Sweet Meats

“So you need this…” Swavelli waved a hand around. “Honey, and it’ll make the meat taste better?”

“Yes!” The tawny iguanodon clapped his hooves together. “Exactly. I bet you wild things have never had marinated meat before. If you bring me some honey, I’ll give both of you your share, I promise. It will be the best treat you’ve ever tasted!”

“What does honey taste like?” Seffe asked, which was a much less pressing question, in Swavelli’s opinion, to something like where do we find honey? Will we be in danger? Will any of your buddies try to shank us while we’re out in the jungle?

“It makes any meat cooked in it taste richer and sweeter than you can imagine!” Tom said.

Swavelli had to admit that she and Seffe had never eaten cooked meat before. The concept of setting food on fire to make it taste better was a strange, somewhat untrustworthy idea to her. Tom had a whole “kitchen” set up, complete with a large stone dome he called an “oven,” which was supposedly better for cooking than simply sticking meat over, or into, a fire. She still didn’t know what marinating was.

“Sure, we’ll-”

“Seffe.”

“What? Come on, Swavelli, it’ll be fun! And we’re getting paid in fancy food!”

He didn’t mention that this was the alternative they were given to being thrown in prison with the other unfortunate dinosaurs that had been wandering into Atlantis lately.

Swavelli gave her earlier questions to Tom, since Seffe, her dearest friend, wasn’t concerned about them in the slightest.

Tom didn’t seem to mind her interrogation. “Bees make honey. You can find their hives up in trees, where they’re… more-or-less out of reach for us.” He waved one of his hooves. “We iguanodons aren’t very good climbers. But between the two of you, it shouldn’t be much of a problem. Bees don’t like getting their honey taken away, though, so once you have some, you should get out of there fast!”

He went to one of the counter tops and came back with a large satchel. It was clearly made for an iguanodon, but it would be able to fit Swavelli as well, if it were tightened. “Do you mind helping me get this on your friend, Seffe?”

Seffe eagerly agreed, hopping up on Swavelli’s back to help tie it around her middle. Soon Swavelli was fitted to carry their bounty form the beehive back to Tom’s kitchen.

“Bring a few honeycombs back with you,” he said as they made for the doorway. (The iguanodons didn’t use many actual doors, as they were an inconvenience more than anything without opposable thumbs.) “But remember, get out fast once you have them!”

“We hear you, we hear you,” Swavelli said as they walked out. Then, more quietly to Seffe, “If I get stung by a million bees, it’s your fault.”

“Come on, Swavelli, we’ll be fine! Besides, some marma… mari…”

“Marinated.”

“Marinated meat will be worth a few bee stings!”

“It better be.”

#

“Oh! You’re back! Do you have the honey?”

Tom was completely unfazed by the spattering of pink stings across their faces. At least she hadn’t gotten any near the satchel’s straps; the swelling would have made wearing it unbearable.

“We sure did!” Seffe said, equally unbothered, as he hefted the honeycombs out of Swavelli’s satchel. She marveled at his optimism. It bordered on delusion. Or maybe Seffe was just so invested in figuring out what marinated steak tasted like that it genuinely didn’t bother him. For her part, she couldn’t wait to stick her face in cold water to make the stinging stop.

Tom had Seffe set the honeycombs on the counter, while he took some slabs of meat from… whatever fancy word he’d called it. A fridge, she thought. The pair watched as he massaged globs on honey into the cuts of raw meat, resulting in a strange smell that Swavelli couldn’t decide if she loved or hated. It was floral, and sugary, and savory all at once.

She glanced over at Seffe. He clearly loved it.

“How long will this take?” she asked Tom.

“Oh, well, I have to put these back in the fridge for a while, so that they can properly soak up the honey’s flavor. Then they’ll be ready for the oven.”

“And how long is a while?”

“A day or two.”

Swavelli suppressed a groan. All of their hard work, and they still had to wait a day…

Seffe cleared his throat. “Uh, we’ll be back tomorrow, Tom.”

“Take care!” Tom waved a sticky hoof at them, yet again completely failing to read the room.

Once they were safely down the hall and out of earshot, Swavelli said, “We’re not actually going to stay, are we?”

“I mean, I do want to know what Tom’s cooking,” he admitted. “But this place is so… Ugh! I don’t know the word for it! But something’s off.”

“What was your first clue?” she snapped. “That we got conscripted into kitchen duty to avoid getting thrown in jail?”

“Swavelli!” He shrunk back, startled by her outburst.

“I’m sorry. This place has me on edge. I need a nap.” She scratched her snout. “And something to make these damn stings stop… stinging!”

Seffe’s expression softened. “Today has been a little rough, huh?” He rubbed his muzzle against her leg.

“Understatement of the year.” She gently tapped the end of her nose to the top of his head.

“Well, we helped the iguanodons out, so I don’t think they have a warrant for our arrest anymore. Let’s take a look around. Maybe we’ll find something to help with the stings. And if we’re really lucky, someone will explain what’s up with this place!”