Submission (#7177) Approved

Life feels slower in Ealei. Or at least, that's how Lunae feels as he lounges across the dock, staring passively into the clear and clean water before him. There's no real waves to cause an excess of motion in the water at Ealei, but there's just enough movement within the liquid to mesmerize and capture his interest. He's been in Ealei for a little bit, traveling across the waters on a whim and desire to explore the continent, but he didn't realize just how lazy he could be in a location until he got to Port Pthalo, and despite the hustle and bustle expected of a trading city, Lunae has found himself far too comfortable with the day to day. He'll never make his way towards the northernmost part of Ealei if he keeps up this pattern, which is the exact reason why he's found himself down at the docks early in the morning. The other day a curious flier posted upon the billboard within the town caught his eye. Midway through his daily snack of manaberries, with blue juice dripping unceremoniously from his chin, the curious kittom had taken a closer look at the ad and found his intrigue perked. Finally! Lunae thought, something worth doing! He managed to grab one of the serrated slips at the bottom of the sheet, the contact information written delicately on the piece of paper. Perhaps this was a gift from the Elder tree itself, considering the date written down just so happened to be the following day. Something, something, divine intervention for certain!

Presently, Lunae scoffs at himself for such thoughts, he's been watching the same fish try and carry off a stray manaberry for the past hour, and the time that was written on the paper has eclipsed by about half of that hour. He's about to call it a day and head back to his lodging to sleep away the rest of the early morning and afternoon, when a voice finally drags his attention away from the fish (who still has not managed to carry the manaberry, and now a crab had been begun vying for the precious fruit). 

"Oh my...I really didn't expect anybody to show up, I thought I took that flier down." Standing behind him is an Elnin that resembles the sunrise itself, warm colors and prismatic anima give them an exotic allure, and their hair seems to float lazily off the ground. Dawn, the Elnin introduces herself as, had only put up the flier as part of some community service initiative that she got roped into by another Elnin. Lunae pauses himself for a moment, snapping himself out of his lackadaisical attitude.

"Did I get scammed?" Dawn flushes at the accusation, and begins to nervously chuckle. Lunae looks to the sky, starting to fill with the puffy clouds (oh...that one is starting to look like a fish as well...) and wonders if there's a divine being out there laughing at him right now. Perhaps this was all for a good chuckle? Maybe this whole thing was a setup and he's the punchline. Dawn begins to furiously explain,

"No, no, totally not a scam! Please don't tell anybody I said that, this is totally legit I promise! I'm great at teaching! And cooking! So why would I not be able to teach cooking??" She strides over and places her paws on the young kittom's shoulder. Her face is serious and stern, as she locks eyes with him.

"And whatever you do, do NOT, tell Mafu that I took the flier down." Lunae nods slowly (who the heck is Mafu?) and the adult Elnin breathes a sigh of relief. 

"Awesome! Now that we've cleared up our small misunderstanding," (nothing has actually been cleared up, Dawn was definitely trying to scam this Mafu person instead of Lunae) "we can totally cook a great meal together! I'll even let you hold a knife!" Dawn glances at Lunae briefly.

"A small one." They lock eyes.

There's another pause, the clouds pass overhead.

"Actually, do you know how to wash manaberries?"

"....No?"

"Great! Your first lesson! See? I'm a great teacher. Please make sure you let Mafu know this." 

(Lunae is certain at this point that this is somehow him paying for his laziness.)

The first part of this adventure leads them actually back into the town, to Lunae this is akin to revisiting the scene of a crime, but Dawn seems to know the place top to bottom and is quick to purchase ingredients here and there. The second lesson in cooking, Lunae learns, is being able to hold a bunch of stuff without spilling. He's actually very good at this part, despite his much smaller stature. And soon the two of them are off to where Dawn lives (allegedly). 

"Alright buddy," Dawn pats the kittom on the back congratulating him for all his hard work. "We're going to make one of my favorite snacks! A manaberry cobbler! Sounds super good, right? You'll let Mafu know we made this for sure, yeah?" Lunae slowly nods, and Dawn lets out a sigh of relief. 

"Great! Now, let's get started....first things first you're going to start by...." Dawn and Lunae begin the process of cooking together. The young kittom watched carefully as Dawn instructed him to measure out rolled oats and spices. The adult Elnin handled the business of carefully slicing up the precious fruit, but Lunae still watched and observed as she gave tips on how to maximize the fruit. Lunae hates to admit it, but the entire process was actually very informative...and surprisingly easy? He was a bit nervous at first, but slowly everything started to come together. The last part was to set the entire concoction to bake, and soon the whole living area was smelling sweet and delicious. 

(In the future, Lunae will never admit it, but he holds a sweet spot for Manaberry Cobbler.)

(He also still does not know who Mafu is.)