[[ next section is a tangent and can be skipped ]]
He couldn't have taken any more than two turns, and already he was lost. Damn. Those shows were on point with their jokes, this place really was a labyrinth. Not that finding his way back would be too hard - that branch-dragon's voice could be heard all the way here, though muffled. Red hoped he wasn't missing anything too important.
Especially since he wouldn't be going back just yet. A lovely scent of something cooking lingered in the air, guiding him to yet another room. It was a food court, and more importantly, no one was around. And even more importantly...
He rushed to the container where the best smell was emanating, and yes, oh yes, there was meat. Not fish, not tofu, but real meat. It was no steak, but even in ground down and spherical form, this was the real thing.
He glanced around one more time, but the room was still empty. No one would see him stealing. With that, he grabbed himself a tray, and the necessary dishes and built himself a hefty meal with a clear skew to the protein sector. He filled his glass only halfway to be able to run away faster. No, he took another glass that he also filled halfway. He was so smart. And now that his meal was complete, it was time to --
"Hejsan!"
Red flinched hard enough to nearly knock the glasses over. A sealeo had somehow arrived to his left without him noticing.
"Enjoying köttbullarna?"
"I, uh, yeah?" Did he know he was stealing? "Wh-where do you, uhh, pay for this, by the way?"
"Oh, the food is gratis, free of charge!" the sealeo replied in a voice as jolly as its expression and an accent thicker than the sauce on the meatballs. "Take as much as you want."
"...Oh." Red blinked. "Thanks."
"Varsågod!"
Red nodded with a forced smile and slowly backed out of the room. Stealing free food... he had to look like an idiot.
"Hej då!" the sealeo shouted as he left, waving a flipper.
"Hay-dough right back at you," Red mumbled.
[[ tangent ends ]]
He did his best to follow the path he'd taken backwards and fortunately succeeded. Though things certainly weren't the way he'd left them - much of the furniture had been overturned or broken. There was some water on the floor, probably a from whatever extinguished the fire that gave the air a smell of something having burned. Though most annoying was the fact that the branch-dragon was nowhere to be seen. There were two of the girl that had brought it, though. One of them could be the branch-dragon transformed, though Red couldn't imagine why something so powerful would want to take such a weak, unimpressive form.
He put his tray of meatballs on the floor while he uprighted his armchair. He cleared his throat and spoke. "Sorry, I got lost. What's going on right now?"