Policeman and the cat

59 - Dungeon Gourmets

"It's the feelings that matter," Bro said with a final sniffle and took a bite-- "Lil bro, this is delicious, you all did great!"

"I suddenly feel regrets about the thousands of Kondo snakes we've left behind in the past," Paxton noted.

"They taste disgusting in a hodge-podge, so--" Juniper noted.

Valerie finished a bite, before adding - "Hodge-podge ought to be fine if you let the meat marinate for a few hours in ground cumin seeds and fox grass, fox grass tends to grow near their nests so - as long as you bring some cumin and a pestle around you are all set."

Ian resolved to ask Valerie to fill that recipe in after they are done eating, but otherwise, the three of them now matched up to copy Valerie's speed of eating - gotta learn when you can! Valerie, of course, noticed and smiled in much the same way how Knox and Kenneth had when they copied them.

"And the effect of this is?" Christine asked as she tried the dessert.

"Refreshed mind," Chilli filled in. There were few of those, but some recipes in the undead cookbook relied more on a peculiar way of aether infusion than specific ingredients, this was one of those. Ian had a feeling Knox picked it out, among others to give them a sense of the various methods.

"Is it possible to replace all potions with food like this?" Juniper asked.

"Technically speaking, yes," Valerie replied - "But that would be a one really complicated mix of aether crafting and alchemy then, yet perhaps that might be Ian's field if he ends up pursuing it rather than focusing on ambrosia alone."

That sounded fun-- About it alone, though - "Ambrosia needs side-dishes," he added - that's how Knox made it ever exciting, so focusing only on it would make it not quite the best it could be.

"Does it?" Valerie asked, curious.

"Knox showed how it makes a big difference after every two barrels," Ian said.

Pause. "You are quite the drinker, aren't you?" Valerie asked.

"Lil bro, how many elder dwarves have you defeated in drinking bouts so far?" Sloane asked.

"Four," Ian replied. One in the first event, three more in the second.

Chilli's spoon dropped, her eyes wide-- The air seemed to freeze around the table, as she looked up, drawing a breath - "Chino is--"

Ian had no idea to whom Chino had gone, but Chilli's expression seemed to say either of the two - seriously hurt or worse.

But then her expression eased and she picked up her spoon. "It passed. All good."

The tension melted as it had never been there and Ian reached out a hand to ruffle Chilli's hair. Good it had passed, but it must have been a fright-- Chilli put her spoon back down and leaned over to let herself be drawn in a hug.

"I never thought those were strong enough to even reach them in dungeons," Valerie said as Nelly got up from her seat to go and hug Chilli as well, now the three of them forming a sandwich of sorts.

"What would happen if we go up now and leave the dungeon?" Wei asked.

Chilli reached out a thumbs up, but her voice made a muffled, yet pretty content sounding - "Ok."

All around the table breaths of relief were let out, but - "Do you want to go out?" Royalty asked.

"Nah," Wei replied in a 'don't be silly' kind of tone.

"Where is Chino, by the way?" Ian asked.

"Harmony," Chilli made a muffled reply, but since it didn't look like she wanted to let go one bit, they stayed in the hug.