Imp led the way to the Palace, though periodically he shifted his basket to his wing-claws and hobbled for awhile just so he could speak. He certainly seemed the sort who couldn't keep his broad mouth shut for very long. "You do have pretty thick fur. Just don't eat me, okay?" he joked, grinning back at Calazeth. "Unpleasant is the least of it. She's a shit. The shittest of shits," Imp added, lending further credence to Calazeth's realization that Imp just liked comparing everything to 'shit.'

He carried the basket in his mouth again for a bit, seemingly thinking, then eventually swapped it out to his other wing for more limping chat. "Cake's sweet. Like... shit, I can't tell you 'bread' if you've never had bread! Uhhhh. If you only eat meat, actually, you might not like it--unless maybe Nedies can make meat cake..?" he added thoughtfully. He babbled a bit further before circling back to Calazeth's other question. "Anyway, soup is like... well, water, but hot, and full of flavor. The way blood is!" he cried suddenly, inspired by the comparison. "So picture, kinda uhh, blood sorta stuff. But different. So there'll be meat and it's salty but water--well, liquid, y'know? -You'll see. Anyway it should be..." and here Imp squinted up at the voidlight orbs, trying to gauge the time of day. "...Nest Patrol? I think. Unless Over/Seen is on, but that one's a lotta chumps. At least Rodd-... uhh..."

He glanced back at Calazeth, and fired an apologetic grin. "...You'll see. I think I'm trying to explain too much shit all at once? You'll see when we get in. So uhh--how're you liking Cepheus so far, anyway? The Palace your kinda place?"

They were coming up on it now, its broad alabaster walls stretching up into the gloomy glow, and Imp grinned up at it appreciatively--before sticking the basket handle back between his jaws.

To himself, though he listened to whatever answer Calazeth might give, he softly hummed the theme song to Nest Patrol.

@Calazeth

You can have the weekends
We will live between them

As they approached the alabaster structure, Calazeth continued to nod, giving short, clipped answers and grunts to confirm has was still listening to Imp's yapping. He no longer commented on the "shit" and just accepted it as part of Imp's vocabulary. He was smart enough to work out that it meant the equivalent of "bad" but with emphasis.

"Yes, it is a lot of explaining. You are talking a lot. I am a little confused but I will understand soon, I think." Blunt and plain as ever, but Calazeth did not say it unkindly. He still looked to Imp with curiosity, ears open and pointed forward. "So are we doing...soup first? Show? Cake? I will do anything." He glanced around at Cepheus, trying to get some kind of a judgemental eye in and shrugged. "It is otherwise plain here. But it is not unwelcome. I do not know if it is "my kinda place", I do not know what that would be. I would always have thought that mountain caves and snow and ice was my kinda place, but I like this too. In a different way."

As they approached the outer walls of the palace, Calazeth could not help himself as he stepped up next to the strange stone and tilted his head. It almost looked like snow-covered rocks, but as he reached out to touch it, it was not as freezing cold as he expected. Cold, sure, as rocks tended to be, but it was not frozen. A claw tapped gently at it - strange stone that it was, but he was not much of a rock expert, so after a moment, he shrugged and turned to follow Imp inside the palace.

calazeth

@Imp

Imp listened, nodding along. "Sorry about that," was all he interjected (fairly cheerfully) in response about his own yammering.

He resolved not to keep overexplaining shit (heh) and then promptly broke that resolution two seconds later, upon realizing what it meant that Calazeth hadn't travelled almost at all (and didn't know what might be his "kinda place"). "Oh, damn! You really haven't travelled, huh!? Shit, I should paint a MAP!" Imp cried, eyes widening with excitement and sudden inspiration. "There's all sorts of places! Forests and fields, and big ocean caves, and places with deserts and shit. There's one where if you go in, you might die!" (and he said this with the same enthusiasm he had used for everything else) "and one with canyons and a giant storm, and one that's just full of bones! -And my home cave, which is all swamp! I could take you on a tour some time, if you want!" he finished, grinning broadly.

All that said, he transferred the basket back to his jaws, and glanced at Calazeth. "-'Orry," he then offered, grin broadening, as he realized he'd just dumped more information all over his hapless guest. He then shrugged, and led the way toward Nedies' kitchen. "'s do 'oup." This could reasonably be translated as, "let's do soup," but when one held a mouth full of basket handle.

It was, Imp reasoned, the first thing on their route, at least.

@Calazeth

You can have the weekends
We will live between them

He shook his head as he walked alongside Imp, thinking back and trying to remember if he'd ever really left Ursa. "Hmmm...I have been in...another cave. There was a big not-frozen mountain that was bleeding fire. And there was water. But it was very hot so I didn't stay long. I did not leave Ursa after that." He paused. "I guess that is not my kind of place." How quickly he was finally able to answer a question he did not think he knew the answer to! The other caves didn't sound so bad - maybe the death one didn't sound great - forests and fields sounded nice.

He nodded again. "I would like to explore sometime." But - ah, onto the task at hand! He shrugged to Imp's apology, a gruff chuckle escaping. "It is okay. I will listen."

He didn't quite catch all of Imp's next sentence but did catch the word "soup". So he assumed that's what was first. As they stepped through the palace, Calazeth looked around in wonder at the grandeur of the decor, the smooth alabaster walls on all sides, how clean and perfectly placed everything was. He felt fairly claustrophobic inside - even his own "home" was just a hollow in the side of a mountain and didn't fully enclose him, so he was used to the wide-open expanse of the mountains. Here it felt mildly oppressive, but it wasn't overly discomforting. The decor certainly helped.

Eventually, they stepped into the kitchen and Calazeth immediately froze from the overwhelmingly delicious aromas the slammed into his senses full-force. He stopped in the door and stared at the (to Calazeth, the poor beast) absolutely alien appearance of a fully functioning kitchen, unsure if he was allowed to even walk in to such a place. He blinked, unsure of what to do, and looked to Imp for help. "...Soup?" was all he supplied as a question.

calazeth

@Imp

Imp set his basket down as they reached the kitchen, and flashed a broad grin to Calazeth.

He was always grinning. That's what his face looked like. But he was grinning, anyway.

"CHEF? -CHEF NEDIES?" Imp called out, entirely too loudly. But there was no sign of Nedies; and Imp took it upon himself to hop up with a beat of wings, landing dirty hind paws on the pristine countertop as he went searching for soup.

"So uhh. What do you do in Ursa? -For fun?" Imp asked. Calazeth seemed a quiet sort. It wasn't that he struck Imp as an introvert, exactly. Maybe just someone who hasn't been around a lotta other people. He stuck his head into a cabinet after flinging the door open, clanging through various pots and pans before pulling out two pots. In his mind, these were close enough to soup bowls. There were meals on, and while Imp knew enough not to go stealing the roast that had been left in the oven on low heat, he didn't think Nedies would mind--or maybe even notice--if they did in fact steal some of the soup off the fire.

Hell, that's what it was there for. Right?

"I know there's a lot of... snow?" he went on, finishing the question and the thought after hauling two pots onto the now-dirty counter.

Nedies would probably chase him out. With knives--or come after him later, after identifying the obvious footprints. Imp just didn't know it yet.

"Here," he added, pushing a pot toward Calazeth. "Just like, scoop some soup outta the cauldron there. But um. It's hot," he warned. "Don't burn yourself."

@Calazeth

You can have the weekends
We will live between them

Calazeth watched with wide eyes as Imp zipped around the kitchen, cringing a little bit at how dirty he was getting the counters and the cabinets, but not commenting. Maybe this was a normal thing and they just cleaned the kitchen often. He really had no past experiences with kitchens and chefs to know any different.

He followed close behind, leaning over the large cauldron to sniff at the concoction within. It smelled a bit like meat and also like other stuff. He had never had leeks before, nor potatoes, so he could not quite identify what they were. But it definitely smelled good.

He looked back at his new friend, quietly thinking for a moment. "Hmmm...not much. Play in the snow. Run around. I sometimes chase rabbits for fun. It can get a little boring." There really...wasn't much fun to be had when you lived on your own and he wondered if Imp found him a little bit lame considering how enthusiastic and fast-moving he was.

He took one of the post soup bowls, pulling it towards the cauldron and sitting back on his hind legs a little awkwardly so he could reach forward with a dextrous hand to ladle some soup into his own bowl. He didn't need the heat warning - he could feel the steam against his pawpads and felt a bit of excitement for the taste. Prey was warm, but it wasn't scalding hot like this. What a new experience this would be!

Indeed, he made to take the smallest sip while it was still visibly steaming, but quickly found it far too hot to consume, so a quick flick of innate magic and the liquid was cooling a little bit. It wasn't much, but it brought it down to an acceptable and safe temperature to eat.

The first sip was shocking. It did taste like meat, but meat that he'd never had before. A bit greasy, but delightfully so! His brain completely whited out for a moment as an entire new realm of flavor touched his senses. He had not known it possible for anything to taste like this. Light and fragrant but also savory and satisfying! There was a faint thickness too, from the potatoes and the grease from the meat, that made the experience all the more delicious.

Calazeth turned to Imp, shocked. "Is it always this good?"

calazeth

@Imp

Imp grinned broadly. He'd remained silent--listening, but not yet commenting--until Calazeth asked about the soup. "Yeah! Nedies is a top-tier chef. Which is a fancy word for a cook. I'm a bit of a chef, too," Imp said, pretending to be humble while clearly bragging, and pretty much outright lying. He knew the absolute basics, but in his mind, he was probably a master. "Like-... hold on," he suggested, and turned, shuffling through various cabinets.

He looked through ingredients, and then thankfully settled on something simple--a garlic powder sort of spice--which he turned and tried to sprinkle into Calazeth's pot of soup. It would maybe, slightly, improve the flavor, the tiniest bit--but Imp seemed convinced that it was a master chef's master stroke of a meal plan change. "Tell me what you think of that!" he crowed.

Oh, and the rest-... "Ursa does kinda sound boring, when you put it like that," he admitted. He was blowing, very uselessly given the size of his mouth and the utter lack of lips to focus the breath, on his soup. "Chasing rabbits?" and here he glanced over, considering. After a moment's thought--and a shrug and a nod--he spoke again. "I guess that'd be fun. For awhile." But he didn't think to address Calazeth's entire life tactfully. He was just honest, and jovial. It sounded boring, Calazeth had said it was boring, so Imp casually agreed. "I'd say you should visit Hydra for some fun, but that's more the... 'dying' kind of excitement, not the fun kind. Mostly."

@Calazeth

You can have the weekends
We will live between them

Delighted by the discovery of how damn good the soup was, Calazeth was preparing to go headfirst into his own pot to lick up every last drop of it, but paused when Imp told him to. He watched, slightly impatient, but allowed Imp to sprinkle the extra seasoning into his soup. He swirled his pot around a bit, trying to get the garlic through all of it, and then took another sip. Yes, it did taste better, but it was a drop in the ocean of enjoyment of this new level of food he was experiencing, but still he offered an enthusiastic nod. "Yes. Good." And then proceeded to dive his entire face into the pot.

There was absolutely no display of manners from the beast as he slurped up the soup he'd ladeled in, with it now being at an acceptably eatable temperature, there really was nothing stopping him from devouring save from his own physical inability to eat soup particularly fast, considering the giant saberteeth. He only came up to continue their conversation, his entire muzzle soggy from the thick potato soup, a couple of bits of leeks stuck in the fur of his cheeks.

"Boring comparatively. I did not know anything else, to be fair. I don't think I could go back to chasing rabbits, though. Not when I have had soup and seen paintings." And it was true, how could he go back to a life of just sitting around, surviving, softly content, when he knew of all the amazingly fun things that could exist?

He needed to get out more.

He dove in for some more soup as Imp continued to talk, swallowing what he could before he came up again, licking his jowls as best he could. "What is Hydra?" he asked between licks. "Is it another cold place?"

calazeth

@Imp

Imp grinned, which--again, he was always grinning, but he grinned more. He grinned in spirit. "Fuck yeah, paintings," he agreed jovially.

He showed no disapproval of Calazeth's eating methods. If anything, the way he dipped half his own maw into his own pot of soup was just as messy. It was hard eating without hands, after all. As it was, he sort of sat on the floor, feet holding the pot in place, lapping at it with his half-bat tongue.

Thankfully, he at least swallowed before answering Calazeth's question.

"Nah, Hydra's SUPER hot. Burning hot. -I mean," and he paused, remembering the one Trial that had been so fucking cold he'd nearly frozen to death, "-usually. Sometimes it's so cold you can die from that. All ice and snow and giant worms. Well--the giant worms are always there," he corrected himself again. "...Lemme start over. Hydra's a giant cave with lots of sand, lots of rock, and not a lot of water, and lots of shitty monsters. Giant worms, giant bird-bats that'll rip you up if they can catch you. Stuff like that. Evil spiders," he added, with a grimace. Here, Imp took a moment to down a little more soup, then he continued. "And they do Trials now and then. You go in--lots of people go in--and it's hard to survive. Sometimes Gembounds die," he added, looking more solemnly now at Calazeth. He remembered deaths, yes. He'd seen deaths. ...And heard them, later, when he'd gone in quite literally blind. (He'd admittedly mostly sat that Trial out, huddled in the snow with Kalama, waiting for others to 'win' so they'd technically survive.) "I've survived two, though. And it's usually hot sand and rock. But sometimes, it's real cold, with snow. I said that bit already, I know, but--it's not NORMALLY like that."

Imp shrugged and looked around, suddenly considering. "...Hey, you think Nedies keeps any booze in here?" he asked, studying the closed cabinets.

@Calazeth

You can have the weekends
We will live between them

Settling down with his pot of soup, going from voraciously devouring it to contentedly licking it. He listened, interested, trying to imagine a hot cave. A hot cave that was sometimes cold. Well, he'd stepped into Leo once. That had been really hot and he had left immediately. Was it hot like that? He looked thoughtful as he sipped his soup. "I would not like that, I think," he mumbled. "I do not like hot caves." He did not like hot things in general - except for this soup. This soup was hot and it was also good.

He paused for a moment, his head going up a bit. "Giant worm...Ursa has those too. Very very rarely. I always run. They are very dangerous. Very bad." Were Hydra and Ursa similar, then, just opposites? One cave hot, the other cold, and both with giant worms? Well, people did not die as frequently in Ursa. At least, Calazeth had not met anyone that had died. And so he did not look so solemn at the mention of death, perhaps, as he should have. He simply continued to watch Imp with that same inquisitive, interested look. He paused his soup-eating when he noticed Imp had paused to talk about death and only resumed when Imp had resumed. It seemed polite.

"Trials sound hard. Why do it if it is so dangerous? If you might die? It does not sound like fun." No, definitely did not sound like something he would ever want to do.

And then, he was blinking, raising his head and looking around as well. "What is booze?"

calazeth

@Imp