😺😺

I watched his face pale, and leaned back, crossing my ankles. "You know what... Imma let you sit and spin that around in your head, and try to come up with a way to explain that while the rest of us enjoy a quiet breakfast. Let's eat, huh?" I looked at the others.

Bete grinned, shaking his head. "Now this is getting ."

Riviera looked between us. "I apologize, I did not mean to create an internal dispute..."

"Don't worry, Miss Riviera, we're mature enough to keep our problems between us. Aren't we, Johnny?" I grinned.

He sighed and rubbed his temples, then began eating his food. He dunked some bread in his stew, tasting it, and nodded. "You guys should eat the Stew. It's good."

Bete nodded. "We came for it, specifically. Oi, Cat? Stew for all of us, except the Elves. They're Rabbit-Food Eaters."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm not. I'll have the stew, and some bread and cheese, along with a mug of cider."

She looked slowly between me and Johnny, and nodded. "Okay... Miss Riviera? Miss Lefiya?"

"I'll have the house salad, some wine, and a plate of vegetables." Riviera nodded.

"Uhm, the same, but cider..." Lefiya said shyly.

I leaned away from the table, and opened my art journal, drawing the scene with an attention to even the smallest details. On the next pages, I included sketches of everyone present, labeled clearly so that I could remember them. The waitresses returned, and began setting bowls and plates down around us.

I closed my book, and smiled, thanking her, then began eating quickly. I dipped my bread into my soup, and bit into it, nodding. "It is good stew, I can see why you guys came for it." I chuckled, and continued eating.

Bete finished quickly, and yelled for the waiter boisterously, ordering another bowl when she appeared.

I chuckled and ate my food at my own slow pace, then looked at Johnny, and realized he was doing the same thing.

We were holding our spoons the same, the same posture, leaning over our bowls, his jaw moved the way mine did when I was thinking of something that bothered me... and the way his did, I realized now.

"How did we not have this conversation before? It seems so obvious now." I asked curiously. The other people at the table breathed a quick sigh of relief when they saw I wasn't angry anymore.

He looked up, and sighed. "It's simple. I didn't want to, so I avoided the topic. I'm a master at not talking about something I don't want to, so you never had a chance."

"But still... we even the same, Johnny."

He chuckled. "I noticed... yeah. Your mother made me promise not to tell you, first of all."

"What? That she screwed my martial arts teacher, or that she let me be friends with you, and never told me?" I asked archly.

He nearly choked on his bread, while the small elf girl covered her face, blushing madly. "! No, no no. Your mother and I - no, we weren't like that. She wanted children, I had seed to spare, and I was the only man around that looked mostly like her, so you'd never see your father and go 'oh! I have that guys eyes!' I donated my seed for her, ." He said firmly.

I hummed. "I see... so that was why she faked not liking you."

"Oh no, she hated my guts, by the time you were attending my classes. She didn't approve of 'how I lived my life', apparently. Hmph." He sniffed derisively.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

He shrugged. "I was a Half-Drunk Veteran Loner who taught kids how to fight. And, once you started taking my classes, I got to see you more than your mother did for a little while, before I got deployed again, which pissed her off to no end... and the revolving door I had for women going in and out of my house while I was home didn't help." He grinned shamelessly.

I laughed, along with Bete, while Riviera raised an eyebrow disapprovingly. "That makes sense... but in your defense, you were lonely, and most women only wanted you for your money, ya ugly bastard!" I snickered.

He shrugged, unfazed. "Yeah, well... anyway, that's it. That's the whole story, really."

"You're serious?" I asked incredulously.

"Yep. She chose me because we looked the same, and I helped her make you, with the promise that you'd never know it was me. I was supposed to not have any contact with you at all, but when you came to , it would've been suspicious if I turned you away, so... yeah." He shrugged again, and drank the soup at the bottom of his bowl.

I hummed and finished my bowl as well, calling for another one. "So... why so secretive? I mean, she probably thinks we ran off to Tahiti together or something." I chuckled.

He blinked. "Damn... you're right, we both disappeared, same night, no calls no info... jeez, if we ever get back, it'll be a nightmare. And our students! Good thing we didn't recruit any more. The current ones are well-trained..."

"Which is even more suspicious... it's like we finished all our affairs, and then died in Midgard, coming here in the Afterlife." I grinned.

He shrugged a final time, and stood, strapping his sword onto his sash. "Well, this has been great..." he tossed 2K Val on the table. "But I've got a job to do, so I'll be going to do it." He chugged his mug of Mead, and nodded.

I hummed. "You have a job?"

"Not really, I just cross off contracts from that board. Turns out, I'm pretty good at finding lost cats, and things like that." He grinned.

The waitress, who was gathering his coins, flinched.

I hummed. "You don't have to be scared of him, dear. He just looks mean. He's a big ol' softy when it comes to women and children."

She smiled, and trotted off.

He watched her go, and sighed. "Cat-Girls..."

"Oi, loverboy, get to workin', huh? You get inducted into the Familia later today." I snapped my fingers to get his attention.

He grinned. "Ahhh, what's that? A little pain, then a tattoo? I can handle that, no problem! I'll be off, then!" He darted out.

"Oi! Is that Bastard dashing?!?" The barkeep roared after him.

I laughed. "He already paid, he's just running from his son's wrath!"

She huffed and started washing dishes again.

I looked at the other people around the table. "Sorry about that. The conversation had to happen eventually. If I'd have let myself sit and spin, I woulda taken his head off." I grinned.

Bete chuckled. "Now that I understand, but what was the rest of that? I didn't really get it. Is he your Pa, or not?"

"He helped my mother make me, but no, he's not my Father in anything but blood." I shrugged.

Riviera hummed. "I'm curious as to how he got her pregnant without sexual intercourse..."

"Huh? You guys don't have that? It's really simple science, hell, I know how it works, and I got nothing in the medicine department, beyond anatomy..." I blinked, confused.

She shook her head. "We do not, though I would be very interested in how that works..."

"Well... alright. Basically, a man donates his seed, a doctor collects it in various ways... and then he takes an Egg from a woman's ovaries, and inseminates the egg outside of the body, guaranteeing insemination. Then that egg is placed inside the woman's womb, and it grows naturally. Simple, efficient." I nodded.

She hummed. "And what about mixing breeds?"

"Well, in Midgard-"

"You don't have different Races, yes, never-mind." She interrupted impatiently, something that I didn't think she was capable of.

She noticed, and I chuckled before she could apologize. "Finally, some fire from you, huh? Well, more a puff of smoke, but hey, every dragon starts somewhere, huh?" I grinned.

A tiny blush appeared on her cheeks, and she cleared her throat primly. "I do apologize..."

"Of course I accept, nothing to apologize for." I grinned evilly. "But as I was saying, we don't have different species in our realm, but we do have different animals that breed with other types, so I do know the basics of Inter-Species breeding." I hummed.

She turned slightly towards me. "Oh?" She prompted politely.

"Indeed... take Liger's and Tigon's, for example. A Liger is a Mix between a Male Lion and a Female Tiger. A Tigon is the reverse, Female Lion and Male Tiger. Or Mules, the mix of a Donkey and a Horse. The basics of the mixture is, whoever has stronger DNA wins the battle for feature prominence." I hummed.

"I don't understand, what battle?" She seemed confused.

"Simple and easy to understand, it's like this; if I were to breed with a redhead, my child would have black hair, because Red hair is a submissive trait in DNA. Should my child have children with someone whose mother had red hair, however, their children will have red hair, because the Red Hair trait is stronger than the Black Hair trait. Does that make sense?" I asked.

"I believe it is beginning to... have you studied Genetics long?" She asked curiously.

"It's an elective course at my college, if you want to become a computer engineer... which is a useless trade in this realm, so I'm happy for my electives, I suppose." I sighed.

She blinked slowly. "You have been to university?"

"Yes? I know I'm young, but I was... gifted. I skipped several grades of knowledge. I double-majored in Computer Engineering and Theological Philosophy." I shrugged.

She hummed gently. "I see... I'd no notion..."

"I realize I don't really act like a genius, but yes. Now for another round of this stew, I'm Starving! I mastered 26 spells yesterday from those grimoires, and let me tell you, I have been this Hungry in my !" I waved for another bowl, grinning.

"Tw-... ?!?!?" Lefiya barked, halfway surprised and disbelieving, it seemed.

I blinked at her outburst, and nodded as she covered her mouth guiltily. "Yes. 26. That Tempest one really took me, though. Kicked my ass all the place before she eventually submitted." I sighed.

The waitress set a bowl of stew next to me, and I started eating again, happily mowing down on the delicious beef and potato stew.

The blonde girl looked up suddenly, at my statement. "You learned Tempest?"

I nodded. "Yes. I haven't really practiced with it yet, I was trying to learn all the spells I could while Loki was in the room, like she told me to. I'll finish it up today. Only 3 left. Atlas, Cinder Ella, and Dreamer, though Riviera won't tell me what Dreamer is. She's remarkably good at being stubborn and polite at the same time. A good skill to have, methinks."

The people at the table stared at me, but I ignored them, eating quickly, using my bread to wipe the soup off the sides of the bowl, then waved for another.

"Slow down, the kitchen doesn't close for another four hours, kid." One of the amazon's grinned at me.

I chuckled. "Sure, but in those four hours, how bowls can I eat? I'm going to find out."

Bete grinned. "Wanna bet I can eat more?"

"You're on. Loser pays the table fare. If we finish all the stew, and can still go on, we split the fare, and get something to drink." I smirked.

He nodded. "Deal. Ooooiii!!! Cat!!! Keep the bowls of that stew coming!!!"

I started eating, reveling in the challenge.

"Ugh... boys..." the feminine Amazon, Tione, sighed.

The other one, Tiona, laughed and moved in front of me with her bowl. "I'm in!!! You guys are going !!!"

I looked at the other one. "Winner also gets a kiss from Cap'n Finn..."

She appeared in the seat next to her sister instantly, scarfing down her food while Finn glared at me.

I laughed and kept eating, pacing myself. I focused on quantity, ignoring my bread for now, because bread expanded when it hit the stomach.

Finn hummed. "If I win, I don't have to kiss anyone... I'm in, I guess." He sat next to us as well, Completing the circle of competitors.

Riviera, Lefiya, and Blondie were all left stranded, and they sighed, paying their tab and leaving.

I focused on my food, and started eating again.

---

I glared at Bete and Tione, the only ones left, and waved for another bowl.

Instead of the waitress, Mama Mia, (,) came out of the kitchen with a cauldron, which she slammed down on our table. "If you're going to eat it all, just say so!!!" She snapped, and retreated into the kitchen.

I looked around the cauldron at the others, and stood up, reaching the ladle in to scoop out some more of the stew, which was almost empty, while the other two did the same.

---

I leaned back, and cracked my back, groaning in satisfaction. "That... was amazing." I chuckled.

Bete grinned. "You still good to go?"

I shrugged and chewed on a piece of bread, answering with actions.

The woman, who now looked rather pregnant, laughed. "You weaklings!!! I can go if the captain's lips are the prize!!!"

"Well, the stew is done, so it's a Tie, as per the rules. We all have to pay up, and there is no winner, so no forced kisses from the captain." I chuckled at her thunderous expression.

Mama Mia grunted. "Never had this happen before... dunno how many bowls you ate... well, a cauldron usually gets me a hundred bowls or so... so I'll just charge you 200,000, eh?"

I nodded and set 70K Val on the table, using seven tens. Bete and the Amazon did the same, and she swept it all off into a pocket on her apron. "Alright! Go on, then, have a good day, I hope you're satisfied with my cooking!" She laughed.

I grinned. "It was great. I couldn't get enough, obviously." Then I looked at Bete. "How about that drink, hmm?"