HelloHound

A common survival tip isn't to look at what animals eat to see what's edible, because often they have very different considerations to what's considered edible.

I’m now in a tent, but separate from the center tent. The business tent. That’s a lie, I don’t think that this tent is meant for business; there’s a small fire pit, on which a wide pot is bubbling with some brown syrup water and the spheres we collected. The pot has a rounded wooden handle, by which James or Walleye would gently shake the pot one way or another before turning around to face the other.

Passenger, and Cabinet are also in the tent, having left Wood to his nap in the center tent, guarded by Mimzy. Presumably; I’m not sure I’d leave a spider with a sleeping toddler- or the elf equivalent. They keep calling us cubs.

Every now and again they’d wiggle the pot and fish a ball out to rest in a yellow-ish basket, steaming until the pot was empty save for the weird soup.

“Send that back to our remaining cub, please.” Walleye handed it to Passenger, who nodded and shuffled her daughter off her lap, who then leaned heavily against me. I shifted to stop her jaw from digging into my shoulder but otherwise stayed still. A few moments pass and Passenger joins the group again, taking her daughter back.

“Wood is back down for a nap, but ate well.”

“Good, the food’s cooled enough to eat,” A basket is passed over and the companionable silence is only broken up by crunching sounds as the adult elves eat…whatever it is. Sounds a bit like eggs based on the shell-crunch but eggs are not that size- that’s an unreasonable egg size.

“Sybil, do you want to try one?” Passenger offered the much-emptier basket and I grabbed a dubious egg and sniffed it, confused at the sweet smell coming from it, and then bit it like an apple.

It is definitely an egg, based on how the shell crunches around my teeth but looking around the tent I just see the elves eating it like normal, not spitting or peeling the shell. Hm. I peel a small section and try it like that, but now it’s a bit too squishy in comparison.

The flavor is…something else. There’s the initial sweetness, which overwhelms the tongue, and a more muted savory flavor and the texture of the egg is…a bit like an orange. Or an apple. It’s not terrible, it just makes my tongue confused. My tongue feels fuzzy, and I swallow around a dryer tongue before grabbing the canteen nearby and swishing a sip around my throat before swallowing.

James has been talking about his travels and would occasionally break into a quick song about strange things like the cost of beef bones on the plateau. Or something; I’m having a bit of a hard time focusing on what’s happening around me.

“You’re a lot hardier than the average human!” My eyes squint open at the brightly colored elf who has taken a scarf off his head, where it looks like a snake winking at me in the dim-intense light.

“Thnks…” I hum, rubbing my face against the soft-scratchy-good texture nearby.

James, I think, goes on to talk about his girlfriend-love and how they met at something called a theatre and got to know each other over a short period of a few years and that she sent him on a journey so they’ll have more to talk about when they meet up again. At the end of this ramble, he then asked something, probably. I hum a questioning tone, eyes closed.

“What’s the best gift for someone so exquisite?” 

Yeah, like I’d know that! Wait, I should say that out loud.

“How old is she?” I ignore the scandalized gasp and push forward, “We’re both humans, so it’s fine.” Probably. 

“Oh? I wasn’t aware of such a rule- ahem, she’s only in her sixties,” I choke on my next sip of water, “which is a bit on the younger side, but she’s so wise beyond her years I figured it’d be only a loss not to court her.”

“Can you repeat that?” Oh wow, my voice sounds dry and scratchy, even to me. Jeeze. I take another sip. James does, albeit with a confused look on his face.

“So what should I get her?” He asks, leaning forward.

“I dunno, maybe an axe? That’d be a cool gift.”

This probably wasn’t the answer he wanted, as he slumped down, including his ears.

“That’s what Maw told me!” He wailed, which was way too hearth-damn loud now. Annoying pest.

“Seems like Maw’s smarter than you.” Oops, that slipped out and sounded meaner than I meant. Now everyone’s looking at me with that- that face whenever I say something wrong. I apologize in a low voice before taking another sip. Urthis’s hands I’m thirsty. Walleye wordlessly hands me another canteen after mine turns up empty.

“Honestly the best gift is your presence before she dies.” Alright, now I’ve explained myself better, but for some reason, James looks even more unhappy.

“DIE?” He shrieks, which causes me to flinch back. I really do not like this guy, he’s almost as annoying as Chad, which I thought was impossible.

“Well, yeah.” His face is asking me to say more while Walleye has a really scrunched look on his face and he’s avoiding looking directly at the distressed elf. I’m already in the mud, might as well dig in.

“Humans don’t live that long, I think the oldest person in my old village was like eighty; I’m not sure because he used to hole up in his cottage before his grandkid found him dead, was a huge hubbub that day, lots of crying- a bit like what you’re doing right now actually. But-uh.” What was that thing Brun told me when I asked about it? Oh yeah, “You just gotta spend as much time as you can with those you give a damn about.”

A pause before James abruptly stands up, shoving the low table near him aside in his rush. Passenger nonchalantly returns it to its original position before shifting me further into her lap.

“I must leave right now, Jamie might have-” Walleye shoves him down, and I stifle a mean snicker at his stupid expression, but my pounding headache detracts a bit from my enjoyment and my eyes are fighting to stay open.

Am I sick or something? This is worse than the time that I ate that rotten goat. 

On the bright side, I don’t feel the need to cube anymore.