alas, it's not omelettes

[lovetheme]

His stay in this castle has gotten a lot longer than expected.

Which is a bit worrying for a variety of different reasons. But then there's the more practical concerns of being trapped in a magical castle, too--like the fact that most of the food to be found so far consists of either fruits from the garden or cakes from the ballroom, mostly. (Cakes with strange not-edible things inside them...) And that's just...not enough, honestly. A growing boy is a perpetually hungry one, and there's a lot to be said for the lack of actual meals lately.

But today Lucas finally stumbles into a kitchen in his wanderings. It's disappointingly ghost-free, much the way the rest of the castle has been--he wonders what Duster would think of all this--but still, the room is large, and there are pots and utensils hung across the walls, and vegetables in the cabinets. ...Perfectly fresh vegetables. Which is pretty odd, but...everything else about this place is odd already. Lucas sets them out on the counter anyway.

Because he does know how to cook, a bit. Flint would often be away for multiple days at a time, and so Lucas is mostly self-taught, using advice from fellow villagers and experimenting a bit on his own...after three years, putting together a decent vegetable stew isn't too hard at all. There's a wood stove that's easy enough to light a fire in, and there's water here and a large pot there...

And so visitors might be drawn in by a faint but pleasant smell, wafting through the open kitchen doorway. Lucas is found standing at a counter (on top of a tall stool, so that he can actually reach everything), carefully chopping more assorted vegetables with a knife while a large pot simmers gently on the stove nearby. He's humming to himself very softly, but is otherwise absorbed in deep concentration as he tries to get these vegetable chunks just the right size, and doesn't notice anyone coming in or watching just yet.

Comments

[lovetheme]

He knows they're doing it to be polite, but Lucas still gives Frisk a faintly apologetic look when they lean over so he can better reach the pot. That does sort of look uncomfortable...but there isn't a lot more to do with the stew for this particular moment, at least. Lucas stirs it a little bit more, and then moves over to another part of the counter so they can both have some space again.

"The cup ones do taste sort of alright. Easy to carry around too. But if canned things need--microwaves..." He turns over that word a bit uncertainly in his mouth, and it comes out a little stilted. Clearly an unfamiliar term, to him. "...Makes sense we never ate any. Nobody was carrying cans around. I guess you can't carry microwaves either...?"

Lucas grabs a small nearby basket and starts slowly sweeping leftover celery bits off the counter into it. Frisk's remark about hearing home-made food is better earns them another even more curious look, in turn; they make it sound as if they've never actually had a lot of homemade food before. Lucas spends a brief moment trying to picture this, somebody that only ever eats things like Cups of Pork Noodles because--they weren't taught how to cook things. Or there's nobody around to cook them things.

...Hm....

It feels a little intrusive to ask about that, though. And there's a more important topic at hand now--Lucas makes a mildly alarmed face at Frisk's highly nonchalant mention of things burning. "I hope we don't set anything on fire, no...that wouldn't be very good. But okay--maybe we can start a lesson today. After eating, though...I think this soup is almost done. Would you like to have some?" He hops off his stool, giving Frisk another slight smile. "If, you've got enough room around your apple...?"

i have no idea if any of this makes sense it is 3 AM

[dustless]

They don't mind. They're pretty good at weird contortions, if only from practice (and practice and practice) of dodging things a bit more dangerous than hands.

When he moves, they move with him, unconsciously, though still giving him space. "They're like...plug-in boxes with doors that warm food outside in." They move their hands, roughly, in the physical dimensions of such of device.

Frisk can't hide their curiosity at him not knowing, but they're not going to press yet. They're better at asking monsters things directly, these days--and they've never been good at answering unspoken questions on their own. Lots of dancing around words in this situation, it seems.

They deliberate for a moment--just enough to breathe in the soup's aroma again. It isn't burning or smelling like something soup definitely shouldn't, so-- "Yes, please. If you're sure you made enough."

no judgment here tbh...types this tag from 2amland /o/

[lovetheme]

Oh, so microwaves are a sort of box--that makes a lot more sense. Lucas can take Frisk's word for the description pretty easily, with that in mind--Nowhere has acquired quite a lot of strange boxes with plugs in the last three years. It seems different boxes can do all kinds of things, anymore...

Frisk's own mounting curiosity is hard to miss, but unasked questions aren't really Lucas's forte either--it's a polite and comfortable sort of standoff here, at any rate. (And maybe the questions will answer themselves anyway, eventually...)

But Lucas's smile widens slightly; he's pleased to be able to share the soup, really, since... "I think it'll be enough, yes. I started out making more than I needed...had to feed Boney a lot too, back home. And he eats a lot." Some habits are hard to shake. Lucas trails over to a nearby cupboard, digging out two bowls and smaller spoons before handing a set to Frisk. "Here, you can scoop out what you want..."

questionable decisions everywhere

[dustless]

Even if they're not good at it, even if this is a little bit of a conversational standoff, that's just too much for Frisk to just let by entirely.

"Boney?" Frisk laughs a tiny bit, because that sounds like...if Asgore had to name Sans or Papyrus. Then they remember when they first met. "Oh. Right, your dog friend. Are dogs supposed to have this kind of soup?" They're not an expert, but they're pretty sure non-monster-dogs don't like vegetables that much.

Not too much, and they don't discriminate between vegetables, just taking whatever's closest to their spoon. "Thanks," they say, carefully blowing the steam away.

[lovetheme]

Lucas can't really blame Frisk for laughing a bit--'Boney' is just that sort of name, in a way. Flint had ended up giving him that name, and well...maybe simple names are just a dad thing in general.

He nods a little bit as he waits for Frisk and then moves to dip out some soup as well, filling his own bowl pretty high. It'd be lying to say he wasn't quite hungry right now; he hadn't tided himself over with any fruit before starting with all this... "Yes, my dog friend. But oh...vegetable soup, you mean?"

There's a table and chairs nearby, and Lucas moves there to take a seat, indicating that Frisk is free to do so as well if they want. He peers down at his bowl thoughtfully at this question, though. "I guess some vegetables can be alright? Boney doesn't mind eating them every now and then...he can eat most anything. But you're right, dogs usually like things with meat a lot better...like beef stews, or something. I'd usually cook something like that. Or some beef jerky, maybe. That's chewier..."

Contemplative, he downs a spoonful of soup. It's not the best vegetable soup in the world by any particular stretch, maybe--but it's hot and nice enough. A perfectly average sort of stew.

[dustless]

Meanwhile Frisk devours it like it's the best thing they've ever tasted, scooping some into their mouth before even sitting properly. They're realizing just how much they've gotten sick of fruit and cakes.

"Guess you'd know best. I met dog monsters, but never saw any of them eat. I saw lots of kibble, though," they tell him after a quarter of their soup disappears. "And some were at a place that sold burgers and fries...don't know what those were made of, though." Frisk never got to actually try them, which was a bit disappointing.

[lovetheme]

Lucas looks up from his bowl to find Frisk's bowl already empty by a quarter; this is both very surprising (that was really fast for such a small person...) and almost a little flattering, since Frisk clearly seems to like the soup a lot.

He idly stirs his own bowl with his spoon while he savors his last mouthful of soup a bit more slowly. This also gives him ample time to consider Frisk's words with great interest. "Burgers and fries...well, Boney likes those things too. I think they were made of meat and potatoes, back home? But that might be different somewhere else too, yes..." He pauses, sipping a bit more soup. "Are dog monsters--very different from regular dogs? ...And, what's 'kibble'?"

continues the trend at replying at ridic AM

[dustless]

"Monster food is really different from...anything. It feels better than human food. There's magic in a lot of it, I think."

Frisk is explaining an awful lot, compared to normal. Just talking this much to anyone, especially not a monster, is a little weird. Lucas just...feels like someone they can ramble to. He seems interested, at least. Hopefully their odd descriptions don't confuse him too much.

"Most of the dog monsters could talk and wore clothes, had weapons. One was actually really little," they indicate its size by lifting their hand a bit above the table "but it was in huge armor. One had a neck that got higher than the ceiling when I pet it a lot! And kibble is...what dogs are fed. They're little shapes. Hard and crunchy? Never had a dog," they say, slightly apologetically.

UR OUTTA CONTROL!!

[lovetheme]

"Ooh, magic. Okay...that makes sense." Immediately Lucas finds himself thinking of the magic sweets you could find back home sometimes--like magic pudding, or magic cake. Good for resting your mind. It seems like an appropriate sort of thing for monsters to eat, too.

Lucas is certainly very interested to say the least--so much so that it actually impedes his soup-eating progress, which would usually be a lot faster, so he can hear and absorb this new information properly. Frisk's odd descriptions aren't terribly confusing at all, to him--it's much clearer than a lot of explanations he's gotten in the past back home. The level of directness here is actually sort of refreshing.

Envisioning dog monsters with clothes and weapons and armor isn't....actually as difficult as Lucas thought it was going to be. Immediately, he remembers dressing up Boney as a human so they could both sneak into Club Titiboo that one time. Though walking on hind legs for that long had been rather hard on him...the question blurts out before Lucas can stop himself. "Dog monsters must be very good at walking on their hind legs, aren't they?"

Oh, right, soup. He sips two spoonfuls this time, at least, mulling over the kibble explanation as well. Little hard and crunchy shapes that dogs are--oh. "So kibble is like--doggy treats? Sounds like it. Boney likes those a lot." Lucas pauses, nursing his soup a bit further but considering Frisk very thoughtfully this time. "It's alright that you've never had a dog. But I don't think any dogs would mind befriending you one day. You should keep an eye out for any...they're very good friends."

SLAMDUNKS CLOCK INTO THE GARBAGE

[dustless]

"Yeah?" Huh. Another world where magic wasn't that unusual. That or Lucas is just learning to go with anything at this point.

"They are. I think--there were a couple of white dogs that looked like normal ones on fours, Greater Dog--the armor-y one--and another that stole Papyrus' stuff. The rest of them looked like they were...born...to stand on their legs like humans."

Frisk is good at taking bites between subjects. At least they're not spilling the soup everywhere.

"...think so, just smaller." They nod. "I heard they're humans' best friend. And I made friends with the monster ones easily. I just don't know how...a lot of people take care of their dogs, usually. 'Cept for stuff on the TV says." Does he know what a TV is?

[lovetheme]

Papyrus? That must be another friend of Frisk's back home. He'll have to ask for more details on this Papyrus's apparently unfortunate monster dog adventures later.

For now, though, talk of normal dogs is quickly commandeering most of his attention. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lucas has rather a lot of feelings about dogs in general, mostly of the positive variety. He nods thoughtfully in turn. "Yeah, it's true that taking care of a dog is a responsibility. It's not very difficult to befriend normal dogs, though...and once you do that, it isn't so hard. Mostly you just need to make sure to feed them, and talk to them, and play with them a lot. And let them take you on walks at least once every day."

And at this rate he's probably going to end up reciting all of his own dog knowledge--but he does pause again, before that happens, frowning very faintly at that last bit there.

"TV...like...those are the bigger black boxes with the screens on them, right?" Seems Lucas does know what those are after all--though his familiarity with the concept visibly seems tenuous at best. He sucks down another spoonful of soup with a frown that deepens. "Are there usually--things to see on those? ...About dogs?" News to him, if that's the case.

[dustless]

"...I might try to get one, then. All that sounds easy. I don't know if Toriel will want one, though. She's who I'm going to live with," they add, because that would be extra confusing without context, and they realize it. "She's here, and I'll ask soon."

Frisk is nearly finished with theirs already. They don't know if they'll get seconds, but they appreciate what they've been given, if the pat on their stomach is any indication.

A little TV knowledge is better than nothing, Frisk guesses. They nod. "TVs have lots of stuff on them. Movies, shows, those are like...stories, with moving pictures. And there's commercials in the middle of them for people to show off things that you can buy. Like dog food."

[lovetheme]

Frisk's stomach-pat earns a small smile from Lucas--the compliment might as well be loud and clear, with a gesture like that, and he certainly appreciates it. But the further talk of TVs has it quickly fading again. He listens carefully.

"...That does sound like a lot of stuff...for a box to have." Lucas's eyes shift to stare down at his soup as he slowly stirs his spoon back and forth in the bowl. His eyebrows come together slightly. "...Doesn't sound so bad. I never--looked at the TVs back home for too long, when they were turned on. They look a lot like Happy Boxes, with the screens. Couldn't be sure if they were okay to watch..."

But maybe they were after all. If they just had things like movies, and dog food. Or maybe that's just the TVs in Frisk's world. ...Who knows? Lucas twists his spoon absently between his fingers, but with a visible effort he tries to pull away from those thoughts, looking back up at Frisk.

"Toriel? I think I've met her...she's really nice." He supposes it would make sense for Frisk to want to live with such a nice person. "That's a good idea--asking who you're going to live with first. Not everybody is a dog person, I guess. But if she doesn't mind, I'm sure you guys could make a dog pretty happy."

[dustless]

"...Happy Boxes?" Frisk has no idea what those are, but Lucas's tone makes them not entirely believe that name. It reminds them of friendliness pellets. And then they think of screens and of their fight with the horrible thing Flowey turned into. Ew.

"Adults say watching TV too much can rot your brain, but I think that's just trying to keep kids from doing it all the time. Why'd people buy them if they can hurt you?"

Anyway, moving on from that a bit-- "She is! But yes, she might not be. She might want a cat instead. Or something else." Despite their words, they look proud Lucas seems to believe in them.

[lovetheme]

"Rotting your brain...that doesn't sound too nice, even if it might not be true." Lucas looks faintly troubled by such a metaphor, to say the least. "I don't know, though. If they could hurt you...some people might still buy them, I think. Some people seem to like buying things just because they can."

He's still not sure he understands that, either, even with three years to watch various members of Tazmily fall into such habits. Talk of pets still serves to be fairly distracting anyway, though. "Yes, maybe she might be a cat person. Either way--I don't think a cat would mind you guys either."

And then Lucas is quiet for several moments after that, spooning down some more soup in thoughtful silence. The edge of his earlier hunger is finally wearing off a good deal with the soup sinking in, which is nice. He might get seconds later.

But he still remembers Frisk's very first query too, just now--about Happy Boxes. And he almost wants to let that bit slide, really, but...Frisk has also been perfectly willing to explain so many other things from their world, too. It probably wouldn't be very fair for him to try holding back. Lucas stares down steadily at his bowl when he finally speaks again.

"Happy Boxes are...well. I'm still not really sure what they are. They were the first sort of...technology, to get brought into Tazmily. The guy who brought them, he told the other villagers the boxes would make them happy. Told them they'd never be happy enough without them. The screens on them are on all the time. All colorful." As far as he could remember, anyway. Lucas never looked too closely, since... "Looking into them for too long, though...they made people start to forget about things. Care less. Always talk about how much happier they could be."

He scrapes at the bottom of his bowl with his spoon, a bit. "Seemed like they were never happy enough, anymore. Nobody'd ever thought that way before the boxes showed up, but..."

[dustless]

"People like having lots of stuff, I guess." Frisk doesn't entirely get that either. Some stuff is fine, but you can't exactly carry a huge TV or a ton of cool toys around when there's stuff to do, so what's the point?

"Met a couple cat monsters, too. They sold stuff. They were a little weirder than the dogs." Frisk finds they miss Catty (and Bratty) and Burgerpants sometimes, even though they didn't know each other very much. They were fun to talk to.

Their spoon idly taps against the edge of their empty bowl. "...sounds like...they were hyt--hyp--boxes with mind control? Like TV commercials but a lot worse." They don't care for how the subject makes Lucas look. "'F there are any ever here somehow, we can throw 'em off the edge."

[lovetheme]

"Hmm...normal cats are weirder than normal dogs too. Guess it'd make sense for cat monsters to be the same way." And they sell things as monsters too, apparently--but Lucas can see that pretty easily too. Normal mole crickets corner most of the sales market back home; cat monsters probably have it even easier, being bigger and all.

Lucas pauses as Frisk tries to work out that word for a moment, though, blinking when what they mean finally clicks. "Hypnosis, you mean? Oh...yes, maybe..." Sure, the PSI skill Hypnosis puts things to sleep generally--but who's to say other versions of Hypnosis can't do other things? Messing with people's heads in general...and that would be another rather sobering thought to chew on, but Frisk's conclusion on a plan to action should Happy Boxes ever appear in the castle earns some surprise. Lucas looks back up to Frisk over his bowl, troubled expression finally slipping into a small smile despite himself. When you put it like that... "--Yeah, we can do that. Get rid of them before anybody gets attached. That's a good idea."

And it's almost as if a slight weight's been lifted, really. Thinking about anything from home feels terribly...heavy anymore. But he isn't there now, Lucas reminds himself--not for a little while, anyway. He draws in a breath and straightens in his seat, placing his spoon in the bowl and pushing it aside slightly so he can fold his arms on the table. "--But. Anyway. Got distracted...I said I was going to teach you how to cook things, didn't I? We should talk about that. Is there any kind of food you've ever wanted to try cooking, before?"

[dustless]

They don't have much experience with normal cats either, but Frisk doesn't really doubt him. "One of the cat monsters wanted a cat, too. That seems extra weird." In the way the bunnies in Snowdin--specifically the one that was walking her brother--seemed weird. Then again, Catty hadn't known what a real cat looked like, so she might just be extra strange for even a cat monster...

"Hypnosis! Yeah. It...hypnotism. That's the word. Don't need mind control stuff here." Especially if Undyne might show up. That's why Frisk thought of that solution, admittedly, since mind control makes them think of her, and that's what her proposed idea to keep them from being a problem would be. Probably. "...Though someone might want to take them apart and see how they work." They shrug.

"Well...mmmaybe something with pasta? Or even just pasta itself. I don't know how that's made." They want to learn to make something genuinely edible to help Papyrus and Undyne sometime. Or S-4. "But anything we can make here is fine. Just so we can have stuff that isn't what the castle already...made...for us, 'cause just eating that's getting old."

[lovetheme]

Admittedly there aren't a lot of cats to be found in Nowhere either. But the few Lucas has ever met were strange and cryptic little things, and Boney was always equally confused. He figures it must be a cat thing in general. Though a cat wanting to own a cat does seem even weirder than the normal weird levels, and Lucas makes a bit of a face at that.

He frowns faintly at the idea of someone messing around with a Happy Box in any capacity. "We'll have to--throw them over before anybody tries taking them apart, then. There's nothing in a Happy Box worth looking for." He sounds very certain of this.

But talk of food eases any of that earlier concern. Pasta.....ah. Lucas's eyebrows come together a bit. "Something with pasta? Hm....like--pasta with a past?"

[dustless]

Frisk isn't sure if Catty would be a responsible pet owner, anyway. She seems like the type of monster to forget to feed one sometimes.

"Okay." They assume Lucas knows best. But they kind of doubt those things are going to show up, anyway.

"Pasta with a past? I don't know what that is. Is that...like...aged spaghetti?"

[lovetheme]

"Mm, no, not aged...not really? It wasn't very old, I think. But it was..." Lucas pauses, and then leans forward a bit almost conspiratorially, voice actually dropping slightly. "A pasta of--unspeakable circumstance."

It might sound like a joke, and yet his expression is entirely serious--before he sits back again, relaxing almost immediately and rubbing at one of his arms thoughtfully.

"Had some, before. Only kind of pasta I've had, I think? It was pretty good...I don't know how they cooked in the unspeakable circumstances, though." It sounds sort of difficult...he's pretty sure he's not at that kind of skill level yet. "But--there's noodles, and a sauce with tomato in it, right? Maybe we could make the pasta without the past, too..." A beat. Lucas glances up at Frisk as the thought finally occurs to him. "--Are there--a lot of other kinds of pasta?"

[dustless]

Frisk doesn't quite lean back, but there's definitely an urge to for a moment. But--it still sounds like a joke, or at least sounds funny, so they don't quite muffle a snicker.

"That name sounds really weird. Wouldn't be surprised if there was some of that somewhere here, though! Castle seems like the type."

For a moment, they're slightly distracted by considering trying to balance the spoon on their nose. It's not a trick they've managed before, though, and it's kind of dirty, so never mind.

"I think so? Noodles and spaghetti are pretty close. Then there's lasagna, which is...flat pasta, with cheese and meat and stuff between...parts of it? Like a weird cake. And macaroni and cheese, which has pieces of tube-looking pasta shaped like--" they make the shape with their hand. "And other things, too. There's a kind that looks sort of like seashells, but I don't remember what they're called."