Private Finished Lily in the Sky

Mir closed her eyes and enjoyed just leaning there with Lily for a moment. Kir of course remained alert to their surroundings but he was smiling too. They hadn't been offended at all.

KirMir listened intently as Lily described her past a little bit. They had heard many stories about people here having developed abilities and having them cause issues. Many of them seemed to come from unfortunate circumstances, to the point that it was fairly rare to find an individual with supernatural abilities that did not suffer in some way in their past.

At first KirMir would have guessed that Lily was one of those who were not currently experiencing an issue. She was active at school and activities, friendly and generally in a good mood. But certain parts of her story definitely stood out. "Things have not been as pleasant lately then. That is unfortunate Lily. Is there not some way to contact your parents? From what we understand parents can be quite significant figures here," offered Kir as he patted her hand. They didn't have that connection with their parents but Lily seemed fairly displeased about this issue. How were they to comfort her? Ultimately they didn't know.

"If there is a way for us to help you, just let us know. It is unlikely there is much we can offer but we would do what we can," Mir quickly whispered to Lily before the robot returned to the table with their food and interrupted their conversation. Mir kept her arm around Lily until she could be sure the girl was ok, but Kir was forced to release her hand as the steaming bowls of noodles were placed on the table. The food smelled amazing.

KirMir arranged their bowls so that the teriyaki-like beef dish was in front of Mir and the spicy chicken-like one was in front of Kir. They did not wait for Lily to try hers first before each one took a small sample of the broth to taste in unison. Then they waited for a bit. Were they waiting for Lily to try hers? Savoring the taste? Why they were waiting wasn't entirely clear.

Once more KirMir realized they did not have the proper response for dealing with family issues. They did know that being abandoned by one's parents was supposed to be a very emotional thing that hurt people. That made them frown. Moreover they could not comprehend why someone would have cut ties with such a great person. If they didn't think it would have upset Lily they might have expressed how foolish and misguided that decision had to have been.

The food arriving had interrupted their conversation, perhaps for the better though- as there was not much more KirMir could do other than be supportive. They couldn't exactly hunt down her parents for her and get a straight answer. Even if she had wanted that. Instead they could all share in the enjoyment of some good food and of course their company.

"We are not attempting to force you to share it, we were just waiting after tasting ours to ensure it wasn't going to... have a negative reaction. It is just a habit we have while trying new food. But we would like to try yours if you do not mind," Mir explained as she breathed in the aromas from the various soups on the table. It all smelled so delicious and hearty. The one in front of her had a rich, dark colored broth and blended sweet and savory flavors excellently. Mir had pulled her arm back from being draped around Lily as she used it to concentrate on the food, though they would have gladly kept it around her if it had been reasonable. Maybe after the food was eaten she could do it again.

Kir's bowl was definitely red. The noodles had already come in that color but the broth had been tinged reddish by the spices mixed in. It was surprisingly not as 'hot' as spiciness usually entailed for human food, and instead was more along the lines of strongly flavored with an ingredient that made it taste almost smokey. Definitely an acquired taste. KirMir had not had that particular dish before but the spice used was familiar to them- it wasn't uncommon on the station.

Kir scooted their two bowls a little closer to Lily as he spoke up, "You are welcome to try ours too. Of course only one of our bodies needs to try yours for us to get a taste for it. Mir would be easiest as she is sitting right next to you." His gaze flicked for a second at an individual at the counter nearby reaching into their jacket for something. A possible threat? No, it was just a false alarm cause by an unusual wallet location. It was little more than a second or two before his gaze had switched back to Lily, unworried.

Meanwhile Mir had reached out to grab two spare spoons and placed one on the table for Lily. Sharing food would never get them sick but they did not know about Lily's immune system or how comfortable she was with that sort of thing. Therefore an option for reducing the issue was appropriate.

"Being here reminds us of the superstition we were taught the first time we came here with other students. Apparently it is bad luck to leave any of the broth remaining in the bowl when you leave. We suspect it stems from not wanting to waste food or liquids but it is amusing to us," Mir retold with a smile. Lily seemed to like hearing about their past or things they had encountered so it was reasonable she would find the concept interesting.

Mir carefully used the spoon to scoop just enough to taste. They did not intend to eat all of Lily's food after all. As she brought it up to her lips they could taste that same thing Lily had mentioned. They didn't recognize the link with asian style soups because they didn't have a distinction like that. They had certainly tried food that would have fallen under that description but their mental categories were ingredient-based rather than nationality-based.

"This is delicious. You chose well for your first time here, we think. Do you usually prefer more vegetable-oriented foods?" Mir asked curiously as she set her spoon down to watch Lily try the other soups. They were mostly asking so they could remember that for the future. They wanted to be able to offer her suggestions that better matched her preferences.

Kir smiled and nodded a little at the reaction to the second soup. The spices used were not from Earth, so it made sense it would be a bit jarring or take some getting used to. "It is quite strong, though you might notice the spice used is present in several dishes here on the station. We have come to appreciate it but we have had a great deal more time to become acclimated to it," Kir said before beginning to eat his soup without an issue. Actually both Kir and Mir were eating now, pausing appropriately to speak. KirMir were very hungry after all and with them alternating eating and speaking they could make a dent in their food fairly rapidly.

They considered the idea that clearing a plate was disrespectful. It was interesting but they would probably never follow that guideline unless it was required. Intake of food was very important to them. Mir scooped out a portion of noodles to eat before wiping her face with a napkin. Then she continued the conversation, "Then they just dispose of the remaining food rather than consuming it? We think the other superstition fits our culture more, though we still believe it is foolish. Not wasting food is a reasonable goal and if you eat it all it is clear you did enjoy it. It is mostly a cultural thing though and we don't intend to be offensive."

In all honesty there was probably a lot of connection to living on space stations in the way they thought about this matter. In a closed system waste was just that, waste. Anything not consumed needed to be stored, transported and recycled or discarded in some way. Increasing the amount of logistics required.

KirMir did not react at all to the word 'slaughtered'. They were far too desensitized to killing for it to bother them in the least. Which wasn't super great for social interactions but they had no choice. It was too much a part of their life.

They did look curiously at her as she explained how fragments or small portions of a being's life force could remain in the meat after death. They were not well-learned about matters of souls and life forces and the like but it made sense. If she was supposed to deal with and guide souls then eating part of one would go against her very being. "We will keep that in mind for future meals. Fortunately most of the meat on the station is grown in a lab rather than harvested from living animals or imported from other planets," Kir explained. As long as they didn't order anything specifically indicated as fresh animal meat it probably would be ok. They'd actually visited some of the labs as part of college courses themself. It was an extremely efficient process that they were fairly impressed with..

Honestly, talk of customs and careful maneuvering to avoid offending a host troubled KirMir slightly. They had always struggled with that type of thing. In fact they were pleasantly surprised that they didn't appear to have accidentally offended Lily so far. Mir swirled a spoon through her soup to mix up the broth and meat while they thought about it. Meanwhile Kir glanced over at a minor disagreement at a table on the other side of the restaurant. Not worried exactly, just regarding it and evaluating what was going on before returning his focus to Lily again when it appeared to be a non-concern.

"We tend to eat a large variety are not especially picky but lately we have been learning to cook dishes that we believe would be considered Italian. Lasagna in particular interested us so we tried a few recipes," Mir smiled at how they had turned out. Aside from being filling meals after being cooked they made for excellent leftovers in the following days. She scooped a few noodles into her spoon but held off actually eating them until she finished speaking. Or more accurately, she waited to eat until Kir was finished his spoonful so he could take over. "Unfortunately we only follow the directions of recipes with minimal adjustments. Learning something as subjective as the right flavor is more difficult. What about you Lily, do you do much cooking?"

At that point Kir set down his spoon almost on cue and took a deep breath. The spice in that spoonful had been particularly strong and he needed a long sip from his drink.

The list of foods that could potentially bother her was extremely helpful. It would give them a basis for extrapolating to other options she might not be familiar with. There were definitely some dishes on the station that would cause her trouble. The human meat wouldn't be too difficult to avoid though. That was usually labelled.. and fairly expensive too.

KirMir were neither opposed to eating human nor particularly fond of it. Picking that type of meat for them would have been an unnecessary expense when there were plenty of other options that were both more flavorful and cheaper. Since it bothered Lily they had yet another reason not to eat it, too.

Kir took a long swig of the slightly strange sweet drink before he responded to Lily. Though it hadn't been to the point of actually burning him, the spices had made his eyes water a little and taking a break from eating it was necessary. "It seems we neglected to stir it enough while we ate. The spices separated out somewhat," he said after coughing a little. Kir tipped his bowl a little towards Lily and scooped aside some of the noodles to show how some of the spices had gathered around and under the noodles. Hidden pockets that weren't mixed as well, though by no fault of the cook.

"Regarding the cooking though, we should invite you over for dinner one night when we're cookign something. It would be good to get another opinion on how our food tastes," Kir smiled as he scooted his bowl away from him and set down the spoon for good. They had eaten most of the soup and didn't want to have a repeat of the previous spoonful.

Kirmir were actually very pleased at the compliment Lily had made about their probable cooking skills. They didn't consider themselves experts but since they required a fair amount of food for both of their bodies it made sense to learn to cook. At least at the level of following recipes with very small variations here or there for taste. They weren't going to manage a gourmet experience.

Meanwhile Mir had been finishing most of her own bowl of soup. Hers was not having the same problems as Kir's had so there was no reason to not eat it all. Except she stopped and slid the bowl over to Kir for him to finish. Sharing their food as they always did. Kir happily began finishing off the bowl.

Lily not being taught to cook was a little puzzling given she had been raised on earth, where basic cooking seemed to be fairly common. However KirMir hadn't really learned to cook anything significant until years after arriving here. Which meant almost all their lives they had not been cooking either. "The school is an excellent resource for learning, though until then we could perhaps teach you some basic cooking skills if you like. We don't have a large kitchen but it is functional," Mir offered as she relaxed in the seat next to Lily. Seeing that Lily had set her spoon down she moved to drape her arm around her again if she would let her. The meal had gone quite well all things considered, and best of all they had a chance to rest their feet and talk for a while- out of the buzz of activity in the main market area..