Erabast glanced over at Tenoar through the crowd. It was market day and Tenoar had been very excited about the opportunity to go see a human market with Erabast. Erabast himself didn't normally think much of the market; visiting it was simply a task that had to be done every week. For Tenoar however it was a grand adventure, as was everything it seemed to Erabast. Honestly he found it charming in spite of it making him want to laugh at the short sylvari almost constantly. This particular trip was becoming something more of an adventure than usual, it was always crowded and now Erabast was really noticing it as he was trying to keep track of a child sized companion. Hence the glancing back with frequency. Tenoar seemed quite comfortable however, he'd weave in and out of the throng to look closer at stalls and find his way back to Erabast's side just quietly enough to startle the man when he commented on the goods.
Tenoar seemed to have been waylaid this time however. Mr. Rochester, of course it was. The man was nothing if not a talker and Tenoar loved to listen. Well, perhaps it was for the best. Erabast signaled Tenoar that he would be back and went about actually getting the items he'd set out for; returning to the stall about 15 minutes later. Sure enough Rochester was still going. Tenoar had found a barrel to sit on and was listening intently to the man's opinion on that season's turnip crop. The man was also loading up a basket with "recommended" purchases. Erabast approached and eyed it critically. Tenoar had money, and Erabast wasn't normally one to interfere in other people's business but he felt a certain protectiveness for Tenoar, even if he'd only known him a week, and didn't want him to be taken advantage of. Tenoar noted Erabast's return however and slipped off the barrel and politely began excusing himself while removing items from the basket. He did leave some and was quite complimentary of them before turning to fallow Erabast.
"All done?" Tenoar asked. "Yes. You?" Erabast returned the question. Tenoar giggled. "Oh yes, that man was very helpful in telling me about things I should try while I'm here. And places I should visit on my way east." Erabast directed them down a side street to avoid the crowd at the Harrington produce stall. "Still planning on heading towards Hoelbrak?" he asked. "Oh yes, although I may stop in a place called Lion's Arch first. Practically everyone I meet seems to tell me to go there, including your father the other afternoon." Tenoar was staring at his feet, seemingly trying to step on only the gray stones as opposed to the ones with reddish hues. Erabast smiled. His father loved Lion's Arch, one of the best places in the world to meet people and trade stories. Yes, if it was what his father described Tenoar would like it. Erabast himself had never been there, he'd been born and raised in Divinity's Reach and beyond some Seraph postings in the Hinterlands and Queensdale he'd never left. Tenoar went on to share a story he'd heard from an Asura he'd met a couple days before who'd told him about Moa racing.
Erabast was on duty that evening, so an early dinner was planned. Erabast set about getting things together in the kitchen once they were back at the house while Tenoar flitted around him, helping and getting in the way in turn. He had only done a little bit of cooking before coming to Divinity's Reach, mostly consisting of burning things over camp fires on his trip, but he'd developed a mighty interest in learning more and was in the kitchen whenever Erabast was. Erabast himself was not exactly a great cook, but he could follow a recipe and showed Tenoar several he'd gotten from neighbors over the years. Tenoar had dutifully copied each one into one of his several notebooks; and in fact was doing so again at this moment as Erabast hadn't anything he could really help with tonight.
"Hey, can I try making these? I have most of the ingredients myself, I would just need to borrow some….flour and cinnamon if you have it?" Tenoar looked up. Erabast turned slightly from the counter. "You can have whatever you need. What are these though?" He asked. "Apple turnovers." Tenoar held up the recipe and grinned. He'd picked up quite a liking for apples cooked any which way it seemed to Erabast. He shrugged, he'd never tried that recipe himself, he hated baking. Tenoar took the motion as an affirmative and set about pulling things out of his basket. Tullius was sitting in a sort of cushioned chair in what they called the living room, though it was really just an extension of the kitchen, observing the proceedings. Tenoar began carefully laying out his ingredients in his usual style. Erabast wasn't paying much attention to him, only occasionally glancing over, that is until Tenoar got to the butter. He'd carefully set out two sticks, then grabbed a third. He unwrapped it and after a moment of examining it stuck it in his mouth and bit down. Erabast just stared. He'd seen Tenoar do some weird things in the past week and frankly showing surprise wasn't really in his make-up to begin with. He did very much want to see how this was going to go though. Tenoar tried to chew, made a thoughtful face and swallowed. So it went till he'd eaten the whole stick. He turned to Erabast when he was finished.
"….How was it?" Erabast asked. "It has a lovely texture." Tenoar said, smiling. Erabast raised one eyebrow. "Ok, seriously, why did you do that?" he asked. "Huh? Should I not have?" Tenoar looked concerned, he was afraid he'd done something offensive. "No, it's fine. Well, kind of gross I guess but…look, people don't normally just eat butter." Erabast tried to explain. "They don't? Mr. Rochester said it was the best food in Tyria." Tenoar was celearly confused. He saw no reason the butter should be any different from the bar of chocolate Erabast had given him yesterday or the banana he'd had in the Queensdale market. Erabast snorted and turned back to the sink with a smile. "Ok, that's debatable. But we don't typically just eat it regardless. It's meant to be an ingredient, or used like a condiment." Erabast dried the knife and put it in the rack.
"What's a condiment?" Tenoar asked. Erabast looked back at him. It was continually strange to him the things Tenoar did and did not know. He had been talking to Tullius about the history of Ascalon and knew some obscure generals' names because he'd read about them. He'd told Erabast and Tullius about how he knew about the Spirits of the Wild of the Norn and how to ice fish the moment he'd "awoken" because he'd seen them in The Dream, something Erabast still found baffling. Yet he didn't know what condiments were. Tullius was cracking up in his chair, having finally gotten over watching Tenoar eat a whole stick of butter. "I—look, I'll bring you home a book from the library on it later ok?" Erabast knew enough of Tenoar to know if he started explaining condiments it would lead to other questions and he wasn't prepared to teach anyone about cooking terminology. Tenoar tilted his head. "What's a library?"
Tullius leaned forward in his chair abruptly. "What?!" he bellowed. Tenoar jumped. Erabast just stared. Well, he knew where he was taking Tenoar tomorrow.