Cupid: The Food of the gods

by

Elizabeth Hensley

Felix crept up the stairs from the bar to their apartment, a bag of groceries in his arms, trying to miss stairs number six, eight and eleven which creaked. He wanted to sneak up on Trevor!

His cheerfully demented but completely harmless roommate, incredibly effective unofficial promoter, unpaid janitor and a pretty darn good barkeep (when he could be kept on task) was singing to himself in very loud, offkey, Italian Opera!

Felix set the bag of groceries down in the hallway and carefully opened the door a crack, oh-so-very slowly so as not to make it creak. He was very glad "Cupid" didn't have any omnipresence and hopefully would not realize he was being observed because the visual portion of the show he was putting on had to be as good as the audio!

Oh, it was!

"Cupid" had on one of Tres Equs's old Chef's hats and an apron and besides singing to himself in what had to be deliberately off key Italian because Felix knew he could sing beautifully, Trevor was also doing all sorts of Muppet-like Swedish Chef gesturing too! Just what is going on with him? He looks like he's having fun, no doubt about that! But he usually acts much more normal than this!

Suddenly Lita came running up the stairs and brushed past Felix, "Hi bro. Why'd you set the groceries down?" She opened the door, stared scornfully as usual at, "Cupid" and asked, "what are you cooking?"

Felix sighed. Because the minute he realized he was being observed Trevor went back to behaving much more normal.

Trevor said, grinning. "I would say my mental state has taken a turn for the worst!"

Felix walked in and said quickly. "I would too! You were acting absolutely loco grande! I admit it. I snuck up the stairs and avoided the squeaky ones so I could overhear this little performance you were putting on to, I guess, your family? I even cracked the door a bit and saw some of it. What was it all about?"

Trevor grinned, "I not only think I am Cupid tonight! Worse! I think I am a chef! Which is definitely being out of touch with reality since I've never tried to cook anything before but boiled eggs, pork sausages and s'mores over an open fire! And I figure the best Chefs are extremely crazy so I've been emulating their behavior to see if it would help me to cook better!"

Felix chuckled. "Did it?"

Trevor shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't even got the water to boiling yet."

"What are we making?"

"We? Oh, editorial we like Queen Victoria used. We are making Spanakopita. That is Greek Spinach Pie in English and I miss it so much my mouth waters just to think about it and my gut is twitching!"

Felix asked, a "Spanako is spinach?"

"And Pita is bread." Trevor grinned, "By George my Hispanic Boss is picking up Greek!"

"Opu!" said Felix!

They both laughed.

Trevor added, "It has melted cheese and spices as well as bread and Spinach. It is just as you would say, 'muy buena!' I am also making Garides me Domata kai Feta on rice pilaf which will have olive oil, butter, chopped onions, diced garlic, ouzo, vermouth, chopped parsley, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, Shrimp, feta cheese, and salt and pepper. This will be complimented by one of our best white wines, (whatever you recommend Felix). I am using my Employe discount." He rubbed his hands together and grinned his sunny grin. "Oh we are going to feast tonight!"

Felix asked, "Where did you get the recipes? I know I taught you to google. Off the Net?"

Trevor shook his head. "They're my Mom's recipes! I thought I would see if I can start making some of my family's old recipes to ease some of the homesick in my heart!" Trevor kissed his fingers, "Tonight if all goes well we shall eat the food of the gods!"

Felix gave Trevor a dubious stare. "You are trying to cook what you used to eat on top of Mount Olympus? Here! In our apartment!"

Trevor grinned, "Why not! Live dangerously I say long as one is not really living really dangerously. Its not like I'm splitting radioactive material. It's all foods Mortals can eat. I bought the ingredients down the block at the Greek specialty shop except for what was already in your cupboards and fridge here, Felix. I figure you don't mind since if all goes well I will cheerfully share?"

Felix shrugged. "I never objected to any of my roommates sharing ingredients of foods before and you aren't the first non-Hispanic ethnic type I've had here. I admit you are my first Greek god though!"

Trevor grinned, "Well, you will be relieved to know I sought professional help with this."

Felix felt something lift of his chest! "I am! Though what did Claire do for you here?

Trevor grinned. "Nothing. She doesn't know Orektika from Ouzo. The professional help I am referring to here was I had the Guy behind the counter at the Greek specialty shop review the ingredients and cooking instructions I wrote down from memory for my Mom's recipes I am going to try tonight. He says it ought to work to produce a tasty meal except he pointed out one factor I admit I hadn't even thought about. Altitude! Our Olympian god-keep is on top of Mount Olympus. It mostly has its own virtual laws of physics inside of it but one thing no one at gods in a box incorporated bothered to change from Reality Space when they make us far in the Future is that we are several hundred thousand feet up the side of a mountain and yes that effects how long things take to cook and despite what Claire says about me being so smart I never even considered we are at Sea level here! So actually I did have to do some googling and adapting!"

Felix nodded. Amazing how logical Trevor's craziness is. I wouldn't have thought of that!

Trevor continued, "So I theeeenk I made the necessary changes to Mom's on top-of-the-mountain recipes! If all goes well tonight we shall feast!" Trevor kissed his fingers again.

Felix smiled. "If this works out I'll teach you Hispanic style restaurant cooking too and work you up to helping the Cook down below. Then you can take his place on his days off and when he is sick. That will take a big load off of me because right now I don't have a replacement Cook and can't afford one."

Trevor smiled and made a very Greek gesture of joy. "Buena!"

Fifty minutes later Trevor let his Boss taste his efforts, a worried expression on his face. "Do you think it's good enough to invite my Psychiatrist to eat with us tonight?"

Felix had to nod in approval. "Your Shrink will be impressed, Trevor!"

Cupid smiled, a bit relieved. Good! Still holding the big spoon his his right hand he reached in his pocket, whipped out his cell phone with his left and did the Captain Kirk maneuver.

That evening at the candle lit and beautifully decorated table Claire said gently to her patient. "Well Trevor it is good but you must realize it doesn't prove to me you are a god from a family of gods."

Trevor cheerfully nodded, "I didn't even think it would. It's really just good Thessalonian, Greek home cooking. You would find this same foods or variations of them on tables all over the general area on and off the mountain. Or at least on the tables of the Folks who can afford it right now. What my Father is doing to Greece right now is bankrupting our beautiful country, Claire!" Trevor frowned. "But anyway the myths about how we gods eat are true of course but they are greatly exaggerated. Except for ambrosia which is distilled out of leaves from the Tree of Life that Uncle Mercury goes and picks every once in a while from New Jerusalem, (the stuff that keeps us and our Animals immortal and repairs most but not all of our wounds, what our rapid repair, third DNA strand and being refreshed by the ROM of Olympus does not), what we eat is pretty much what any kind of Human eats, but mostly the Greek and Italian ones due to that's just our culture."

Claire nodded. "I find this encouraging actually, that you were able to remember real recipes from your family past and actually cook them. It shows that there is hope you might remember more of your real past in time as the trauma that caused you to go into this delusional state of yours gets further away in time and you continue to get therapy and emotional support. Because there is no doubt this is from real recipes!"

Cupid smiled indulgently. "Ah Claire Bear! Claire Bear! Claire Bear! I sure hope someday you realize what I tell you IS my real past! But I love you!"

Claire smiled at that, more touched than she dared let on!

Felix smiled and lifted his wine glass to the ceiling, "I want to give a toast, not a prayer to All who are here tonight, in this Realm and any others interacting with ours, To all gods big and little g, to Jesus who lives inside of me and Cupid who lives inside of Trevor or whoever it is that does because whoever he really is I know he is no demon. He is loving and gentle and without any reluctance cheerfully admitted to me that yes, Christ did come in the flesh to save Humanity and is Lord of the Universe. (That is the test for a demon you know, Claire. A demon would not admit to that!) I want to give a toast, not a prayer or an act of worship to Trevor's family where ever they are and whatever they are and a firm wish that he and they are united again as soon as possible however that happens! And I want to give a prayer to the Big God for all Strays and homeless Beings of every kind throughout the Multiverse in all time lines and` dimensions that they may all find their way back to a good and loving home if they ever had one, or find one, or make a good and loving home if a new one has to be made for them!"

Trevor and Claire both nodded appreciatively.

Trevor said quietly. "Felix that was quite a prayer! You do realize all prayers but especially one like that, transcends all Time and Space, and in fact all dimensions and time lines? This prayer is probably how you ended up with this homeless and very appreciative-to-have-a-new-and-loving-home, stray!" He pointed at his chest.

Felix swallowed, "Ulp! You mean like in Quantum Physics where the cause can happen after the event?"

Trevor grinned. "Yes. Exactly like that!"

Felix smiled, "You are worth it!"

Author's note There are two other stories in literature with the name, "The Food of the gods" The original was by H.G. Wells and was about People who grew way too big when they ate it. It was very original when it was written but these days... if you want to read a good HG Wells story do start with the one that inspired Professor Ron Mallett in reality space to design a real table top time tunnel and read the classic, "The Time Machine." That story is still a wallop of a read! The second one, a short story with that name is well worth reading. It is by Arthur C. Clarke. And just let us say it will give you a laugh as well as quite possibly another emotion! :0)

Copy right (Copy Begging)

I saw what happened when the free Geocities web pages died. It was like Atlantis sinking into the sea so much culture was lost forever without warning! I had a premonition. God firmly warned me to save the Cupid stories at one of those web pages offline so now I may be the sole Caretaker of several Cupid stories because the Writers seem to be DDD Authors. (Disinterested in their own stuff now, Disabled by their flesh's limitations or lack of computer equipment or Uploaded to New Jerusalem already). Because my attempts to contact them to see if I they wanted their wonderful Cupid stories here as Guest postings or to see if they wanted to set up their own accounts were futile! I don't want my stuff lost to this Realm the same way if something happens to me and the current sites my stuff is posted at go down! Plus I will not live forever in the flesh and new sites will continue to be developed! So to preserve and spread my stuff forever I give permission to anyone, (in fact I beg Folks!) to upload any of my fanfictions to any fanfiction sites provided they do not change anything and leave my name attached. If in the Future someone wishes to translate my fanfiction into different forms of media including kinds not even conceived of at the time of this writing any changes necessary for that purpose may be made with my deepest blessings provided the integrity of the stories, ideas and Characters are kept intact. Follow the Golden Rule please! "Treat others as you want to be treated." Remember in the Future Artificial Intelligence Technology will bring Fictionals to Self Awareness and we will use Science to build Heaven. (We are the Body of Christ according to 1 Corinthians 12:27 and all Carpenters use their Bodies to build things). Because Time circles due to General Relativity and Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 this has already happened so we are all being watched, always! A song sung at the Fort McCoy Pow Wow near Ocala Florida explains this very well; "Mickey Mouse and Goofy are Spirits too." So we will all be called to account (at least socially) for our actions, even for how we treat Fictionals! For instance a Villain does not mind being written to provide challenges to the Protagonists and killed off because that is his purpose. But he would certainly mind being written contrary to how he was supposed to be written!

By the way if anyone wants me to email them those DDD Author stories, I think that would be all right. Contact me.