The Dragon Prince: Breath of Hope

Chapter 4- Banther Lodge

After Ezran had shown his new friends around the lodge, they decided to move all the food to the kitchen. In doing so, the trio had worked up an appetite. So, they pulled together a spread of the various foods that had been delivered, and gathered the preserves that were already in the cabinets.

Considering their differences and the situation around them, it was oddly relaxing to sit down together and finally unwind. Rayla helped herself to some fruit and berries, and Ezran went for the dried fish and bread. Bait wasted no time in snatching some berries for himself. Callum however, just sat and stared, amazed by this collection. He was so overwhelmed by the smells, colours, and differences. 

"Callum? You alright?" Rayla noticed his distress.

"I-I don't know what to have," he confessed, eyes shifting downward in embarrassment. 

Rayla and Ez looked at each other, and Ezran smiled, "Well... try everything."

"What?"

"Have some of everything! See what you like." 

For a moment, it looked like the dragon's mind was about to explode, but Ezran reached across the table and picked up a ripe green pear, holding it out to him, "Here, try a pear."

He sniffed cautiously before taking it, turning it over in his fingers. Callum looked over each side, and prodded at it a bit before taking the largest bite he could.

Ez covered his mouth to keep from laughing at the dragon's actions. 

As he chewed the fruit, his brow raised as if trying to decide the taste. Finally, he froze, and a queasiness came about his expression. Before anyone could say or do anything, he opened his mouth and let the half-chewed mess fall to the table and onto the plate before him. 

The sight of half-eaten food made Rayla gag while Ezran only broke out into hysterics, almost falling off his chair.

Confused by their reactions, Callum sank back into his seat a little, "Did... did I do something wrong?" 

Reaching over for the plate, the elf put it to the side, "No Callum. You just... looks like you don't like pears."

"Yeah, why don't you try this?" Ez smirked, a devilish evil sparking in his eye. This time, he held out an apple. 

Before he could take hold of it, Rayla's blades had stabbed it out of the human's hand, tossed it up into the air, and in a dramatic fashion, sliced it into four smaller bite sized pieces. "Just a little bit this time," she said, offering one to the dragon and glaring at the human for his attempted mischief.

As if testing his freedom, Callum slowly tried every single item on the table, including pure salt. He decided he liked the cheese, loved the meat, the bread was much nicer than before, and he decided that fruit was not always the best. Eventually, he picked up a bit of something that smelled funny, but he was sure he wanted to try it. 

Putting the item in his mouth, he soon felt the familiar queasiness as when he'd eaten the pear. He leaned forward, ready to spit it out again when Rayla stood up and pointed at him, "Oh no you don't!" she scolded a little sharply, "It's only a small bit, you can still eat it even if you don't like it."

The dragon stared at her, then looked between the plate and the elf before he leant back and thickly swallowed whatever had disgusted him, shivering slightly at the effort. "I don't like that," he said, pointing at the plate of fish.

"I kinda guessed."

~#~

After the meal was finished and they had cleaned up, the trio headed to the main part of the lodge. There, Ezran helped set up a fire in the hearth and they sat down for their first evening in the lodge.