Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Have you had fish before?" Leyenda asked as she threw the spear into the water. It took her only a few short seconds to bring up the fish she'd caught this time, and the moment it was on board it was clear why - it was small. Just plain tiny, in fact, especially compared to the others she'd caught.

Earendil held out his hand for the fish, and then held it down for Senka to eat out of his hand.

"How do you like it prepared?" Leyenda asked, bracing herself against the hull once more and watching the water once again. "I'm sure Mama would be happy to prepare it how you like it best."

Earendil was content just to pay attention to Senka and listen in on the conversation. He had never had fish before, personally, but that was to be expected in the middle of a desert.

"Steamed?" Leyenda looked away from the water for a moment to glance at Lin quizzically. "How do you steam it? Like cooking it, but over a pot of water instead of over a fire?"

Earendil had grown up in a place where water was a precious commodity, and he couldn't understand either how people could use water solely for the purpose of steaming something in such a manner. But he kept quiet, and listened to see how it worked - after all, there did seem to be a lot more water in Gaia than here.

It all went over Leyenda's head, she wasn't even old enough to cook yet - not that it particularly interested her either - and so she turned back to her fishing. "I see," she murmured softly.

Though she wasn't entirely sure it was possible to boil water with another bowl inside the pot.

"Perhaps we'll have to get Arwen to try that for us tonight," Roydon smiled from where he sat at the stern of the boat. "How is it flavoured then?"

"Usually Arwen bakes them," Roydon replied, letting Leyenda focus on her fishing since she wouldn't know the answer anyways, "but sometimes she'll marinate them in cactus juice or even some wine. You would be amazed at how many different recipes she knows. You know where she's from, Lin, you know she grew up with venison or rabbit instead of fish ... I've grown up here with fish as my main staple, and yet until we married I had no idea there were so many possibilities."

"I like it with kelp," Leyenda spoke up, throwing the spear again.

"Knowing her," Roydon laughed, "she made it up herself. But you should see what she can do with a cactus ... the juice, the fruit, sometimes even the flowers. She will never go hungry no matter where she goes."

"I like Mother's cooking," Leyenda grinned.

"You should try learning from her," Roydon told her with a grin that suggested that it was a discussion they held often. "No one's going to want to marry a woman who can't cook."

Leyenda stuck her tongue out as she pulled her fish onto the boat. "Why would I even want to get married?" she replied, stowing it away. "Boys are such a bother!"

While Leyenda would never dare say that love was stupid (she saw what it did to her parents, and she wouldn't change it for the world), she still didn't think that love would make people do stupid things.

"Stupid is kids who do stuff like this," she replied, holding up her bandaged arm. "That's not love, and love wouldn't make people do stuff like that."

Leyenda's brow furrowed. "Acid?"

Even Roydon was at a loss this time. He had no idea what acid was - though from the way Lin used it, and from his knowledge of Donovan, it didn't mean anything good. "Cut-and-dry?" he asked Lin curiously.