The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 481 - The Flavor Of Distance Is Kind Of Yeasty
Taking a deep breath, Elua’s voice still came out a little shaky. There was a reason she prepared all of this in the safety of her cultivation chamber at the estate.
"When she uses it, she gets... unrealistically colorful educational demonstrations that should only appeal to children. With lots of repetitive examples spaced out in... in..."
"In what?"
"Vocal and somatic... sing-along calisthenic reinforcement sessions..."
He blinked at the technical description, not quite sure why she was so embarrassed - though her entire spirit was *clearly* radiating it. But before he could even ask, her lecture voice, complete with a defensive tone, began as she hopped back up to her feet and paced away to drag some of that excessive pressure along with her.
"Initial cultivation requires they start to understand abstract concepts of energy flow and spiritual awareness. A four-year-old’s attention span is a flickering candle waiting to be blown out unless you make it truly engaging. The songs I made up when I heard mother was pregnant immerse her in the information while maintaining some entertainment value."
He hadn’t said anything back yet, but she spun around and pointed at his face anyway. Like it was his fault she was so worked up. Like she had not just admitted she had been so excited for the child she didn’t even touch for most of the first year of its life.
"It’s a sound method for any pedagogue!"
"...Was that a pun?"
The father couldn’t tell if she was mortified to admit she came up with children’s songs... or if it was building to this joke the whole time. Either way she clearly wanted to disperse herself into so much ash on the wind... after he straightly pointed it out. So he just shook his head and moved along. There were other more pressing matters to attend to, still. And he was sure she could get ahold of herself on her own.
"Ah. Yes. Our cook sent some prepared dishes for you. And some ingredients that will keep. He insisted on figuring out how to pack at least a week’s worth of variety for your old appetite. Aleck was carrying them."
"Hence the barrel... I thought he was just engaged in some sort of strange training. You know, I wasn’t expecting to see him. If he wants a favor, I’m a little occupied at the moment with..."
Her hand waved around the whole of everything. She was willing to make time to spend with her father, but things within the Astral Exclave were getting closer and closer to that almost ninety-percent complete-to-plan point. Wherein the final ten would take nearly the same amount of time and thrice the amount of effort. Seeking ’sufficient’ was easy, but seeking *perfection* in all the details was where the artisan’s full muster of resolution really lie.
All of that thought went out the window when Ondua retrieved one carefully wrapped bundle from his travel pack. Something made just that very morning and placed, rather excessively he had thought, in an artifact box said to block spiritual perception. However, as he pulled away the cloth from the clear crystal container, he watched his still sweet, sixteen year old daughter’s face crumble into so many emotions as recognition dawned.
"Qat also made you bread."
The words he spoke were unnecessary. Mint eyes had already locked onto the loaf, onto the line of decorations on top that made it clear. Two little sugar and menthol ’gemstones’ had been placed on the brown spiced bread. Not for taste, just for the message it would send to her ’mintdrop’. She clutched the box protectively to her chest even as her senses and face turned to something a bit distant.
"Yes, there is more of it from her in the barrel, too. Really, she knows you too well. Almost word for action did she describe what you would do right now. Your spiritual sense really is incredibly sharp."
"This only makes me feel more and more like he was sent with some kind of request in mind. Because now I have this feeling of gratitude aligned with him that I would not have had if you brought it."
"You wouldn’t have given me credit if I was the one carrying the barrel?!"
Only a third of his outcry was based in a real feeling. But a hundred percent of the flat and brutal tone out of his once ’sweet’ girl was... pure rascal theater.
"Hm? No. It’s your duty to feed me as my guardian, right? I can be grateful you are not a bad dad, but why be especially grateful over every little proper interaction that we have?"
"It’s scary that I wouldn’t be able to tell if you hid your spirit."
"Wrong again, father. It’s only scary that you know I can hide it. There is a subtle difference."
Opening the container, she breathed in the smell deeply before pushing away the little candies. Elua took the spiced loaf in hand and her eyes fluttered closed as she took a single bite that made her whimper with a tremor in her shoulders. It was the noise of someone tasting something from home after too long away. Of someone touching on a connection they’d been denied, no matter that it was her own choice. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
Elua’s breath shuddered as she swallowed. Her eyes opened, bright glowing mint and watery, but accompanied by a smile that fought against any sort of happy crying. Though it just made her question come out a bit unsteady as she fought to not slam her feelings across everyone in the estate.
"Has she been practicing all this time without writing to me about it? Or does it taste this good merely because I want it to?"
From not far away from the open doorway, Dima froze mid-step. The branch manager had been approaching to ask about the sleeping arrangements despite Madrigil’s correct explanation... which she felt she should not take as ’local law’. However, that question the girl just asked her father struck something in her chest.
She’d thought nearly the same thing about Klaytei’s cooking in the past. After weeks apart on Guild business, coming home to find that the servant of the Goltbred household had prepared specific dishes that she liked. And Dima had wondered if she had been tasting some genuine improvement in them... or if the absence was what flavored everything in even more delicious flavors.
The parallel was uncomfortable. This was a girl desperately in love and missing her spouse. And it was also absolutely undeniable... that she tended to miss her time with a single woman that treated her with kindness, who didn’t seem to want anything but spending that time together.
’She... loves... Elua?’
Dima retreated silently as she *finally* began to question that sentiment. That those words had never been *stated*. The woman decided sleeping arrangements could wait, because she might not be able to sleep tonight in the first place.
⟠ ⟠ ⟠
Inside the sitting room, Ondua watched the first two, slow, deliberate bites before picking up a nearby book and glimpsing through. It was more technical and intriguing than he expected, so he was a bit startled when the empty box was waved in front of his face, the two mint-drops rolling around and clacking on its sides.
"You didn’t answer me earlier. Has she been practicing?"
"She’s gotten quite good at baking. There is even a raffle in her town for access to the Warden Patrician’s bread as she makes it every other day and in limited batches. But she didn’t start up again until Yatrel left, which is probably why you-"
"Why are you not saving every single crumb for my return, father?"
Her spirit seemed entirely serious and he could do nothing but frown and think just as seriously.
"Because it would mold and rot well before then, dear."
"Then compost it and grow a vegetable garden that I can eat from later!"
"You must be joking!"
"I am! But I’m also not!"
Sighing and closing the book, he pat her clenched fist at her side. Both of them deserved each other, he thought. But both of them were ridiculous!
"She spent an entire day doing nothing but kneading dough and monitoring ovens. Your mother was watching over her and said she barely spoke during the whole process, just worked with complete focus until she selected the outcomes down to what she felt were the best results. It made enough to feed an army before we left. Gave the excess away to the growing city."
"Qat..."
Her smile returned and trembled. With visible effort, she sat the mostly empty container on the cushion she had sat on before. Her back turned to him, making him frown at that exposed lumbar region and thin vertical strip that showed the bumps of her spine. Especially when he could imagine his daughter-in-law happily settling her hand possessively on that lower back...
"I should share it with everyone. Our cook’s dishes too. Give everyone a proper final meal before you have to get used to what I can provide here. Have nice conversations. Be a good host..."
Ondua’s hand moved over his suit’s inner pocket before he could stop himself. The note Qat had tucked into the bread package had contained instructions to share, to play nice, to build connections with others instead of focusing only on *building*... crinkled against his fingers. For he’d stolen it out of the box, unable to resist testing a small theory.
"That’s very considerate of you. I’m sure they’ll enjoy it."
He didn’t quite know how she filtered all her reasoning through ’What Would Qatrand Do?’, but watching his daughter arrive at the ’conclusion’ Qat had written... without any prompting or *instruction*, filled him with warmth and confirmed everything he’d always suspected. He’d never had an ounce of reason to fear his little girl making bad choices - intentionally.
"Why do you sound and feel ’smug’?"
"No reason. Just proud of my daughter and her open hospitality."
Ondua’s smile was utterly unrepentant as he proved, just like Qatrand had argued with Corde hez Iralev, that Elua was also a *partner* and not a puppet. The look on his face was the very kind that El knew she would make in any situation in which she had the upper hand on *some* sort of information that the other party did not. Though she would only make it if she wanted them to know...
"Dad."
"Hm?"
"What did you do?"
He produced the note with a flourish like she had been doing when making her Illusions, watching her expressions cycle as she read it. The Hero stood, feeling a specific kind of triumphant for the first time in years. He wasn’t sure he had ever ’gotten one over’ on Elua!
"I bet on the good nature and upbringing of my eldest. Lets go before you decide to be contrary and hoard it just to get back at me."
"I wouldn’t... okay, I would, but not with this in hand! Besides, it wouldn’t be hoarding to ration it so I gain the most enjoyment for the longest amount of time..."
"Klaytei and your fox opened many of your food hiding places. You are a hoarder, dear."
"It’s just resource optimization over long lengths of time, accounting for periods of famine and-"
They argued pleasantly and senselessly all the way to the main hall. For all her ancient knowledge, the father knew his little girl was still very much the same as she’d always been at heart. And even better, in his mind, that she was not *always* being sweet despite her feelings - or always bringing up Qat despite them!
