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?"

@Lichen

Lichen was more than relieved to be on four legs instead of two again, grumbling something about her back as she planted herself across from Aurelle. As the meal is placed in front of her, she looks downward, feelers giving everything on the dish a little prod around; apparently no one taught her to not play with her food.

"It smells nice-- What is it? What's yours?" Lichen asks, trying not to dribble on herself as she looks downward at the plate, not that she can actually see it. The dragon prevents any chance at returning the meal by giving it a sniff; which for her meant flicking her tongue over and around it.

While she could identify the smell of marrow, everything else was new. Why was it herby? Were they going to poison her? So, she sat, poised over her meal, waiting for Aurelle to tell her what exactly she's not-looking at.

@Aurelle

"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.

@Lichen

"Venison, that sounds fancy. Almost sounds like it should be the name of a flower." Lichen considered, much quieter than her companion, if only because she was drooling over herself waiting for her food to cool a little.

"There's a nice someone behind the counter?" She continued, trying to be nonchalant in her line of questioning. At least before nosing her way across the table to find the other smell; the vegetables. But not before her nose bumps against a third bowl, the one filled with juice.

"Oh! What's this sweet thing?"

@Lichen

"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?

@Lichen

Lichen hummed, licking her lips as she listened, still hovering over her meal. How long would it take to not be piping hot? She swore she was going to die to famine if she had to wait even a second longer.

The coins provide a nice distraction, claws reach out to feel around the table until they brush into the coins. Lichen attempts to grasp one and is surprised to find them slippery; not unlike someone wearing long nails and trying to collect their change from the smooth countertop. Eventually, she manages to push one to the edge of the table and get it to fall into her palm. Aurelle was right, they are small but weighty. "Oh. They're nice." She uttered distractedly as she brings the coin to her face to sniff. "It smells like strange cave place." Lichen observes very helpfully.

"Not yet, I don't want to burn myself." She complains, loudly, sounding exasperated. But without waiting further she mushes her face into her vegetable bowl; then makes a bright sound of approval, after having to chase carrot slices around and around.

"The little trees are nice-- Did you get any little trees?" Lichen asks through her mouthful.

@Aurelle

"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."

@Lichen

Lichen reached over to take the potato, taking it gingerly from Aurelle's palm as if she were feeding a horse opposed to a dragon. She gives it a few thoughtful chews before letting out a low thrum of approval, her tail wriggling in joy; even the molten hot centre wasn't enough to deter her; as she sits with her mouth agape, trying to suck in cool air around the scorching hot potato.

"Oh." Lichen said around her potato. "Would you like to try mine? I haven't dribbled on it yet." She felt compelled to add, she wasn't sure why. Once she finally swallowed the potato she spoke more clearly, "maybe we could swap meats if you like mine best."

Lichen offered before diving her face back into her bowl of carrots and broccoli, which she had absolutely already dribbled over and made a mess of already.

@Aurelle

"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?"

@Lichen

That piece of venison was snarfed off of the dish before it'd barely touched the dishware. Meat was meat and extremely tasty, even warmed. To her, it was delicious, but then again most meats were. With a few crunches that chunk was gone, and she moved on to trying her main course.

Marrow was usually her favourite, but this one had herbs on it. What herbs? Why? She didn't know and was a little frightened to ask. It took some time to navigate what was on her plate before she managed to pick up one of the bones, crunch it in half and swallow the mouthful whole.

It was good, it tasted the same as usual but was much softer, it certainly went down a lot easier; and it didn't sit quite as heavily in her stomach. "S'good." She answered through smacking her lips.

"Egg? Egg. Egg." Lichen echoed a few times, getting a good feel for the word. "Did this Bartholomew say what an egg is?"

@Aurelle