[Palamedes shrugs, amused at her incredulousness despite himself. Sometimes, the reactions of shock and disbelief at all the things the Sixth just didn't have - whether or not he's explained the whole context - kind of tire him to listen to over and over. Yes, it was very strange, yes, near everyone else he's met grew up in a much more enriching place than a handful of boxy grey corridors, he gets it. But her surprise and little laugh are so earnest that he thinks it's so wild it's almost funny in turn.]

Where I grew up was lacking in... agriculture. The kitchen staff worked with what they had, which wasn't much. I've had cake.

[You know, a few times. The biscuits in the waiting room at the Oversight Body were always very dry and very... chalky, not so sweet, but he's had sweets-adjacent things before.]

Obviously, I don't know anything about food. Chocolate comes from beans? [what!] Meals aren't much of an occasion where I'm from, either. I remember I had a birthday cake when I was, oh... five or six? Anything older than that starts to feel over-indulgent.

Why can't they get lemons in the mountains?