Climb Every (Food) Mountain (Matt)

[Deleted]

Along with the other things that had changed, so had Naozumi's appetite. In that it had gone up. It was normal for him to leave the lunch line with a massive collection of food for himself, and then to go back for seconds. But recently, he'd been going back for thirds, maybe even fourths. He was starting to wonder if maybe he had a secret meta power now, one which left a dimensional hole in his stomach for food to fall into, leaving him perpetually hungry? Because this seemed, sometimes, a little excessive to be merely a side effect of super speed.

Then again, he did use his power a lot - getting to class, running out on the track field, practicing in the dojo - so it might not be so strange after all.

Today was a meat day for him. Salisbury steak, chicken fried steak, hot dog, roast beef, sloppy joe...maybe it was a little much? Should he put something back? he thought as he stared at the frowning lunch lady. Oh well, too late now. Besides, he was going to eat it anyway.

Nao hefted the heavy tray and rotated out towards the rest of the lunchroom, his vacant eyes scanning the area for a place to sit down. He didn't see Ray or Xun anywhere...

With a sigh, he resigned himself to sitting "alone". He didn't mind, but it was always nice to have someone around to talk to him. Or maybe at him, since Nao was normally very un-talkative, even with his closest friends. He spied an empty spot and headed for it. There was only one other person at the table. Nao wasn't sure if maybe he was saving the space for someone else...or maybe the blonde boy just wanted to sit alone. He stopped at the edge of the table and stared at the other boy for a good five seconds before finally speaking up. "Excuse me. May I sit here?" Nao blinked his expressionless eyes.

[Matt Davis]

Matt had chosen to sit by himself for a pretty simple reason… He was focusing on his next big construction. Normally matt was unable to use his powers to create things, so he had to go off of his innate and raw talent for this. He moved the knife about with precision and made a few small cuts and indents in his sculpture. After a few minutes he was pleased with it…

Potatocano. The greatest marvel to grace the U.S. since the Sharknado. He looked over it and chose his point of entry, stabbing the fork into the side of the mash so that the gravy spilled out of the side. He took a bite and savored the warm magma.

When he noticed the shadow of a person near him, he turned and looked up to see a...random chinese kid looking down at him with kind of pale eyes. Did he have volcano on his face? Matt swallowed and wiped away his lips before answering.

“Uhh….” Matt looked down the table. Pretty big and empty. There wasn’t really a reason to say no, was there? “...Yeah, sure. Pop up a seat man.”

[Deleted]

If the other boy didn’t want to be bothered, he merely needed to say so. Nao wasn’t easily offended by something as simple as someone asking to be left alone. Actually, now that he looked, Nao saw that they boy was very preoccupied with something else. Maybe he should find another place to sit after all?

But then the boy looked up at him, and granted him permission…something that Nao almost didn’t hear as he was already lost in the beautiful blue eyes that he had.

Oh, wow…

And those lips…that gorgeous blonde hair….

Nao stared at him, a bit starstruck for a moment, before taking a breath and nodding. “Thank you,” he said softly, setting his tray onto the table and taking the seat. Was he blushing? Probably. Ray said that Nao blushed rather easily, and Nao believed it.

Thinking of Ray teasing him into a tomato face made his cheeks grow warmer. Nao needed to get his mind off that before his head exploded completely. He looked instead to the other boy, inspecting the construction he was making out of his food. Nao blinked, then spoke. “Is that a potato-volcano?” From his mashed potatoes….Now Nao wanted some himself. He frowned at his choice of meats, longing for the variety it lacked.

[Matt Davis]

He pulled his tray a little in so that he’d make enough room for the young man in front of him. Matt looked up to the young boy who was just staring at him… Did he have something on his face? Matt reached up and tried to wipe away some potatoes or something from his lips before he turned his attention back to the young guy just before he took his seat. That was… a little weird?

When he asked if it was exactly what it was. What else could it have been really? Matt looked over it some to see if there was anything wrong with it. Pfft, it looked perfect.

“Yeah it is… I’m not sure if I should go with Pot-cano, or Voltato… Or maybe like a mid way thing. Volpotano… What’re your thoughts?”

Matt looked over to the man’s trey and smirked to himself. That was a hell of a lot of meet, and he felt a little bit… Jealous of it. Was that friggin’ country fried steak!? He didn’t even see that.. though he was a little lost when he saw the potatoes.

“Where do they have the country fried steak!? And is it...well, does it taste country fried, ‘r does it taste like that stuff they try t’pass it off as?”

[Deleted]

Did he notice him staring? Oh, no, he did, didn’t he? Perhaps if Nao just kept doing things that made his face flush, the other boy might think that was just the natural coloring of his face?

Nao could hope, anyway.

Nao tilted his head in thought. “Pot-cano sounds like a drug. Voltato maybe…but sounds like something from Star Trek.” Like a random piece of technology. “Maybe Volpotano….” Maybe. Though that sounded like something from Victoria’s Secret. “….Maybe if you use ‘spud’ instead? Like Spud-cano?” Though using that in any of the other arrangements didn’t work either.

Nao turned his attention down to his plate and sighed silently before picking up his utensils and starting to cut up the steaks. He popped his head up at the blonde’s excited questions. “It’s where the rest of the meat is.” How could one miss it? He looked down, somewhat confused, at the country fried steak. “I don’t know. I've never had it before I came to Hammel.” They didn’t serve it at his last school, and home cooking usually consisted of Japanese cuisine. And his family of eight rarely went out to eat.

[Matt Davis]

Matt thought about it….Voltato...that really did sound better, -and- it sounded like something like Star Trek? That’s like… a double win. Maybe it could be a super villain name or something. He had read his fair share of Spider Man comics, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Voltato was something he came across. You really couldn’t beat a name that worked with both a a klingon and a super villain.

“Like a drug…heh...Alright. Voltato it is, good… Not a fan of the Spud thing...but maybe we could work that into what it oozes. Though I figured I’d mix it with gravy. Like… Lavy, or… Gragma… I don’t know.”

Matt looked back to the boy’s food a little enviously before looking over to the line. “Well hell, I can’t just ignore that… I’ll have to go grab some.” The young man lifted up and stood behind of his seat before taking a deep breath. “By the way, my name is Matt…” He extended his hand out to the china boy. “Y’think you’d be ‘right to watch my food? Make sure no one does nothin’ to it or the cleaner doesn’t toss it while I fetch some’a that?”

[Deleted]

Nao had never really been into American comics. His knowledge of Star Trek was only because his mother was a die-hard fan and so they couldn’t get through an evening without her putting it on the television after they finished supper. But it seemed like the other boy was pleased with the reference. And thus the mountain of mashed potatoes became known as Voltato in his mind.

The matter of the replacement for lava was a bit easier, however. “I think either of those works well, actually.” Though Nao would personally go for Gragma if only because Lavy(and lava in general) sounded too similar to the spanish word “lavar”. “Gragma sounds like a Kaiju from the Godzilla movies.” Which Nao found appealing.

It occurred to Nao that he could probably just offer to give the other boy his chicken fried steak to save him self a trip, especially considering that Nao was likely going to be heading back eventually for a second helping, but Naozumi was surprisingly protective of his food and thus said nothing. A hand was extended and Nao hesitated before offering his own hand, blushing slightly at the physical contact and internally squealing like a crazed fangirl. He gave the good-looking blonde a shallow, quiet nod with an equally shallow and quiet smile. “I can do that.”

[Matt Davis]

Matt blinked as he stared down at the boy talking about Kaiju. It took him a few seconds to realize what he was talking about. He heard that word before, but not used in a conversation outside of talking about Pacific Rim. He had to wonder if Gipsy Danger could take on Godzilla… That’d be some cross over.

Matt approved of Gragma, for both a name of a monster and for his new concoction. When he had taken Nao’s hand in his his grip was solid and firm. He held his hand for a while, perhaps longer than Nao would’ve expected. Normally when Matt had taken a guy’s hand and thrown out his name and an introduction, he got something out. Like a name or a… well at least a name.

He probably wouldn’t be able to understand this kids name after all. Bringing up godzilla probably meant he was japanese. They had some pretty freaky names. When Matt realized that Nao was going to glow brighter than a red pepper and tuck his head down, he decided to pull away. It was a weird reaction, but he was starting to find that there were a lot of kids who were really quiet here.

Matt went back to the lunch line and grabbed a new plate, stacking up some country fried steak and another few slabs of Salisbury. When he returned to the table he dropped the plate beside of the Voltato and sat down in his seat again.

“Nobody stuck there finger in the Gragma did they?” Matt looked around the potatoes to try and see if there were any holes punched it or if it still looked perfect.

[Deleted]

The boy had held onto Nao’s hand for a lot longer than Nao was used to, certainly, and he tilted his head wondering if there was some reason for that. But the longer their hands were connected, the more self conscious Nao became, and the more his face felt like it was about to burst into flames.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the boy had finally left to go get his country fried steak. That boy…what was his name…Matt?

That’s when Nao realized, Oh….that’s why he was acting weird like that!

Nao was so caught up with admiring the guy and fangirling over a stupid handshake that he completely blanked on giving his own name. And that realization had Nao hanging his head and wanting to fall into a hole. By the time Matt had returned, the color of his face still hadn’t gone down.

The Japanese boy shook his head at the question, though Nao had been far too preoccupied with his social blunder to notice if anyone had come up and swiped a taste at the voltato and gragma concoction. “….I’m Nao,” he said after a considerable pause. “Sorry, I space out sometimes.” Nao fidgeted in his seat, the heat in his face perpetuating.

[Matt Davis]

Matt dove into the steaks pretty quickly. He pulled the salisbury off first and dragged it through the side of the Voltato before shoving two bites worth into his mouth and chewing it quickly. He nodded his head some as he enjoyed the flavor. It wasn’t what he was used to, not what he liked, but he did enjoy it. When the boy spoke up and gave his name, Matt looked up and gave the guy a big cheeked smile. It took him a second before he could swallow and speak up.

“There y’go! Half thought you didn’t know much of english, Now.” He smiled. Now was a funny name. Easy to remember though. It was kind of sad that it wasn’t something like Goku or Vegeta or something cool like that.

“You know, I’m noticin’ that a lot...Lotsa spacin’ out and starin’ off for no reason. Though y’did give me sort of a weird look. So not sure what t’make a’ that…” He smirked and slid his plate a little closer. “Want some Voltato? Makes the steak hella better.”

[Deleted]

Nao would have corrected Matt’s idea of what his name was truly if he had any idea, but unfortunately Naozumi was a super speedster, not a telepath. Though it was common enough for Americans to mispronounce and mis-conceptualize the boy’s name. In fact, it had been one of the (many) things he was bullied over back in elementary and middle school. He’d learned to not take such things personally anymore. Or maybe his mind was simply too absent to dwell on it? Either could be true. Or both.

The Japanese boy nodded. “I speak English. It’s not my first language, but I’ve lived in America since I was a child.” Since he was six years old, in fact. Almost ten years…how time flies.

When Matt pointed out the stare Nao gave him earlier…his cheeks returned to their blossoming color. “Sorry,” he said quietly. How embarrassing! What if he were a telepath? Then he’d be able to hear everything that Naozumi was thinking about him, wouldn’t he? That didn’t seem to be the case, however. His embarrassment was quickly washed away, however, by the offer of some of Matt’s Voltato. If there was anything that could get the Asian boy back in a good mood, it was the offer of food. Nao smiled until his cheeks rounded into little peach balls, complete with dimples. He nodded excitedly.

[Matt Davis]

It was nice to hear that there was a foreign kid who could speak english. He had known quite a few mexicans back in his home state who only spoke spanish. Some of the workers of the competing auto body shop were mexican and couldn’t speak like a native american. They were all illegals, Matt surmised, and according to his boss they did far more illegal deeds than just existing in that garage. Matt had less knowledge about asian people though. He didn’t even know how to say the equivalent of ‘I don’t speak japanese’ to one of them.

There was one thing that seemed to translate well to all cultures though: Food! Well, not the type of food. Just the offer of it. Matt couldn’t imagine eating raw fish or anything like that. One thing Matt had grown used to, though, was sharing food. Family style meals were the best and he didn’t really have any sort of fear of germs or touching other peoples foods, so he simply turned his plate some and scooted it toward the boy.

“Go ahead an’ take some then, Now.” He continued to say the name as he thought it should be said, blissfully unaware to it. “S’what are you? Freshman? Or have you skipped a bunch’a grades?”

[Deleted]

Naozumi didn’t really think of himself as foreign anymore. After all, his littlest siblings were born in the US and were US citizens. Actually, the rest of them had applied for citizenship a long time ago, so it wasn’t even an issue anymore. Even so, there were plenty of Americans who didn’t speak English, which Nao would have pointed out if he were privy to Matt’s thoughts.

He wasn’t though, so it didn’t even register as a problem.

As it was, Matt was his new favorite person at the moment because he was not only a handsome stud, but he was also sharing his potatoes with the potato-less Naozumi. He was an absolute angel in Nao’s eyes and probably one of the nicest people on earth. Nao looked at the other boy in awe and his smile seemed to brighten as much as the morning sun. “Thank you!” he said with glee, as he started to shovel those taters onto his meat-plate. Not too much though, because Nao didn’t want to seem selfish.

“I’m a sophomore,” he informed Matt. “I turned fifteen back in March.” Nao started enjoyed the potatoes, savoring every bite. “What about you? Are you new?”

[Matt Davis]

Matt watched the other guy shovel over the potatoes with a smile. Nothing bonded people better than cafeteria grade mashed potatoes. One because of how delicious they were, but also because Matt assumed cafeteria taters could be used as some sort of mortar and literally bind people to stuff, or bricks to bricks. He nodded his head to Nao, accepting the thanks and giving his appreciation for the thanks. There was a lot to be conveyed with a single nod.

“Yeah, I’m a sophomore too… Been fifteen a good bit though.” He added to the boys introduction. He was a little pleased to find another kid his age and in his grade. It was a bit of a jump, most fifteen year olds were freshman, and most of the people he had been meeting lately were his senior.

“I’m new though, yeah. Aint been here but for a few weeks… Still gettin’ used t’the place, but been meetin’ some new friends along the way an’ such. I aint seen’ya much… You in tha coed dorm, or in the men’s?”

He turned his plate and moved it back to him so that he could keep on feeding. he sliced through most of the salisbury and slipped some of it into the gravy. He looked down at it with a smirk. With one side of the voltato blown off by...well, godzilla if they went with the scale, the gragma was flowing down. The small brown salisbury bits looked like little buildings getting covered by the gragma…

...Pompeidable… Pompate?... Chompaii? Pomnompeii? There was something there, Matt just had to think about it.

[Deleted]

“Oh? I wonder why we don’t have any classes together?” Then again, Nao was a bit on the fast track when it came to academics. Which still didn’t say much, he didn’t know where Matt was either. It could just be bad luck that they missed each other so much.

“I’ve been here since last November. It was really hard remembering where everything was. This school is so much bigger than my last school.” Nao chomped away at the potato mountain he “borrowed” and cut up a few pieces of meat to go with. It tasted delicious. “I’m in the men’s dorm,” he answered. He wondered where Matt was? If he was in the co-ed dorm, then it would explain why they didn’t see each other much.

“Where are you from, Matt?” he asked, continuing the conversation. Matt was not only good-looking and nice, but also interesting. Nao really wanted to be his friend…and if he could, then he’d be able to look at that handsome face every day!

Though thinking about that…he did feel some guilt towards Ray, his best friend, who was number one crush…and kissing partner… The thought brought a flush to Nao’s cheeks. He looked up and his eyes immediately went to Matt’s lips. And he flushed just a little bit more.

Shoot! Why did he always let his thoughts run away from him like that?