Good In General

It's not far to the café.

Prong leads the way.

Sartre cycles, with the box under his arm. 

Saint Elias, Toyshop and Bowl, in his trouser pocket, bounce up and down.

Saint Elias feels he is getting a headache. and is glad when they stop.

Satre locks his bike up outside, and enters the café.

It's a tapas bar and the counter is piled high with tapas.

He looks for the others.

Mon petit! shouts Simone. Here we are!

He goes over to a cramped corner table.

Arthur and Federico are drinking black coffees.

 Sweezus is eating gambas al ajillo with his fingers.

Try a shrimp, says Sweezus. 

Or one of these broccoli flans, with manchego cheese, says Simone.

Wait a moment, says Sartre. I need to empty my pocket before I sit down.

He extracts Bowl and Toyshop, and places them next to Terence.

Finally Saint Elias.

You had him in your pocket upside down! says Simone.

I didn't think it would matter, says Sartre.  

It seems disrepectful, says Simone. 

I brought his box, says Sartre, but I left it outside.

Why? asks Simone.

I didn't want to look like a delivery person, says Sartre.

With a saint box! laughs Simone.

Three garlic shrimps left, says Sweezus. D'you want one? 

Sartre takes one, and eats it. Delicious.

What else would you like? asks Simone.

What else is good? asks Sartre.

Ask Arthur and Federico, says Simone. By now they've tried everything.

Sartre looks at Arthur.

What? asks Arthur.

What's good? asks Sartre.

To eat or in general? asks Arthur.

To eat, says Sartre. 

The duck one and the salmon one, and the chorizo, says Arthur.

And the jamón ibérico ones, says Federico. 

And this broccoli cheese flan, says Simone.

I'll try one of everything, says Sartre.

Simone goes up to the counter to order.

Finished the blog post? asks Sweezus.

No, says Sartre. I was held up by a question on bear diseases.

Yeah? says Sweezus. How come?

The bears asked me, says Sartre.

Are they sick? asks Terence.

Ask them, says Sartre.

Are you guys sick? asks Terence.

No, says Bowl. We wanted to be patron saints of bears, but now we think bears don't deserve it.

Why don't they? aks Terence.

Because they eat infected rodents, says Toyshop.

Shit, says Sweezus. How come there are any bears left then?

They don't all eat infected rodents, says Federico. Some of them eat honey.

That's what I thought, says Sartre.

Maybe you're both thinking of Winnie the Pooh, says Arthur.

Maybe they are.

Simone comes back with a plate.