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A new shop had opened up in Destiny City, and one Gilmore was excited about this. It had wings. His favorite food. What more they had a challenge. They claimed to have the hottest wings around, and if you could finish five of them without water or milk, then hold off on it again for five minutes, you get your food free, a shirt, and your name on the wall.

That's how he found himself waiting in line to get in. It was new, still within the first two weeks of opening 'Hell's Handbasket' and with a name like that, the wings had to be worth it, right?

He stood out above the crowd, towering over them, wider than most of them as well, but he had a childlike excitement about him. One ear had an earbud, and he was humming along to music while he waited, trying so hard to not dance to it. Still, Gilmore managed to bob his head and even sway from side to side, slowly inching his way forward. At least it was cooling down. Wasn't quite the scorcher it could be.

He almost didn't hear her. Almost. Brown eyes blinked, but he stopped moving and looked down at the red-head and gave something of a sheepish grin before nodding.

"Go ahead!" He was trying not to project his voice too much. Gilmore could be rather loud if he did that. Digging into his pocket, Gilmore pulled his phone out and paused the music before shoving it back in and popping the earbud out. "Yeah that's fine."

People did that, usually short people and children. They hid behind him or in his shadow. When it was the kids, they would giggle and he'd play with them by suddenly turning, causing them to squeal in delight and dart every which way. They came back when he turned his back.

It was cute. Gil liked kids.

"So uh, you a wing fan too? I hope they're real spicy." He hoped there were wings there when he got up there. Dang they were busy.

While he wouldn't have guessed her as the type who liked a challenge, he also tried to not judge a book by the cover. He'd been surprised by a lot of people in his thirty years.

When she said she hated wings, Gilmore gasped dramatically and his eyes went wide. "Hate wings?" He had never heard such vile! Who could hate wings? They were so tender and delicious and made the best carriers for sauces!

"I love wings! All the spicy wings. I've never had.... any of that, but I do know good wings. Why do you hate wings? What's wrong with them? They're literally the best part of a chicken." Or turkey. He's had turkey wings and those were pretty good too. "You can fry 'em, bake 'em, marinate, dry rub, sauce 'em, eat them with all kinds of things. Perfect food. There's never been a more perfect food."

It was coming across very passionate, and he may have gotten a little louder, but for all his articulating with his hands, he did stay relatively still so she could still use him for shade.

It was like she was insulting his mother. Gil clutched a hand to his chest dramatically at the slander of wings and he wailed.

"You couldn't be more wrong! If you choke on the bones, you're simply uneducated on the best way to eat them so you don't worry about the bones." He hung his head before shaking it. Most people didn't know about the wing hack. Once they did, wings were a lot better than they realized. "It also sounds like you're going to the completely wrong places. Let me guess, KFC, or Popeye's?" He snorted and shuddered.

He did listen to her about her favorite chicken dishes and honestly he hadn't heard of most of them. ...any of them.

"Breast is over rated and the easiest meat to dry out. It's so finicky and delicate. Thighs...." He shrugged. They were good. "Tasty. I do give you that. But that wing... I don't know any of those dishes you said, but I can tell you, I've probably had wings that are better. Usually Korean style."

He sobered up, but still pouted and looked put out. She was right though, no one would be able to really help him. Even ambulances had to call in special equipment to deal with someone his size. At least probably. Gil could honestly say he's never been in the back of one, and he hopes he never has to be.

"I want an instant pot. Sometimes when I come home from work for the week, man I am so hungry and didn't get fast food on the way home. I keep thinking I could have a roast in one, but never got around to figuring out which one to get, an' how to make it an' all that." He loved a good pot roast. If it wasn't wings, he loved just meat, potatoes, carrots, and gravy all served on a delicious bed of brown rice. Ugh, he was so hungry. His stomach gave a very loud grumble, agreeing with him, or punctuating his point. It was up in the air.

They were steadily moving up in the line, which was good. Just a few more people ahead of them. "So you want to say you're with me so we can eat the challenge while challenging each other?"

There was a competitive twinkle in his eye. "Gilmore, by the way." He held out a hand, looking pretty hopeful she'd accept it and give her name. She was a pretty lady after all.

"Oh, Gilmore Elliot if you want the full name back." Gil's pout was replaced when she introduced herself and then tucked it into one of his pockets. "Pythia's a very pretty name! Very unique. Can't say I've ever heard it before."

She explained more about the instant pot and it made him really want to check one out. He loved ribs too. And he could throw a stew after he got home from work? First meal off not being fast food sounded amazing honestly. He always ended up grabbing burgers, or tacos somewhere on the way back to the house, the passed out.

"Okay, okay. I'll do some research and definitely check one out. I would love a good pot roast or stew after I work without having to wait till the next day."

At least he wasn't alone in how hungry he was. Gil kept shuffling forward as more people left the shop and entered. "We'll see how spicy it is! Maybe a big huge plate of wings first, then the spicy ones?" End it on a spicy note would be fun if he had some milk or ice cream, some kind of neutralizer afterward. Or maybe that'd be a bad thing. "Or the other way around?"

An old name indeed. Literally he'd never heard it before. It was one of those, he had a feeling, that if it were spelled out, he wouldn't be able to say it right. Gil just chuckled and kept shuffling forward.

Pretty soon it would be their turn.

"I am a rigger! I rig pulley systems, block and tackle things.. Mainly for cranes. Uh lots of heavy lifting. Gotta attach equipment to cranes, sometimes structures. Cables, chains, clamps, winches. Lots of different ways." He listed it all thoughtfully, trying to make it as simple as he could. "I haven't had any accidents when I've worked, yet." There was zero wood to knock on right now. s**t. He hadn't thought that through. Oh well, he just hoped karma would be on his side for a while.

"There was a TV show once! It was called World's Toughest Fixes! If you're curious for a working example, it's not that bad! You can YouTube things too."

It was finally Gil's turn in the restaurant.

"Table for two, please." He looked back and winked at Pythia before taking her, delicately, by the wrist to pull her up and next to him before wandering inside to an empty table. Thank God it was a table and not a booth. He just hoped the chairs could handle his weight.

It smelled good to him. Like chicken and spice, you could also smell some cheese in the air, and butter. Gil's mouth was watering. Settling down, a bit gingerly on the seat just in cae, Gil and Pythia were handed a menu, and he ordered himself a cup of ice water and a cherry Coke. Delicious.

"So... What do you do for a living?"

"It is a lot of manual labor! Someone's got to do it." He shrugged. Gil knew his profession was something needed even if people rarely thought about it. How else would all of that get set up? The man took a great deal of pride in his work. He felt good about it. A nice clean, honest living. Nothing better than that. One of Gil's large hands pushed into his hair at the top of his head, scratching around his dreads and then he gave a mighty stretch before settling in his chair again.

Stable enough to actually support him. Hell yeah.

And then she said what she did and his eyes kind of glazed over. "I know nothing about. Not even what it means."

What kind of job was political science? "Sounds important though. Mentioned city hall, so guessing you're probably gonna be one of the ones who signs off on construction or something, so.." He grinned wider. "Maybe we'll be working together on something in the future."

He also looked over the menu and paused. They had so many flavor choices and only wings and fries. Not much else. A true specialty store then. Licking his lips in order to stop drool, Gil hummed.

"Spicy cheddar, garlic mayo, sweet and sour... man, there's so many flavors! I think I wanna try some of the cheddar and BBQ wings honestly." Sure you could tell a lot about the place based on their plain wings, but that was boring.

"They got some that come with little green peppers too. Wonder if that's spicy. Should probably eat some spice so we don't completely upset our stomach before the challenge."

And boy did the wings for the challenge look like death. A red that was so unnatural and screamed 'you will hate yourself'. Gil sucked in a breath and nearly choked on his own spit.

"What...what about you?" A little broken and higher pitched from his coughing fit, but he was fiiiine. Really he was. Was it hot in here?