ISMA Fizzy Beverages, Hand Puppets and Quick Getaways

She chuckled at how he was looking at the man frying up his food, "Well, I didn't know you knew how to get back. I think we currently have enough to pay for someone to make the expedition, or hire a mercenary group to come fight them with us. But I don't think we have both, meaning at some point we would be on our own, wading out into a dangerous situation with no idea what was out there. Or worse, if it's as you described, we know exactly what's out there and have no backup." She looked at him sympathetically, "I know you want to take care of them, but I want us to be able to come back, alive."
 
"Hm. Yis. Soda has much to deliberate on." He went silent, eating the bits of his food that finished cooking. After a few bites of the food he grabbed, he spoke again. "Zis "Mongolian food" is good. Soda will make James Cook it." He nodded affirmatively, deliberately taking the foodstuffs and experimenting with having multiple bits at once in his mouth. Some combos, were good. Others, were bad.
 
Erika snickered when he said that he should make james cook it, "james cooking has suffered since he gave up having a body...I forget, did you know him back then?" She asked, grabbing a fork and beginning to eat her own food.
 
"Eh, his cooking is...ok." Still using one hand to eat, Soda pinched his fingers with his other to accentuate his point, leaning forward more in his seat at the same time to get his face closer to his meal. "Also no. Soda met James...a leetle after that." The little kobold finished his food in short order, but now his tummy was bloated. "Eh...Soda does not want more Mongolian."
 
Erika snickered, and continued on her food. Her plate was piled higher than sodas but she was eating faster so she finished her plate at the same time as him. She smiled at him, "all right, you cool with hanging out with me while I still eat?" She asked, stacking her empty plate on his and shoving them to the side.
 
Soda nodded and bent forward to rest his chin on the table, content to sit there and digest. He wasn't in a rush, he'd learned a while ago that time was on his side in his quest, and he was always a patient kobold. He had more writing to do anyway, to detail the new food he'd eaten and what he did and did not like. Taking his pen and paper, he began to list and summarise the taste and texture of the elements of his meal.
 
Erika hurried to grab her food, eager to get back to her friend. She handed the bowls off to the cook and looked over Soda's writing, "We can come here more often if you like, my treat." She said, looking away when she realized it might be considered rude to look over his shoulder.
 
Soda continued writing, at first seeming to have ignored his friend. After a few seconds he finished a sentence in his sheet and leaned back. "No, Mongolian is expensive. Better to save ze mahney." He noted quietly as he read back over his list. There was a lot for him to catalogue but he was nearly finished. The problem with this place was it was all you can eat, but Soda couldn't eat much - he could only stomach a small amount of food at a time, and even how much he currently had in his system would probably largely get thrown up as soon as he made it home.
 
Erika waited patiently for soda and nodded, beginning to dig into her food when he began talking as it was finished. She swallowed her bite and wiped her lip, "well, all right." She said, "perhaps I could make it at home. I'm not much of a cook, but I'm better than james." She looked at how bloated he was in concern, "you gonna be ok?"
 
"Soda fine. Ate too much." He grumbled, patting his stomach. He could save his problem for home, as it wasn't particularly pressing - so long as he didn't get jostled or have to physically exert himself that is. That said, he'd had a pretty busy day and he was starting to feel kinda tired. It'd be difficult to see between his hat and his high collar, but his eyes were getting kinda heavy.
 
Erika finished her second plate and picked up soda, setting him on her shoulder, "all right, let's get out of here." She carried him to the entrance of the store and made sure the bill was paid before walking out to the street, "feeling up to making a portal or should I just get you home?"
 
"Soda always up for making portals." The little kobold grunted quietly as he hopped off his stool and raised a hand, making an opaque portal with the tarry rainbow texture of a crude oil spill in the floor in front of his feet about seven feet wide, with his toes hanging over the edge. Leaning forward, he kept leaning until gravity pulled him through and he vanished beyond the shimmering veil.

The portal was built in such a way that while it was horizontal at the entrance, it was vertical at the exit, so that when Soda fell through, he was righted back onto his feet. He was quite used to the stomach-turning acrobatics of the setup, but with the amount of food he had in his atrophied belly, he barely suppressed a vomit.
 
Erika went through the portal behind him and helped steady him once she was through. He did portals better than her, but she was better at keeping it together through them. She looked him over concerned, "no throwing up ok? Need any help getting anywhere or... Anything?"
 
Soda took a moment to do anything, doubled over himself with his scarred little hands on his knees. When he did finally respond, he shook his head quickly, his eyes clamped shut. He exhaled deeply, getting to his full height. "Soda ate too much." He continued inhaling and exhaling deeply. "Soda gotta sleep off food baby."
 
Erika looked around at sodas place, "all right, need me to bring you to your bed, or your bed to you?" She asked, peeking around, trying to get her bearings in the place.
 
Soda's apartment was about what one would expect from him. It was physically tiny and nearly completely barren of furniture. The only light coming in was streetline through the curtain, but in that it was clear this was a one-room apartment with just a living room with a sink and stove. One of the only things in the apartment was a nest of bedware that one may hazard to guess is some kind of bed. Soda crawled over to the bed and rolled onto his back. "Soda gonna be.. okeh." He raised a hand in a thumbs up. On his back, it was quite obvious that he had a swollen gut.
 
Erika was concerned for soda, but when he got to his bed and rolled on his back, she had to place a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. She cleared her throat, "hey, when our payment goes through, I'll see about helping you hire a crew to find your home, and then we'll know where it is for when we can go back and deal with that cult, mkay?" She asked, walking to the door and placing her hand on the handle, waiting for his answer.
 
Erika didn't receive an answer, aside from the telltale sound of Soda's quiet snoring. He had a long day, and coupled with overeating, resulted in a food coma.
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The next day, Soda reached out to her telepathically. "Soda outside." Which was to say, outside her house. It was pretty early in the morning - Soda didn't sleep very well even though he falls asleep fast, so he was up before dawn. He gracefully ran some errands before coming to his friend's place, and it was now about six in the morning.
 
Erika placed a blanket over Soda after she heard him beginning to snore, and had to resist the temptation to tidy up his home before leaving.



Erika was already up when Soda arrived at her house, well rested and meditating, she had waited for him to arrive. She snapped out of her meditation and put on a purple poncho with red lining. She went out to meet Soda, "Hey, how are you doing this morning?"
 
"Soda slept off tum." The little kobold patted at his belly, resulting in his coat billowing inwards like it usually does, rather than stopping yesterday when he had a food baby. He looked down at her feet then back up to meet her eyes. "Has money come through yet." Though not toned as a question, knowing Soda, it was one.
 
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