A garlic-infused aroma filled the room as Iris settled an empty silver bowl in front of the so-called Blackworm before filling it, causing the two glowing eyes to smile. Despite the rich environment around them, the precious vessel held an excitingly simple-looking dish fit for a peasant altered with some meat for the petite girl's taste.
Iris had been experimenting with her cooking skills, given that there was no end to the people she could liberate recipes from in the servant's kitchen. She watched as the ancient forked the green mass, piercing a slice of golden brown pork before eating it.
"How is it?" The risen asked, fixing her maid uniform, which had diverted slightly from the perfection she was thought to emulate.
"Delishiouness~" The girl said while her hand massaged her rounded cheeks.
"Kia, you're not a hamster. If you run out, I made more," the elf tapped the large metal pot she had brought with her. "How is the taste?"
"Fantastic, dreamy, a bit tingly and... warm." The undead hung on that last word which got the girl cherished by Iris as she gently stroked the girl's face.
"Not the description I was looking for." The elf leaned back in her chair.
She had looked for a more descriptive report by the usually pedantic mage but what else did she expect to hear from the malnourished devourer?
Grabbing a fork, the taller maid opened the warm pot and stabbed into it. She had cooked spinach with oil and garlic together in a deep pan, adding cubes of pork she had browned previously.In the end, she added flat pieces of half-raw pasta, which finished cooking, and the rest of the ingredients gained a distinct green colour.
"The sun is setting." The elf said with garlicky breath as she took another bite of her own dish.
"Don't mention it." The girl barked as her mood soured.
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"Did my grumpy kitten forget that we are immortal? I'm sure you will get bored of this sort of thing after a century or two." The younger undead cupped the mage's chin and brought her eyes to hers.
"I'm not grumpy." The grumpy undead muttered grumpily.
"That is true, you're just very needy ancient."
"That makes me sound old, Iris." The Gift to the Cyclops themselves protested.
"Well... you are old, Kia. Don't worry though I like older women." The risen said, her fork slowly approaching the silver bowl of the porcelain doll watching her with big open eyes.
"Really?" The younger-looking woman made a face as she stared at the deviant elf.
"Only if its you of course." The smiling warden harpooned a particularly juicy cube of meat out of Kia's bowl.
"Iris you dummy!" The girl closed her eyes as she watched the toothy smile getting closer, a bright flush bringing life to her snow-white face.
"I thought being called old was a compliment for a monster?" The elf asked as the objective of her heist was reduced in her mouth. "You know given how often they bring that up with you."
"They respect their elders?" The girl guessed. "I wouldn't know."
"Hmmm, older things tend to be more powerful and you are probably one of the first undead in Niuran." The elf spoke.
"Iris, what do you think I am?" Her saviour asked with a curious voice.
"You? Hmmmm," The risen pushed back balancing herself on the two rear legs of her chair as she collected her thoughts. "How would I phrase it for you so you can understand? I always assumed you were like a... dragon."
"A dragon?" The undead tilted her head to the side.
"Not an actual dragon. Humans think that true dragons are the first beings in existence but they were not a single race. Unlike other monsters, the mana which coalesced into them created them as individual beings rather than moulding them into a template. I believe that you are that kind of monster, a unique being created early in the world's history. Since you are so old my mind sort of jumped on the dragon comparison." The elf watched as her saviour took in her words nodding along absentmindedly.
"Is that what I am?" The girl's voice leeched into Iris's mind.
"That is what I think unless you and Vesa are part of the same race."
"I didn't feel anything familiar with her." Kia sagely responded.
"Neither do I when seeing another elf." Iris stroked the serious-looking mage on her cheek, gathering her velvet black hair away from her gem-like eyes.
"You're not an elf."
"You know I was talking about the time before you, Kia," Iris retorted standing up and pushing the pot over to the petite doll. "You had that shirt all day, lets change before getting into the bed."
"But it's clean?" She responded tugging on the pristinely clean clothes she wore.
"True," The tall undead made a face as she fell to her old habits. "Still, you don't get bored wearing the same clothes every night?"
"Never bothered me."
"Forget it," The hoplite sighed. "Should buy you more clothes the next time I walk past the tailor."
The ancient nestled in the protective cage of the elf's arms as she flipped another page in the dusty-looking book, a clay statue resting on the bed next to her like an odd teddy bear.
"Kia you know I'm leaving early in the morning?" Iris asked as she turned her eyes away from the window.
"I know, I can feel you are about to level up," Kia whispered. "Can you speak until I fall asleep?"
"Is that to keep you awake or make you go to sleep?" The elf asked but heard nothing but the slow regular breaths as she finished speaking.
Sweet nothings disturbed the silence of the night until the bed stirred before the sun rose, leaving the ancient being alone as her warden left in search of experience points.