“That could change pretty easy, the more you flap your gob.” Which was a fair assumption; Eld never met a silence he couldn’t decorate with his infuriating brand of chatter, simultaneously bright and intense, to say nothing of when it lapsed into more serious speculation. It made him an exceptional Second in Command, and an irritating roommate.
But it was nice to have a little company this late; somehow he got the feeling Eld didn’t have a lecture in mind this time, nor was he in the mood to tease him over nonsense. Not too badly, anyway.
He beckoned Eld forward and ladled the watery stew in his bowl, nearly up to the brim, spilling a little over the edge in his haste. But he bit down the reflexive curse and fished the spare bowl out of Eld’s free hand, filling it with what was left. “Go on, go on,” he said, ushering Eld out into the half-darkened mess hall. “I’m gonna choke on this heat.”
Absurdly, he felt a little guilty they hadn’t left any behind. No one would want any, he knew – after all there was only so much you could do with scraps – but it was a leftover flinch from another life that he couldn’t reconcile, more people in a smaller space, more bellies to fill. For the second time that night, he wondered how his brothers were doing.
“You’ll wanna eat that quick,” Auruo said as they settled at a table in the corner. “You don’t wanna know what that shit tastes like cold.”
Eld looked down at the bowl of thin stew in front of him, the delicate film of grease that stretched across its surface winking in the half light. He had put the bowl down on the table with the utmost care, desperate not to spill a single drop, yet apparently there had still been enough momentum to cause brightly coloured chunks of carrot and parsnip to bob to the surface. They looked almost cheerful to his mind, happy to have been cooked so skillfully.
Auruo could talk down his efforts all he wanted. In Eld’s opinion, judging by the smell alone, this was about as far away from shit as you could get.
In all but the blink of an eye, he had grabbed a spoon, plunged it into the stew and shovelled it into his mouth. It was hot - far too hot, he should have blown on it first - but he didn’t care. It was wonderful. Truly wonderful. The taste was superb of course - strong, savoury, hearty - but there was something else there, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Maybe it was because it was home cooked? His mother had never really bothered with cooking, relying instead on the other food vendors at the market place to feed her family. Whatever that special something was, Eld loved it.
Slamming his palms down hard on the table’s surface, he leaned forwards, eyes bright, all previous woes apparently forgotten. “Auruo!” he rasped, his throat still recovering from the heat of the broth. “This... This is AMAZING! I mean, I knew you could cook, but not like this!”
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