And by that point the onions are coming along nicely, and Lily can get the carrots into a pot in the oven and roast them that way while starting on the fish, and then fish and onions come out onto plates and she takes the extra time to clean up after everything else while the fish and onions cool slightly and the carrots finish cooking, and then ta-daa, dinner. No lemonade this time, but she does send Sable to fill a pitcher of water from the pump behind the house, right at the end as she's getting the plates onto the table and awaiting the carrots.

And Sable sits down, pours herself a cup of water from the pitcher, and digs in. "Oh, this is absolutely delicious."

"It came out very well!" she agrees. "Palla always gets the best fish. And she'll never serve you a corrupted one, either, if she gets one by mistake she throws it back."

"Yeah, she seems pretty great. Your recommendations have all turned out excellently for me. Knocking on your door was a really lucky decision."

"You'd probably be having about the same kind of day if you'd run into Hazel or Palla first," she says, smiling slightly. "Us folks who live on the lakeshore are an all-right bunch. But I'm glad you knocked on my door too. I'd hate to think of you getting lost in the desert or enthralled in the forest or ambushed in the mountains just because you didn't know where was safe to go."

"And to think it all happened because I figured walking to the water was my best shot at either finding civilization or being safe in its absence, and then spotted bootprints at the lake that led me here."

She takes a few more bites of the great food. "Any tips on figuring out trustworthy food in the city?"

"Anywhere that's got a lot of traffic, a restaurant or a busy food cart, you can watch other people eat and see if anything happens to them. The city's pretty good about not letting corruption in, so at least you don't have to worry about that, corruption's much harder to spot than a brand new pair of rabbit ears. But if someone's just offering you a snack one on one, or their cafe isn't very popular, or their food cart's too out of the way to get much traffic... you'll probably still be fine, but some of the time it'll be somebody's idea of a harmless prank or a nice little favour to hand out transformatives without saying so."

She nods. "That's about what I figured, but it's nice to hear it from the voice of experience."

"I am going to have to pick so many vegetables to pay you back for how much you've helped me here. And after I get myself set up, you let me know if you need anything at all, okay?"

She shakes her head a bit, smiling fondly.

<You've got a crush,> Hailey teases.

<Can you blame me?>

"Will do," she says, amused. "But it really doesn't cost me much to give you a few pointers. Don't make it out like you owe me the sun, moon, and stars just because I'm willing to have a friendly conversation."

"Maybe I'm biased from enjoying your company, then. That could explain it," she says with a chuckle.

Lily smiles. "Fair enough." Om nom fish. "Planning to stay the night in my barn, then?"

"That's the idea. Stay a few nights with you helping out however I can, maybe Hazel or Palla a night or three if I can convince them and find some way to help out, on the shore for a night or two if I have to, until the caravan shows up and it's time to head to the city."

Om nom fish. This really is great.

"How'd you get started farming?"

"I've always gotten along with plants, ever since I was a pup. Starting my own farm was the obvious thing to do. And it's a nice life, very quiet. Peaceful."

"Sounds nice. I'd probably do something similar, but for the fact that I'm a compulsive meddler once I'm set up well enough to be safe doing so. Can't stand to let suffering go on once I'm in a position to help."

Lily winces slightly. "Now isn't that familiar. A word of advice? Choose your friends very carefully. People you're helping is one thing, but if people you're helping become people you're trusting without you thinking about it, you can find yourself trusting the wrong person sooner than you'd think."

She nods firmly. "I can definitely see how I'd get into a bind like that. Worth avoiding. Thank you for the reminder."

Fish nom nom.

The fish is still delicious.

Lily finishes hers, and gets up to clear her plate. She comes back from the kitchen with two bright red apples and offers one to Sable. "Dessert?"

She accepts with a smile, having just finished her own fish as well. "Lovely, thank you."

Lily leans against a wall and munches contentedly on her spectacularly delicious apple. (It's light and sweet and crisp and just a little tart, and more strongly apple-flavoured than most apples ever manage.)

"I have literally never had an apple this good before in my life. I thought I knew what a good apple tasted like, but nope. Apples from my world have nothing on this."

Apple nom nom. Wow.

Lily laughs. "I'm flattered! Really? I knew I grew good apples but I've never been accused of outdoing a whole world before."

Sable laughs and nods. "Apples are my second-favorite kind of fruit, after the whole orange family of fruits, so I've eaten quite a few. None compared to this."

Munch munch nom.

"Well, then, I'm glad you came just after apple day so they're nice and fresh."

"Me too."

Monch nom.

"Hm. I've noticed you say things like yesterday's onions or today's peppers or apple day. How fast do crops grow here?"