Taste of a Memory

Souffle -Chapter 1-

"So... Master Attendant, I... am Souffle. Uh... don't mind me. I wouldn't want you wasting your precious time chatting with me."

The man in front of you was a noble. He dressed like one, he acted like one, but he didn't speak like one. His voice was fragile, filled to the brim with wine made of anxiety and sadness.

His one visible eye, red as the jewels on his outfit, kept glancing down at the floor, never meeting your eye. He anxiously held the doll in his arms tighter. It was a cute doll.

You didn't know what to do with such a ball of shakiness. You weren't good with shaky people. You were good with people like Sal, who screamed strong character, or Ginger, who was always 100% confident in everything he did. But this was... This was so different from anyone you'd ever had to interact with.

Actually, scratch that, you had met someone like him once. A nobleman who'd strayed too far from home. Wasn't of any help though, as he'd received a bullet between his eyes a few minutes after you met him.

"Hello." You finally got out. Souffle flinched, the doll clinging to his oversized coat seemingly flinching too. "I'm Y/N. Welcome to your new home."

Souffle nodded, still not looking at anyone directly. It made you wonder if someone had ordered him to do that previously, or if he was just like that. You would have to figure it out.

You motioned for Sal and Ginger to come a bit closer. Souffle nervously took a step back as Sal stood behind you, intimidating despite by no means towering over the other Food Soul.

"These are Sal and Ginger, they're living here too. If you have any questions, please ask Ginger, he's more likely to answer." Sal huffed at the indirect insult, sending Souffle a glare. Once he was done intimidating the new resident, he scoffed and took off, stomping upstairs to his room. Ginger giggled.

"Don't mind the crouch, he doesn't like newcomers." Souffle nodded, though he moved away from Ginger, standing vertically away from him. Ginger blinked a bit with his over dramatic eyelashes before giggling. "I'll leave you and Master Attendant for now, he'll get you settled in just fine~"

With one last wink towards the newcomer, Ginger skipped away to his own room, leaving you and Souffle alone. An awkward silence followed. Your eyebrow started twitching, so you took a deep breath. Souffle did not seem to like that motion, and stiffened up. You looked at him a bit concerned before clearing your throat.

"Come, I'll show you to your room." Souffle nodded, before seemingly remembering something.

"Y-yes, Master Attendant..." You're not sure you liked the fact that he felt the need to say that. You opted to ignore it. Ginger and Sal did the same, but with less fear.

Souffle stayed a considerable distance behind you as you ascended upstairs. He was also eerily silent with his steps, which started to make you slightly paranoid. It felt like no-one was there, but knowing there was someone there... It was unsettling, to say the least.

The room was small, but as cozy had you had been able to make it without knowing his tastes. You weren't one for interior designing, had never had the need for such things, but you knew a lot about coziness. Warm colored blankets and a potted plant on the windowsill, facing west to enjoy the last bouts of sunlight.

Souffle seemed to like it. He wore a hesitant smile, not sad enough to alarm you but not one filled with the same sunlight as the room. You didn't expect it, not yet at least. Sal had been the same, hesitant and closed off. You deposited that all Food Souls were a bit like that at first, but you didn't know whether Souffle had had an attendant before you. That could change a lot, you'd been told.