#[ teaching Miorine about tomato sandwiches and just ]

[midnightactual]

"Once upon a time," Yoruichi replied with a little trill, taking a sip of her water.

They were promptly brought a plate of papadams, along with two dishes of sauce, one red and one green. She gestured to them in that order and explained, "Tamarind chutney and mint cilantro chutney." Taking one of the papadams, she broke it cleanly and dipped it in the former sauce, popping it in her mouth and chewing as she gave the menu a quick glance over.

"That situation I told you about earlier, where I had to go play for another team?" she continued euphemistically, seeming to think nothing of talking with her mouth full, "It initially lasted for a little under a year. My wife was only my fiancé then; I gave her a ring before I left and promised I'd be back. It was my second longest time away from her besides being at the academy. Anyway, I was never a picky eater before, and had a pretty diverse diet, but I was exposed to all kinds of new foods while I was away, among other things."

She sampled the mint cilantro chutney with her other piece. "When I got back, we eloped. We moved around a fair amount at first, and I tried to show her things I'd experienced as best I could. I've always been pretty good at cooking, but she really enjoys it—it's one of her love languages. She took to expanding her repertoire pretty quick as a way to be all sweet, so I'm actually really used to her cooking more than anything. By comparison, Front Sector 73's variety is muted, and I haven't left since arriving. So... this actually feels kind of nostalgic?"

Yoruichi settled her gaze back onto Miorine as she finished saying all that, having also finished her review of the menu as she'd talked. She knew what she wanted to order for them.

"Anyway, spy anything that's caught your eye? Our suite has a fridge and a microwave, so don't feel like you have to be too choosy—we can take anything extra to go and reheat it. Having leftovers might make tomorrow easier too since we'd be less pressed to stop for breakfast, or brunch or lunch if we took it with us."

ALICE would probably throw a fit in the way only an AI could if they ate in the cockpit after she'd been away for so long, but that hangar was decent and had air, toilets, and some other basic amenities too. She knew there was a little kitchenette. From a 'big sister' angle, she'd prefer to keep introducing Miorine to new things, but she was going to be doing plenty of that already anyway from the business partner angle... Food might very well be the last thing on the young woman's mind.

Miorine figured she would be seen as some strange tomato fiend, but it was truly the one way she felt connected to her mother outside of tending to the greenhouse. And with her new position as a CEO, she didn't have nearly as much time as she wanted to take care of it.

Maybe it seemed like a no brainer to her, yet it was odd or even weird, to anyone else. Maybe.

Moving on, she listened to Yoruichi's words, stating that she probably started off with things a bit too complicated, had to work her way up instead of simply starting out like that. "Working my way up sounds like common sense, yet I didn't even think about it like that."

Maybe she was in a rush, and when she didn't get the results that she aimed for, she merely stopped and gave up. Was that another form running away? Her attention was diverted to the restaurant once they arrived, also making sure to take in everything that Yoruichi described that she could start with.

But since they were at the restaurant, that could wait and be saved for later.

"Anything you recommend is fine with me. Sharing makes sense as well, given I am new to this sort of cuisine, and I wouldn't want to waste anything either. I'll give the menu a good look over as well regardless."

Entering the place made it feel completely different, something she's never truly experienced before. Would it be rude to be staring at everything, or would she seem like a child lost in another world?

The atmosphere was beautiful, the smells could really send a person to different places without even leaving to another planet. Even after sitting down she was still amazed and curious about it all.

Reminds her of the reason why she wished to visit Earth, wanting to see different cultures, as well. All sorts of people from all walks of life, something she wasn't so sure would be obtainable with the current state of things.

"You must frequent places like this a lot, I assume."