Alternate Dream Part 2

6. Traveling Companions

"Commander, I-"

"Briggs, I am not your commander."

"Right, sir. I am not sure having the outsider stay in the station with you is the best idea. You can't-"

He held up a hand to silence him. "I can't what, Briggs? I may not be the Commander, but I am your superior. If I choose to let her stay in the station, she will. And furthermore..." he raised his voice, purposely making sure all of the men heard him clearly. "We do not treat women with undeserved disrespect, even if they are outsiders." This earned him a few hushed remarks and surprised glances. "You all know the order of the king. The Capitol people are good people and it's guards are to represent those people well. We will not treat others unjustly, or unfairly, without cause." He lowered his voice to a normal tone. "She will stay in the station, and I will keep an eye on her. Do you question my ability?"

Briggs' eyes went wide "N-No, sir!"

"Good. Dismissed." The men all quickly went to do anything that didn't involve catching his attention, but he could tell many of them were watching him walk away. He let out a long sigh, reminding himself this was his own doing and he couldn't let his pride stop him from doing what he must. He would lead by example, just as the king had ordered him to. Hopefully his men would follow suit.

He walked into the station to find Pea preparing food in the small kitchen. "What is that?" He asked curiously, unfamiliar with the lumps of dough she was making.

"Oh!" Pea looked up surprised, then blushed. "I hope you don't mind. I know all of the men must be hungry, and I can't stand sitting here feeling useless, so..." she put her hands back in the dough. Pulling out little balls and coating them in flour before setting them on the table. "And I know they brought fresh supplies so I hope I'm not overstepping..." she added quietly, keeping her eyes on her task.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate it." He offered her a slight smile and came to stand on the other side of the table. "What are you making?" He asked again.

"Just biscuits. Although you don't have fresh milk, so I used what looked like an alternative version, almond or some kind of nut milk, I'm guessing. It won't be the same, but should still be ok." She looked up at him to find a confused expression. "I was afraid to start anything else until I asked you what would be alright. I don't know how long until the next shipment of supplies, what foods you need to ration.... I hope this was ok? I only used the supplies you seemed to have plenty of..." She was so worried he'd be upset at her for taking the liberty with his supplies. She wanted to help, and to show her appreciation for their hospitality.

"What are biscuits?"

She stood straight up and stopped all movement. "You can't be serious." She deadpanned. But then quickly caught herself. "I'm sorry, I mean. You don't make biscuits here? Or maybe you call them something else? Where I'm from we have biscuits all the time. Especially for breakfast, but many of us southerners have biscuits with any meal."

He gave her a full smile. "I'll just have to let you know after I've tried one, if we have anything similar." He moved to look through the rest of the supplies. "What types of food do you normally eat with those?" He asked.

"Oh, anything really. But the staple country breakfast would have biscuits and gravy paired together. A lot of people like white gravy butI love dark, myself. And with it you can have eggs, bacon, sausage." She turned suddenly, big smile on her face. "I don't suppose you have liver mush?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Liver...mush? No, can't say that I've heard of that one." He chuckled.

"Oh." Her face fell. "That's ok, it's not super common anymore, even at home. And they're really the best when paired with fried eggs, anyway, and I doubt you have eggs." She finished rolling out the last of the dough balls. "Now, you'll have to help me figure out how to bake these. I've only seen a wood heated cook stove and oven before, never actually used one."