Page 97 of Dancing for the Minotaur

Once the meat had been thoroughly seared, he removed it and set it aside on a broad waxy leaf. Then the vegetables went into the same cooking bowl, and Terra watched in fascination as their colors began changing almost immediately.

The purple roots turned emerald green and the golden g’rn bulbs softened into a deep cobalt paste. The silver seeds became bright turquoise.

Terra shook her head.

“This meal is going to look like it was cooked by Smurfs.”

Taurex frowned.

“What are ‘Smurfs?’”

“These tiny little blue people who live in a magic forest,” Terra told him, smiling.

His brow furrowed.

“Are they real?”

She smothered a laugh.

“No.”

He gave her a deeply suspicious look.

“Humans have very active imaginations.”

“Very,” Terra agreed, laughing.

Taurex added the browned meat back into the bowl, then poured in a dark violet liquid from a bulb-shaped container he had taken from the cooling plant. The instant the liquid hit the hot surface, a cloud of fragrant steam rolled upward.

Terra inhaled deeply.

“Oh my God. It smells even better now!”

The scent had changed again, becoming even richer and more complex. It reminded her of beef stew simmering all day in a crockpot, except there was something deeper beneath it—a roasted, earthy flavor with a faint sweetness at the end.

“What did you just add?” she asked.

“Fermented kalith broth,” Taurex told her.

She shook her head.

“I have no idea what that is, but it smells amazing. Everything around here is so different from what I’m used to back on Earth.”

Taurex stirred the stew with a long wooden-looking utensil.

“You will become accustomed to it.”

The big Monstrum’s words caught Terra by surprise. He was talking as though he expected her to be here often enough that living appliances and blue meat and vegetables that changed color would someday stop seeming strange.

She looked up at him. Was he trying to tell her something?

Taurex was concentrating on the stew, completely unaware that his casual words had just created an unexpected picture in her mind.

She could see herself standing in this kitchen again—maybe next weekend or maybe many weekends. She could picture herself laughing with the big Monstrum while he cooked, or chopping vegetables while the glowing flowers swayed overhead.

Terra frowned—she was getting ahead of herself again. Way ahead. They had barely even admitted they were attracted to each other. Still, she couldn't deny that spending time with Taurex in his home felt easy in a way she hadn't expected.

While the stew simmered, Taurex turned his attention to the fargas pods they had bought at the Market. He placed two of the large warm pods onto the preparation surface and pressed his thumbs into a natural seam running along the center of the first one.