Nod, nod. Paya goes quiet after that. She stirs the rice. Closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

Naomi continues to watch and record.

Soon enough, the rice is declared done.

Paya drains the bowl, then spends a few minutes turning the extant ingredients into three onigiri. A small packet of fried egg and a few carrot shavings go into the center of each one. And separately, there is a plate with fried eggs and chopped carrots. "T- The plate is for now, honored guest, the rice balls for later. I will fetch a sheet of wax paper to wrap them in."

"So we can start eating?"

"-Oh, yes, of course. This food is all yours though. I'm- I ate earlier. Uh. Careful, it's hot." She fetches a fork from somewhere.

"Thank you!" Naomi takes a bite.

"This is delicious, holy crap."

"R- really? It's just scrambled eggs and steamed carrots."

"I'm not sure if I've ever had a carrot this fresh before. Not even in fancy restaurants, where they serve real carrots; I'm used to soy substitutes for everything."

"Sub- Substitutes? What's soy? I guess it might be easier to grow?"

"Soybeans are a kind of plant and you can change their texture a lot so they taste somewhat like lots of other foods. And yeah, I think they are easier to grow? Or hardier or more resistant to magic storms? I'm not sure how the agronomy works there."

"Storms are pretty dangerous for crops. Grain and corn stalks could break, and that's obviously bad, but- even things like carrots and pumpkins can get flooded to death if you're lazy about drainage. A-Anyway I'm glad you like the food even though it's not what you're used to. Do you, uh, will you need anything else tonight?"

"I still have to buy the night at the inn. But other than that, no."

"Well, I shall show you over there."

It's literally just across the dirt street. But Paya walks Naomi over there and introduces her to the innkeeper anyway.

"Hm? Traveler? We haven't had much business lately, so you can have any room for twenty rupees, even the good rooms..."

Two nights at least! Nice! "Thank you! Can I take one of the smaller rooms for less?"

Shrug. "A bunk in the shared room for fifteen? Either one comes with breakfast."

"Sure!" 

Paya is standing off to the side shyly.

"Hokay. So when do you want to be woken up?"

Naomi names an appropriate time. 

The innkeeper accepts payment. "I'll show you to the bunkroom then. Reckon you can go home, Paya."

"...Okay."

"Thanks!"

The innkeeper is quietly professional. The room is... Basic. Basically just rows of wood frame beds with a small alcove that has a primitive sink and a door to some kind of toilet. "Pick any open bunk," he says a bit wryly, pointing to The empty room.

"How many travelers do you get? One a night? Fewer?"

"A whole bunch in the late spring and late autumn. It's high summer now, though. Folk are all working their farms, excepting merchants and adventurers and such. Even I head to the fields during the day when it's time to plant or harvest."

Oh, right, she's keeping him from working. Oops. 

She makes up her bunk. She only has to sleep for four hours, thanks to an implant -- and a real bed definitely beats a corpse-locker at a morgue. 

She rises in the early hours of the morning. 

There's some guy in a bunk on the opposite end of the room from her. He's still asleep.

If she wanders out front, the innkeeper looks up from some kind of craft project in a corner and says, "Ah, I guess you want your breakfast. I'll fetch it, no worry."

Breakfast is a small portion of rice with some kind of sauce mixed into it.