Chapter 50: Eating Together
Pang could tell it was essence food at the start, too. Finn could only tell after using the [Dish Analysis] skill, even when he was a chef.
Perhaps it was because he was still at the dormant stage and did not have much sensitivity about this ’essence’ at all.
Anyway, he happily watched them eat for a while.
One of a chef’s greatest sources of happiness was to see people genuinely enjoying their food.
Crunch!
They both started with the salad—probably because they both liked plants—and he could hear the crunch of fresh leaves and the baconized meat, poured with the special sunberry-brightpear vinaigrette.
"This combination..." Syl whispered, eating a few more bites. Pang, on the other hand, practically dived into the bowl. "It is very refreshing."
Then they shifted to the other meal, which was the meat plated with the mashed thornroot. He added a bit of sauce to unify them, though he did wish he had something like gravy. Maybe soon.
Anyway, gravy or not, the two were definitely brought elsewhere the moment they took a bite. Syl was relatively quiet, but she closed her eyes, savoring everything. Pang was much noisier.
"Nom...nom... meat is melting in my mouth, la!" Pang said, proceeding to gobble all the way to the next plate. Seeing him eat so much, Finn low-key wanted to ask if he was digesting any of these and if he actually pooped. However, they were eating, so he kept that question to himself. For now.
He served the two the improved E-Class meat dish. He had tasted a bit of both before, and while the F-class was decent, it couldn’t compare to the softness and flavor of the E-class food.
If he were to use a metaphor to compare, E-class was a tasty modern meal one could buy in convenience stores, while F-class was a proper homemade meal.
He didn’t let the F-class food go to waste, of course. He put them in a lunchbox (made of leaves) in his space. He could eat it as a midnight snack or to feed the others if they got hungry later.
Anyway, it was time for him to eat properly as well.
He attacked the salad first as well. It was best to eat salad to line the stomach first, allowing the fiber to be absorbed well to aid in digestion.
He closed his eyes. Although it was naturally not as rich as the salads back on Earth, the makeshift dressing definitely made the random leaves more palatable.
He scooped a bit of the mashed tuber sprinkled with diced sunberry leaves, taking a bit of the sliced pork in the same spoon. He wished he had gravy, but thankfully, the meat themselves had rich enough flavoring.
He opened his mouth to the brindlejaw fat. Its golden crust glistened with the citrus sheen, and the green peppery leaves stuck on its rough surface, adding interesting texture to each bite.
There was a sweetness in the charred fat, and it combined well with the sharp tang of the citrusy plant. The fat shattered, dripping in juiceness, and combining with the soft mashed thornroot he was eating it with.
The beef skewers, on the other hand, were still steaming in the cool air, their tips charred and the vine leaves and fruits in between had slightly darkened.
Grabbing a stick, Finn took a slow bite. The seared crust crackled as the rush of the beefy juice flowed between his teeth, and he couldn’t help but moan a bit.
The citrusy vine blistered against the meat, leaving streaks of light bitterness and sweet oil. The aftertaste was grounded with flavors.
It tasted surprisingly decent, even by his standards, and the other two seemed similarly impressed.
"This is so good la!! I haven’t eaten food this delicious!!" Pang said, as if he had eaten a lot in his lifetime. "You hid more in your space, right?"
Finn wordlessly handed him the F-class food he had saved up, and the panda happily gobbled it up.
At the side, Syl had a milder expression on her face by default, but she nodded with a slight blush on her face. The fact that her plate was empty was also indicative of her thoughts.
He smiled. First dinner with customer: Success
...
Later that night, Finn finally took his much-awaited bath. Sadly, there was no soap and shampoo yet. According to Pang, it should be available as one of the Upgrades once the [Hearth Market] opened.
Well, he’d just have to let the water run for longer. He also used the corlan leaves as an alternative. They were minty, and this meant it likely had menthol (yes, he learned this in his self-taught nutritionist studies too). He’d also be brushing his teeth with it later, like he had the previous night (though he had to swallow it at the time).
He changed into the newbie clothing he had in space, and then threw the dirty old clothes into the utility room, just waiting for it to clean and iron by itself!
Only his handkerchief and the pillow cases had finished cleaning up by this time, and although they didn’t magically fold by themselves, there were really no wrinkles when he took a closer look!
He loved magic. So much.
Later, he took a few-hour nap (the sun was still high up) and he headed out to get his clothes (and the other items) in the utility room, only to see Syl sitting solemnly in the living room.
Syl’s damaged dress had also finished cleaning up by this time. Like the others, it was impeccably clean and ironed. Sadly, it didn’t repair the damage.
The damage was extremely sharp, and he remembered how he couldn’t even scratch it before. Something that could damage such a good fabric would’ve been extremely sharp. She must be going through something.
He wondered how he could help?
...
Syl’s mind was indeed far away. Her mind whirled, thinking what to do after this, but she was struggling to clear her mind, and it was disconcerting.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clanking cups placed in front of her. "Here, have some," Finn said, handing porcelain cups available in the kitchen. "It’s my personally prepared tea."
He had stepped the sunberry leaves (it was a very versatile plant) with water as the base, and then he added a bit of sunberry fruit for sweetness.
He also fried some thinly sliced thornroots to create crisps as snacks.
All these he did while Syl was looking out, deep in her thoughts. She hadn’t noticed his activity at all.
"...thank you," she said, her velvety voice soothing to hear. Finn smiled a little as he took a bite of his crisps, which were drizzled with some leaves he had (he did make a mental note to dry a few leaves in the future, making them proper pepper alternatives).
Seeing him eating and drinking his tea, Syl followed his lead. Her tense shoulders relaxed a bit as she took a sip of the sweet-bitter tea. Partnered with the crunchy texture of the snack, it felt like it was grounding her to the present somehow.
"I don’t remember the last time I was able to relax like this," she told him, her deep crimson eyes looking at the simple surroundings, ultimately landing on him.
He smirked, smiling mischieviously. "Come here often, and we’ll be sure to make it the norm."