Page 2 of Wishes and Research

Well, he wasn’t wrong about that assumption, so I wasn’t surprised when everyone else started nodding along and giving me more confusing expressions.

Old man number one turned back to me. “Well, we’re going to help you figure this out. Don’t worry.”

How was I supposed to respond to that?

“Thank you?” I’d clearly made him happy based on his smile and the way he reached out to pat my head, but I still didn’t know what was going on.

The man was very confident, though. He glanced around the room and chuckled. “He’s so polite, just like the rest of them.”

Okay, so I was doing something right.

Something cute, maybe?

Politeness was definitely a good thing, so I filed away that knowledge and decided not to leave my notebooks in my car ever again.

“I—” I wasn’t sure what I’d been going to say, but my ramblings were cut off by the owner or cook coming out of the kitchen with my lunch.

“Here you go.” She frowned at the room and gave them a stern glare that had half the patrons squirming. “Let me know if you’re being bothered.”

I wasn’t sure what it meant that she was ignoring the first old man who’d seemed to be trying to be helpful, but since explaining that I wasn’t sure what was going on would only make me look stupid, I smiled. “Thank you, ma’am. I’m fine.”

That had several people making aw sounds like I was an adorable toddler, but it made no sense at all. The only thing I could connect it to was the politeness comment from a moment ago, but there was nothing else to go on.

Why hadn’t I at least taken a few more classes in cultural anthropology?

Classes on flowers and insects weren’t helping me at the moment.

“He got tomato soup and grilled cheese. See?” The old man was smiling as he shook his head. “I told you.”

Was this somehow food related?

I’d run into strange food rituals in a variety of places but this didn’t seem to be about the horror of putting ketchup on eggs or asking for the wrong kind of sauce for barbecue in the South.

Several people in the small diner chuckled and nodded along with him, so something about the situation was clearly an accepted cultural norm. No one looked offended, though. I hadn’t insulted a local ruler or deity. I hadn’t ordered something taboo or just weird. They were still giving off he’s cute vibes.

That was good…but it was also confusing.

Glancing down at the food, which actually looked like it should’ve been in a five-star restaurant, I was impressed with the quality of the bread and the soup was clearly homemade. They’d been paired together on the menu, so that told me the combination wasn’t what stood out to the locals.

Most of the menu was comfort foods and classic diner dishes, but I was missing something important even though none of it made any sense.

Should I have ordered breakfast for lunch instead?

Maybe soups were only eaten at specific times of the day?

Why hadn’t I taken more classes on studying humans instead of insects?

“It could be that older range one.” The voice that called out seemed like they thought they were being helpful by the tone. “But then again, that’s a meal Alick would enjoy. Oh, and Kenzie, except for the soup part.”

So some people thought the combination wasn’t good but some would approve?

Everyone else thought the information was relevant, but I wasn’t sure how.

“You’re right, and the internet said they were more easily confused because they’re the invisible ones.” Old man one shook his head and seemed sad about something. “They don’t always understand what they are.”

And the crowd was back to looking at me.

Hmm.

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