A boy from Zeeland and their home

[Thunfish 72]

Guide:

Blue bold lines are from Sunrise.

Green bold lines are from Sunrise's girlfriend, Luz.

 

Luz almost ran up the stairs in a frenetic pace once they had finally landed from the bus. The two were back in Cologne after a week back in the Netherlands, they had witnessed Schubbekuteveen's football fortunes improve as the yellow-blues from Zeeland were now a certified third tier side following a drumming in the final against capital club Amsterdamsche 99, Luz was able to meet some of Sunrise's childhood friends, they managed to enjoy a night out in the capital and would, at last, bring another couple of jerseys to the van de Schubbekuteveen household. The room that once hosted a young Sunrise now had a trio of hockey jerseys (Mexico City, Europe and Cologne) and he had managed to snag a couple of other ones just by asking nicely.

 

By now, however, they were back at Cologne, near the eponymous cathedral. For some reason, Sunrise could almost feel like if he had finally gotten used to this new land. Perhaps, maybe, he could keep paying for the apartment and then try his hand at attending the University of Cologne, he could be a scientist after his playing career ended and thus, make his own village even more well known as a result. Granted, that would mean having to study between games and getting ready for what was probably going to be a difficult entry exam, he was still looking forward to the event after all. That and he knew his career was actually going to be rather short. He had already told his agent that he was likely retiring after a couple of more seasons to then leave for academia.

 

But that's what he was thinking. What Luz was thinking were two pretty simple things: whether they were gonna have lunch downtown (the answer was yes) and what were they gonna have for lunch in this fancy restaurant they had just found. The sight outside was merely a feature for her but Sunrise was more interested on its history - for it was the well-known Cologne Cathedral.

 

Germany's most visited landmark happened to sit right across the express way... but Luz was too hungry to bother.

 

"Hey, hun." Luz said, looking at the menu with a large grin, "They have fish." Sunrise merely took a seat in front of her, shrugging at her note. "Well, yeah, most restaurants offer some fish, in the off-chance people prefer it to meat, you know." He then took a glimpse at the menu, slightly surprised by the prices but played it cool as he chose to have the hamburgers with rice.

 

"You know, Luz, you shouldn't keep your mouth open while you look at the dishes..." He grinned as she quickly closed it. "Hm! Well said. But you have to admit they look pretty tasty on the pictures. Better than your cooking, at least."

 

Sunrise shrugged again, looking at her with a smile. "You know I'm not trying to cook for a living... Besides, we're eating out, you should play along, at least." The two went back to their usual, peaceful chat. He felt a vibration coming from his phone but chose to ignore it for the time being.

 

His phone had a message from his agent. "They're calling you up."