Page 98 of Dancing for the Minotaur

There was a soft pop and the pod split apart. A puff of fragrant steam escaped, and Terra leaned closer immediately.

Inside was a pale loaf of bread, still soft and slightly damp from the pod.

She shook her head.

“Fresh bread from a giant pod—that is never going to stop being weird.”

Taurex shrugged.

“It is bread.”

“I know, but it grew inside a giant seedpod,” she pointed out.

He shrugged again.

“Yes, it did. That is how fargas bread is made. And this is how it is finished.”

He lifted the loaf free and set it on a broad leaf, then he opened the second pod.

Terra watched as he took several tiny herb bundles from one of the market baskets and crushed them between his palms. The leaves released an aromatic oil that smelled like a combination of basil, thyme and something citrusy.

“You don't use butter?” Terra asked.

“I can if you like.”

Taurex tapped a small yellow flower growing beside the cooking surface. Its petals unfolded and when he stroked its center, it produced a thick golden cream.

Terra looked at it with interest.

“Is that…a butter flower?”

“You could call it that.” Taurex nodded.

He spread the golden cream across the surface of both loaves, then sprinkled them with the crushed herbs and a handful of tiny sparkling crystals.

“Is that salt?” Terra asked.

“Mineral flakes,” Taurex corrected. “But they do taste salty.”

“So it’s alien salt,” Terra said.

He shrugged.

“If you prefer.”

“I do,” she said, smiling.

Taurex smiled back as he put the loaves inside another large living pod growing from the wall. It closed around them and the outer surface began glowing a soft orange.

Terra looked at it with interest.

“So you even have an oven plant.”

“Yes.” He nodded and she grinned.

“See? You're not even fighting me anymore.”

“I have accepted that you will give everything in my domicile an Earth name,” Taurex rumbled.