|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 7:43 pm
Soleiyu had watched diligently while she worked, still trying to pry his jaw apart. He let her take a few gulps first; she seemed to be in pain where he was just in a state of annoyance. When she pushed the bucked over, he assumed she knew what she was doing; he had no clean hands to scoop water out. He had only his very furry face, which he placed in the bucket as delicately as possible.
His whiskers got wet, sending a shiver down his spine, but as soon as the water hit his mouth he could feel something. He shook his head a bit and he could feel the gumminess breaking up. A few more chomps and chews and it felt like it dissolved enough for him to pull his head away and spit out a ball of goopy leaf. "Ugh," he said, and then returned his head to the bucket to take a sip and clear out his mouth.
When he was done he opened and closed his jaw, stretching his mouth.
"That was awful! The taste was good! But not worth sacrificing my ability to communicate! No wonder that plant didn't make it to us back home. I'd have let it die out, too! Oh, thank you Pendour. I would have been miserable if I couldn't speak. They tease me back home and say I just love the sound of my own voice, but that's not it. If you look at me, you see a cat. Maybe you see me as a talking cat. Without my ability to speak, I'm too easily considered just any other animal. Which, I'm not."
His mouth felt tired, and he thought to give it a few seconds to rest. "--How are you, all right? That looked painful..."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 1:55 pm
She winced slightly, having to watch him dunk his face into the well water, but Pendour also knew that trying to wash his mouth out for him would have been at least as awkward. She simply waited, seeing if she was needed, and when he came back up for air, she reached over to give him a comforting scratch on the shoulderblades. "I'm fine, now," she said, and she was. The painful heat had faded quickly after she'd drank, and her eyes had stopped watering, even if the real one was still a little red. Also, some of the tension had dropped from her shoulders now that she could see that her friend was no longer panicking. "It's scary to loose the ability to do something, even for a little while," she said, scooting closer. She'd learned that lesson, and she wasn't going to invalidate anyone else's struggles with it, but she also didn't want the conversation to turn too dark, now, so she turned her scarred side away. Instead, she added softly, "It's okay if you like hearing your own voice. I like hearing it, too, and you're always saying such sweet things." With the angle she was at, she found herself looking back towards the garden. "Um, about the food, though? Do you think it's all going to be like that?" A single bite of odd greens hadn't done much for her hunger.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:31 pm
Soleiyu's tail laid flat and he sort of slunk to the ground for a moment as he recalibrated. He managed a tired smile, but immediately began pawing at his wet face to try and clean himself up. With Pendour next to him, he flopped next to her, appreciating her warmth and closeness.
He managed a small smile when she said she liked to hear his voice, and it was perhaps he understood the need not to dwell on the negatives that he didn't gripe about anything beyond that.
"I have no idea what to expect from the food. But I think it's safe to think that because we both had different reactions, it may be unpredictable. Although, I do know that some properties can be worked out through proper cooking? ...I'm always one to learn, Pendour. It's like any other science project, I suppose. It didn't kill us. And we do need to eat. So...trial and error may be our best bet. I don't know if anyone else has had any luck, but..."
He eyed the bucket.
"...Let's take a bowl or two back with us if we're going to try eating anything else."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 1:31 pm
Pendour nodded slowly, trying to take stock of her body. The sensation of heat was almost completely gone, now, and she didn't feel like she was poisoned or anything like that. "Well, the water seemed to help, so that's a start. That's lesson one, learned," said Pendour, although her voice was still too quiet and her brows still too close together. She didn't have a lot of practical skills, but she knew plants. She didn't want to have to go back to trial and error and first lessons. She understood that it wasn't a particularly helpful wish, but it was there. She gave Soleiyu a little rub for comfort before glancing around to take in their surroundings again. "It looks like there's a campfire area over there, and," she squinted, trying to force the depth perception that wasn't there, "More buckets, maybe?" Or bowls, or pitchers. Whoever had lived here must have had some way to carry water. "It might be best to gather some more and then see what we can do to prepare it?" She was not too interested in eating anything else raw, now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 6:32 pm
Soleiyu let out a long sigh, like he was already exasperated by this food adventure. "You're very clever, Pendour. I like that very much about you. I'm limited in what I can do. I'm afraid I won't be much help with carrying any buckets of water. The best I can offer is pulling whatever I find out of the ground, but I can't guarantee you'll get them pretty."
He opened his mouth and did a little biting gesture, if only because he knew he didn't have the means to pull them out with his paws, probably. Honestly, the idea of biting the stems to pull them out sent a shiver down his spine, and he just butted his head affectionately against her. "But if you tell me what you need me to do, I'll oblige. I'll be as helpful as I can."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 1:58 pm
For the first time since she'd seen run into Soleiyu, Pendour actually looked surprised. "Clever?" There was a longish silence, as if she were trying to figure out what he'd meant. "Oh, um, I do know a little about plants. I hyperfixate on them, with how my brain's wired, but," she paused, "I don't really know what to do right now. I'm just guessing, that's all." She scooted a little closer to him and rubbed under both his ears, savoring the moment and maybe procrastinating just a little on having to try to eat the magic food again. "Don't worry too much about pretty. I won't go all graphic designer on you when I'm this hungry, okay?" She smiled at that, settling back into the comfort of being with her friend, even in such a strange situation. "You said your housemates cook? Do you have any tips? I can make some basics, but," she could use all the advice she could get, here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 4:03 pm
Soleiyu thrived under the attention and seemed to melt as she pet his ears. "I wish he was here. One of the young men. He has his own food truck, you know. And he's always cooking in the kitchen. Although." He sighed. "...He'd probably be miserable. He doesn't do well with stress." He sighed, missing home very much already.
"...The key is seasoning, apparently. And I don't--" he paused.
"...I have some salt," he said, and seemed to fish around in thin air before pulling out a salt shaker. "It's all I've got, but you're welcome to it. But you can eat vegetables raw, so worst case scenario, we'll manage. But maybe if we threw them in some water and boiled them, it could cook out any of those weird side effects..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 2:43 pm
"I don't think I could wish that anyone else was caught up in this mess," said Pendour, even as the thought of a food truck mad her mouth start to water. Part of her wanted to ask about what kind of food was served there, but she also knew that too much talking and imagining in that direction might make her even more miserable and hungry. "I'll do my best to make you something good, okay?" Not that she could do much to compete against a real chef while using only a garden that was sad as sad, and a single salt shaker, but she was suddenly determined to do her best. That meant that she could only stay here by the well for so long, Soleiyu's soft face pressed into her hands or not. "Let's go check the garden again, then," she said, slipping down from the stone rim to head back in the direction they'd come from. "If we're lucky, maybe there's some garlic growing." If the old myths were true, as some seemed to be, that could help them ward off any monsters that might be lurking here. If not, at least it could help bring some life into just about any dish they made.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
