That wormed right in under his skin. It didn't even matter if her fanboy or boyfriend or whoever this was was around. "Of course I can hack it! A hard-boiled detective can take something like this!" It was a shame that was not a thing he was.

It was just noodles and chili. How bad could it be?

He was about to find out. He jabbed the fork in and got what was likely quite a bit too large of a bite of the stuff. He'd barely swallowed before his eyes got big and he dropped the fork. He shouted again, and grabbed hold of his throat. "What the hell?!" he bent over double and coughed again. Tears were streaming down his face.