Woo, we finally find out what Simon's power can really do!

So, I'll be taking a short break from writing this as I work on The Technomage and Throne of All/Tournament of Gods (http://royalroadl.com/fiction/7286).

Note: I'll figure out how to do Simon's signature in a little bit.

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Simon entered the Bell’s Tacos to the sound and smell of something delicious frying. Hard at work at one of the stoves in the kitchen area, was a young woman. She had long brown hair in a ponytail, a sharp looking face, and an hourglass figure. Simon thought she was probably hispanic.

As she noticed him walk in, she made an ‘oh’ face, and quickly wiped her hands on her apron.

“Hello! You must be Simon, I’ve heard a lot about you from your mother.”, she said with a smile.

Simon smiled back and said, “Too much, I’m sure. Tiffany, I presume?”

Tiffany nodded, and said, “Yep, Tiffany Oliveira. I immigrated here from Brazil a few years back. Before all this, I was a sous chef at a Denny’s around the corner, but now I cook for the posted families while we wait for this to all blow over.”

“Posted families?”, Simon asked, confused.

“Mmm.”, she hummed affirmatively. “They’re the families of the people who work under Elliot. The ones who live in the stores.”

Simon was amazed. This miniature class society had been established so deeply already, and people were already sort of accepting it. It hadn’t even been a full day since the start of this mess.

“You’ll be eating with us, right? I’m not sure where your mom’s wandered off, but I’ve made enough for everyone.”, she said.

“Yes please, I’m starving.”, Simon replied, smiling thankfully at her.

He sat down at a nearby table outside the kitchen, and watched her work over the counter. Soon, whatever she was making was finished, and she brought over two paper plates, each carrying a huge burrito. She set one down on either side of the table and sat down herself, tossing her apron over the back of the chair.

“There’s one more wrapped up in tin foil in the back, in case your mother decides to wander back here.”, she said.

Simon nodded at her. “Thanks.”

As he looked at the pristine burrito, his mouth began watering, and the emptiness in his stomach made itself painfully known to him. Taking a deep breath, he took a large bite out of the burrito.

His eyes widened, nostrils flared, as the enticing flavour spread about his mouth, warming him to the core. Slowly, he chewed, savouring the bite, before swallowing and sighing contentedly. Soon, the entire burrito, which at first he had thought he wouldn’t be able to finish, was completely gone.

Simon leaned back in his chair, and gave a satisfied sigh.

“That was freaking amazing! I think that was the best meal I’ve had in my entire life!”, he exclaimed happily.

Tiffany smiled abashedly around a bite of her own burrito. “Well, it’s mostly due to my power, Royal Chef. It increases the quality of any food I make greatly. It’s like I know exactly how much, when, and what ingredients to add to make a meal delicious.”

“Ah.”, Simon said, understanding. Simon waited a few minutes for her to finish eating, before he began to speak again.

“I’ve got a power myself, actually. But I’ve been having trouble understanding what exactly it can do. The name of it is Contract Creator, and it essentially allows me to create contracts between two beings. Would you mind helping me test it out?”, Simon asked her.

“Contract Creator?”, she repeated thoughtfully. “Well... I suppose so. As long as you don’t, y’know, make me do anything I don’t want to.”

Simon put his hand over his heart and swore, “I promise that I won’t do such a thing.”

Tiffany giggled. “You don’t have to be so serious. You don’t seem like the kind of guy to do something like that. So how does this work?”

Simon smiled, glad that he finally had a test subject. “You can just leave it to me. The one thing I really need to test is related to powers. I’m going to be trying to take your power for one minute, if that’s alright with you.”

Tiffany crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back. “Well, as long as you can return it, I guess it’s fine.”

Simon nodded, and began drawing up a contract.

ContractThis Contract dated 3rd of July, 2016

Between

Tiffany Oliveira of -adress indeterminate-, NYC, NY (Lender)

And

Simon Belfonse of -adress indeterminate-, NYC, NY (Borrower)In consideration of the Lender loaning certain powers (the “Loan”) to the Borrower, and the Borrower repaying the Loan to the Lender, both parties agree to keep, perform and fulfill the promises set out in this Agreement.

1. The Lender promises to loan the power, “Royal Chef” to the Borrower, and the Borrower promises to repay this power to the Lender.

2. This Loan will be repaid in full on July 3rd, 2016, at 7:32PM.

3. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, if the Borrower defaults in the performance of any obligation under this Agreement, then the Borrower will be unable to stand for exactly 23 seconds.

4. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, if the Lender defaults in the performance of any obligation under this Agreement, then the Lender will be unable to stand for exactly 23 seconds, and the Loan will be forcibly returned.

Signed, ________________

Simon Belfonse

July 3rd, 2016

He read it back to her, and she nodded, approving of it. Simon decided to try adding consequences for defaulting this time, since they had a way of testing it.

Simon activated the contract, and felt the familiar weight settle in his mind, as well as something flowing into him.

Tiffany gasped. “You just took my power, didn’t you?”

“Status”, Simon called out.

Name: Simon BelfonsePoints: 424Race: HumanLottery Slots: 2Class:Contract Creator, Royal Chef*Abilities:Create Contract, Destroy Contract, Edit Contract, Godly Cooking**: Does not count towards maximum ability count.

Simon grinned happily. “Yep, it worked! I’ve got your power. It should automatically go back to you in about... 30 seconds.

Sure enough, 30 seconds later, Simon felt the weight of the contract life, and the power flowing out of him.

“Okay, now that we’ve learned that works, I’d like to try something a little different.”, Simon said. Quickly grabbing all the cushions he could find and laying them on the floor, he turned to a thoroughly confused Tiffany.

“Alright, I want you to stand in the middle of those cushions, and try to focus your hardest on not letting me take your power.”, Simon explained to her. “If it works, you’ll keep your power, but you’ll collapse onto the cushions.”

“Alright...”, she said hesitantly, and moved onto the bed of cushions. She scrunched her face in concentration, and Simon activated the contract again. At once, she flopped onto the cushions, letting out a squeak of indignation.

“Ugh... I can’t get up. How long did you say this lasts?”, She asked on her back.

“Only about thirty seconds, don’t worry.”, Simon replied.

Next, they tried it with Simon. Having given him her power, and him trying his hardest not to give it back, the power flowed back anyway, but Simon was left unable to stand.

After regaining his ability to stand, Simon stood up, grinning, and pumped his fist in success. “Yes!”

Tiffany looked on, amused, and asked, “Is there anything else you want me to help you test, Mr. Contract Creator?”

Simon got back under control, and replied seriously, “Ahem, no, not right now. There’s some weirder stuff I could try, but I don’t want us to be left with, say, four arms, or something like that.”

Tiffany looked at him strangely and said, “Right... Well, if you’re looking for someone to help, I’m usually around the cafeteria somewhere. By the way, your mother still isn’t back. I hope she didn’t get caught up in anything.”

Simon froze, remembering. It was odd, certainly. His mother was definitely not the wandering type, preferring instead to stay home and watch soap operas or chat over the telephone. It was worrying.

He needed to go find her.