((for desertdancer))

[eumenis]

The conversation at the bonfire party had been both amusing and interesting, but between the other guests and the background noise, Furiosa didn't get as good a feel for Khai and his world as she would have liked. It sounded like trade and cultural exchange was a possibility, and one that her people could benefit from. It wouldn't do to be hasty, though. She wanted to learn more about his world, and make sure he understood how truly bleak and harsh hers was, before inviting him to visit.

'Brunch' is a new concept to her. She's used to field rations, or else two meals a day with small snacks here and there. She's interested in picking up the habit, though, so when she gets a moment to meet with Khai, she asks him to meet her at a cafe in the Plaza at about ten in the morning. Her usual honor guard can have their meal outside, while she and her new friend talk.

One habit Furiosa has picked up from the Nexus, though, is coffee. She prefers hers with enough sugar in it to stand the spoon up in, and whipped cream on top is a bonus. He'll find her savoring her second cup when he arrives.

Comments

[desertdancer]

Furiosa wasn't the only one who wasn't used to such things. He'd heard of them of course, had seen well-off folk lingering over well-appointed meals, but he'd never gotten out of the habit of eating on the go, with a proper meal in the evening, and perhaps in the morning if he could manage it. The suggestion was a nice one though, and a chance to stop and maybe relax for a short while as they talked, so he was happy to accept.

When he spotted her sitting in the cafe, he offered a smile and a small wave before crossing to sit across from her.

"I hope you weren't waiting too long?"

[eumenis]

She's got a newspaper, of all things, at her elbow, though she seems to have been solely interested in the advertisements and the sudoku puzzle. She pushes it aside when he comes over to her, flashing a smile at him, small and fleeting but friendly. "Just long enough to have some coffee. It's decadent."

She nods to indicate he's welcome to take a seat. "I used to feel guilty for everything I eat here. The things the Nexus has available are unimaginable in my world. I think I'm getting past it now, though. Slowly."

[desertdancer]

The admission got a small chuckle from him, not mocking but entirely wry and understanding.

"It does take a while, doesn't it?" He commented with a wry smile, brows lifting. Only pausing once the waitress came by to get his drink order, asking for a tea before turning his attention back to the conversation. "Moving from Othard to Eorzea was a definite culture shock where food was concerned. The first time someone offered me an orange, and tried to tell me to throw away the peel instead of eating it, I'm fairly certain I looked at them like they'd lost their mind."

[eumenis]

She blinks at him, then laughs out loud. "I did the same thing the first time I went trading in Bartertown. And their oranges are nowhere near as sweet as the ones you can get here."

"We dry the peel and make candy from it later," she adds. "So many people here have no idea how lucky they are."

[desertdancer]

"To say nothing of bananas. The first time I got one of those in Costa Del Sol, I almost choked on the stem. I likely looked ridiculous, but at that point as far as I knew, it was food, and I could chew it so it was for eating."

Granted he'd been about thirteen or so then, but still. He figured Furiosa could get some amusement from the story.

"We started to do similar when we had sugar available. Or just dried it as is and used it to flavor some of the other things." There were a variety of uses for orange peel if you were smart about it after all. "It can be the same back home... some people realize but at the same time there's a difference between knowing it academically and experiencing it yourself. It's not really something you can get without that first-hand knowledge in some ways."

[eumenis]

Furiosa's laugh ripples out again, a little fox-bark of amusement. She nods, though. Fortunately she hasn't bitten into a banana stem, herself, but it was a near miss.

"Exactly," she tells him. "I've explained to a number of people, but you have to have lived it to understand that kind of climate."

"Can you tell me more about where you come from?"

[desertdancer]

He couldn't help but be pleased to hear that laugh, able to guess from what he's heard so far about her world that things to laugh about weren't so plentiful.

He paused again, when the tea arrived, to quietly thank the waitress and doctor the cup- plenty of cream, though rather than sugar, he added a few shakes of salt.

"Well, Hydaelyn isn't as poorly off as your world seems to be from what you've said," He admitted readily enough. "There's a few areas that it makes me think of, but most of that is in Othard. The Burn for one, which is generally considered too dangerous to actually live in, though that doesn't stop scavengers from sneaking through on occasion. Nhaama Desert is likely the closest. That and the Azim Steppes are where the Xaela are from, though my family stayed in the desert most of the time, given how fierce and bloody the fighting over territory could get in the Steppes. We're nomadic, relying on herds of animals for sustenance. The larger the herd you have, the bigger tribe it can support, as I'm sure you well know. We don't have the trouble with... radiation? That you were talking about, though we have the trouble of wildlife being rather aggressive and dangerous, especially the sort with some manner of magic to back them."

A soft huff as he tilted his head.

"Beyond that, there's the other places in Othard that are much better off, able to sustain things like crops or fishing industry. They're still recovering from Imperial occupation though, so things aren't as... nice as they could be. Improving though, slowly but surely." It had been a horrific time, and he was just glad that they could put things to rights. "No one knows much about the Garlean lands, but they tend to get their resources through conquest of others. Eorzea seems to be the best off, having no such occupation to recover from but with the Cataclysm that happened even they're having their issues. It depends area to area though what the troubles are, but trade is entrenched enough that for most basic necessities are obtainable."

[eumenis]

There are too many place names being given to her here for her to follow completely. She'd need to see a map to really absorb it all, but then she wasn't asking for a guided tour of his world, just a feel of how things work there, what they can handle, what they have handled in the past. Honestly, it sounds pretty intense. Fighting, occupation, dangerous wildlife, the Cataclysm--whatever that was, she doesn't want to ask--yeah, they can probably handle the Wasteland just fine.

"We didn't have large livestock for the longest time," she says. "Although we raised beetles for protein, and sometimes rats and lizards or snakes. Now we've got the camels, some pigs, some guinea fowl. Oh, and some mussels in tanks, but that's experimental."

"One of the men here promised us some goats when he's able to get them, so that will help. When I first got here, I thought I shouldn't bring anything back to my world that wasn't native to it. Wouldn't want to cross-contaminate universes. No one else seems to care, though, and after seeing the wealth the Nexus has to offer, I feel like I'd be remiss not to accept plants and animals from other planets."

[desertdancer]

It's hard to follow without a map he knows that much. His first months out of Xaelan territory he'd felt lost without a map in hand, and even now sometimes the feeling rears it's head. If she needed one he had one in his pack, but it sounded like she'd gotten the gist of what was being said, so he didn't worry too much about it at the moment. Broad strokes would do for this conversation.

"Sounds like you're keeping a variety," It made sense, and made him think that if he was to bring animals, they would have the means to keep them alive. It would do no good to bring them more animals if the environment didn't allow them to live and multiply after all. "My family doesn't keep as big a herd anymore- commerce isn't quite as focused on herds only, so we can afford to. But we've got enough to spare. Chocobos like you saw, and horses. Eorzean horses tend to be more delicate insofar as deserts go, but these are from Xaelan stock so they're sturdier and were bred specifically to survive in harsh climates. We keep chickens nowadays, though the majority of our herd is sheep and dzo- they're similar to goats but they get rather large. The males especially can get great sizes, but if you rear them right they can be fairly sweet to their handler. And in a pinch you can hitch them to a wagon save chocobos and horses for riding."

He leaned back easily in his seat tail flicking against the chair leg as he pondered the last comment.

"The only thing I could see maybe causing complications would be aetherial incompatibility. Our world's life force can affect the creatures living there so settling some of them somewhere new with a different sort, or aether that's inaccessible entirely... but if we're cautious we can figure that out. I've a friend who could assess things, and if we start with a single pair of animals we can see if there are any troubles. If not, you end up with a breeding pair. If there are, well they'll still taste good." A wry smile as he said the last bit- he knew how some people would fuss at the idea, but practicality was a hell of a thing, and he figured Furiosa would get it. "If everything works out, we can sort out some manner of arrangement that makes everyone happy."

[eumenis]

"The research to track them all down took a long time. Bartertown has had pigs for years, but camels were a lucky catch. And then the guinea fowl we bought from the Nexus. I thought about chickens, but the guineas are tougher in the heat. I guess I'll have to show you how we keep them."

Yeah, she is very much convinced now to let him visit and bring companions as needed.

"I would hesitate to bring in horses, but I've seen a lot around the Nexus. They're beautiful animals." She likes the idea of giant goats, too. The ones they have are sizable, but it sounds like what he's talking about get even larger.

She is mystified by 'aetherial incompatibility'. It sounds like magic, which she's seen, but as far as she knows there's nothing in the Wasteland to match the powers that can be found in the Nexus. "You'll have to do the assessing there. I'm not even sure what you mean by aether."

[desertdancer]

"Yeah, chickens don't do as well in really arid deserts. We're only keeping them because where we are now is a bit less rough on them. Honestly, if you're new to them I'd say chocobos are the better option than horses anyways. A bit less high-strung generally, easier to train, their diet is a bit more forgiving too. And non-fertilized eggs make for a really big breakfast."

The admission of ignorance about aether just gets a low chuckle from him.

"I've only got the basics of aether down myself, truth be told. Long story short it's what makes life possible. If your people don't know anything about it, it's possible that your world has it, just that you're not able to tap into it in any active way. There's a race like that back home, they rely entirely on technology for their advancements. Guns and rockets instead of archers and mages, mechanical ships rather than airships reliant on aether for example. I've a companion that would be good for checking that out and monitoring how whatever animals we bring are doing. A little shy, but he knows his stuff."

[eumenis]

"Multi-purpose animals," she murmurs wryly. "That's what we have the camels for, after all. Travel and milk, and yarn from the fur. Chocobos would work in the same niche, it seems. Travel and eggs."

Not that they're above slaughtering their livestock for meat and hide, but it pays to be judicious there, because they can't always be sure of when they'll be able to get more animals.

She rests her chin in her hand as he explains aether, curious but aware this kind of talk is mostly over her head. "The Nexus being the way it is, it's also possible our world runs on something totally different If humans have ever relied on anything but technology, I haven't heard about it. But please, bring your friend with you, if you wish and he's willing."

[desertdancer]

"The feathers are useful too- they molt regularly, the down is perfect for stuffing pillows, jackets, mattresses, and the like, the longer ones are good for trims, decoration, or arrow fletchings." He tilted his head, thoughtful. He knew that if things got hard, riding animals might become eating animals, it was the same in the Steppes though was a last resort, as travel was vital to their survival. "They reproduce at a fairly quick pace too. The healthier and better-fed they are, the more eggs you'll get, the more viable eggs too. If things are tight, you'll want to get the eggs out as soon as you see them- a chocobo isn't above eating eggs if they're getting hungry and once they learn their eggs are tasty, well I'm sure you can imagine how annoying it becomes then."

Birds are a pain in the ass, that much is for certain.

"Mikka's usually fairly willing to help out. He's from Thanalan so he might not be used to things quite as survival-based as your lands but he's used to deserts so it won't come as a total shock. It'll be simple enough to make sure plants and animals from Hydaelyn will do well in your world, and if so then that makes it easy to start sussing out trades."