And once they are back both Horan and Raziya are asleep. Which is a terrible idea given that they didn't have anyone to watch camp, but so it goes.

Tintin forges a carbon-lattice skinning knife, then beholds the boars.

"I can probably skin these, but I think you're likely to be better at it."

"I have some experience with that, yes." He looks at the disfigured boars forlornly. "We are not likely to need their actual skin and tusks and all that, are we?"

"Not unless you have some use for them that I, being an inveterate city boy, wouldn't know."

"First use is weapons, second is grinding it to powder to make compost. Third is some rare alchemical compounds."

    Horan opens one bleary eye, awoken by their noise, and yawns but stands at attention when he notices the food. Then he blinks a couple of times and says, "Joreksson."

"Weapons I can do, compost is potentially worthwhile but probably not worth lugging around fifty pounds of bonemeal for a week, alchemical compounds tell me more? -hello, Horan. Horan Joreksson? Is that your name?"

    Horan nods, slowly, then tries to repeat it: "Horan Y... Eeeeee oo..." He grumbles to himself a bit then says it all at once, "Horanjoreksson."

Taharqi watches this with bemusement and shakes his head before looking at Tintin again. "I do not know of any specific alchemical compounds that use it, but I do know that there are some. I think it does not matter very much, though, we can kill other creatures for their bonemeal if we ever find ourselves in need of some for any potions."

"Yes, that's my thought as well. So, not keeping the bones, just the meat."

He nods, then starts the skinning process. It does indeed show that he has substantial experience with this, his cuts are quick and clean and precise and he seems to know by rote what to do, where, when, and how.

And Tintin will set up a firepit, which is something he does know how to do (Taharqi's universal competence has been making him feel like a bit of a tourist). He lights it with his omni-tool, and soon they have a good cookfire going.

And the noise of the cookfire and smell of the cooking boar meat wakes Raziya up.

"I don't suppose you have some salt in your omni-tool? Wait, I bet you have some other strange way of keeping meat from rotting instead," says Taharqi.

"Well, I've got a bit of salt in my bag, but not enough to preserve the meat, just enough to make it taste good. With the proper resources I could construct a rudimentary freezer, but other than that I'm fresh out of not-magic for this particular purpose. If we pass any salt flats we should take a break to collect some, it'd be very handy."

"What would the proper resources be? Lacking salt, we should set up a drying rack for the meat we don't eat tonight."

Tintin consults his omni-tool. "Most of it I could make out of omni-gel, apparently - I should also have a stockpile of glass and metal, so I can use up as little gel as possible and only use it for what I absolutely need to. But I'd also need an electrical generator. Which we're probably going to want anyway, since I doubt the freezer is the only thing we'll want to make. ...now I'm wondering if I could make a generator that runs on magic. Can magic cause a constant pushing force? And, relatedly, do you know any magic? Any of you," he says to Raziya and Horan.

    Horan looks confused by the question then shakes his head. "A little bit of dancing magic, but not much, only bits and pieces I picked up," Raziya says, nodding. "Sendhei taught me some, actually," she adds.

"I know food magic and smelting magic and leatherworking magic. I... am surprised the two of you don't know any food magic, actually, I thought it was standard?"

    Raziya stares at him blankly. "I have never heard of it. What does it do?"

"Makes food more nourishing and give you more energy and help you heal from wounds faster." To Tintin: "And to answer your question, probably there are higher sorceries that can do that, but none that I know."

"Huh. That's an odd way for magic to be. How does one do - food magic, smelting magic?"

"It's complicated to explain. There are these rituals you do while making the food or smelting, in the order of what you do and how long you take to do it and quantities and all that... but it really is about having many shorthands for ways to... think about it? Or feel about it? While you do it."

"Huh. I wish I were an asari so I could see what you mean... but presumably it can be taught anyway? I'd like to learn it."

"Asari can see magic?"

"No, no, we don't have magic - they can read thoughts through physical contact. If I were one I'd be able to touch you and literally see the state of mind you're referring to."

"That sounds like magic," he says, raising an eyebrow. "Useful, anyway."

"I will freely admit that the asari mind-meld kind of feels like magic even to me. There is a scientific explanation, but it's much easier to approximate as magic."

He laughs. "Anyway, yes it can be taught, but requires a lot of practice to get it right every time."

"Plenty of things require practice. Biotics, gunplay, journalism. There's nothing worth doing that you start good at."

He turns to Raziya. "I already know how to dance, a bit; would you teach me the very basics of dancing-magic?"

"Uh, sure, I can try, but I'm really not that good."