A World Like That

Chapter VII

-Dantalion-

He was having the time of his life. There were so many vibrant colors, new smells, things to touch and see and hear, and tons of delicious fruit to taste. After trying the orange, Ariel had given him a banana. He had bitten right into that as well, amused when Ariel seemed exasperated once again about him eating the fruit the wrong way. He was starting to get the point that many fruits had to be peeled, but he had decided to keep biting into the skins anyway to mess with Ariel.

"What's next?" he asked.

Ariel looked around, and then seemed to spot what he was looking for. He pulled a yellow and red colored fruit off a tree. "It's not going to be the end of the world if you bite into this one without removing the skin."

The fruit was sweet, but also had a hint of pine.

"What is this? And why does it taste like the pine forest?"

"It's a mango, and I'm not sure why we get a hint of pine when eating it."

"I think I like this one the most, except for pears. Pears are still my favorite so far."

Ariel smiled. "They're my favorite too."

He finished off the mango and walked towards a large purple flower, gently touching the soft petals. The colors were so bright here. It wasn't like the desert with its monochromatic browns and tans. He wished that he'd cared less about what his friends might think and ventured into the forests earlier. He'd definitely been missing out.

"I got another fruit for you to try," Ariel called to him.

When he turned around, Ariel was holding out a bright yellow fruit. This one wasn't a long rod like the banana, but was more of an oval like the mango, with skin similar to the orange. Knowing it'd freak Ariel out, he took a huge bite of it and began to chew.

Before he knew what was happening, a sour taste hit his mouth, making his cheeks ache and his face pucker up. He spit out the fruit and physically backed away.

Ariel was bent over with his hands on his knees, laughing his ass off. "Your face!"

"What the hell was that?" he asked, glaring at the offending fruit. "Why did you give that to me?"

Ariel tried to compose himself. "It's a lemon. They're mostly used to provide flavor. In small doses, of course."

"You did that on purpose," he accused.

"I figured I should show you why it's not a good idea to blindly put everything into your mouth."

"I'm definitely not going to if there's a risk of getting something like that again."

He hadn't enjoyed the lemon at all, but part of him did enjoy the fact that Ariel had played a prank on him. It was nice to see that the angels didn't take everything too seriously and knew how to have fun.

"Do you want to try more?" Ariel asked. "I promise I'll warn you if there's something you should know."

"I trust you," he replied, a smile forming on his face. "What else is around here?"

"Pineapple and coconut. Come this way."

"Pineapple? Does that have anything to do with the pine trees? And the pine cones?"

"Not really. Although, the outside of a pineapple does look kind of like a pine cone. But the skin is thick and tough, so you can't bite into this one."

"Have you seen my teeth?" he countered.

That got a chuckle out of Ariel. They came to a plant with long leaves in the shape of blades. In the middle was an orange-brown oval that sort of resembled a pine cone, but was multitudes larger.