⚔ // once upon a dream

[discutio]

[You all know the drill by now. Ignis and Camilla have taken over the nearest kitchen, and there's going to be food in the Pokemon Center soon enough; a warm and comforting vegetable curry. Highwind's even out now, welcoming any and all who might need a large cloud bird to hug after everything that was.]

[It's been a long night. Everyone needs a good meal and a long rest, and luckily one of those things is being seen to immediately.]

Comments

[eudaimonikos]

I drafted a plan for cookies.

[absolutely no awareness that this is insane]

[discutio]

That's not...really a thing people do, Michael. A recipe for cookies isn't remotely complicated, what kind of plan did you have?

[eudaimonikos]

Well, first I cross-referenced all the different recipes. [You know he means, like. Literally all that were accessible to him.] I thought it was a very standard human dessert, but there were a lot of differences from source to source. There weren't any clear indications of which was the correct one - most of them claimed to be "the best", but that's obviously unreliable - so I realized I was going to have to conduct my own research.

[He just has no fucking cultural context for how baking works, huh]

[discutio]

...

[Immediate conclusion: immortals are just goddamn weird.]

That's...definitely not how baking works, Michael.

[eudaimonikos]

....but that's what the books are in the library for, isn't it? Research purposes?

[can you imagine ardyn developing a minor chocolate chip cookie obsession tho]

[discutio]

[you say that like ardyn isn't the agent of chaos that wrote those 70s-ish cookbooks with everything in gelatin and with mayonnaise and all that shit.]

Yes, and while baking is itself a science of a sort it's not quite so exact of one. It takes time, testing and altering recipes until you find and refine one you enjoy.

Working in a kitchen is in the sentiment of what you aim to make, as it is textbook education on what to use and in which amounts.

[eudaimonikos]

...the sentiment.

[how do feelings affect the chemical reactions in the baking, sounds fake]

Like not accepting cookies from people who don't like you? [michael that's POISONING]

[discutio]

Not exactly, no.

[michael...]

You're going to hate this, but it's about caring for what you're doing and the people you're doing it for.

[eudaimonikos]

[.....]

Ignis, I know that you're sort of the expert here. But you know that sounds pretty superstitious?

[discutio]

I know how it sounds, but it's entirely true.

[this man literally gives stat bonuses because he's That Good.]

You can't think of it as a purely black and white science, there's simply more to it than that.

[eudaimonikos]

That's what science is, Ignis...

[But you do seem to have hit some kind of chord in him, and that barely comes off as more than a...well, one dying complaint.]

Okay, okay. So what do you do, say nice things to the batter while you mix it?

[discutio]

No, just...

[Ignis faltered, briefly at a loss for how to explain something that wasn't easily put into words.]

Think of it this way. Why do you want to make them?

[eudaimonikos]

Well - they make people happy, don't they?

[discutio]

Good start, yes.

Why do you want to make people happy?

[eudaimonikos]

I don't know, I - [He does know, though.]

Okay, it's like this. I used to handle pretty much everything for my human friends. When we were in the Neighborhood I built, I could create anything for them, and I warned them about what the other demons were going to do so they were never caught too off-guard. And then afterwards, I planned out everything to keep them safe. It just made sense; I knew all about where we were, and I belonged there.

Here, I can't just...make things be better.

[discutio]

[...aw, michael]

That's exactly what I mean. I don't want you to overthink the act of cooking or baking in itself--don't labor terribly over every last detail and struggle to make it some textbook example of 'perfect'. Just find a recipe, follow it, and keep exactly that feeling in mind as you do.

The rest will fall into place, and that intent will come across in the result.

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael listens, nodding along. You can't see it, but he's sort of gesturing with the knife in a way that would be alarming. If you could see it.]

Okay. So, just...do it. Still follow the recipe, with the measurements and everything, but other than that, just do it.

[discutio]

[he can hear you moving, thank shiva, because he really doesn't want to get stabbed]

Precisely so. A task requiring intuition, more than logic.

[eudaimonikos]

[It's fine, he doesn't stab things he doesn't want to.]

Not a strong suit for demons. Our whole system is very black-and-white - it's something I've had to work on. Where do you want these vegetables?

[discutio]

There should be a clear spot on the counter a bit to your left, just leaving them there for now is fine.

Regardless, you do seem to be grasping the base concept easily enough.

[eudaimonikos]

Alright.

[Veggies accomplished!]

Well, Chidi and I worked on it some, pretty early on. Chidi's one of my human friends, he's a professor of ethics and moral philosophy. [And suddenly so much about Michael makes sense!]

[discutio]

[...you know. it sure does but he's not going to point it out.]

Glad to hear it. I think you've every chance to get a handle on the idea, if you keep it up like this.

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, thank you! Humans approach things so...differently. Only partially because of your flesh brains. I think it's more mortality; angels are the same way as us, you know, with the black-and-white?

[.....]

I guess the flesh brains could be a part of it.

[discutio]

I think a case could be made for both having some part in it. I can't say I'd know for sure.

[eudaimonikos]

Doesn't matter. This is way better than hanging out with any of the rest of those losers. You know, I actually met an angel once? Bo-ring.