#too!!!!

“I thought it looked like saffron.” The woman beside him has a cigarette in one hand, and passes it over without a word. 

“No. Asafetida is both -.”

“The devil’s dung and the food of the gods.Also a gum, and smells so bad it was a cure-all.” She closes her phone. “And the wandering magician is ignoring his texts, so -.” She turns to the one waiter who hasn’t fled. “Going to need to boring you for a second?”

And the cook stares as old Carlos vanishes from view. The woman takes back the cigarette and finishes it, opening the door and heading back into the restaurant. 

“Hi, Charlie,” the boy says between bites. 

“Jay. What are you eating?” she asks, somehow not fleeing.

“It’s called qirah and it’s a food from the future that is maybe not a food cuz no one else eats it but! it’s really nummy! Especially with spices since that gives it a kick!”

The cook glimpses the food but once, and after can never even look at a gumbo again. The door closes. The smell does not. 

Five minutes later, the smell is gone. Carlos comes back into the kitchen alone. 

“Charlie got Jay to depart,” the old man says calmly. “We had to use every spice in the building. I will try and explain this to Ms. Fleur.”

“We did have too many spices,” the cook says weakly. 

“We did. Ms. Fleur’s first chef was - a trifle obsessed. Had connections, and supplied all the spices himself so no one could well say no. We will need to adjust many recipes.”

“I - yes.” That almost shook the cook back to normal. “Carlos. The woman. You?”

“I have been with Ms. Fleur since the beginning,” Carlos says mildly. “You have worked in other places, with long-term staff or those who feel like it. Someone or thing always there, like a charm?”

The cook nods.

“Think of me as a household god, but for a business. I can only do small things.Charlie - was able to do more with me, because of what she is. It is not important. You met Jay, which is a wonder, but in time the world will seem normal again.”

“It will?” the cook asks, not certain if this is wanted. Surprised by this. 

“The food of the gods is also the devil’s dung. So are adventures also not-adventures, in a way. It is the nature of things to find a balance. There is less growth in that, but more survival.” 

The cook nods. This makes sense. And customers are returning. There is work to be done, recipes to make and within the hour all the other staff have returned and things are back to normal. 

The cook almost cries later, not quite knowing why. Carlos is nowhere to be seen, but Carlos does help everyone.