A Scripta

Lue and Grim were sitting across from each other at a coffee shop just down the street, when Lue finally spoke. "They wanted to use me. Just like at home."

Lue looked so forlorn, that Grim just wanted to hold him. Instead, he glanced around to see if anyone was noticing and took Lue's hand and squeezed it. He looked up at Grim, his eyes sad.

"Oh, love," Grim whispered, a hitch in his voice. Grim wanted to take the pain in his eyes away. He held onto Lue's hand with both of his own, no longer caring who saw. "After this, we'll go back to the house and pack, and practice some of the things Thao taught us?"

Lue squeezed Grim's fingers wrapped around his hand. "I know what you're trying to do, Grim." Grim pulled Lue's hand to him and kissed his knuckles. That got a slight smile out of Lue. He said quietly, "You're the only person I can trust."

Grim smiled and kissed his hand again. "I love you." He released Lue's hand, though Lue didn't pull it back immediately. "We have five hours until the flight. I still want to at least see the deep-fried grasshoppers."

Lue sat back with a gentle smile, "All right, all right. Finish your coffee, we'll go to the market."

For once, it wasn't raining. They had to pass by the house on the way. Lue and Grim glanced toward it, and saw more cars parked in front. They looked at each other. "No," Lue said, and kept on walking toward the market.

Although he started looking through the wares there, Grim was preoccupied with how to avoid a confrontation. He got to see the grasshoppers - they looked like french fries, too. They really didn't taste that bad - they were crunchy like the moths, without the papery aftertaste. Lue also picked up some red-colored strings of what smelled like some sort of meat. Grim regarded Lue, "Okay, what're these, worms?"

Lue laughed, "No, they're fried pig intestines."

Grim took one - it had the rubbery consistency of fried calimari and the spiciness of black pepper. "Do you guys deep fry Twinkies, too?"

"They probably would if they had them," Lue said, eating more. Then, lastly, Lue picked up one more thing - chunks of cold shiny red meat in a thick red sauce. He also got a side of more hot sauce, which Grim could tell was hot because he saw the pepper seeds floating around in it. Lue sat with Grim and plucked a piece off the plate with his chopsticks. He offered it to Grim. Grim reached for the chopsticks, but Lue said, "Go on, I'll give it to you."

Grim smiled, and let Lue feed it to him. It had the consistency of liver; it was smooth and slimy, and pretty much tasteless. Lue took a piece for himself and dipped it in the ever-present hot sauce. "Okay, what was that?"

"Blood bouillon."

"Blood?"

"Yes." Lue motioned to the hot sauce with his chopsticks. "Want to try it with this? It's got some taste."

Grim's stomach roiled, but he swallowed. Lue watched him, concerned. "I'll be all right," he said. "I've had blood pudding before, this is just, well, different."

"It's cold, for one," Lue said, taking another piece. "We're getting you a set of chopsticks so you can learn how to eat properly." He grinned.

"You're the barbarians, you don't even use forks!" Grim hit Lue's shoulder playfully. "Yeah, let me try it with the sauce."

Lue smiled and fed him again, lightly dipping it into the hot sauce. "Better," Grim said. "You can have the rest."

Lue finished it. "Can't wait until you get home and have a regular cheeseburger?"

"With pizza and a Coke."

Lue chuckled. He pulled out a huge wad of bills. "We still have a lot of kip left. I want to get a few pounds of chilies because I like these better than the ones at home."

"And the chopsticks."

"Right." They headed off into the market and got five pounds of chilies. Next they went away from the food stalls and toward the other part of the market, where there were assorted wares for sale. There was plenty of jewelry, silver and gold bangles and earrings, bolts of brightly colored fabric, along with scarves and sashes, pipes and Buddha statues. Grim saw a tapestry hanging up that he liked - a blue square of cloth with people and animals sewn throughout it. The woman saw him admiring it, and immediately extolled the virtues of the piece, explaining that it was a Paj Ntaub Tib Neeg or a story cloth. It illustrated Teng Chu, the son of the first man, putting up the sun in the sky. Lue saw that Grim liked it, so he started to haggle. Lue got her down to a reasonable price, and Grim happily took it.

Next they got a leather-like box with a pair of chopsticks. They were onyx and red, with symbols of good taste and fortune along the side. Lue again bargained. Grim stood and watched Lue, smiling. Grim took the chopsticks from him after he bought them. "You're good," Grim said, and smiled warmly.

Lue blushed slightly. They walked on a little more, while Lue counted out the kip. Grim stopped at another booth and saw a set of wooden bowls. However, they were colored like marble, with light wood and dark wood intertwined. "Lue," Grim said, "we can get these for your grandfather."

Lue slowly smiled and sidled up to Grim, close enough to get in his space without touching him. "That sounds nice."

This time, Grim haggled. Grim didn't do such a good job. Lue complimented him, anyway. They handed over the rest of their kip - even though it was more than what Grim had haggled for. Eventually they started to the house. The cars were still there.

"I can create a fog," Lue said.

"And I'll make the house look dark from the outside while we pack."

Lue nodded. He made some hand signs and they started up the path. Grim peeked into one of the cars and grabbed Lue's sleeve. One of the men in the back seat had a pistol lying across his lap. Lue pulled Grim to the house, and they went inside. Grim hissed, "They're going to try to kill you!"

"Both of us," Lue said angrily. He looked torn - should he go outside and wipe them all out, or should he avoid the confrontation? Lue stared at the door, waiting for an answer.

All Grim could see was Lue leaving behind a path of blood as he went down the street. And then they'd have to get past the police, and the resulting manhunt, and how would they get on a plane? If they travelled back on their own, they needed to somehow cross the ocean, and it could take a week. No, it did not bode well. Grim put a hand on Lue's shoulder, "Please, love, let's just get out of here."

Lue's shoulders slumped. Grim knew that wasn't the answer he wanted, but it was the safest one for now. If they were closer to home, it might have been different - Grim would have let him do it under the cover of darkness. Finally, Lue turned to Grim and nodded slowly. The men packed up quickly. Lue created the fog again and stepped out of the front door. "We'll go down a few blocks and call a taxi," Lue said quietly.

Grim stayed well within the fog, as they both slunk past the cars and down the street. There was a pay phone there, and Lue called for a taxi. The taxi came in twenty minutes, and, of course, had to drive by the house to get to the airport. Grim pulled Lue down against his protests and held him there on the back seat.

Grim swore he would never come to this country ever again.