Dorry tore another massive chunk of meat from the roasted tyrannosaurus.
Brogy did the same, laughing between bites.
"Gegyagyagya! Nothing beats fresh dinosaur after a good fight!"
"Gabababababa! You're right about that!"
They ate with the enthusiasm of children at a feast.
Ulquiorra remained motionless on his boulder.
Dorry paused mid-bite, noticing.
He gestured at the roasting carcass with a massive hand. "Aren't you hungry?"
"No."
Brogy swallowed his mouthful.
"Come on, little warrior! You've been sitting there for an hour!" He tore off a piece of meat the size of a human torso and held it out. "At least try some!"
Ulquiorra looked at the offered meat.
Then at Brogy.
"I don't require food."
Silence.
Both giants stopped eating.
Dorry lowered his portion.
"You... don't require food?" His tone shifted, curious now. "Are you even human?"
"No."
Dorry's eyes widened.
He studied Ulquiorra more carefully now: the pale skin, the tear marks, the horned mask fragment.
His mind cycled through every race he'd encountered in his hundred-sixty years.
Fish-men? No.
Mink? No.
Skypean? No.
Nothing came to mind.
A wet sniffle broke his thoughts.
Dorry turned.
Brogy sat there, shoulders shaking.
Tears streamed down his face like waterfalls.
"Gegyagya..." His voice cracked. "That's... that's the saddest thing I've ever heard..."
Dorry blinked.
"Brogy?"
"HE'LL NEVER KNOW THE JOY OF A GOOD MEAL!" Brogy wailed, actual rivers of tears pouring from his eyes. "THE WARMTH OF ALE IN YOUR BELLY! THE TASTE OF VICTORY MEAT!"
He looked at Ulquiorra.
"SUCH A TRAGIC EXISTENCE!"
Dorry's voice boomed.
"BROGY, YOU IDIOT! CALM DOWN!"
The blonde giant hiccupped, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
"But—"
"He said he doesn't require food, not that he can't eat!" Dorry gestured emphatically at Ulquiorra. "There's a difference!"
Brogy froze.
His tears stopped mid-stream.
"Oh." He blinked. "OH!"
The massive grin returned instantly.
"Gegyagyagya! Of course!" He thrust the meat forward again, eyes bright with renewed enthusiasm. "Then you must try some! Even if you don't need it!"
Ulquiorra stared at the offered food.
"I have no interest in consuming unnecessary substances."
"But it's delicious!" Brogy leaned closer, his beady eyes sparkling. "The taste! The texture! The experience!"
"I don't understand the purpose."
"The purpose is enjoyment!" Brogy waved the meat for emphasis. "You don't do everything because you need to, do you?"
Ulquiorra tilted his head fractionally.
He had no answer to that.
The concept of doing something solely for pleasure was...
Foreign.
"Just one bite!" Brogy's grin widened impossibly further. "If you don't like it, you never have to eat again! But you should at least try it once!"
"No."
Brogy's smile didn't falter.
Instead, he set the meat down gently.
Stood.
Walked over to Ulquiorra's boulder.
Then sat down right beside it with an earth-shaking thud.
"Gegyagyagya! Then I'll sit here until you do!"
Dorry laughed.
"Gabababababa! Good luck with that, Brogy! Our new friend seems quite stubborn!"
"So am I!" Brogy crossed his massive arms, still smiling broadly. "I've been dueling Dorry for over a hundred years! I can wait!"
Ulquiorra looked up at the giant beside him.
Brogy looked down, beaming.
Several seconds passed.
Dorry resumed eating, watching the scene with amusement.
Brogy didn't move.
Just sat there.
Smiling.
Waiting.
Ulquiorra returned his gaze forward.
"Your behavior is irrational."
"Gegyagyagya! Maybe!" Brogy's grin somehow grew wider.
Minutes stretched on.
Brogy remained beside the boulder.
Dorry finished his portion and started on another, occasionally glancing over with visible amusement.
Ulquiorra sat motionless.
The giant's presence registered as a constant pressure in his awareness, surprisingly warm and insistent.
More time passed.
Dorry spoke between bites.
"You'll be waiting a while, Brogy."
"Gegyagyagya! I have nothing but time!"
Ulquiorra's eyes shifted toward the blonde giant.
Still smiling.
Still waiting.
The concept of patience for no purpose made no logical sense. Brogy gained nothing from this. No advantage. No benefit.
Yet he sat there anyway.
"Why?" Ulquiorra asked.
Brogy blinked.
"Hm?"
"Why do you remain here?"
"Because you're my friend!" Brogy answered immediately, as if it explained everything. "And friends share meals together! It's tradition!"
"We are not friends."
"Sure we are!" Brogy's grin never faltered.
Ulquiorra looked at Brogy directly now.
"I do not require companionship."
"Maybe not!" Brogy shrugged, the movement causing minor tremors. "But you're getting it anyway! Gegyagyagya!"
Silence.
Ulquiorra returned his gaze forward.
Brogy started humming.
"Gabababababa! You're a stubborn one, Brogy! But our friend here might be even more stubborn than you!"
"We'll see!" Brogy declared cheerfully.
More time passed.
Ulquiorra stared at the meat Brogy had set beside the boulder.
Consumption served no purpose for him.
But refusal also served no purpose.
Ulquiorra reached out.
He tore off a piece.
Brought it to his mouth and bit down.
Nothing changed.
No satisfaction.
No pleasure.
Just a meaningless action.
Brogy leaned forward, eyes wide with anticipation.
Dorry stopped eating, watching aswell.
Both giants waited.
Ulquiorra's expression didn't change.
Not a flicker.
Not a single shift in his face.
"So?" Brogy's voice practically vibrated with excitement. "What do you think?"
"It is meat, there's nothing to feel."
Silence.
Brogy blinked.
Brogy scratched his beard as he frowned in genuine confusion.
"You... you didn't feel anything?" His usual grin faltered.
"No."
"But it's perfectly cooked!" Brogy's voice rose slightly. "Fresh tyrannosaurus! Seasoned with island herbs!"
Brogy's expression shifted.
His eyes burned with fierce determination, the kind warriors wore before battle.
"I'll make you like it by the end of the year! Just you see!"
Ulquiorra looked at him.
"That is impossible."
"NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!" Brogy slammed his fist into the ground, creating a small crater. "I've been fighting Dorry for over a hundred years without a winner! If I can do that, I can make you enjoy food!"
Dorry laughed from his seat.
"Gabababababa! Now you've done it! You've challenged Brogy's pride!"
The giant's laughter echoed through the trees.
The sun dipped, and night fell over Little Garden.
The fire crackled between them.
Dorry sat on a massive tree he had chopped down.
"I miss Elbaf's ale," he said quietly. "Nothing in the world compares to it."
"Gegyagyagya..." Brogy's laugh came softer than usual. "I dream about it sometimes. That first sip after a victorious hunt. The warmth spreading through your chest."
"The taste of home."
Brogy nodded, his grin melancholy now.
"Do you remember The Great Feast?" Dorry's voice turned distant. "That year we both won?"
"Gegyagyagya! How could I forget?" Brogy's laughter boomed. "We outlasted every warrior in Elbaf!"
"Three days of hunting, three nights of drinking." Dorry grinned. "And we were the only two still standing when the sun rose."
"The elders said it was the first tie in a hundred years!"
"Gabababababa!"
"Gegyagyagya!"
Dorry shifted his gaze to Ulquiorra, who sat motionless on his boulder since he got there.
"What about you, friend? Do you have any tales from home?"
Ulquiorra stared at the flames.
"No."
"No home at all?" Brogy tilted his head. "Where were you before the ocean?"
"I don't remember."
Both giants exchanged glances.
Dorry leaned forward slightly.
"Nothing? No family? No village?"
"Nothing."
Brogy's usual grin faded completely.
He looked at Ulquiorra for a long moment.
"That's... that's worse than missing home." His voice held genuine sadness. "At least we have memories. You have nothing."
Dorry's expression softened.
"Then we'll just have to give you new memories." He gestured at the fire, at Brogy, at the island around them. "Starting with this year on Little Garden."
"Gegyagyagya! Exactly!" Brogy beamed warmly. "By the time your Log Pose resets, you'll have a year's worth of stories!"
Ulquiorra didn't respond.
Brogy cleared his throat.
"Let me tell you about the time Dorry and I faced the Sea King of the Northern Waters!" He spread his arms wide. "It was three times the size of our ship!"
"You're exaggerating," Dorry said flatly.
"I am not!"
"It was twice the size. Maybe."
"THREE TIMES!" Brogy insisted.
"Now you're just lying."
"Gegyagyagya! Fine, fine! Twice the size!" Brogy launched into the tale anyway, his hands moving dramatically.
Ulquiorra listened.
The giants' voices filled the night.
He felt nothing.
But he still remained.