milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Now that the woods here are no longer so off-putting, Red's taken some more time to explore them. But a girl gets hungry after a while, and a girl who vaguely remembers hunting one of those red rabbits the full moon before last by Milliways' count... is going to go inside for supper.
So Red's at a table, with a plate of what other people might know as spaghetti and meatballs; she's not quite sure what to make of it herself. This is what she gets for asking the Bar to surprise her, she supposes.
At least beer seems to be beer wherever you go, so she's had more of that than her food. But she'll get there eventually.

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Charles has taken a break from his writing and grins when he sees Red, "Trying something new?"

"I asked the Bar to surprise me," she says, poking at one of the meatballs with the fork she got with her food (can she just say: forks are weird). "I'm... not sure exactly what she surprised me with."
It does at least smell good, and she knows there's meat in it, but... well.

"Spaghetti and meatballs, its just pasta, which is a kind of dough and meat. I know you'll enjoy it,"

He sits down, placing his small stack of papers on the table.

This is Red's skeptical face. "That's dough?" How can it be dough? It's all... stringy.
Then she eyes the stack of papers. "You're not writing another thesis, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I've been writing up some of what happened, it helps me think through it. Yes, it is, more like pastry dough than bread dough."

"Well, all right." So she attempts to scoop up a bite.
...and it all slides right off the fork. "Really?"
But that can wait a moment. "I'm glad you've made that start, then. Whatever that was, it really did a number on you."

"No, twirl it around and then it will work," He tries to demonstrate.

"Oh."
That does work rather better, and then she spears part of a meatball on the end of the fork and finally has a bite.
"...It's interesting. What's the sauce made of?"

"Tomatoes, do you have them in the Enchanted Forest?"

"...I don't know. The name doesn't sound familiar, in any case."
That doesn't necessarily mean anything. It's possible the weather's wrong or something.

"Well, they're red fruits about this size that grow on vines and are delicious."

She takes a second, somewhat more thoughtful bite.
"I might have tried them before," she finally says, "but not like this. And I think it was here, but I can't place it. What else are they usually served with?"

"Quite a lot of different things, served cut up in salads, on top of hamburgers, in sauces like this one."

"Hamburgers! That's it. Mary had me try one the first time I found the place."

"They're delicious and end up with either slices of tomato or ketchup which is a tomato sauce on them."

"I think it was a slice," Red says. "But it was a while ago."
Either way, at least now she knows what it is.

"Another dish you should try is pizza, that also has tomato sauce on it. We should be able to get a proper New York pizza slice here."

"What is it, bread?"
Sorry, Charles. The mention of slices threw her off.

"Bread but quite thin, more like a pie almost."

"...But if it's a pie, why does it have sauce?"
Confused Red is very confused.

Charles considers how to answer that before getting up and coming back with a pizza,

"Here, its better to show and I'm hungry."

She's.. still confused. And still wrangling the spaghetti. But one thing is abundantly clear when she sees the pizza.
"That looks nothing like a pie."

"It's called a pizza pie. I don't know the full history of the name,"

He rolls up his sleeves before starting on a slice, folding it up first.

That's big enough that there will still be some when she's done fussing with the spaghetti. For now, she'll watch and learn.
"Why are you folding it?"

"Easier to eat and that's how you eat it in the City."

"Which city is that?"
Even the Enchanted Forest has more than one. Yes, they're usually around castles, but that's beside the point.

"New York City, its the one I grew up going to and know best."

"What's it like?"
Hey, she still has a massive travel bug. Just because the original plan's... a bit of a bust doesn't mean that's gone.

"Huge, cramped, tall and wonderful. When I was young, I got awful headaches when I went there but I loved it."

"Headaches from the crowds?"
Her mental image of 'tall' is probably falling far short of New York's actual height. Her reference point is... two- or three-story buildings on top of a large hill?

"Yes, New York is a full city."

Her mental image of 'full' is also way off the mark.
"It must be fascinating."
Red's torn. Would she want to see a place like that before she has more control over the wolf? Would it even be a problem in another world, or is there no reason to assume she'd be free of it somewhere else?
She wants to see more than where she grew up, but... she doesn't want to hurt anyone else.

"If its possible when I'm closer to it again, I'll take you."

"As long as you're sure it'll be safe."

"I think it will be. I know you could do it."

Red grins. "Thank you."
She means for trusting her as much as for making the offer in the first place.

"You're welcome."

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