Reordinate the Fate

Fourth Destination: Complete Dinner

"We're back!"

Risa was still able to say that with her body shivering and her teeth chattering. Will, who had been lying down and closing his eyes beside the fire, opens his eyes and sits down, "Welcome— What's wrong with you?"

The same question came from Will's mouth. Stevan and Cliff couldn't speak because they were so in cold. The two of them throw a net bag beside Will and enter the tent to change clothes. “Come here! Warm yourself up."

Risa obeyed Will and sit crossed her feet very close to the fire.  "You got a lot of things."

Max sits on the log after putting down the last net bag containing the two fishes he caught. He sees the orange sky, "It turned out that we walked through the forest for a long time, half of the day." The man takes out the pears and oranges they had picked earlier and cut them with the dagger.

"Try this." Max gives Will the oranges while he cuts the pear. Risa stretches out her hand with open palms up. She showed her clean teeth as Max stares at her. Max handed the pear he just cut to Risa.

Moments later, Stevan and Cliff come out of the tent in dry clothes and jacket. Their hands brought wet clothes to dry beside the fire. "You can rinse the clothes first, in case there are leaves or mud stuck to them." Will pointed at the creek.

"Have you cleaned the fish?" Stevan returns after rinsing his clothes and placing them on the clothesline beside the fire that Max has made nicely from the wood. "You’re the one who will clean it up.” Max pointed to Stevan.

Stevan sits with leg stretched out on a pile of leaves, "You are a true leader." He sarcastically said, "I'll take a break for a moment before clean it." Stevan reaches for the water bottle and takes a sip. Cliff sits beside Stevan and does the same after Stevan finished drinking.

"I am curious," Cliff closes the bottle, "You guys are friends too, like Risa and Stevan, right? Tell me how you met and when you started getting closer.” Max and Will exchange a look at each other, while Stevan sneered, "You surely like to jump into other people's lives."

Max replied Cliff, "We met at a bar."

“At that time, I was on one of my trip and felt so tired. I decided to warm up a little with a drink. It was a personal trip so I could went wherever I wanted to. When I was enjoyed it, he tapped me on the shoulder and asked ‘are we from the same country?’ used our special national language. I answered him and we chatted, then exchanged contacts.”

Will also shared, “I was in a concert abroad at the time, and there was some free time the night after the concert. I was too tired and turned to couldn’t even sleep, so much things to organized and prepared, for the concert and the next album. The fatigue brought me to met him. Hks face is very distinctive, so I asked him if he was from this country too. After we talked, he told me his journey and I was interested in his story. I asked him to exchange contacts, and we met several times before I got to know Risa and introduced her to him."

"Tell everyone something about me?"

Risa walks behind them and hanging her clothes. "About their friendship.” replied Stevan. Risa nodding her head. She already knew the story.

“I didn't know he was an idol at that time." Max pointed to Will and Risa, “I'm not really into music. Just hear what I like."

"So," Max rose to his feet and turned his head, a sign looking for something. A few moments later he leaves the camp site. "Where is he going?" Risa pointed at the man who takes the ax.  Cliff, Stevan, and Will shook their heads together.

After that, they can hear the sound of logs and ax colliding. Max seemed to approach them again and shows the log cut with all his strength so that it was originally a tube, change into half a tube. The man put a wide leaf that no one know where and when he found.

"You can use it as a cutting board, a mat for slicing fish." Max brings the new device closer to Stevan. "Now it's your job to cook. Your tiredness is gone, right?” Stevan takes a deep breath before rising from his seat. “Can you prepare a pelples half full of water and some wooden skewers? I'll grill 5 fish and steam the one.”

Risa gets up fast, "I’ll fill the pelples with water!" Stevan chuckled, "You chose the easiest a task, Freak." Risa walks away after sticking out her tongue nosily. Meanwhile, Max moves to pick up the fruit, wash, and cut it. "I'll find the wide leaves for the base of the fruit you cut." Will stands and walks into the forest.

Cliff groanimg wearily as they left the task of finding the wood and slicing it thinly to skewers for him.

★★★

Stevan cleans the last of the fish's scales and gutted it. "Have you done, Cliff?" asked the boy when he returns with a net bag filled with clean fish. "Soon. It's so tricky, you know."

"How are we going to stab and grilled this?" Stevan having a hard time with the heat of fire and real cutted wood as skewers.

Max walked on his knees to the two men, "Let me stab the fish."

"Wait, let me put some salt over the fish first." Max shook his head, “We don't need any salt. We won't eat the skin. This is a bonfire. The smoke and burnt are not really good for us. So just in case we only eat the fish meat. Also the skin will taste bitter."

"How about steam it then?" asked Stevan.

"You can spice it up of course. We don't burn it directly over the campfire.” Suddenly Risa standing with a big smile beside Stevan, “Oh my! You startled me! Oh my God, you really are a freak. What's with your smile, huh?”

“This is the pelples.” Risa said.

Stevan grabs the pelples and sits down, put the fish above the wood cutting-board Max had made. "I am hungry. Can it be ready faster?” Risa sits next to Stevan.

"Just tell this fish to be cooked quickly!" He said while making repeated incisions along the fishbone, ignoring the frowning Risa.

"You also know how to fillet fish?" Risa looks at Stevan's quite dexterous hand, "Look for it from the internet and television programs too?"

Stevan nodded, "Plus some self learning and practice."

"Hmm? Why don't you ever make fillet menu for me?” replied Risa. Stevan puts the fish meat in the pelples, also with the head. He reaches for the grocery bag and sprinkled some spices such as pepper and salt.

"I have. I once brought you fillet dory breakfast to the school when you didn't have time to come home from your variety show shooting schedule. You should remember that because I only brought you breakfast several times.” Risa nodded, "Of course." The girl seemed to remember,

"But back then, you said that you bought it, not cooked it."

Cough! Cough!

Max, who was putting the fish on the bonfire with the support base he made, heard their conversation. Stevan saw Max's seductive gaze upon him completed with his teased cough. Stevan closes the pelples and rose to his feet. “I lied of course. You would teased me if I say it then.”

Stevan approaches Max, who was crouching down, then kicked the guy's butt lightly. "So where can I put this?" Stevan looked at Max with a 'stop teasing me or I'll kick you into the fire right now' gaze.

"Just put it up there.” Max pointed with his chin. The man snorted with laughter, finding a new hobby other than adventure.

★★★

"Enjoy your meal!"

Risa takes a grilled fish and graze the meat, ignoring the heat she felt on her fingertips. The sun was setting down faster than she thought, the cold air begin to comes colder again. "Don't eat the skin." Max reminded as he pressed the remote, and the lights seemed to come back on tonight.

Risa nodding and eat the white meat. "I can taste the oil!"

"Right, right?"  Max eats his part, “Fish has fat in its body too, and when we heat it, it turns into a kind of oil that will make the fish taste better, but we have to lift it at the right time. If we grilled it too long, the oil will burn and cause a bitter taste and the fish itself meat will feels tough.”

"You can work as a chef too, Max."  Stevan responded as he continued eating.

"If you to open a restaurant in the forest, I can be the main chef." Max shrugged, "But the daily menu is just fish grilled over the fire."

"I would hate it if I ate this thing every day." Stevan replied again. "Let's try the steamed one." A pleasant aroma smelled out as Stevan opens the lid of the pelples, with difficulty of heat, of course.

"Let's eat this out with the chopsticks I made." Max pulls out the steamed fish onto the lid of the pelples so it is easier to reach.  The fish looked soft, and of course, it is really soft when Risa taste it.

Will takes a sip of soup from the jar carefully, “The soup is delicious too. It keeps me warm.” Cliff grabs the jar from Will's hand and takes a sip, then nodding right away, “I agree with you. It's warm and makes me comfortable.”

Max smiling while watching at the four people whom were eating greedily. He gobble the pear in his mouth.  Regardless of the temperature dropping again, they really have a warm complete dinner tonight.

★★★