Chapter Text
The first taste of meat Malcolm ever had was a piece of leftover ham.
When they got home that evening, they found Twyla had laid out spiral cut slices of ham, slices of bright yellow cheese wrapped in in plastic, soft-looking white bread, slightly lip light green lettuce, and a jar of tiny gherkins, and glass pot of something brownish-yellow, and bright orange carrots that had been cut into logs with sharp looking corners.
“Oh, high, guys,” Twyla greeted them with a smile.
“High,” Dani said, kicking off her shoes.
Malcolm watched her a minute, wondering if he should take off his shoes as well. Sure, things were different here, and it wasn’t as if he hadn’t spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon barefoot, but…was that too far? That felt like it was too far.
Before he could consider the matter anymore, Twyla kept talking. “It’s been so hot lately I really didn’t feel like turning on the oven. So sandwiches and carrot sticks, okay?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” Dani said, sounding like she hadn’t been thinking about food at the moment.
Taking that as permission, Twyla picked up two slices of bread, and began to put the sandwich together. Dani joined in, picking up her own s the slices of bread and before folding up two pieces of ham and putting them on one slice, before picking up the deep yellow cheese and deftly pulling back the wrapping.
That left Malcolm. Malcolm, who’s experience in food preparation was twice opening a can of cat food. He knew it didn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to make a sandwich, it was still intimidating.
So, he just watched the women for a moment, Twyla putting two little gherkins in the middle of her sandwich as Dani spread some kind of brow-yellow sauce onto her other slice of bed. That was when she looked up at here. “It’s alright, come on,” She assured him, gesturing with the hand holding the knife.
Malcolm tentatively walked over to the table, copying what the others had done, taking two slices of the bread, as soft beneath his fingers as it looked, and separating on a place, before eying the ham dubiously. For all his life, the kennel had kept him and the other pets on a strict diet. Protein had always been lentils or soy. Never meat. It wasn’t like it was the first time he had gone off the diet, he had done it last night and everything had been fine, but there was something different about this. Like he was crossing an extra line.
His apprehension wasn’t unnoticed by the women. “Everything okay over there, Mal?” Dani asked, concerned.
“I…” Malcolm began, before sighing, “I’ve never actually eaten meat before.”
Twyla spoke up. “Seriously?”
A slight look of dawning crossed Dani’s feature. “Yeah, there wasn’t any meat on the meal plan list.”
“There was a meal plan list ?!” Twyla exclaimed in disbelief.
“They were very concerned about what we ate.” Malcolm explained abased, “For health reasons.”
“Well, that’s not culty at all.” Twyla huffed.
“Twyla, please.” Dani urged with a gentle not helping look, before addressing Malcolm. “Would you like to try a little first? If you don’t like it, we can find you something else.”
“I wouldn’t want to impose…” Malcolm began, but at the same time tore a small piece of ham off before putting it in his mouth. It was robust and sweet and a little salty all at the same time. “That’s actually kind of nice…” He folded it up and put it one the bread, before grabbing another piece.
Soon, the three of sitting at the table with the sandwiches and carrots and steaming cups of coffee.
“You said it was too hot but then you make coffee?” Dani questioned, before taking a sip of drink.
“It’s never too hot for americano.” Twyla declared.
Malcolm picked up, his cup, inhaling the sent. He found he like the stout smell of coffee much more than he liked the dead, bitter taste. He braced himself for that taste before he saw a box being shoved his way. Looking down, he saw an open box of sugar cubes.
“Tones down the bitter.” Twyla told him.
“But more addictive than crack.” Dani pointed out.
“But unlike crack is fine in moderation.” Twyla countered.
Looking between the two of them awkwardly, Malcolm took two of the cubes, dropping them in.
“You’re going to want to stir them in, otherwise they’ll just dissolve at the bottom of the cup.” Dani instructed with earned her a questioning look from her roommate, “Well, if he’s going to drink it with sugar he might as well do it right.”
Taking a spoon, Malcolm stirred as if his life depended on it before taking a small sip of the steaming drink. Twyla was right. Two little sugar cubes made all the difference.
Not wanting to treat their new friend like a spectacle, the women went back to their own meals, however there was something that needed to be addressed. “This seems like as good a time as any to figure out a plan for introducing you to need foods,” Dani began, “We should probably take it slow; I don’t want to shock your system by exposing it to too much new stuff at once.” After a pause, she added, “Or you know, you simply overwhelm you.”
Malcolm thought about what she said for a moment. It made since. It never occurred just how many different foods at there. Even just basic raw ingredients, there was thousands of possibilities. It was dizzying to think about. There was just one thing he was curious about. “Um, what does it mean to shock the system?”
Dani turned her sideway, suddenly running a hand through the side of her long hair.
“I’m sorry,” Malcolm quickly got out, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable—”
“No, no, it’s no big deal,” Dani assured him, quickly turning back around, “I mean, that, when the digestive system hasn’t processed something in a while, maybe ever—it might have trouble doing it, and that can lead to some painful---”
“Bowel movements,” Twyla exclaimed, “She’s basically worried you might get constipated. Or the opposite problem.”
“I was trying to subtle, Twy.” Dani informed her.
“Well, now is not the time for subtly,” Twyla reasoned, before adding softly, “Even if it’s not the best dinner conversation.”
That was when Dani broke into a toothless smile, looking down and chuckling with the shake of her head. Twyla grinned, starting to laugh as well.
Malcolm just stared at them for a moment, before starting to titter as well.