Quoted By:
Your vision swims as you rise from the bed onto sore, shaky legs. Groaning at the addition of even <span class="mu-i">more</span> pain to the pile, it dawns on you that you can’t really remember the last time you ate anything!
And after everything that’s happened, you could use a meal. Or <span class="mu-i">six</span>. ‘<span class="mu-i">A good meal cures all</span>’, you grunt to no one in particular, that’s what Uncle Emilio always says, anyways. You’re not too confident about this time, but it’s worth a shot.
Your legs support you like they’re made of jelly as you stumble over to the kitchen. Though smaller than the one in the mansion, it has the bare necessities–a sink, counters, wood cabinets that were clearly carved by the owner, and an old gas stove with a black stock pot sitting on top of a smaller burner.
You brush your hand against the side of the pot. It’s still warm.
Lifting the lid rewards you with a banquet for the senses: spices rise to greet your nose as the essentials of a hearty stew bob up, down, and all around a bubbling broth: carrots, mushrooms, potato, and plenty of meat!
The sight alone is enough to make you drool! Leaning back to avoid seasoning the feast with your spit, you barely resist the urge to pour the pot’s contents down your gullet–with everything that’s happened tonight you can only imagine where that meat came from…
Instead you turn your attention to the old blue and white-speckled coffee percolator sitting on the counter next to a mortar and pestle caked in fresh coffee grounds. This refreshment you <span class="mu-i">can’t</span> ignore–grabbing a somewhat-clean metal mug from the sink, you pour some of the coffee maker’s steaming contents into it and don’t even bother waiting for it to cool before drinking!
The brew is dark, bold, and hotter than hell–and right now it’s the best damn drink you’ve ever had. The coffee barely rushes down your throat before you feel its effects, and though it doesn’t erase the pain and fatigue, both physical <span class="mu-i">and</span> mental, it helps lighten the load a bit as you return to your bed.
Warmed by the beverage, you take a steadying breath as you reach into your pockets and pull out Pepper’s effects. The aforementioned breath stumbles in your throat as you mistake your drink’s scent for Pepper’s, and as you start with the camera you feel that knot in your chest slowly return…
>CONTD.
