R. A. T. H

Twenty-Six vol.2

It was a hot meal of chicken and fried rice. The soft piece of meat placed, as if a dressing, atop the food almost glowing red and orange. Rose stared at the steam rising off of the three plates. Though she was a homunculus, and did not need to eat, she thought her tongue would water. It was simply the result of having gotten used to eating Elsa's meals.

"This looks great. . ." Lilias muttered. Particularly, her crimson eyes were focused on the fried chicken as her tail quivered in an eagerness her expressionless face hid.

Elsa grinned.

"Dig in," She said as she sat down.

The two girls nodded and immediately began eating. Rose chewed and gulped.

"Delicious," She said.

She stared at the plate of food before turning to Elsa with furrowed brows.

"How much did this cost?" She asked.

"Huh. . .thankfully, Lilias had already ordered the pots and pans so. . ." Elsa said, "About a thousand for the rice, 1.2 for the chicken, and 500 for the rest of the ingredients, including the spices, and oil."

Rose's eyes widened as she gulped a spoonful down. "3.7k lixels for a meal?"

Elsa laughed.

"No no, that's for all the ingredients. There's still left-overs to cook more with. I could probably whip out the exact same thing for all three of us two more times. Then I'd need more chicken."

"Oh."

Rose nodded. She didn't know anything about cooking. It was a costly meal, she thought, but its price-tag was probably not too out of the realm of possibility.

Lilias, on the other hand, had different questions. Her tail flapped back and forth as she gingerly ate the fried chicken. Her eyes closed in contentment as she turned to the slum-born girl.

"How did you learn to cook so well?" Lilias asked.

Elsa stopped a spoonful before her lips. "My sister taught me. Then she dumped all the cooking on me."

The dragonian's interest was piqued. "You have a sister?"

"Yes." Elsa nodded. "She was great."

Lilias's tail dropped at the word 'was.'

"I'm sorry for your loss," She said.

Elsa shook her head.

"It's fine. I've made peace with her, and life. She saved me so I could continue living with a smile." She grinned. "If she were here to see you saying all that instead of eating, she'd knock you in the head. A happy stomach is a happy life~"

Lilias smiled lightly. "Then I shall continue."

They ate in the silence of each other's company, the only sound the ticking clock on the wall, and the clinking of their spoons on plates as the afternoon slowly passed.

"I'll wash the plates," Lilias stood up when it was all over, taking the three plates in hand as she headed for the open kitchen, just right of the couch's back.

Elsa stood and stretched her arms into the air.

"And amma go practice my guitar for a bit," She said, before beginning her trek down the corridor of the apartment. A left would see her in the room she shared with Lilias, opposite the bathroom.

Rose wondered if the guitar was given to Elsa by her sister, the same as the bike she owned. Now that she thought about it, she really didn't know much about that mysterious person. Save for seeing a stone upon a small mountain in her honor.