Chapter 27: Campfire Dinner
When Brenda and Alexia returned from their hunt, they were greeted to the unexpected sight of their leader tickling the life out of Paula. They looked at each other in the eye and silent agreed to act like they haven't seen anything.
Both of them held a freshly hunted rabbit in their hand. Completely ignoring the shenanigans of their leader, they went to the campfire.
"Ah, are you here to join us?" Alexia, the dark elf said when she saw the mother and son pair.
"Yes, Sheryl has graciously allowed us to join," Ari said happily.
"Ah alright, we have 4 rabbits so it's more than enough." She then tossed her share of rabbits over to Brenda. "Get to work, dwarf!"
Brenda caught the rabbits easily and lifted an eyebrow from Alexia's remark but didn't say anything, continuing her work of preparing the rabbit meat.
"You guys sure do get along well," Ari pointed out.
"Get along well?" Alexia and Brenda said at the same.
"Who would want to get along with this dark elf!?" "Who would want to get along with this short dwarf!?" They both said at the same time.
Ari and Earl laughed at this. "See?"
Alexia and Brenda: "..."
The preparation for the rabbit meat soon finished and Brenda began to barbeque the meat.
The wonderful smell of the spices caused Earl's stomach to rumble. After sucking back his saliva, he asked Brenda, "Are all dwarves, good cooks?"
Brenda lifted her manly face up from the campfire and replied. "Smart boy! Yes, us dwarves take pride in our cooking skill! Why? Have you had meals cooked by dwarf before as well?"
"Yes, I was fortunate enough to have a dwarf cook us a meal back in Kopla."
"Kopla, huh? You talking about the tavern?"
"Yeah!"
"That old fella is well known among us, Adventurers. You speak well for someone your age, little fella. Didn't expect it from a little noble kid like you." She said to Earl then looked to Ari. "You raised him well."
"Of course, he is my pride and joy." Ari happily repeated the same sentence she told Sheryl and Paula before. On her lap, Earl could feel Ari's happiness level rising exponentially from having her son praised twice on the same night. He leaned back and rested his head against her soft pillows.
As Brenda continued to cook the rabbit meat, the rest of her party members were summoned. Paula crawled over in a miserable state, while Sheryl came hopping back with a refreshed expression.
"Woah~ We're having rabbit meat for dinner tonight?" Paula said while salivating.
From the brief interaction Earl had with the Wild Roses today, he had come to have a general grasp of their personalities.
Sheryl, the leader of the Wild Rose was someone who deeply cared about her party members. Even though they were all close, she was able to remain strict and have the ability to prioritize the mission over certain things while maintaining the atmosphere of their party to not be too serious.
Paula, the pretty blonde elf could be described as somewhat of an airhead. She had a carefree attitude and also prioritizes the mission. She could also be seen as the mediator between Sheryl, the strict leader, and the dark elf-dwarf pair, the troublemakers.
Brenda and Alexia could be seen as a pair. As a dwarf, Brenda had a certain way of conducting herself which could be seen as rather troublesome. Like how she had to get a drink every night to prove her identity as a proud dwarf and so on. Alexia, on the other hand, sought fun and entertainment. In one way or another, Brenda's way of conduct is perceived as fun by Alexia which is why they would often stick together.
All in all, the four of them could be seen as a very close group with good balance.
By the time Earl finished his monologue, Brenda was done cooking. She took out paper plates from who knows where and began plating the barbequed rabbit meat while handing it around the campfire.
When Earl got his plate, he was not disappointed. The rabbit meat was cut into bite-size cubes for him. The outside was seared to be slightly crispy, while the insides were cooked to a perfect medium-rare with the best shade of pink. At the side, there was a weird vegetable he has never seen before that was grilled slightly.
Everyone was excited to have their meal. Because it was time to eat, Earl had to sadly remove himself from Ari's lap to give her space but he still sat as close to her as he could.
Brenda then poured everyone a beer with her muscular arms. Earl had to settle with orange juice once again.
Around the fireplace, they lifted their glasses up.
"Cheers!" Brenda started.
"Cheers!"
With that done, Earl was finally able to have a taste of his rabbit meat and he was not disappointed. This wild rabbit, in particular, had naturally soft meat that gave the melt-in-your-mouth texture. Along with the unique texture, there was a light fragrance as well. It didn't taste anything like the more common meats like beef, pork, or chicken. It was not a bad taste, but quite excellent. Earl allowed his tongue to be immersed in this flavor haven.
After he tried out the rabbit meat, he tried the strange vegetable. And as expected, it went well with the meat. If one had to describe the taste, it would be the combination of a cabbage and lettuce.
Earl relished himself in the taste and quickly finished his portion. However, as a child, his eating speed was quite slow. By the time he finished, everyone else was already done.
He put his plate aside, then climbed back onto Ari's lap.
"Vacations are great, aren't they?" Ari said when Earl positioned himself comfortably in her lap. Her soft breasts pressed against the back of his head.
"Yeah! I'm glad we came out here!"
"Right?" She rubbed Earl's head. They continued their small talk for a bit longer and under the barrage of Ari's soft touches, Earl quickly fell asleep by the campfire.
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