The words nearly stuck in my throat but I forced myself to get them out. I had no intention of going all the way to another galaxy with him, but Sir didn’t need to know that.
“Hmmm…it’s a possibility,” he said, frowning thoughtfully. “Though you ought to know that we Korrigons have evolved past the need to eat ‘whole foods’ as you call them. We get most of our daily needs met from a very advanced and sophisticated nutritional gel.”
Well, that didn’t sound very good, butanythingwas better than the “human chow” he had synthesized for me.
“I might as well get used to it now as later,” I said. “And if it’s nutritionally dense enough to keep a big guy like you going all day, I’m sure it will fill me up, too.”
Sir nodded reluctantly.
“Well…all right. Having looked over your biological composition, I don’t believe anything in it would be harmful to you, so I will allow you to try it. Then, after we form and seal our Master/pet bond, I will link with your mind and that will allow me to synthesize food that is more specific to your human needs.”
“Okay.” I nodded agreeably. I had no intention of being there long enough to form any kind of bond with him, but he didn’t need to know that, either.
“Very well.” Sir nodded and closed his eyes again and concentrated. After a moment, another medium-sized door lit up and the swirling glitter tornado began again—only this time there weretwolittle mini tornadoes in there, I saw.
There was ading!and Sir opened the door, revealing two golden bowls which he brought to the table. He placed one in front of me and then sat across from me with the other.
I looked down at my bowl and saw a lot of little cubes, about as big as a medium sized ice cube. But they weren’t as hard as ice. In fact, when I nudged the bowl, they jiggled slightly in a very familiar way.
“This is it? This is the ‘incredibly advanced and sophisticated nutritional gel’?” I asked, looking up at Sir.
“Yes. What of it?” He frowned down at me.
“This is Jell-O,” I said. I picked up one of the clear, jiggly cubes and examined it more closely. “You’ve made Jell-O Jigglers, Master. Congratulations, that issupersophisticated.”
“’Jell-O Jigglers?’” He frowned. “You’re being sarcastic, little one. Explain yourself.”
“It’s a children’s food back on my planet,” I explained. “You take flavored gelatin and you form it into these shapes that kids can eat and they love it.” I shrugged. “But it’s not usually consideredhaute cuisine.”
His frown deepened.
“Would you prefer to eat your human chow, then?”
“No, no!” I said quickly, seeing I was right on the edge again. “Forgive me, Sir—it just reminded me of my home world and my childhood, I guess.”
Suddenly I had a lump in my throat as memories of my mom making Jell-O Jigglers for me and Taylor filled my mind. They were such a treat—she would make a big cake pan filled with the extra stiff Jell-O and then give us cookie cutters so we could cut out whatever shapes we wanted. Our fingers and mouths would be stained red or blue or green—depending on the flavor Jell-O she made—for the rest of the day.
“Little one? Are you well?” Sir’s deep, rumbling voice was more gentle this time and I blinked back tears to look up at him.
“I…I’m fine,” I whispered. “It’s just…I miss my mom and my sister. That’s all.”
I was waiting for him to say something about how I would forget all about my loved ones in time, but instead he only nodded.
“That’s understandable,” he murmured.
“Thank you,” I said stiffly, swiping at my eyes. “For not acting like I’m a puppy who will forget its littermates after it gets used to its new owner.”
Sir looked at me thoughtfully.
“I do not believe anymore that you will forget your home world—you’re clearly too intelligent for that. But Idothink once we form our bond, you will find separation from your home planet and the ones you left behind much more bearable.”
“Whatever,” I muttered and looked at the clear, jiggling cube in my fingers once more. I might as well try it—it might not be very appetizing but at least it didn’t smell like the inside of a bottle of dusty vitamins and look like pet food.
I sniffed at it but it didn’t smell like anything. I took a nibble from the corner, but I couldn’ttasteanything either. Figuring I might as well go for it, I popped the whole cube into my mouth and bit down on it.
It acted almost exactly like Jell-O, melting away on my tongue and leaving neither taste nor scent behind.
“Well?” Sir asked as I swallowed. He was looking at me anxiously, as though he wanted to be certain the nutritional gel cube didn’t disagree with me.