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City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Giggling, Ele took a bit of her food and nodded.

"This is delicious! Amazing!"

She gasped, taking another bite and her eyes rolled closed as she relished the taste.

"Oh I need this in my life!"

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Watching the bird fly away, Ele smiled. She loved to watch birds, they had been her favorite animals when she was a child and Ele would imagine that one day she would wake up as a bird and fly away to where no one could ever find her.

"There's so many more cool birds out here. We have mean seagulls, and deformed pigeons. They're not cute like these guys."

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

"They're much cuter than the pigeons in the city."

Ele said, taking a seat and picking off a piece of the pastry. Holding it in her palm, Ele extended her arm and waited. It didn't take long until a curious little bird flitted over, hopped around a bit, and then landed on Ele's palm.

"There you go, little friend."

Ele said softly, watching the bird peck the food in her hand.

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Accepting the plate with a,

"Thank you."

Ele slid off the counter, losing the added height the counter gave her.

"You said you have a deck, want to eat out there?"

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

"I have heard of about four of those fish, my aquatic foods palate is still forming. I tend to stick to clam chowder, salmon, shrimp, lobster if I'm feeling fancy..."

Squishing the pastry roll and making it into a ball, Ele shrugged,

"Muscles make,me,gag though, they're like salty wads of pre-chewed gum. Bleh!"

Ele stuck her tongue out and visibly shuddered at the memory of the shellfish in her mouth,

"My first taste of it was at a fancy gala dinner, and I was disgusted! I had to swallow it though or I,risked offending the host!"

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

"For a long time I couldn't eat seafood at all,"

Ele said, picking up a scrap piece of pastry and rolling it between her fingers.

"I would get physically ill at the smell or sight of it, but I started to get introduced to it by people who knew how to prepare it well. It was probably too many fish sticks and canned tuna as a kid."

Rolling the pastry into a long thin piece, Ele coiled it back up, focusing on it as she spoke. It was strange to her to be talking about her personal life, even if it wasn't anything bad or ugly, it was just unsettling,

"Moving to San Francisco and having super fresh seafood at hand, made the transition easier by far."

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Narrowing her eyes, Ele took the beef slowly. She quickly popped it into her mouth and closed her eyes to focus on the flavor. It was quite good, but the texture of the raw beef make Ele shudder as she swallowed.

"Flavor gets two thumbs up,"

She said holding out her thumbs and opening her eyes,

"Texture was a little too..."

Ele shrugged then smiled,

"A little 'under cooked' shall we say?"

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Ele shook her head and handed the steak back to Tyler,

"No, make it how you just did. I want to know what that tasted like."

Clamping her mouth shut for a moment, Ele looked bashful, then apologetic,

"Sorry, that was really bossy wasn't it? Sometimes I sound a lot meaner than I mean to. Kate says its how I got to be as high up in my job as I am, because I sound like a boss."

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Not wanting to miss a chance to try a new dish, Ele held out her hand,

"I'll try it."

She said, raising an eyebrow at Tyler.

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

The story was sweet, and it made Ele smile. She wished she had had that kind of life with a family that loved her. When Tyler held up the beef though, Ele leaned away from him looking wary,

"Steak tartare was never a menu option for me."