"Thanks! Again. Perhaps I should just make a sign that says 'Thank you' and hold it up when appropriate, I seem to be doing it a lot..."

Isabella laughs. "Do you want to stop by somewhere with markers and cardboard when we get you your chamomile?"

"Hmmm, no, this is more fun. Less impersonal."

"Okay then. So what other kinda things do you want to kill time with while we wait on thingamajig the second being doable?"

"You know better than I of what to do here. Any interesting things to see, or do?"

"Hmm, a lot of common recreation is ruled out for me because I'm too clumsy to go bowling or ice skating or whatever... library is still closed, tomorrow it will be open though... I guess we could just loiter around Metis's house until it gets dark and then I can glow rocks with various goddesses' light and then we can go to sleep but maybe I'm just failing to think of something."

"Loitering around your teacher's house works for me. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about my world or anything you're curious about. Would you like me to cook?"

"Ooh, you can cook?"

"I can! I wouldn't say I'm the best cook ever, and trying to get, say, fancy frosting on a cake right is a nightmare that I don't want to tackle - but I can make edible things that taste reasonably nice."

"I'll show you how the kitchen appliances work, you can determine if you're confident in operating them. Or you could use the firepit, I guess." Cloudpine is rendered afloat.

"I'll see. Maybe the appliances are easily translatable to my normal methods, but if not I can use the firepit. Want me to get you free of cooking for Metis by making dinner?"

"Won't turn you down." She waves him onto the branch and flies them back to the house, where she demonstrates the use and describes the purpose of the stove, oven, microwave, and fridge.

"Surprise me. All the ingredient are fair game as long as we don't get below half a cup of any herbs, or a whole bag for the ones we have in those little burlap bags."

He grins. "Alright. No allergies or anything of the sort, yes? I can just do anything that comes to mind?"

"Yup! I mean, if it's food and not dish soap."

"Darn," he deadpans. "There goes my plan to make my specialty; dish soap delight."

"I doubt it lives up to its name."

"Well now you'll never know, will you?"

"I will languish in ignorance for ever and always."

"What an utterly unfortunate fate. You brought it on yourself, you know."

"It is my own fault. I will eternally regret it."

"Indeed you will. You shouldn't have doubted the edibility of dish soap."

"I don't know where I went wrong. It's lemon-scented, you'd think I'd clue in."

"I thought you were smarter than that, certainly. Not to worry. The next time a magic user from another plane arrives in order to find a flower and meets you by sheer luck and circumstance, then agrees to cook - you know to trust if he or she feeds you dish soap. Especially if it's lemon-scented."