“The most crucial thing needed by those who suffered horrible things is to have someone that willingly lent them a shoulder to cry on.” - Memnon de Javrila, Philosophy lecturer at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 524 FP.

“Have you calmed down now?” asked Aideen with a kind tone to the woman seated next to her. Even while she talked and rubbed the woman’s back in a sympathetic way, her other hand kept stirring the simmering pot of stew atop the campfire with a ladle.

Unliving like herself - and the woman as well - technically no longer had a need to eat, though it helped with their mana intake especially if they wished to retain their fleshy bodies in less mana-rich environments. Even so, the taste and sensations a good meal brought was still something that the vast majority of them enjoyed even if they no longer strictly needed it.

At the moment, they were still in the wilderness, roughly half a day’s worth of travel away from the now-empty bandit camp. They had camped by a small stream, and Aideen had thought that maybe a bowl of warm food would help the woman regain herself somewhat.

The woman herself had been very quiet after she let her emotions out and cried until her tears ran dry, though at least her eyes no longer looked as listless as it used to be. Aideen gave her time and room to regather her mind, as she took care of the woman while they walked back towards the main road. She had seen others like her before. She knew all too well that sometimes, the best thing one could do was to give them some time to come to terms with themselves.

“Here, have something to eat,” said Aideen to the woman as she ladled some of the cooked stew into a wooden bowl. Since she had a large storage artifact it was simple to carry things like pots and bowls with her everywhere, and even the meat and vegetables used in the stew was fresh, since her storage was enchanted to preserve everything inside in the state they were put in. “You’ll feel better with a full stomach.”

It was perhaps a silly affectation for someone who no longer needed sustenance from food, but as they said, the joys of having a good meal was something that some people simply wouldn’t want to live without. It was a sentiment Aideen herself wholeheartedly understood.

The stew was a simple, if positively luxurious meal in the eyes of most travelers who rarely had the opportunity to enjoy fresh meat and vegetables during their travels. AIdeen had simply chopped the meat - some shank cut from a large breed of cattle that was reared for meat in Ptolodecca - into bite-sized chunks and boiled them in water along with some bones from the same cattle that she had cracked open beforehand to allow their flavor to inundate the stock.

Then she mixed in an equal part of milk to make it even richer and some breadcrumbs to thicken the stew and give it some body. It was then followed by chunks of harder vegetables like carrots, potatoes, and onions that needed to cook for a longer time, before she tossed the ones that only needed a brief moment to cook like mushrooms and leafy greens near the end of the process.

All the spice she really used was a few aromatic herbs along with salt and pepper for adjusting the taste, but the results were satisfactory. The bowl of stew was thick, rich, and hearty, with a savory, meaty taste that was cut by the refreshing sweetness of the fresh vegetables. She helped herself to a bowl as well after she gave one to the woman.

They ate in silence, the woman capable of eating on her own despite her weakened arms, as they had been tied and were practically immobile for weeks. Other than a general weakness and some mild malnutrition - the bandits had only fed her enough to keep her alive before she died - Aideen’s healing had returned the woman to a reasonable shape, though.

Aideen noticed how the woman cried silently while she ate, but left her be for the time being. It was only a while later, after they both had polished off their meals, that the woman finally showed a reaction that was different from her usual blank stare and silence.

“Would you like some more?” asked Aideen when the woman looked at the empty bowl cradled in her hands with a noticeable longing in her eyes. Aideen gave her a reassuring smile and a nod when the woman raised her head and eyed her questioningly, as if unsure if she was allowed to have more.

“Thank… you…” said the woman haltingly as Aideen handed her another bowl of piping hot stew. The language the woman used was the one commonly spoken in Clangeddin, which Aideen had learned before and had a passing familiarity with. When she saw how the woman ravenously ate the stew, she get a second helping for herself and accompanied her to eat.

Aideen had made plenty of food anyway.

The woman finished her bowl around the time Aideen finished half of hers, and Aideen noticed that same look as before in the woman’s now more lively eyes. Without needing to be asked, she ladled more stew to the woman’s bowl and smiled reassuringly at her. “Go ahead, have as much as you want,” said Aideen as she nodded.

They only finished eating a while later after the woman finished off six bowls of stew. Probably because her appetite was incensed by the woman’s enjoyment of the food, Aideen ate three bowls herself, and there was barely any of the stew left in the pot, other than a thin layer that coated the bones left behind.

Aideen laid on the ground with her back against a tree, as she watched the woman, who laid on her back on the fallen trunk they had used as a bench, looking at the night sky above them with eyes that were full of wonderment. There was some trepidation and disbelief in those eyes as well, as if she was afraid that everything that happened recently had been a dream she could wake up from anytime soon.

“Feeling good enough to have a talk yet?” asked Aideen to the woman when she noticed her contemplating look.