"I don't think he got soap in your breakfast. I don't know how to explain it."

"Did you identify which herb was at fault?"

"The only thing I didn't recognize was a leaf that Loel thought of as 'cilantro'."

Ekador considers, then says, "I haven't heard of it, at least not by that name."

"Or," says Aleko, "there was soap on my plate, that would also explain it. Why would cilantro taste nice to you and him and not to me?"

"If it was the herb and not accidental soap, it's interesting that it did," says Ekador.

"Do you have a theory?" inquires Kiri.

"Not yet."

"I don't see why it's worth theorizing about."

"If we discover an explanation, perhaps it will help you avoid other things that mysteriously taste like soap to you and not other people," Ekador suggests.

"Nothing else tastes like soap. Except soap."

"So before you encountered this 'cilantro', you would have said that nothing tastes like soap except soap. Who's to say there isn't another thing like it somewhere?"

"This conversation is starting to make it sound like I eat soap every changeday or something. Come to think of it I have no idea why I know what soap tastes like."

Ekador giggles.

"Couldn't tell you. I wonder what Loel's making for dinner."

"Hopefully soap isn't involved."

Ekador giggles again.

"I'm gonna go check, actually." Up he gets and he goes looking for the kitchen.

Where Sarelle and Loel are animatedly discussing the differences between Thiyecine and Welchin cooking. Well, animatedly on Loel's part.

Sarelle is more animated than usual but this is not a high bar to clear.

"You don't have any cilantro, do you?" Aleko asks, poking his head into the kitchen. "Just remembered that either it tastes like soap, or that time you made us breakfast you got soap in my food."

"I have cilantro, but I'm not currently using it," he says. "Lucky for you, I guess."

"I wonder what it tastes like to you," snorts Aleko. "What's for dinner?"

"Fried rice. Almost done," he says.