Sail Away [COMPLETED]

Chapter 8 - "You. Definitely you."

Hudson followed her without any question until they got four blocks beyond the downtown area. Once the vendors and shops gave way to rough alleys and houses, Ty could sense his hesitancy to continue, but she didn't stop. She kept following the familiar route, through the narrow roads lined with houses and small businesses.

She finally stopped when they reached a small food market. Hudson gave it a wary look before following her inside. The space was cramped with food threatening to fall from their shelves. She walked to the back and through a small doorway that led to a patio. Stepping outside, the air was filled with music and the scent and sizzle of food cooking.

The patio was a large concrete slab with a covering. It had a dozen picnic tables and almost all of them were filled. In one corner was a cooking station with heat billowing off the grill, and a line extending across the patio. Ty joined the end of the line as Hudson looked around curiously.

"This probably isn't what you had in mind when you asked for a place to eat," she said as he joined her.

"No," he admitted. "But I trust your judgment."

"As you should. This place serves the best street tacos and fried crickets." She made eye contact with one of the cooks and waved.

"Did you say crickets?" he asked.

She gave him a devilish grin. When she brought friends here, the mention of crickets was usually when they decided they weren't that hungry after all and went back to the ship. "Fried crickets."

He shrugged. "I usually enjoy my crickets in butter with some salt and pepper, but I am willing to try new things."

Her smile widened. "I think you'll like them. Tony, has a secret recipe," she nodded to the man behind the grill flipping food. "Where did you try crickets?"

"Thailand. My family went when Grant and I were younger. We made it our mission to try every strange food they had to offer. I won," he boasted.

It didn't surprise Ty that the brothers had found a way to compete. "And what was the fateful dish that made Grant lose?"

"Mok Huak. Developing Tadpoles," he explained. "Which is exactly what it sounds like. Tadpoles before they turn into frogs. Although, some of them did have legs." Ty grimaced in disgust. She had tried a lot of wild foods, but that was one of the strangest she had heard about. Hudson laughed. "That was Grant's reaction too."

"You ate it?" she asked.

He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "I wanted to win." Ty laughed and shook her head. "It really wasn't that bad," he said coolly. "They were slimy and tasted like a mixture of dirt and soured algae..." he went quiet as he thought about it. "Actually, they were awful. One of the worst things I've ever tasted." He shuddered at the memory.

"But worth the win?"

He scoffed like he hadn't even thought twice about it. "Of course."

She shook her head in disbelief. When they reached the front of the line, Ty ordered a variety of tacos and a large quantity after Hudson said he was extremely hungry. But she didn't order any fried crickets. After all the talk about tadpoles, just the thought of eating a small little critter made her stomach turn over.

As they waited for their food, they found an empty part of a picnic table. "Are fried crickets the weirdest food you've tried?" Hudson asked.

"No. I've tried stranger. Anders loves trying weird food so whenever we eat together I try something new," she said. "I think the soups are always the weirdest. You're never sure exactly what's floating in them and there is something about the liquid I always find hard to stomach. Also weird, anything my cousin Cece cooks."