"Brrr... it's way cold out there, hahaha! I'm still amazed that there's so much snow so far north!"
"Pffpfpffft, o-of c-c-course y-you would b-be i-impressed, you n-n-nerd!" Naomi shot back at Damien through chattering teeth.
Skylar chuckled and looked past his teammates at the numerous snowflakes falling down outside the mouth of the cave, scanning around the shelter at the small bunch of winter clothes and canteens of water that everyone had discarded onto the floor. The flavorful scent of steaming stock wafted past his nose, and he took a sniff, his attention drawn back to the deep pot of bubbling broth that he had set over their campfire. A round of louder sniffles came from Hanae, who sat across from the burning logs, and the cream-furred beastwoman's tail wagged rapidly as she unconsciously lifted her nose higher and higher into the air, a smile of anticipation worming its way onto her muzzle. Skylar took a step back, glancing over his shoulder to make sure he didn't trip over his backpack or woolen fleece, quickly checking on the crates of food they had unloaded from the Procne.
"H-How is the hot p-pot coming along, S-S-Skylar?" Sahra asked, her usual seriousness intruded upon by a mild stammer, and she rubbed her fluffy, poofy mittens together to warm the fur-lined gloves up before returning them to her arms, tightening her grip as the heat sank through her overcoat. Skylar caught a glimpse of the sniper as he stirred their meal, frowning slightly when he noticed that she was still shivering, and he stirred the broth, gesturing at her with a shake of his head.
"Well, come over here and see for yourself," He replied, turning away and picking up his fleece, handing it to the young girl as she hopped to her feet and strode over. She peeked just over the edge of the handles of the pot, and the two explorers watched as a particularly large bubble formed, popping seconds later and sending a spatter of boiling liquid into the air. Sahra nodded once, moving back to her spot near the fire and snuggling into the still-warm fleece. Skylar turned away from the pot after stirring a couple more times, wiping his hands on his shirt before opening up one of the crates of preserved food and bending down to look inside. "So what should we have for tonight? I'm going to make some carrots, of course, but what kind of meat should we have? Pork? Beef?"
"B-B-Beef!" Naomi blurted out almost immediately, pounding a fist against the ground, and Skylar looked up just long enough to give the short-haired woman an amused stare, and she stared back at him eagerly in response. "I'm s-starving and I-I d-d-don't c-care wh-what you think, j-just get s-something s-s-s-started already, dammit! I s-say beef! What d-do y-you guys w-want?"
"Huh? Oh, food!" Damien said excitedly once he took off his earmuffs, turning around and jogging back over to the campfire, skidding to a stop and promptly sitting down, letting his satchel fall to the stone floor, the various medicines inside jostling around noisily. "How about that dark pork we've been saving, that'd be great for a cold day like this!"
"Okay... some frozen flanksteaks... and some of the pork cutlets..." Skylar muttered under his breath, picking out both packs of wrapped-up meat, putting them down next to the box and looking over at his other teammates. "Hanae, Sahra? Anything you want?"
Sahra shook her head, undoing her red hairband and stuffing it away in one of her belt pockets – carrots were her favorite , Skylar thought, and he said he was going to make those anyway – but Hanae gently raised a hand, brushing a long blonde sidelock behind her shoulder as she waved at her fellow explorer. "Um, could you get me one of those apples we picked earlier?"
"Huh? Oh, sure thing, if that's what you want," Skylar blinked, then moved to another crate and opened it up, his face brightening as he reached inside and pulled out a firm, fist-sized red apple. "This looks like a good one. I might try one of them myself sometime later."
He grabbed some baby carrots as well, gathering them up in his other arm, along with the pork and beef, and walked back over to the campfire, which continued to roar pleasantly. He gently tossed the fruit over to his teammate, and the bushi reached out and caught it as it descended, smiling modestly at her friend as he knelt down and started to unwrap the rest of the food. Hanae waited for a moment before biting into her snack, and everyone, including her, jumped in surprise as a loud crunch bounced across the walls of the cavern. The beastwoman shrank back slightly in embarrassment as the other four explorers turned to look at her, and Skylar relaxed, sending her a wink and a thumbs-up; she bowed her head even lower at the friendly gesture, but he could see a shy smile on her muzzle.
The explorer finally pulled away the closest paper trappings to the meat, pulling a few of them out from under the packages and handing them to his friends to serve as their dishes, and he drew his sword, sparkling and squeaky-clean thanks to the snow falling outside. Holding his hand against the frozen food, he adjusted his grip on his weapon, sticking his elbow upward as he began to slice the chunks of flanksteak into thinner pieces, footsteps and fidgeting going on behind him. He heard a slight tinking noise of metal, and looked over at the hot pot, Sahra blocking it from view as she stirred the broth within. Skylar reached out and tapped the young girl's shoulder with his knuckles, nodding gratefully. "Thanks, Sahra, but I'm not sure it really needed to be stirred much more."
"It was about to boil over a little," She replied smoothly, shuffling around the campfire to let her teammate get a better look. The swordsman recoiled a little when he spotted a couple dribbles of stock running down the outside of the pot, lingering at the bottom before falling into the campfire.
"Oh." Skylar chuckled, looking back at the beef and continuing to carve it, easing a few slices off of his blade and onto the wrapping. "Heh, well, thank you even more, then."
"Sahra, do you think the Procne will be okay in this weather?" Hanae asked between bites of her apple, the claws on her feet scratching against the rough stone, wallet jingling slightly on her scabbard as her weapon started to skid down the wall, and she grabbed it and lay it fully on the floor. "I was... worried about what could happen if too much piled on top of the balloon while we were flying."
"B-bah, you worry too m-m-much, Hanae! I-It's a h-hot air ballo-on, it'll b-be fine!" Naomi blurted out before Sahra could reply, and the sniper kept quiet, tapping the spoon against the pot before stirring some more. The tip of the utensil touched the bottom of the deep dish, drawing circles on the metal, and Skylar let the steady noise fade a bit in the back of his mind as he moved from the beef to the pork cutlets, wiping the dirtied blade against the leg of his pants before cutting the end piece off.
"Hanae does have a point," Sahra said coolly. "The heat of the balloon means it can melt the snow that lands on it while we fly. If the snow falls too heavily, though, it might cool the Procne enough that we wouldn't be able to ascend."
"What?" Naomi exclaimed. "And if that happens, what'cha gonna do about it, then?"
"Keep flying until we find a weaker area of the storm, of course. That's all we could do."
Skylar looked over at his teammates when he got halfway through the pork cutlets, picking a couple pieces off of the tip of his sword with his thumb and forefinger. Damien's nose was stuck firmly in his journal, occasionally peeking back up to check outside again, while Hanae, Naomi and Sahra discussed the skyship. The swordsman nodded absently and turned back to the frozen food, letting his mind starting to wander a bit onto the topic as well. It was still the middle of spring, so the thought of how a skyship would perform in the colder weather had never really crossed his mind...
"Does it snow around Tharsis in the winter?" He thought aloud, and he shook himself back to reality when he realized he had actually spoken, stepping away from the chopped-up meat and cleaning his sword again. He glanced over at the other explorers, sheathing his weapon and smiling sheepishly. "Er, sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. Food's ready, so I'm going to start cooking now. Thanks for keeping an eye on the broth, Sahra."
"You're welcome, Skylar," Sahra replied, stepping to the side and cleaning her goggles against her overcoat, the steam having fogged the lenses while she worked. Skylar grabbed his backpack and opened it up, rifling through extra medicine bottles and other supplies before checking a different pocket and pulling out a bundle of sticks. "And yes, Tharsis does see snow sometimes, but it never falls this heavily or strongly."
"Yeah, this weather is weird. I bet this whole bunch of mountains is completely icebound!" Damien remarked, looking up from his journal.
Skylar nodded, spearing some pork, some beef, and some carrots on one skewer and bringing them over to the hot pot, using the other skewer to sweep them, one by one, into the stock. They slid easily into the liquid without even a tiny splash, instantly melting the trace amounts of ice that still clung to the preserved meats. The explorer eyed the food for a second or two before putting his chopsticks down, unraveling the rest of them from the bundle and passing them out to everyone. Naomi took two pairs, growling under her breath as she handed one to Damien.
"Well, shit, that's just w-wonderful," The fortress swore, scooting closer to the campfire and holding out her hands, letting the heat hit her armor as much as it could, and she took a quick peek at their dinner, holding her chopsticks ready for whenever everything was ready to eat. Hanae did the same, breathing into her palms and kneeling down on the other side of the fire, and Naomi glanced at the beastwoman, giving her a wary glare and jabbing out with her utensils. "D-Don't even think about it, Hanae! You've got your fur coat to help you keep warm, I got nothing!"
"It... it isn't that helpful, you know..." Hanae replied, her ears drooping slightly as she let her arms fall into her lap. She looked into the hot pot as well, tilting her head as she watched the curling pieces of meat, letting her long hair fall down the back of her padded dress. "Besides, it looks like there's a little of everything cooking."
"It's probably done cooking," Skylar added, eyes flicking between his two friends before he reached into the pot with his own skewers and pulled out some flanksteak, making sure he had a good grip on it before gesturing towards the papers he had given to everyone earlier. They paused for a moment, unsure of what he meant, but Damien was the first to catch on, grabbing his small bunch of wrappings and holding them out – the swordsman smiled appreciatively, giving the food to the medic. "Alright, the sooner we finish this serving, the sooner I can put some more in."
Realization dawned on the other three explorers, and Skylar grinned as he passed the rest of the food out to them. Carrots for Sahra, who nodded once and sat back down, pork for Naomi, who snorted triumphantly and shoved the entire piece into her mouth, and the other slice of steak for Hanae, who smiled demurely, whispering 'thank you' before taking a small nibble of her food. The conversation dropped off as the five of them ate their meal, sounds of contented chewing and slurping accompanying the comfortable silence.
Skylar took the last bit of food, the second piece of rolled-up pork, and dangled it in front of his mouth, holding his other hand under his chin as he bit into the meat and let go of it with the chopsticks. He flinched as the food unfurled, slipped from the sticks and bounced against him, and he grunted, scrunching his eyes shut as broth splattered into his face. He waited for a moment or two before picking the hanging end of his food up and closing his lips over it without looking, the tender meat and bland liquid sending a pleasant savoury taste along his tongue. He took a few more bites, tearing the pork cutlet apart with ease, and cleaned himself off on his shirt's sleeve before peering around the cavern again.
The swordsman felt his face redden when he saw his teammates staring at him in confusion, and he bashfully ran his fingers through his hair, quickly chewing and swallowing his share. Looking over at the rest of the chopped meat and tiny carrots, he grabbed some more of everything and eased it into the pot, which went from a boil to a simmer from the influx of cold food.
"This is good, Skylar," Hanae said, and he looked over at the beastwoman, who was dabbing at her mouth with the side of her hand. Her tail wagged back and forth, dusting the floor of the cave, and she opened her mouth to say something, then stopped and thought. "Mmm... even though we've all been exploring for more than three months now, you haven't cooked very much, have you?"
"Ah...? Hmm." Skylar paused, taking hold of the stirring spoon and gently moved the food and broth around, scooping some out and letting it fall back into the hot pot. He chuckled slightly and tapped the spoon on the rim of the dish, sending a couple lingering drops of stock off of the utensil. "Heh, I guess you're right. Though we haven't really had to find shelter out in the wilderness much, have we? We normally get back to Tharsis in time to eat at the inn."
"Hell yeah we do, and I dunno about you, but I'm all the better for it! Dalla's the best damn cook around this neck of the woods!" Naomi cheerfully declared, stabbing her chopsticks skyward with gusto, and the knight stomped over and snatched up another hunk of meat, walking away without another word – mainly because she had already started eating again.
"Maybe, but I like this a lot too... it's different from what Dalla makes. Um, in a good way, I mean." Hanae continued, her voice quiet as she scooted closer to the pot, and Skylar noticed her eyes lingering on the swirling broth, scouting out the food, looking carefully for something to pick for herself. The swordsman reached out and scratched behind the bushi's ear, and she tensed up, relaxing almost immediately afterward and leaning into her friend's palm, smiling sweetly. "We should... camp out like this more often."
"I think so too, yeah! This really is good, I like it a lot too!" Damien piped up, taking a drink from his canteen and walking over, nodding enthusiastically.
The hot pot was starting to boil again when the white-coated man squatted down and peered inside, and a few bubbles burst in quick succession, making the man yelp and cover his face just in time. He stumbled onto his backside, sheepishly licking the backs of his singed hands, his pained expression twisting into a cheerful one from the taste of the broth. Skylar couldn't help but smie broadly at the compliments, looking back when Naomi and Sahra nodded as well, following after their teammates. All five of the explorers huddled around their dinner, and Skylar raised his chopsticks.
"Thanks, everyone..." He gave Hanae's ear one last scratch before pulling away. "Let's eat!"
They all dove at the hot pot at once, laughter and cries of triumph ringing around the cavern as they fished around for food, the campfire's warmth and meal's scent driving away the thought of the snowstorm that continued to rage outside.