"God damnit I should not have said that."

"You don't like bangers and mash?"

"Not really. In terms of British food, uuuuhhhh, I like Worcestershire sauce." The fact that Mo appears to be punishing her for making a joke about her word choice has caused her suspicion and anxiety to flare up again. God, please let it be well-intentioned. Please. She just wants to be loved. She just wants someone to really, truly value her. She just wants someone she can trust. Please.

"Fish and chips? Blood pudding? Yorkshire pudding is actually just popovers. They have some good candies too."

"I like the breading on fish and chips, but cod has this gross metallic taste, and British-style chips look all mealy and soggy. I've never had blood pudding but from what I've tasted of blood when I've gotten nosebleeds I don't think it's for me. You're right on the candies, though. Love me some Aero bars."

"I like the honeycomb kind, and Cadbury eggs. Doesn't have to be cod and those fat sad fries, you can serve tilapia and shoestrings in newspaper just the same."

"I can't remember exactly what tilapia is like but that sounds lovely."

"It's one of the chickenier fishes."

"Mmm, sounds promising."

"I used to think I didn't like it but it turned out my supplier just sucked, we get it from a better spot now - it's freshwater so we do have to get it shopping."

Katie finishes the last bite of her salad and pushes the plate forward. "God, this was good. The dressing is perfect and the salmon's cooked just right."

"I pay very well and sometimes don't take no for an answer when I'm hiring."

Next: salami and cheese pinwheels drizzled in green goddess sauce.

"You're really playing to my tastes tonight. Have you, like, gone through archives of my grocery store purchases and restaurant orders?"

"Nope, these menus are usually set at least a couple days in advance for the shoppers, at least in a general sense with room for substitutions if something looks bad at the market. They have a union, you know."

"Lucky me then." Katie mentally marks down "lets her workers unionize" as another point in Monoceros's favor.

Next is the whole turkey. It looks like they deep fried it. There are dishes of gravy to dip in. Monoceros rips off a drumstick and snarfs it down.

"Ooooh, so we get two courses of dessert after this?"

"Yup!"

"Exciting." Katie carves a hearty slice and digs in.

Oh, there's no knife. Apparently they're supposed to eat this turkey with their bare hands.

An exciting challenge. Katie hopes the grease doesn't fuck up her skin as she works at finding a good spot to tear off some white meat.

Monoceros has no trouble cracking the whole ribcage of the bird open to get at the stuffing inside.

God, she may be evil and just using me for my body in more ways than one but there's no doubt that she's adorable. Oooh, what kind of stuffing?

Bread, broth, sausage, assorted mushrooms, a zillion herbs, and celery and onions!

Katie grabs a big handful and dips it in the gravy.