#jk I think Shery's noticed that Mimir gravitates instinctively towards soup and hot drinks

[shepherds-of-haven]

What are the ROs' comfort foods?

Blade: there's a specific meal in Ygrath literally called "soldier's meal" that they would prepare both for the trainees in boot camp (or the Ket equivalent) and that mothers would traditionally prepare for their children when they returned home from war: it basically consists of grilled fish over rice, accompanied by sauteed dark mushrooms, a mountain herbal tea, salted cucumber and radish, and clear "earth-broth" with onions, mushrooms, grains of barley, and a miso-like paste. That's his comfort meal!

Trouble: his answer would be a nice steak, crispy potatoes cooked in duck fat, a beer, and a heaping bowl of honey pudding to follow, but I actually think his real comfort food is a sandwich. sometimes when he's upset, you can observe him going straight to the kitchen and eating his feelings with a massive sandwich. doesn't really matter what's in it, so long as it's on nice slabs of bread and has a bit of nice cheese, lettuce, and tomato!

Tallys: peya, the Elvish stuffed hand bread with nuts and cheese and wrapped in a leaf and drizzled with honey, is definitely one of her biggest comfort foods, but cheese in general is secretly a key ingredient for her too! She just likes nibbling on a little bit of cheese when she's anxious about something. Make her a cheese plate with some fruit and honey (though that part's optional) and she'll be happy!

Shery: definitely baked sweets! Everything she bakes for other people is her comfort food, lol. Sugar and flour and very soft, fluffy textures all the way baby! She tends to like strawberries and cream or angel food cake or fruit tart type sweets rather than really decadent chocolate or extravagant fudgey things, but she'll make whatever! Baking it is as much her comfort as eating it!

Riel: his are definitely sweets, too! Having a tray of little sweets (petit fours, little cookies, little bites of cheesecake) paired with extremely bitter khav or tea are divine ambrosia for him. It's extremely unhealthy but when he's at his peak workaholic stress, you'll often see him working at his desk with only a platter of sweets to graze on, it's so bad...

Chase: he doesn't really derive comfort from food... he has other vices... but if I had to guess, any kind of soup or chowder would inherently be comforting to him, especially since he had a lot of that growing up! He's particularly partial to a pumpkin-eel soup and corn and seafood chowder!

Red: I think he finds bread, particularly soft, slightly sweet bread, inherently comforting, and it's his go-to late-night snack when he's accidentally skipped dinner and doesn't want to fuss with a whole meal but has to eat something. Think of him walking around with half of a brioche roll in his mouth or something! Sticky buns and sweet milk bread was what was usually served for breakfast at the Circle, so it subconsciously brings him back to the days of being a student, having a routine, having the whole day to look forward to, etc.!

Ayla: most meals where there's too much to finish in one sitting are inherently comforting to her... she gets stressed about scarcity of food, so a big cauldron of vegetable soup (until that gets ruined, thanks Halek) or a big heaping pile of really anything where she can just mindlessly eat and process her feelings is comforting to her! This isn't quite a thing in Blest, but one of those huge grazing tables would be a delight for her!

Briony: with her amnesia, I don't think she's discovered yet what is a "comfort food" for her versus just foods she really really likes; she's more in a phase of life where she's trying as many new foods as possible rather than discerning which ones inspire particular emotions in her! I think she hasn't developed enough memories around food (which is sometimes what comfort food entails, that association to a particular experience or emotion) to gravitate towards a particular comfort food yet... but if I had to guess, I think she's drawn towards fried foods or little dumplings and tartlets, like a crab and cheese tartlet that's basically a crab rangoon or something like that! In a modern AU I could also see her being a big ice cream/milkshake/boba consumer!

Lavinet: she's not a big eater, so drinks are more comforting to her than food. When she's had a stressful day, she instinctively unwinds with a nice glass of wine, a cup of hot chocolate, a mug of warm tea, or what have you, rather than seeks out any particular meal or dish! She doesn't really have emotions around specific food like that!

Halek: he finds most foods he grew up with the opposite of comforting, as he thinks most Hunter food is bland and monotonous! (Not everything thinks that, he was just sick to death of growing up in the Reach and having the same-old same-old all the time.) His comfort food is some kind of cheesy pasta: it's simplistic in terms of his cooking aspirations, but there's just something about it that he finds inherently comforting! A nice gnocchi-style dish with a bunch of cheese sauce, toasted breadcrumbs, and broiled under an oven is his favorite!

Mimir: uncertainty

Caine: our boy loves cookies and fruit pies with a tall glass of milk!!