the food in the city appears noticeably higher in quality than back home, where meals have a more rustic palate, but it doesn’t mean that it inherently is. by any comparative metric, weighed on a scale, just because the food in the city appears noticeably higher in quality than back home doesn’t mean it’s inherently more refined or better. it’s okay, it’s more than decent, it’s good even.
it isn’t bad: nobara would know, she’s had good food, but she’s also had bad food. she's had good memories, but she's also had bad ones, too. it's like her to be selective, though, conscientious in sifting through her likes and dislikes — separating what she prefers to what she can't care less to. in that way, memories are a bit like food, aren't they?
“ ah yeah, ” she replies, laugh slightly muffled by the brought up back of one of her hands before taking another bite of her food, another sip of her drink. her food is almost gone and she’ll soon need a refill, but overall? she can’t find it in her to complain, her food and her drink tastes good in good company, and she’s finding herself enjoying his company more than she cares to admit. “ imagine having to travel nearly 3 hours to get to a mall just because you live that far out. it’s so easy to get sick of that, i swear. ”
for a few moments, they eat and drink in silence. they savor their food and their drink, and they savor each other’s company in a companionable silence that feels nice and easy: easier than she’d initially thought, and in hindsight — according to both inumaki and panda senpais, okkotsu is nice and easy after a while, easy to get along with.
“ i also get what you mean. revolvin’ your life around sorcery when there’s so much more than that in the world? as much as i love it, i couldn’t not feel restricted living my life like that. like, i’d probably die. ” in the quaint ambience of the eatery and its lighting, nobara is looking at okkotsu in a new light, perhaps the light she should’ve been looking at him in all along.
in judging him too harshly before she even got to know him, she had been no better than the villagers back home that she disliked: pretty hypocritical of her, she knows this now. maki-san even spoke highly of him and who is she to question her judgment, of all people?
nobara chews the remainder of her meat pie, takes the last sip of her iced espresso, and looks at him. i mean, really looks at him — as if she’s seeing him for the first time. she gets what he means entirely. then, she grins. “ y’know, senpai, you’re a lot more kinder than what i pegged you out to be at first. ”