At Reisso'aneei Tiia'haa'ko Restaurant
As they said, it was all over but the crying (and paying the bill).
Madame Kalleeiha Maillanaarro lounged upon a collection of pillows at the edge of the feeding pit in sated repose. Her ample contours lay nude and content from the extended meal shared among her dozen friends attending the midday serving. She could feel a nap coming on, but that would be handled in it's own time. Her mirthful belly - quite more ample than before - burbled happily as her tail lazily flopped in lethargic throes behind her.
The beast was called a kujbok, so the menu said, from the planet Ratatak. An animal of stubborn and independent spirit. It had taken the slaughter-matron a good five minutes to tire the stoutly-built wild deer out, and three attempts to wrangle it down before the killing bite was applied. Struggle makes the taste more sweet, so the saying went. Exotic and foreign prey like that were the domain of only spendthrifts and the Baroness class on most occasions. When splurging for Tiia'haa'ko, common people normally ate the modestly-priced domestic beasts of the mother worlds. However, the spirit of fiscal wisdom normally left the room during a holiday. Solstice naturally demanded the best prey a matron could afford. If there was any other holiday that opened a wallet, then it was certainly C'saa e Nomaani'suurra - the Moon God's revelry.
This was the season for romance. The time when matrons put on a little more effort to woo their lovers. When their lovers showed their eager appreciation in turn. It was the season for flowers, for poetry, for tokens of affection great and small. And for expensive meals of prey creatures like a Ratataki kujbok.
Kalleeiha pulled at the rib bone in her grasp, the last decent bite of venison shearing from the bone in a stringy release. The portly tea house owner gave a hearty belch, then let the cleaned bone fall to the pile of five others in front of her.
"Thank jyou forr thjiss loveljy djinnerr, Madame Maillanaarro." Zaa'itaali Praaussellaa raised her wine goblet in an appreciative salute. "We arre pleassed to have the Cizeri bussjinesss communjitjy on Jovan Sstatjion togetherr to plan eventss forr C'saa e Nomaani'suurra."
At that, all the wine glasses raised, and voices in unison said "Hau'e" in agreement. Madame Maillanaarro's smile brought dimples to her round face as she cleaned the blood from her hands with raking passes of her tongue.
"Would jit be posssjible to hold a larrge event on the concourrsse wjith the blesssjing of the Commanderr?" asked Torraari Naaianeya, a curious pique to her upturned ears.
The Madame finished another pass with her tongue, addressing the question with an amenable expression.
"Oh, jI am cerrtajin that Commanderr Akjiena jiss rreceptjive to the rrequesstss of ourr communjitjy. Asss a matterrr of fact, jI have ssent hjim a token gjift. Ssomethjing to help hjim ssharre jin ourr apprrecjiatjion forr the sseasson."
Even as she spoke, one of the Madame's boys was already delivering a very large gift basket to Commander Akiena's office, with all the good cheer and hospitality as the Tea Shop Madame could offer to a friend.
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