Snippet #1849050

Chloe, Kore thought. It was nice name, almost - lyrical sounding. She watched the girl as Conor paused in his speech. She had sat down next to a young man, rather handsome, blonde, with attractive green eyes. He slipped an arm around her, and there was something - not quite right - about the whole thing. Chloe didn't look at the guy, and he hardly looked at her. Both instead conversed with other members of the group, staying close, but seemingly not to connect with each other.

Conor's continued speech pulled Kore's attention back to him. He was apologizing. It brought her memory back to her lie, and, though it was still funny, she now looked at the more serious part of it.

Conor had lied.

She looked at him, waiting for him to finish the explanation, but he just trailed off. Kore considered saying something, maybe a little more direct, to force an answer from him, but before she could figure out what, the young man - the waiter - came back to their table. He was pushing a small cart with two plates on it and two glasses of cold water.

He stopped in front of them and placed one of the dishes in front of Kore, saying as he did so, "The Tuscani Meaty Marinara for you, Miss." Kore looked down at her dish. It was very bright, red and yellow, the mix of meat and tomato sauce thoroughly combined with fresh pasta. The smell was incredible, and just taking a breath made Kore feel like she was sitting at a grand table with a large fire at the end, attending a banquet -

She frowned.

A banquet? A banquet for - who? Celebrating - what?

Her eyes closed for a moment as the waiter put Conor's dish in front of him - another salty, savory scent - and then talked to Conor for a moment. She could see smoke in her mind - many different colors, each other lots of different scents. Words - droning mostly or cried in high-pitched, feverish chants. Arms raised towards -

Pain ran through her mind, and Kore gave the task up. It hurt too much - and besides, she had food in front of her. She returned her attention to the dish, a small smile crossing her face - it felt like a novelty almost.

Without bothering to explore the feeling, Kore picked up her fork and poked it into the dish. She scooped a small piece out and popped it into her mouth.

Instantly, her mouth started to burn - the piece had been small but probably fresh prepared and very, very hot.

As a reaction, Kore swallowed as quickly as she could, wincing as the food scalded her throat on the way down. The pain quickly faded, and she could feel places on her tongue where it felt like the taste buds had been singed, but even those were fading quickly - they were healing. She reached for her glass of water and took several quick sips, relieving the rest of the pain caused by the dish. When it was okay again, she looked at the dish and hesitated. It smelled so good...

Kore gave it another try, this time lifting the fork to her mouth slowly, giving it a light blow, and then carefully lowering it into her mouth. She chewed - and swallowed. The taste was a bit salty, but still savory and absolutely delicious to Kore's new taste buds. She took another bite, then looked up at Conor and smiled, her eyes crinkling a bit. "It's really, really good." She paused for a moment and then added, "Thank you!"