Chapter 8: Tiingilar
With Mako and Gault still taking care of their own personal business while they were docked at the fleet, Phystte lazed about the ship in her cabin. The repairs had gone quickly and she even had the credits to spring for some of the maintenance work she'd been putting off. The door gonged loudly with the sound of a fist knocking on metal. Phystte set the blaster she'd been toying with back on the built in shelf next to her bunk and rolled out of bed. Opening the heavy hatched door just slightly, she saw Torian standing in the bay. She smiled and opened the door wider. He wore a thick pale blue shirt with a short collar that brought out the blue in his eyes and simple brown trousers. Phystte admired the get up, quite the change from him running around in full battle armor.
"Hey, what's up?" Phystte asked as she finished looking him over.
"Just wanted to know if you're doing anything tonight," Torian brought up in that soft unassuming voice of his. She had to repress herself from jumping up and down like some giddy fool girl and leaned nonchalantly against the entrance instead. Really, why would such a simple question make her feel all bubbly inside?
"Nothing that I wouldn't be willing to reschedule," Phystte replied, trying to keep her voice casual to match his cool collectiveness.
"Jate. Finally got what I needed to make you dinner, if you're still interested."
"Real Mandalorian food cooked up by my favorite Mandalorian… how could I pass that up?" She smirked, while inwardly suppressing her desire to toss her arms around his neck and plant him with kisses right there as well as scold him for taking so long to finally ask her out to a night all their own. "So when do I meet you for the meal?"
"As soon as you're ready," Torian stated. "We should leave to go planet side. Got a spot on Dromund Kaas waiting for us."
"What's on Dromund Kaas?" Phystte asked curiously, immediately grabbing her pistols off the table and holstering them beneath her vest. She usually dressed down on the ship and right now wore a simple beige wrap-shirt with a worn dark leather vest and navy trousers. Her dark leather boots were supple compared to her heavy armored ones and much more comfortable for walking around the city in. Spending the day with him would be even better than just dinner and if Torian was really planning on taking her as soon as she was ready, then she'd be ready in a damn hurry.
"Old Mando camp a few clicks from the city. Usually a base for hunts, but with war brewing it'll be sparse," Torian told her.
"Sounds perfect," Phystte smiled, loading up her pockets with a few extra creds just in case. "I'm ready whenever you are."
"Jate. Let's head out then," he said.
Once they got planet-side, Torian insisted on carrying everything himself, his pack swollen with whatever it was he needed. Phystte couldn't help but think he had half a boma in there and wondered what the hell tiingilar could be if it needed a whole pack to carry it. He didn't strain under the weight though and she'd realized that compared to lugging, not to mention fighting, in over 16 kilos of heavy armor that carrying a simple pack would be next to nothing for the man. So she took to enjoying lush jungle of Dromand Kaas as they hiked. The vines swirling down out of canopy trees like long lazy snakes, the various brown and green fuzzy mosses that covered everything from the thick gnarly tree trunks to the large boulders and their brood of smaller rocks spread haphazardly around them like little stone children.
The dull-grayed sky did nothing to dampen her feeling of excitement. And though it appeared to look overcast and rainy, she knew that today's cloud cover wasn't the kind to threaten rain here so much as to continue to block the intense rays of the system's sun. It kept the trail from growing too hot and even if it did get too peaked all the leaf cover would shade them near completely. A swift breeze trickled down from the mountain, chilling her every now and then and keeping her from getting too sweaty on their trip, for which she was thankful for. They'd been hiking the better part of an hour when she finally couldn't take the curiosity of his large pack much longer. She fell back a few steps and tiptoed up while she walked, trying to lift up the flap to peek inside. Torian whirled around quickly and gave her a scolding glare while walking backwards.
"You need something?" She could have swore she saw a flash of a smile before he regained his composure, but it was there and gone again so quickly Phystte wondered if she had only wanted him to smile and perhaps he really hadn't.
"Just wondering what kind of dinner could possibly fill up an entire pack," Phystte joked, tipping up again to show her interest.
"It's a surprise," Torian replied without any embellishment and turned back around. Phystte jogged a little to catch up with his long strides, something she was quite used to doing, especially on missions. The Mandalorian was definitely a goal oriented man, always on the move toward something ahead of him. She briefly wondered if that's how he felt about her, a goal to achieve, then thought better of it because had that been the case he wouldn't have taken so long to get around to making her dinner like he'd offered nearly a month ago.
"Really?" Phystte cooed curiously now. "A good surprise I hope."
"That's the plan," Torian added. They came up one last rise and he stopped, looking over the old campsite. "We're here."
The site was clean, a few sturdy semi-permanent tents scattered across the grounds placed purposefully beneath large sturdy shade trees. The grounds appeared to be somewhat maintained and cleared, far less leaf litter and stray plant life grew inside the camping area, though bits of weeds that Phystte always felt looked more like wildflowers were growing happily against many of the tent's sides and turned over logs used for seating. A slick little stream passed through on the northwest side that she guessed might only come up to her knees and a place in the center of the camp was clearly set up for a bonfire, the large pit lined with stones and blackened from many previous uses. Many smaller fire pits dotted in front or slightly off to the side of the tents, marking this as an active hunting retreat. She wondered at who the Mandalorians left responsible to make sure their site wasn't overrun by the jungle or its dangerous wildlife then figured that if all Mandos were even half like Torian, anyone who came here would pitch in to keep it in good working order.
As if proving her point, Phystte spotted a pair of Mandos on the far side of the camp, leaning against a rock stationed next to a smaller tent, or perhaps the tent had been placed near the large boulder. They sat casually eating what looked to be plain old military rations. From the shadows of a few days hair growth on their faces, she guessed they'd been out here hunting for a little while, for what she couldn't imagine, but then Mandalorian culture still confused her at times. Torian held up a hand to them and they did the same in a passing sort of wordless greeting. Phystte wondered vaguely if she should have hailed them in the same way as well. Instead she just followed Torian across to a decent looking tent, the most complete and comfortable looking of the bunch.
"Hunted here with Jogo a while back, before Mandalore sent us to track the Beast. Good spot. Upwind, clean. Thought you might like it," he said while pulling off his pack. Phystte looked around for a clear spot to sit, the grounds were mostly composed of dirt and smaller pebbles and she was on her way to take a seat on what she hoped was a softer patch of soil when Torian stopped her. He smiled just barely and pulled a tarp colored cloth from his pack, shook it out, and set it neatly across the ground. Phystte grinned and put a hand on her hip.
"Well, aren't you getting all fancy on me. Didn't know we were having a romantic picnic," she flirted before sitting down on the blanket. While it didn't soften the ground much, it did keep her pants from getting dusty and she consciously turned to keep her boots off as to not dirty their sitting place.
"Wouldn't be much of a dinner if I didn't try to impress you," Torian stated simply, without his usual shrug this time though which she took as a good sign.
"Consider me impressed so far," Phystte smiled.
"Jate," he replied as he emptied the pack. A couple pots, some plates, utensils, provisions for the fire, spices, and sealed bags of food were all arranged neatly as he pulled each out and set it down. He started the fire in a pit seemingly used quite often just for that particular use, the heat waves taking pleasant passes at her between the slight whooshes of a breeze. Phystte watched him intently as he set up his work station. Torian rolled up his sleeves revealing his muscular forearms. Most of the prep work looked done for the meal, everything was sealed air-tight in various bags. Some of the vegetables she recognized even chopped, other bags she wasn't so sure. The meat looked fresh, bright pinkish red and appetizing. Phystte felt her mouth water and not just at the food.
"What's that?" Phystte asked, curious about the ingredients.
One side of his mouth quirked up as he responded, "It's a surprise."
"You're full of those today, aren't you? Got any more for me?"
"Wouldn't be surprises if I told you," Torian grinned fully now, his face lighting up like a boy getting his first blaster. Phystte felt her pulse race. She'd never seen him smile so openly before. It made something in her stomach flutter excitedly and she desperately wanted him to do it again. Instead, he turned his attention to the fire and his pot, opening the bags and tossing in the contents in calculated form. First the meat and a lot of spices. Phystte leaned back onto her elbows and studied him while inhaling the delectable scent. The smell wafted up through the air, piquant and exotic to her nose. Only a couple of the herbs could she make out, the rest or maybe their combination, remained a mystery. She noted after a few minutes the other two Mandolorians on the other side of the camp were giving Torian envious glances. For the food or for her, she wondered. Either way, Phystte took that as a good sign.
"So, you going to teach me how to make this tiingilar?" She asked.
"Depends…" Torian answered, glancing over at her just briefly before turning back to the food and adding a few more bags of ingredients. New tangy scents from the vegetables tickled her nose and she wondered why Torian had said that it would be a challenge to survive eating a plate of this stuff. So far, it smelled magnificent.
"On what?" Phystte added when he didn't elaborate.
He chuckled a little. "On whether you survive your first plate."
Her brows pursed in suspicion. "Wait… there's not something poisonous in this tiingilar, is there?"
"Nayc. Nothing like that. You'll see," Torian answered.
The meal didn't take too long to cook and the dish seemed fairly simple to make aside from knowing what to put into it. He pulled out a bag of some fluffy yellow grain and spread a little on their plates then added a few heaping scoops of the steaming hot tiingilar on top. The dish, red and speckled with the purples, whites, and greens of the vegetables, looked delicious. Phystte inhaled the scent, tangy with a bit of sweetness. After a good hike and smelling the food while it cooked, she was famished. Torian's previous warnings seemed completely unfounded. And the eager looks on the other Mandos' faces only proved to her that this was going to be one hell of a scrumptious meal.
"Is there anything special we need to do before we eat this?" Phystte asked as he handed her the plate.
"Not really," Torian admitted. He handed her a fork and grinned miscieviously. "Haili cetare!"
Phystte smiled recognizing the cheer common in Mando celebrations, "Haili cetare!"
She put a little bit on her fork, noting that Torian watched her intently. Phystte wondered if there really wasn't some sort of ceremonious way she was supposed to eat this between Torian's and the other two Mandalorian's intense stares. Tentatively, she put it in her mouth. It exploded with flavor, pungent and tangy with just a hint of sweetness. If surviving this was a challenge, she wondered what the rest of Mandalorian food tasted like.
"Torian! This is amazing!" For some reason he looked worried instead of happy as she shoveled another bite and then another, her hunger winning out on her.
"Wayii! You should probably slow down!" Torian said alarmingly.
Phystte took another bite, "What are you talking about? This is…"
Suddenly she stopped, her body nearly lurching back from the impact. Phystte doubled over, feeling like she'd just taken a blaster to the chest point blank. Immediately she was wracked with a coughing fit, her eyes tearing up and the back of her throat burning up through her nose like she'd swallowed molten lava and was breathing and snorting fire. She barely set the plate down before her hands were too alarmed to do more than drop it and fanned her face. "Water…. Water!"
Torian was trying hard not to laugh but the other two Mandalorians didn't have the same reservations and were laughing whole heartedly as Phystte leapt up to her feet and frantically whipped around, looking for the canteens they'd brought with them while coughing, crying, and waving at her face as if the mere breeze could help curb the intense burning her entire face and that was now starting to extend throughout her body. She gave up trying to withhold her reaction or even tone it down for the sake of appearances and let herself hack, cry, and panic all at the same time.
"Torian! Where's the water?!" Phystte managed to get out between her coughing, tears streaming down her cheeks. She wiped at them absently with her shirt sleeve while searching hysterically for the bottle of precious liquid.
"Nayc, nayc! That'll only make it worse!" Torian chuckled, pulling out a piece of something from a bag. Phystte ignored him and found the canteen. She pounced it like it were a living thing about to escape her grasp. Just as she put the precious bottle to her mouth, he snatched it away and gave her a little piece of some kind of bread. Smiling, he pushed it into her hand and Phystte shoved it in her mouth between the coughs. The other two Mandos were rolling over themselves with laughter now and Phystte shot them a glare while Torian let off another chuckle. "Shouldn't have eaten so much like that."
She pointed at them angrily and started to say something but was overcome with another coughing fit. One of them held a hand to his ear playfully then shrugged when she couldn't answer, his grin plastered widely over his face. Torian's hands went to her waist to help support her as she choked and coughed. He brushed a rebellious strand of hair from her face and Phystte held onto his shoulders as she tried to chew between hacking her lungs out. The tiingilar laid siege to her sinuses all the way down to her stomach. Everything felt like it had burst into flames, her lungs, her heart, her face. For a good ten minutes she hacked and chewed the bread, swallowed and took deep breaths, then coughed again and repeated the cycle. Finally, when her cheeks had returned to a more normal color instead of the bright red it had been and the inferno in her body died down to smoking coals she looked accusingly at Torian.
"You knew this would happen!" She scolded.
"Told you to think of it as a challenge," he smiled.
"You also told me I had to eat the whole plate," Phystte argued. Torian gave her a look that said the challenge wasn't over and that she did. "Wait. You can't be serious. I have to eat the whole plate?"
"You get used to it," he tried to reassure her.
"How the hell do you get used to eating food that burns your insides out?!" Phystte couldn't believe he actually intended her to finish the dish. The other two Mandos had been reduced to just slight chuckles now and again. With her voice back, though a bit hoarse and raspy from her coughing, she called out to them. "I'd like to see you two eat this stuff without dying!"
They waved at her as if to say no thanks and Phystte put her hand on her hip. "Oh I see how you Mandos are! You can dish it out but you can't take it!"
"That a challenge?" Torian asked with a smirk.
"Yeah," Phystte said assertively and instantly regretted it.
Torian sat down and took a casual bite of tiingilar. Then another, then another. His face didn't flush. He didn't cough. He didn't even take a bite of that heat dimming bread. He'd be long done before she'd even get half way through if she didn't sit down and start eating now. Taking a seat again, she put the plate in her lap and looked up into his eyes. Torian grinned and pointed at her plate with his fork and made eating motions. Phystte laughed lightly, shaking her head and wondering what she'd just gotten herself into and scooped up a bit. Bracing herself, she took the bite.
He must have taken it easy on her because it took them the better part of an hour for her to finish and he only took a bite of his food when Phystte looked capable of taken one herself. She'd eaten nearly the whole bag of that life-saving bread to help her combat the heat, so she was certain she had to be far more stuffed than Torian was. Her body burned so constantly now that the last bites hardly made a difference, though she longed for when she'd feel normal again. Scooping up the last bite on her fork, she held it up high enough not just for Torian to see, but also the other two Mandos on the other side of the camp and promptly gobbled it up. Torian grinned that wonderful smile that made her tummy turn summersaults and she held up her plate victoriously. He cheered, shouting out Kandosii! and Oya! and was shortly joined by the other two Mandos shouting out the same phrases among others. They yipped and howled and for the first time in what seemed like forever, Phystte felt herself blush and hoped that they simply thought it was the heat from the food touching color to her cheeks again.
She heaved a heavy sigh of content after their congratulations and laid down on the blanket while Torian cleaned up their plates. After he finished, he scooted up next to her, sitting up and looking down at her with a grin. "Guess this makes you a keeper."
Phystte laughed. "What do I win?"
He leaned down uncertain at first, then shut his eyes and gently brushed his lips over hers. Phystte kissed him back fervently, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck so that he'd stay. His tongue dared to tease her lightly and she unconsciously arched up into him, wanting more. A couple whoops and catcalls brought Torian out of his reverie and he started to break their kiss when Phystte pulled him back down. A soft chuckle escaped and he grinned on her mouth before acquiescing to her demand. Curving over her body, the Mandalorian thoroughly kissed the Hunter until the only burning left was the one of desire she felt settling deep between her legs.
