| [Dec. 18th, 2013|11:24 pm] |
"Town," Ryouma said instantly, wrinkling his nose at the crushed cigarette butts someone had left on the gravel path. He'd never seen this courtyard before — hadn't known that the inner bowels of HQ had access to sunlight or greenery. Somehow the maze of windowless corridors implied that anyone who worked in here would never see daylight. Maybe that was why the QM was grouchy.
"We deserve meat, after the last couple of days," he added, following Genma past a stone bench and a slightly bedraggled young maple. No windows opened onto the courtyard, but there was a single door in the far wall, unlabeled and forbidding. Ryouma stared it down. "How about the Yakiniku Q?"
"Sounds good. I could use a break from fish and ration bars, too." Genma's fingers flickered over the code-lock beside the new door. A buzzer rang; the door groaned off the latch. Genma grabbed the handle and hauled it open onto another blank hallway. "As far as missions go, those weren't terrible meals, though. I think the worst thing I ever had to eat for a mission was duck eggs."
Ryouma stared at him. "If that was the worst…"
"With the baby duck inside."
Boiled embryonic duck eggs had been a fairly popular streetfood in southern Fire Country, imported from Mangrove, when Ryouma was small. He didn't mention that. "Ah," he said instead, vaguely. "Okay." He thought this over, and added encouragingly, "Eww."
Genma blinked. "You like them," he accused.
"Haven't had one in years," Ryouma hedged. "Tastes can change." They turned down another hall, and hah, he knew where they were now. Someone had spilled coffee on the carpet in front of an office door and they still hadn't quite managed to clean up the stain. He struck out a little more confidently. "If balut are the worst, what's your favorite?"
"Favorite thing on a mission?" Genma shoved his hands in his pockets and tipped his head back, thinking. "I did a bodyguard job for a daimyou's son's wedding banquet once. I can't even pick one favorite from that night, there was so much good stuff." He hummed softly to himself. "Matsutake gohan, maybe." |
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