it”, because honestly? I'm having fun with these more silly and easygoing drabbles. 🙈

This time, the inspiration was the invitation for dinner I received. I'm a really picky eater, and more often than not I find myself starving during these kinds of gatherings. It might sound childish but it's particularly annoying -you feel guilty because you can't enjoy the food just like the others, and also because you're ruining the mood at the table. I can't even count how many times I made waiters worry about losing their jobs for taking back untouched food from my plate... 🫠

Anyway, to comfort myself -and whoever suffers this situation- I imagined what Sylus would do and how he would fix what could potentially end up being a bade date.

I hope you enjoyed this! 🤭❤️

🖇️ Other self-indulgent drabbles you can read: ✧ “Morning Stubble” [Zayne x Non!MC]; ✧ ...

🔖 If you'd like to be added to a taglist for future works related to SYLUS or this potential series, just let me know!!

📌 If you're interested in reading more of my works, you can go check my masterlist!!