The nausea had... stopped.

Not completely, but it had receded a lot, leaving behind a sudden, unexpected emptiness in the calm.

And now, he was faced with the sealed pouch of cookies in his hand. There was a faint, warm scent of butter and something subtly floral reaching his nose.

Whether it was the pregnancy cravings or simply the fact that these smelled better than what he had in Pete’s house. Chronos felt his mouth water for the first time in hours.

He opened the pouch, randomly picked a cookie, and took a deliberate crisp bite.

The flavor hit first—rich, layered, not too sweet like the one he had before, with a depth of unknown flavor hidden within the buttery scent.

It had a crisp outer shell texture that gave way to something dense and almost creamy at the center. It held together without crumbling.

It was... objectively beyond excellent.

His expression, however, remained utterly flat outwardly.

"The structural integrity is good," he said, with the detached air of a professional critic.

"It’s not too sweet, which is the right call—since more sweets went over the top with the sugary sweet direction. The secondary flavor note—nutty?—comes through cleanly without competing with the base."

He took another bite, chewed thoughtfully.

"Actually, this is the first time I’ve had this particular flavor profile."

What his face did not show was that he was already reaching for a second cookie before he had finished swallowing the first.

Neville beamed and had his light brain on, rapidly jotting down notes.

"Texture—noted. Sweetness—good. Avoine’s nutty flavor—captured." He glanced up. "Any suggestions on what could be improved? Be as harsh as you want."

"You used avoine? That’s a good one." Chronos commented, then considered his criticism while consuming his third cookie. "The aftertaste could linger longer. It drops off a little abruptly after the initial impact."

"After taste—" Neville muttered, typing.

"That might be a binding agent issue. I could try adjusting the ratio of—" He caught himself again, and scolded himself. "Oh, no. How could I work in a gathering?"

"It’s fine." Chronos almost smiled. Almost. "You said that this is an Avoine 1Flavor, right? Do you have any other flavors?"

"I do have some in mind, but I haven’t had time to experiment with them properly. There are some new ingredients I sourced from other planets that I haven’t been able to test yet—different fat compositions, different aromatic compounds. The potential combinations from this dish alone are—" Neville’s eyes went slightly distant, imagining the future possibilities. "—extensive."

Chronos gave a small nod and said before taking a bite. "Have you ever used sareth spice?"

Neville blinked.

"Sareth?1" His interest sharpened immediately. "The one from the border planets?"

"The same." Chronos folded his arms loosely. "I encountered it on a trading planet near the outer routes. The heat is... unusual."

Neville leaned forward a little. "Unusual how?"

"It doesn’t hit the tongue first," Chronos said as he recalled the flavor profile. "The flavor is mild at the start, almost smoky. Then the heat builds slowly at the back of the throat. There, it lingers."

Neville’s eyes lit up.

"Ah! I’ve heard about that one." He quickly pulled up his ingredient database on his light brain. "But I’ve never managed to source it."

Chronos watched him work, interest flickering in his gaze.

"If I remember correctly..." Neville muttered, scrolling through the listings. "It only grows in low-gravity soil environments, right?"

Chronos nodded, waving a piece of cookie around. "That’s part of it. The mineral composition of the soil affects the flavor as well."

Neville’s brow furrowed in concentration as he cross-referenced suppliers. "That explains why the imports are inconsistent..."

Chronos tilted his head slightly. "You’re looking for a supplier now?"

Neville didn’t look up as his fingers flew into the holographic screen. "Of course. If something like that exists, I have to try it."

Chronos let out a quiet breath that might have been the beginning of a laugh. "You’re really taking this very seriously."

Neville finally glanced up at him with a grin. "All for a good food."

Chronos shrugged. The better the food, the better his life could be.

A few meters away, Pete had been keeping one eye on the pool table and the other on the corner where Chronos sat.

He watched Chronos eat the fourth cookie. Then the fifth.

There was nothing wrong with it since people he knew already normalized cookies as a good food to bring wherever you go. But Pete had already noticed that Chronos’s appetite lately had been erratic at best and adversarial at worst.

Watching him eat happily, reaching for the next one before the last was gone, made Pete rest his worries.

It was cute.

Pete glanced toward Grayson, who was radiating a contained but possessive displeasure in Neville’s general direction. For a brief moment, he felt a flicker of kinship.

It was still Julius’s turn, taking his sweet time lining up a bank shot. He was muttering calculations under his breath.

Then, Pete set his cue against the table’s edge.

"I’ll be right back," he said to no one in particular, and crossed the room unhurriedly.

He stopped beside the pair of cushioned stools and directed a warm, friendly smile at Chronos and Neville.

"What are you two talking about so happily over here?" he asked, his voice mildly amused with curiosity. "You’ve been in your own world for the last few minutes."

Neville glanced at Chronos, who was mid-chew on his sixth cookie and in no position to respond. So, he took it upon himself to answer.

"We were exchanging information about flavors and ingredients that could work with produce sourced from different planets. Chronos has really detailed notes on regional spice profiles—it’s an incredibly useful dataset."

He said it with earnest enthusiasm.

Pete’s gaze drifted to the diminishing pile of cookies, then back to Neville. The warmth in his smile didn’t change, but something behind his eyes sharpened into mild playful reproach.

"That’s great, but it’s not exactly fair for you two to eat without the rest of us, right?"