singing open the great gates

[middlingalong]

The following day, very little happens, except for Vorreedi mentioning that Yenaro has been arrested (by the civil police, for theft, on charges from a ghem-lord Miles has never heard of, as opposed to by Cetagandan security for treason).

Also, Ivan gets bored - with all the bodyguards Vorreedi now requires for them after the incident at the bioestheties exhibition, the possible spontaneity of going out with his ghem girlfriends is much reduced.

But the next day they get to attend the Singing Open of the Great Gates.

And oh, is there ever singing.

Comments

[isthisart]

Om nom nom breakfast. Even mediocre ship breakfast contains, say, calories.

[middlingalong]

Ivan shows up around the same time and doesn't make any pointed faces or oblique remarks, just bids them good morning and sits with them.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Good morning," Miles says happily.

[middlingalong]

...Ivan is, when he discovers that Miles had not yet reached the ceiling of his possible chipperness, sort of tempted to make faces or remarks, but he doesn't do much of the first thing or any of the second. He just says, "I miss groats, do you miss groats?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"I do not miss groats," Miles admits.

[isthisart]

"I'm going to have to try them just to find out what's to miss or not miss," remarks Linya.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Well, I won't stop you."

[middlingalong]

"Groats are nice! You know, comfort food."

[isthisart]

"Does one typically eat them plain?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Maple syrup is a favoured accompaniment," says Miles.

[isthisart]

"I had maple sugar in something once - someone was doing culinary experiments with exotic ingredients. It was nice."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Maple sugar is an exotic ingredient? I didn't actually know that," says Miles. "We produce it in my family's District; it's hardly exotic to me."

[isthisart]

"Exotic on Eta Ceta, anyway. Not impossible to get, but scarcely a staple. Like - pomegranate, which I've also had only once."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I don't think I've had pomegranate even that many times," Miles says thoughtfully. "Is it any good?"

[isthisart]

"Not enough that I asked the kitchens to bring in more. It's all right, I'd eat it again if it were around."

[thisvorlunatic]

He nods.

[isthisart]

"Besides groats and maple, any interesting planetary cuisine I have to look forward to?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Maple mead," he suggests. "Uh - meat that comes from animals instead of vats; Mother still won't eat any, which is a good indication that it's especially weird. I think a lot of our common traditional dishes ultimately derive from pre-colonization Earth foods, but I haven't made an extensive study of which ones are and aren't still mutually recognizable with their various galactic counterparts..."

[isthisart]

"Huh, animal meat. I'm not entirely sure I'd be able to work up the nerve to try that myself. Maybe if I were really hungry and it was very appetizingly presented."

[middlingalong]

"Vat protein's just not the same," opines Ivan. "It's all made by people who've never had the real thing."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yes, I've found it's often only possible to tell the difference because the real thing is tastier," says Miles. "I mean, in cases more subtle than 'whole roast pig'. But if you'd rather avoid it regardless, Mother's example makes it clear you won't have all that much trouble."

[isthisart]

"Is there vat meat around and it simply hasn't caught on, or is it unavailable altogether?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Mm, more the former. It's caught on in some places, but it's still not all that much cheaper except in a few areas and the taste difference is, as Ivan mentions, noticeable."

[isthisart]

"Are you sure animal meat is better, and not just what you're used to?"

[middlingalong]

"I sure think so."