Young Writers Society

The smell of the food should have brought a smile to his face, but he kept his mouth in a thin line as he entered the dining hall. The smell made him feel nauseous; he couldn't help but imagine what the effects of ingesting food that would conflict with his essence would be. But he had become quite good at ignoring the growing sense of nausea, so he silently made his way over to the table set aside for their little group and sat down in one of the empty seats.

He grabbed a variety of different foods. A glance around the dining hall gave him a clue on what was considered the most socially acceptable food to eat - or, at the very least, the most popular - so he made sure to grab mainly foods that he saw being eaten by other people. He grabbed a few less popular ones as well, wanting to give the illusion that he had a decent and somewhat normal sense of taste.

He grabbed one of the pastries from his plate and took a quiet bite out of it. His essence recoiled in disgust, but he forced it to deal with the influx of foreign material.

Tasha smiled despite herself as she took in a breath of the warm meal. It'd been forever since she'd eaten something real like this; even before the grangor she'd been on the move.

"Thank you, Bo," she said with a gracious dip of her head, trying to keep the apprehension out of her tone. The large man - dragon - still made her a bit nervous.

Bo smiled down at her. "Of course! What kind of hosts would we be if we didn't feed you?"

"Feeding is one thing, and feeding well is another," she answered with a chuckle. "Even the barracks back home don't give us food that smells this good."

Seung's stomach growled as he eyed the food, and he blushed, glancing self-consciously at the others. Although he was eager to dig into breakfast, as a medic he was especially aware that he could still pass germs to others and get them sick, so he tried to avoid touching common items as much as possible.

Tavis, on the other hand, called out "Thank you!" and dove for all the different options in an unreserved manner, despite the fact that he'd never seen most of them in his entire life. These people were nice, so no need to get suspicious of their food; therefore, there was no need for hesitation in helping oneself. Food wouldn't eat itself, after all.

As the other members of their little group chatted, Maahes slowly ate the meal he had put together. His gaze lingered on James. He wouldn't outright ask if he would sit beside him; it would reveal just how uncomfortable he felt here, and weakness was something he couldn't afford to show.

Bo seated himself at the table beside Seung and Tavis, piling enough food on his plate fit for a man of his size. So, a lot.

James, however, slid in quietly between Tasha and Maahes, taking more meager portions. It wasn’t that he was ungrateful, or even that he wasn’t hungry. He just hadn’t had meals of that size in… well, he couldn’t remember when, and he didn’t trust his stomach to just take it in stride. That much, he’d learned about himself.

He was glad that Tasha looked happy to be fed, and sent her a small smile before his eyes drifted over to Maahes’s plate, which looked surprisingly full. When was the last time Maahes had eaten? James couldn’t even remember a time he’d seen Maahes eat… but then again, he’d only seen Maahes twice, and each in very odd circumstances where stopping for lunch wouldn’t have made any sense whatsoever.

Maahes though, out of all of them, looked the least thrilled about eating. Though he’d filled his plate, he almost looked uncomfortable.

He leaned in towards Maahes, trying to be subtle.

“Is the food okay?”

Meanwhile, Bo started to chat as the others began to eat.

“So! Tasha. What’s your favorite food? Maybe we can make it for ya tomorrow, depending on how long you all stay.”

"The food is fine," Maahes said, giving a smile he didn't really feel. He took a casual bite out of another pastry. It was difficult ignoring the way his essence recoiled in disgust and mild indigestion at the foreign substance, but he had years of practice under his belt.

...At least, he thought he did. The wince he gave when he took another bite said otherwise.

James watched Maahes closely. He noticed the wince.

"...If you don't feel well, or you're not hungry, you don't have to eat it," James whispered. He knew there could be a number of reasons why someone wouldn't want to eat - he'd probably experienced most of them.

"I can just tell them either of those reasons. If they give a fuss about it I'll - well, I'll shut them up. One way or another."

"I'm fine," Maahes reassured him, a little more emphasis behind it this time. "I just was surprised by the taste."

He took an ambitious bite out of the pastry to prove that he had absolutely no problem with eating it-

-Only to stiffen when his essence resisted it more than it had resisted the other, smaller pieces. For the love of Altera, why couldn't his essence just let him get away with eating food once?