When she saw how Aoren insistently got Daemon tucked against him, the girl was definitely grinning. She was not shy about such things herself, especially physical affection, and the two of them had that in spades. It was nice to see more of such emotion in the open, even if it was just the three of them and Hilana’s animal companions. She listened attentively, though, as it was explained that as her practice and skills grew with the Elements, they would not be so harsh with her. Perhaps she wouldn’t need to take Fire as Arche after all.
A further suggestion of Scrivening and Glyphs followed, and Hilana brightened further. She was not going to put too many eggs in the basket of how her progress with the magic might fare over the next season; that would be foolish and arrogant to assume someone like her would pull that off. But His Divine Radiance had had faith in her ability with it, so the Vastiana wouldn’t count herself out yet. Any which way, being able to draw on other disciplines could only prove beneficial to her in the long run. Cooling stones, glyphs, and whatever skill she had managed to build herself up to... She could likely talk to one of her other paedagogi who was Arche to water, about the formulation of an ice stone. It wouldn’t do for his student to get turned into crispy-fried Hilana through the temperatures of the volcano’s depths, after all.
When he offered to show her, she bowed her head to him. “I would like that very much, please. Thank you, Daemon,” she beamed at them. “I have a book at home that is an introduction to the various disciplines of world magics, and I... well, I skipped the Scrivening chapter to go right to Alchemy. But I will go back to it. Tiaz is my witness,” she indicated the snake quite solemnly. The solemnity was replaced by delight when he asked if she might take him as a student as well, and Hilana was right back to smiling. “I would be honoured to teach you. Both of you, if you would also like to learn,” she included Aoren. She was strange enough for a Solunarian, but she loved her culture and she was proud of it, and if the Kalzasern Avialae wanted to learn about it, then she was more than happy to share and teach them. “Our language can be a bit tricky to start with, but once you get the hang of it, I believe you will pick it up quickly.”
As he began to dish up the rice, the girl turned around to start unpacking her prepared picnic from Hayima’el’s saddlebags from where her camel had settled behind her. One had to wonder if the saddlebags were enchanted, if there was some nomadic ability to stuff these bags, or if it was just her ability as a packrat to be able to squirrel away so much in them... but the girl had brought plenty. Apparently she was expecting the mage that hadn’t come to have had a huge appetite. Either that or she had her own supernatural ability to eat more food than she should have reasonably been able to. Jars and boxes, bundles of wrapped cloth, and a large drinking skin came out, along with wooden plates. Tiaz just remained where he was around Hilana’s shoulders, not at all disturbed or bothered by her movements, as she began to open up what she had to share. Rolled and stuffed grape leaves, three different types of dips, pita breads that had been cut up and fried to turn into chips, some sort of wrap made with the pita, meat (perhaps a mixture of lamb and beef), a creamy-looking sauce, tomatoes, lettuce, and onion. There was a jar of olives, a container of meatballs on sauce, and triangular pastry that looked about ready to burst and was topped with a smattering of white sesame seeds. Then there was a dark-looking loaf cake that had been sliced and was studded with some sort of fruit and walnuts, and yet another container of pastry that was dusted with pistachios and honey.
It seemed that Hilana was ramping up to give them their first lesson on Solunarian culture with some of the food. “Dolmades, dolma, which are stuffed grape leaves. These dips are hummus, which is made of mashed chickpeas... this is labneh, which is kind of a whipped yogurt with oil, and this one is tirokafteri, which is a feta cheese dip. It’s a bit spicy,” Hilana added a warning. “But it won’t burn your tongue out,” she added, her eyes dancing. Aoren was a dragon and Daemon was the God of Light, so they could surely take a bit of heat. “Pita chips, a flatbread that we make, and then you can either bake or fry the bread again to make a cracker of sorts for the dips or for eating. Same pita is here, with the wraps... gyros, which is beef and lamb, with tzatziki, a yogurt and cucumber sauce. Olives stuffed with whipped soft cheese and pickled peppers. These meatballs are beef and pork, and we call them kefetedes,” the girl explained. “The sauce with them is a tahini sauce, which is made from sesame seeds, lemon, and garlic, among other things. These pastries are hand pies stuffed with cheese, and we call them tiropitakia,” she explained. “And for dessert, I brought date and walnut sweetbread and this is baklava, which is a pastry with nuts and honey. And this drink isn’t one with alcohol, but it is a traditional Vastian sweetened tea, made with hibiscus and fruit to make it a bit sweeter,” she poured some of the contents of the skin into wooden cups, which she also offered to them. Surprisingly, it was still cold, so whatever insulation she had in that skin did its job.
Hayima’el got his own platter, which was apparently cactus paddles that had been chopped up and bright red, spiky fruit. “His favourite,” she added. “Cactus paddles and prickly pear. Good for us, too, but he gets a treat,” Hilana was cheerful. "We can fry these, or stew them, or have them in soups. They grow fast, and we find them often in the Sands."
