"Yeah, but I might tan, which I don't think would suit me, I don't actually know, I don't spend a lot of time in the sun, plus whether you're tanning or burning it gives you cancer and makes your skin go all wrinkly faster." 

"Well, you could find out if it'd suit you. You think I look this good because I'm actually twenty-two or something, peppermint bark? I won't let you turn into a prune."

"I meant I don't know if I would tan or burn. As I said, I don't spend much time in the sun. Anyways, I was gonna ask about that, but I'm told it's rude to ask a lady about such things. Apparently you're like, 50 or something. What is your secret? If these pearls really take 15 years to grow I don't wanna be all grey and wrinkly by the time I'm making my return to society.

"What makes you think I only want one batch? Anyway, my secret is mad science and I don't usually share it around much but you can have a smidgen to keep your pretty face."

"Have I mentioned you're an absolute sweetie?" She clumsily places a hand on Mo's.

Monoceros squeezes till Katie's bones creak. Then releases her hand and offers her a roti covered in chutney.

She gobbles it up. "I would love to go swimming with you sometime. Though despite how beautiful the view is out there, I kinda wish you had a pool because there are certain things I've always wanted to do in water that it's probably a really really bad idea to do when you're also surrounded by sand."

"Live dangerously."

"I mean, by doing it with you I kinda already am." The thought that Monoceros might be enough of a sadist to want her to get sand in her vagina is on the one hand hot but on the other kind of concerning.

"And what will you do when I'm off at the extraordinary biology convention? Pine and languish and waste away without sunshine or fresh air?"

"I don't know, I just... feel kinda weird about my body, y'know. Though what's currently going on will probably help."

"Speaking of." The appetizers arrive. Monoceros drinks her cup of rasam in one long breathless swallow and then mops up the droplets clinging to the bowl with a scrap of bread.

"I know I say "have I mentioned" a lot, but have I mentioned I love how much of a shameless glutton you are?"

"You've mentioned this! What would be the point of being a supervillain if I still experienced shame or fretted about 'excess'?"

"Damn right sister!" She begins digging into her samosas and whatever else she got that's classified as an appetizer, she doesn't remember.

"Sister! More kinks than I gave you credit for." She didn't order any other appetizers, but Monoceros did, and is giving her a couple of pakoras.

"Oh, I didn't mean that in a kink way... unless you want it to be. Also hey hold on a sec can I take a picture of the food? My internet friends wanted proof I'm actually eating as good as I claimed to be."

"Oh, yes, of course you can. Here, let's make it more picturesque." She dips a spoon into the raita dish and drizzles it over the samosas.

Snap.

@blinkenlights your pics sir

Her phone has no service.

Shit, she's still not on the wifi. She looks in the networks section.

Nothing available to run of the mill phones who don't know what's what.

Shit. "Mo, how do I connect my phone to the internet? I can't find a Wi-Fi network."

"In your room you can connect it by Celeste to the system in there."

"Got it." She puts her phone down and tucks into a pakora. Mmmm, perfectly crispy.