Running into King’s live stream, she’s mid-conversation with her viewers. The green contacts in her eyes light up the screen, and she's casually walking around a small wooden kitchen. The counters covered with a strange assortment of vegetables. The title of the stream reads, "#65598032: Earth Vegetables”
King holds up a radish, inspecting it with a vaguely distasteful look. "Alright, so this little thing—it's called a radish," she says, her voice light and amused. "You know, Galatians don't really have these. Back home, we’ve got these little crysturns—they’re similar in shape but so much sweeter. And softer. I mean, look at this! Humans just bite into these raw. It's like... biting into dirt. Like, this tastes earthy, like you just pulled it out of the ground and ate it, which, I guess, is exactly what they do," she laughs. "I don’t know if I’m sold on the raw Earthian vegetable thing yet, but we’ll see. Maybe I’ll get used to it."
A bunch of comments pop up, and King laughs as she scans them. "Yes, yes Kingdom, I saw Zorik’s comment: is there anything similar to leekos on Earth?'"
She picks up a head of lettuce and holds it in front of the camera. "This is a lettuce—and it's... okay. It’s similar to the leekos on Galatia, but, well, uglier—unlike leekos that come in all these shimmering colors, and have a taste that is more... refreshing, lettuce only comes in shades of green and sometimes purple. And this lettuce? It’s mostly water. It’s good for salads, but really, it feels like you’re just eating water wrapped in a leaf." She laughs and takes a tiny bite of the lettuce. "I’m not complaining though, I am learning. Not sure I’ll be replacing my leeko obsession just yet."
Another comment pops up: “What about Earth’s potatoes?”
King’s eyes light up. "Ah, potatoes. So, back home, we have tubers—they’re similar but, again, they’re way more efficient. Tubers can store so much energy in one bite! But these Earth potatoes... they’re actually pretty good. I tried mashed potatoes for the first time the other day, and it was like... soul food. You can boil them, fry them, mash them, and they absorb whatever flavor you want. Very versatile. I don't know how Earthlings make these taste so different in every dish, but it’s an art."
She picks up a carrot now, twirling it in her hands. "So, this is called a carrot. Now, I thought carrots were just, like, crunchy and sweet... but these Earth carrots? They’re... much crunchier than what we have on Galatia. We’ve got sproncarrots back home, and they’re much more... silky. These? They’re almost like tiny tree branches. I can’t imagine eating them raw in a salad back on Galatia. We’d just toss them into a liquifyer for our juices, but... okay, I see why Earthlings snack on them. Still, I think I’ll stick to my sproncarrots when I get home."
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She suddenly picks up a tomato, holding it up in front of the camera with an eyebrow raised. "So, here’s another thing that I’ve found confuses a lot of Kingdom. This is called a tomato, right? On Galatia, we have sola-fruits, which are kind of like tomatoes, but... we don’t eat them like vegetables. These things—tomatoes—Earthlings treat them like vegetables, but they're technically fruits. It’s a little mind-boggling for them. I tried to make a salad with them, but it felt like I was eating fruit in a savory dish, which just felt wrong. But... okay, I get it now. Earthlings love these things. It’s like a whole culture around tomato-based everything."
Another stream comment floats by, and King reads it aloud. “‘Do you like kale yet?’" She laughs. "Oh, that’s an easy one. No. I don’t get kale. Back on Galatia, we have lux-flax leaves. They’re like kale, but... they actually taste good. Not bitter and rough like this." She holds up a leaf of kale, crinkling her nose at it. "Kale’s like someone put a tree in your salad. It’s too tough and too bitter for me. Maybe it's an acquired taste, but I think I'll pass on that one."
She picks up a cucumber, turning it in her hands. "And then, there’s this... cucumber. On Galatia, we have drakknub, which are super smooth and, honestly, I’m just confused about this thing. It’s so watery, it’s like eating nothing. We don’t have anything like this back home, but... I get the whole 'refreshing' thing, I guess. It's just... not my favorite."
King sets the cucumber down and looks at the screen, a twinkle in her eye. "Alright, Earthlings, definitely have some weird stuff here. But I’m learning, I’m learning. We Galatians love our nutrient-packed food that’s easy to digest and efficient, but I’ll admit... some of these Earth vegetables have a certain charm. I might even try some cooked kale next time—who knows?"
Another comment pops up: "What’s your favorite vegetable so far, King?"
She grins. "Alright, alright, I’ll admit it. The sweet potato is winning right now. I wasn’t expecting it to be sweet and starchy, but it’s like a cozy little snack... I can get behind that." She winks at the camera. "But, you know, you won’t catch me eating a radish again anytime soon.”
There is a small rumble in the background of the live as King jumps a little. Her long white hair, currently dyed a light chestnut color, slides off her shoulder as she whips her head around, looking somewhere beyond the camera. She quickly turns her attention back to the camera. “Hehe- looks like I’ve got to go now… my adoptive parents are back.”
She scrunches up her nose a bit, widening her eyes playfully as she grabs the camera. “Till next time Kingdom! The journeys just beginning — don’t blink!”
The camera flickers once before the live ends.