Moonlight

3

After swallowing a fair amount of berries, you curiously gazed at the boy in front of you. 

He was eating a couple of blackberries, then he picked some up and gave them to the racoon, who you automatically assumed the boy kept as a pet. 

He paid no attention to your glance and proceeded to help himself to his assorted mix of fruit. You would have never accepted his offer had you not been so starved. You were shocked with yourself. Usually you had better control over your urges. You could go on for days with nothing but water. However, in this moment it felt like it had been weeks since you had eaten last. 

The boy caught your stare and locked eyes with you for a moment before pushing the plate of fluffy, golden brown food in your direction. 

"Try some," He offered. "I bet you'd really like them."

You didn't move. It wasn't to be rude, but it was only fair that you would be hesitant to try an unknown type of food from a total stranger. The last group of people you had run into had chased you down the roof of a palace and had certainly not offered you anything to eat. 

You had only eaten the fruit because of how light-headed you were feeling, and because you could tell that none of them were poisoned as you were familiar with every type of fruit you saw. 

Strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry...these were the fruits you had eaten. You've seen them before and had tasted all of them at least three times over the course of your life. But you had no idea what could be in that pastry-looking substance. 

The boy seemed to sense your anxiety almost immediately. He grabbed one of them off the plate before tearing it in half. Then he ate one of them. 

After he swallowed, he smiled. "Delicious!" He said. "See?"

He extended his arm to give you the other half and soon you found yourself reluctantly taking it.

Now slightly convinced that the food wasn't poisoned, you took the food and slowly plopped it in your mouth. It was soft. It was warm. It was...pretty good.

The boy looked at you expectantly. "Well?" He asked. "What do you think? Do you like it?"

You blinked before nodding. You did like it. It almost had a sweet, flavory taste to it that told you something was missing all while at the same time was plain and delicious enough to eat on its own. 

"You should try it with this!" He said, bringing out a jar of what looked like syrup out of nowhere. "Here." He placed another one of those things onto a small plate and poured a little bit of syrup on it before handing the plate to you. 

You took it and folded it in half so that the syrup wouldn't pour and took a bite. You couldn't tell whether the food tasted better with or without the syrup. Both had almost completely different tastes and yet still had the same amount of delectability.   

You couldn't help but smile. When was the last time you had enjoyed something of a meal like this?

"Good, huh?" The boy uttered, taking a bite of his own food drizzled in maple syrup. 

"Mhm!" You muttered with a nod. 

"I think so, too." The boy said with a toothy grin. 

"What are they?" You muttered, taking another one and dipping it in the tiny puddle of syrup on your plate.

The boy looked at you with a confused smile. "Pancakes."

You stared at the pancake in your head before smiling back. "Guess I'm a fan of pancakes now."