ORIGIN

The trip back wasn't too bad.

She was more worried about Lichen, who she could hear was up on her hindlegs, plodding along carefully on cankles and hope. But, they returned without incident and soon enough, they handed in their bounties and got some coins back for their effort.

Which meant, it was time. Aurelle handed back some of their reward in exchange for food. They got their table and Aurelle brought their plates over. For Lichen, she was served roasted bones, cut in half, with the marrow thick and gelatin-like inside, seasoned with herbs. On the side, some carrot and broccoli. For Aurelle, roasted venison, with roast potatoes and carrot. She'd also gotten them some juice-- in a bowl for Lichen, and in a cup for her.

When Aurelle sat, she got a good sniff at her own plate. She was definitely drooling the most she'd ever drooled. "It smells really good," she told Lichen. "What do you think of yours?"

"Yours is cooked bone marrow," Aurelle said. "With vegetables? Mine is, ahh, venison. That's what they call hot deer, with vegetables, too."

She picked up a roast potato and gave it a little sniff, chattering away to Lichen. "The one that's behind the counter is nice. I asked him what the difference between breakfast, lunch and dinner was, and he said that breakfast is a big, hot meal with eggs and some meat, that lunch was very light and served with something called bread to make a sandwich. He said that dinner was the biggest, too, but all the food depended on what people bring back."

"So, ahh, your bones are probably the ones we brought back," Aurelle finished, tilting her head as she nibbled into the potato. "Ah! It's hot," she muttered, more surprised than hurt by how volcanic the insides of a food-thing could be.

"Ven-i-son," Aurelle echoed slowly. "It does sound like a flower. But, apparently it's a word for deer meat." She shrugged a little, not that Lichen could see it, and bit into her potato.

To Lichen's next question, she nodded-- again, even though Lichen couldn't see her do so. "His name is Bartholomew. I think this is his den," she said. "He gave us the coins for filling the bounties-- ah," she slid over Lichen's share of the coins across the table, the sound of metal scraping wood loud enough for the dragon to track where they were. "They feel nice. They're, um... weighty. But they smell weird and they leave a yucky taste on your fingers."

The elf nibbled into her potato again, finding it a little cooler now that the boiling hot insides were touching the cool outside air. "In the bowl? It's called juice," she said. "It's really sweet, but I think I like it. Have you tried your bones yet? I'm trying one of the vegetables and I think I like it."

Who didn't like a good potato?

"Little trees," Aurelle echoed, touching her plate carefully. "No, I don't think so. I've got these pebble-feeling things that are really soft on the inside, but really hot. And something that kind of feels like a soft version of the coins."

She took a half-cut roasted potato into her palm and extended it out to Lichen. "Here," she said. "This is one of the pebbles. I think they're called... potatoes." Bartholomew had told her, but it wasn't like she had the eyes to see what he was pointing at. Her logic went as far as pebble sort of sounds like potato. "And the softer things on my plate must be carrot. We've both got those, I think."

With the potato presumably taken, Aurelle put her hands back to her plate. "I'm gonna try the venison." She tore off a piece and took a bite, and... well.

She didn't like it.

There was nothing wrong with the meal itself, of course-- and Aurelle wouldn't say out loud in the establishment that she didn't like it, but she simply... did not. Perhaps it was an adjustment thing: the elf had eaten nothing but berries, mushrooms and the occasional root vegetable her whole life. Meat had never been a big part of her diet. She wasn't going to waste the food either-- that'd be preposterous.

"It's... um..." oh, she really didn't like the mouth-feel. "The vegetables are good."

"No, that's alright," Aurelle assured. It definitely sounded like Lichen was enjoying herself over there, and she didn't want to interrupt. Besides, her vegetables were good, it was just the deer that she didn't quite enjoy. Maybe she could just enjoy the smell instead of the taste and texture. "You can try a little bit of the venison if you want, though," she offered.

She tore off a good chunk and gently placed it on Lichen's plate for her to snarf at.

It was all a little disappointing, sure, but Aurelle perked up quickly. The potatoes were probably her favourite, though she did like the crunch of the carrots, too. And, of course, the possibilities were endless. "I think I'd like to try breakfast tomorrow," she told Lichen conversationally. "Eggs sound interesting. I like the word. Egg."

The elf had a long drink before she went nibbling on a slice of carrot. "What do you think of yours?"