When Eternia arrived back home roughly an hour later she was quite surprised to see garden tools leaning besides the door. "Geez, don't tell me she wants to clean up the garden today, too?!" She was so tired that after supper she only wanted to take a shower, put clean sheets on her bed and then fall down on it. Her feet hurt terribly after all the kilometers she had walked today between shop isles. "Wicked that she owns a shovel, of all things!" The blonde shook her head. That wasn't exactly hand luggage for the hotel.
"Whatever. First I have to finish this..." Eternia put down the items and called into the corridor. "Sinistra?! Sinistra! Can you help me?"
"Coming!" a voice called back from the upper level. Almost instantly there was the sound of boots blustering down the stairs.
"Thanks! I'll get the rest then!"
"Goodness!" Sinistra gasped surprisedly when she showed up in the doorframe and saw all the groceries. There were another three big bags sitting on the pavement. "Did you buy everything that was in stock?"
"He he, of course not!" Eternia laughed from the garden gate. "I told you we won't starve!"
"But how did you carry all those things home?"
"Sorry, but a woman has to keep some secrets!" Eternia winked happy but she was also tired.
"Eh?!" Sinistra couldn't believe what she heard.
"Don't just stand there, the frozen food will spoil!"
"So many things..." murmured Sinistra when shortly after she was helping unpack in the kitchen. In all honesty she had no idea what half of the things were before she read the labels. And even then she didn't always understand. Obviously there was way more to learn here than she thought.
"Well, I thought I better bring a wide variety of things - I didn't know what you like, after all!" Eternia explained. "Additionally, the supermarket had a big sale today! One row of refrigerated shelves went defunct and they sold all kind of stuff for cheap before the food spoils! I also had collected some coupons from their flyers, so I got some more things cheaper. So I bought a ton!"
"Oh, I don't complain! It seems as if we're set for the next day, don't we?"
"Sure!"
"One question though, Eternia...", the elemenalist said cautiously.
"What is it?"
"What is that device in your hands?"
"Argh!" The blonde resisted the urge to slap her brow in despair and took a deep breath instead. "That's called a toaster. I got it for really cheap!"
"I see... And what do you use it for?"
"You use it to toast bread. Toast. You put it in here and then you simply push down this lever. Once the toast is done the toaster switches off automatically and you have a crisp and warm bread."
"Warm bread without baking it first? That's just like magic!"
"Good grief... Sinistra, really... Please forget everything you learned back home about kitchens and for the love of almighty ask me before you press any button you don't know!"
"Alright." Sinistra agreed that this would probably for the best.
Eternia couldn't get over that question. "Why don't you know what a toaster is?! You did recognize the washing machine, or did you just pretend that?"
"No, no, I know such machines from the laundromat!" Sinistra proudly exclaimed. "I've been there once."
"Uh-huh..." The blonde felt a nerve pulsating on her brow.
The elementalist happily kept chatting while she emptied the string bag. "Apart from that, though, I only know the things I had at the hotel. Light switches, bathrooms... You're televisions are just too cute! Oh, and I also know how to use a tramway, so you won't be embarassed with me outside!"
"Ooooookay..." Eternia felt reminded of her own childhood in an uncomfortable manner. Houses without running water and lanterns by night... She tried to express sympathy for her housemate without admitting that a long time ago she had been an uneducated country bumpkin, too. "Surely you were happy when you could finally get away from there, huh?"
"Hm? No, why?" Sinistra looked at her with a look of honest confusion on her face. "I liked it back home just as much as here. It was simply... different." She folded away the string bag. Her eyes wandered over the table and she mechanically read some labels on the food items. "He, toast!" she exclaimed excitedly. "So this is the bread that goes into your device?"
"Err... yes."
"Oh-boy-oh-boy! This doesn't look like bread dough at all. This is... already done..." Confused Sinistra turned the package around in her hands. "What is there to bake, still?"
"Well, you know...", Eternia said after a moment of thinking, "it's probably best if you eat one slice raw and one toasted, then you'll see the difference."
"Alright."
Dolltopia 0013 <- # -> Dolltopia 0015