kiss_it_better

Please deliver to this address: [INSERT HIS HOME ADDRESS.]

Harvest time would be good. After all, the fresher the produce is, the more nutritious they are.

[Or so a sassy teenager told him.]

I'm usually home and if I'm not, my lover should be there.

much thank you for address!

lover ‘s name is?

first delivery in four days time! please look forward!

Gu Yun, courtesy name Zi Xi.

I will. If there are any ingredients I'm not sure how to use, could I contact you for advice on how to cook it?

exclaim! i know! was doing volunteer work planting with this GU YUN.

yes! i deliver myself so let us be checking then and i instruct?

Ah, then you already know what he looks like.

As long as it isn't inconvenient for you. And if you have any recipes that are good for people who don't like vegetables I'd be grateful if you could share them with me as well.

no! is valued winner customer, so is no trouble!

shock! is no liking vegetables? or GU YUN is no liking?

Then, I'll humbly accept your generosity.

Zi Xi prefers meat dishes.

then i make sure bringing beans when possible...

alright! plan is happening! i see you soon!

I look forward to it.

If you have time, I would be happy to offer you some teas some time as well.

i like tea! you is very kind. thank you.

[and in four days time, as promised...

there's a knock on the door of the address provided! coming from a seven foot tall bay centaur woman dressed in a kimono top and a "skirt" with baskets of vegetables slung over her withers and a bright smile on her face.]

[Having never seen a centaur before, this is new. Chang Geng himself is pretty tall but even he has to look up. It's been a while since he's had to do that. Still, his surprise lasts barely a moment before he smiles warmly.

He's dressed simply, but he gives off the air of a gentle, mild-mannered young master, elegant and composed.]

You're taller than I expected. [He steps aside to let her in.] Forgive me if it's rude to ask, but where would be most comfortable for you to have your tea?

[Because he's not sure you can sit on one of the chairs at the dining table? But maybe they can sit on the floor at the low table...?]

[Despite how normal an existence she was in her own world, Konoha is quite used to being gawked at in Lunatia, by Prismals and Moonblessed both, so she's gained a healthy appreciation for people who seem a bit surprised but take it in good-mannered stride.

And hey- He's quite tall for a human! She doesn't have to crane her neck down too far or dip her spine.]

Master Li Min... It's nice to meet you in person! I'm Konoha!

[Which... She's sure he knows, but. Good manners dictate a better introduction now that she's here, dipping into a low bow from her bear pelt wrap-obscured "waist" before she allows herself a small laugh at his comment about her height, scratching behind her ear.]

Oh, I don't mind sitting on the floor or anything like that. A cushion is nice but I'm fine without, too.

[Just give her a second to tap her hooves against the doorframe to make sure she doesn't track much dirt inside.]

Edited 2020-05-06 03:10 (UTC)

[He returns the bow.]

It's good to have a face to match with the name.

[He is nothing if not well-mannered despite his upbringing and the years he spent wandering the pugilist world.]

Nonsense. [He waves off her comment with an easy sort of familiarity.] What sort of host would I be if I could not even provide something as small as a cushion?

[He moves aside to let her in and moves to the linen closet to pull out a spare cushion they had, something flatter and more comfortable to sit on....hopefully. He's guessing a little since he doesn't know what is comfortable for a centaur. He'll just assume that she'll tell him if it isn't.]

How do you take your tea? [He's used to drinking it black...which is really the only way it's drunk where he's from but he knows some here do not drink it like that.]

Likewise!

[Coming as she did from medieval Japan, she was used to all the humans she knew looking a certain way, dark-haired and dark-eyed, to hairstyles being somewhat decided, and so she liked to have names to go with faces. Li Min! She'd remember.

Letting herself in with another bow, she respectfully follows him in, pausing at the first table she catches sight of to reach about and pull the large basket slung over her withers off her back and set it down. By the thud it makes it's got to be quite a load, but... she's a draft breed, despite her (relatively) more petite size, and she doesn't seem bothered at all by the weight. Reaching into the basket, she comes back up with a smaller bundle and a smile.]

Anything is fine with me, I'm not picky at all!

[But she knows that kind of answer sometimes caused an ironic amount of trouble to a host instead, so-]

I usually drink roasted green tea at home... ? But I've tried lots of new things in Lunatia.

[He did notice that sound. But then, he knows people who are stronger than they look.

He wonders if it would be rude to ask if that was common for her people the way it was common for the Man Tribe in the north to be good at handling wolves?]

Roasted green tea happens to be my preference as well. [Since it's what he's more used to. Fermented black tea leaves haven't ~~according to my very limited research~~ been invented yet.

He'll leave the cushion by the low table.]

Please make yourself comfortable. I will be back shortly.

[He'd already boiled the water in a kettle that would also keep the water at the right temperature. Learning about the unit of measures used here took some getting used to but, of everything, it was one of the easier changes to become familiar with.

He pours the water into a tea pot after measuring out the tea.

The thing about Chang Geng is, despite being a prince and having the bearings of a rich young master he grew up in a small town in the country side and spent four years wandering the pugilist world. So, when he comes back with a tray, all the tea ware is quite simple stuff.

...he may or may not have bought them because they were discounted. Still, they were serviceable enough. There were also some delicate flower shaped cookies.]

I made the snacks earlier today so they're fresh.

[They look like something you could find in a nice bakery and they tastes delicious as well!]

Great!

[With a last smile she sees him off to the kitchen, taking his advice to make herself comfortable while she waits. She occupies herself at first unwrapping the bundle from the basket on his table to display the vegetables inside for his perusal, to let him see what was inside and help with any advice like she'd promised. A fresh selection of potatoes, a large head of cabbage, some carrots, onions, and early turnips... and the more "exotic" selection of a few fist-sized bamboo shoots and a handful of loquats. Not as large as the deliveries she'd promised to the charity ball winners, but enough to add green to a few meals.

By the time he returns, Konoha has also found a place on the floor beside the table. She lays just like a horse does and somehow simultaneously just like a human woman does, on her side with her hind legs tucked up against her belly and her forelegs curled, her hands resting on her knees and her spine lightly arched in her best posture. (She was a guest in someone else's house, after all!) The cushion he'd given her is tucked beneath her withers, used less to soften the floor and more like a stopper to make it easier to sit upright instead of follow the weight of her lower half further onto her side.

The tea he brings may be humble, but Konoha is country born and bred, and it's nice as or even nicer than what she's used to. Her enthusiasm is quite genuine, dark hands clapping together in delight at the sight of the tea and- even cookies?]

You made these? They look amazing!

[Konoha might be a talented cook, but baking seemed like an entirely different beast... These were almost too pretty to eat!]

[The oven is a piece of technology he had taken great joy in learning to use. More convenient, predictable and not to mention safer than ones that use fire.

And there have been many new recipes and cooking styles to try...even though Gu Yun's preference for food was mostly just 'meat'.

He didn't laugh but there's good humour in his eyes as he pours the tea for them both, every action is imbued with a natural sort of grace.]

You're too kind. It's only some homemade fare.

[They're also not very sweet. After all, the only other person in this home besides Chang Geng doesn't really like sweets.

Then he places her tea cup in front of her as well as a small plate.]

Please enjoy, Miss Konoha.

I'm supposed to be the one bringing you a present, Master Li Min!

[Just homemade fare, he says... ! Konoha is too impressed, even as she bows her head over her clasped hands in a quick prayer in thanks for the food before she gingerly reaches forward and picks up a cookie with both hands, treating it like a delicate treasure and admiring it before every angle before she takes as dainty a bite as she can manage, wanting to show her very best manners around someone who seemed as princely as her harvest voucher winner was...

But those manners fly out the window when her eyes light up in excitement, all but inhaling the rest of the treat and barely remembering to shield her mouth with her palm while she talks with her mouth still half-full.]

These are really good!

There's a limit to how much Zi Xi can eat on our own. So please think of it as letting me indulge in my hobbies.

[After all, the faster they finish these the sooner he could make a different batch.

He didn't come from a place where saying a quick prayer before eating is practised but he had heard of it being a thing that was done in other places.

So he waited for her to be done that before he sipped his tea.

Honestly, he would have told her that best manners are hardly necessary. If anything, her open enthusiasm was nice compared to the two-faced nobles in the capital. He was good at playing the game of politics, but he'd take this sort of interaction over the overly fussy court manners any day.]

I'm glad you enjoy them.

Well, in that case...

[She will... dig in. She still tries her best to maintain proper decorum- she may have been raised in the commonest of social castes, the humble rice farmer, but her parents had instilled in her a healthy respect for people she perceived as being in potentially higher classes. A consequence of living in a world where might made right and warriors were given license to cut down anyone beneath them for whatever offense they took.

Not that she thinks this person is like that- ! It's just instinct.]

Oh- !

[Another cookie and half a cup of tea later, though, she reaches over with a bit of a stretch to snag the end of the fabric the vegetables (and a bit of fruit) are sat on, using it to pull them closer.]

Does Master Li Min know all of these? I can explain any that are new for you!

[He would certainly be interested to hear about societal circumstances like that....though he'd hardly like it.

He sips at his own tea unhurriedly, but he's smiling as he watches her eat. He's not immune to feeling a little pride when his food is enjoyed.

He looks through the vegetables and fruits carefully with interest. He picks out the rhubarb.]

I don't think I've cooked with this before.

That one's kind of like a butterbur!

[Which... she belatedly realizes, wouldn't be helpful if he didn't know what a butterbur was...]

What I mean is... you can pickle them like plums if you want to, or serve them boiled with sauce... but they can also be used in sweets!

[Helpfully, she holds up a cookie (with a bite taken out of it).]

Like a jam... or in a muffin! I haven't tried the muffins, yet, because baking with wheat like they do here is so much harder than cooking, but I can vouch for all the other things!

[He listens carefully, giving her his full attention.]

I see. I haven't gotten a chance to try making jam yet. [He's pickled before back home, but jam is a new way of preserving food. Gu Yun isn't much into sweets but new ways of food preservation is always helpful to know.] Do you happen to have a recipe you'd recommend?

Definitely the pickles, if it was me! You can put them in your rice balls or eat them on their own, or flavor other dishes with it...

[Hmm... a hand goes to her chin in an almost too obviously-thoughtful expression, humming in thought.]

But you said Master Zi Xi doesn't like vegetables, right? If he likes meat, my neighbor told me that if you stew them with pork that they go well together, so maybe you could trick him into eating healthier that way?

[...Gu Yun also didn't particularly enjoy sour things. Alas.

His delight at hearing that suggestion is subtle but it's there in the way his expression brightens just a little. He leans forward, chin resting on one hand.]

That sounds like a wonderful idea. How long should they be stewed for?

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lumberlady - 2020-05-23 11:05 (UTC) - Expand

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I went and looked up May produce and I keep getting apricots and I'm like THAT'S A LIE.

no apricots only loquats... and they're 800 yen for FIVE SMALL ONES X(

No apricots until July!!! Also now I want loquats...orz

you and me both...

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