COOKING MEME: Ultern Edition

[ulternnpc]

No matter in the fire, water, through grass or the forest--eating is essential! Even in the sunny and peaceful island region of Ultern people are out and about getting ready for today's meal. Now, what's on the menu for today?

 

1. Kame Kame Attack
You want to show just how much you care through your food! Even if the person (or pokemon) is stuffed, they need to eat more! They're so thin and withering away! What better way than to tell them there's always seconds or thirds?

2. One Minute Cooking
Is it your first time in the kitchen? Do you want to improve on how to cook? Time to turn to a friend or family member for help!

3. Koffing Class Curry
WHAT EVEN IS A BAKING SHEET? Oh my Arceus what am I doing?! Who even eats goya or yago anyway?! Everything is happening so much in the kitchen! You're a hot mess (as is the kitchen!), and you can't help but panic. Who do you call in a pinch like this?!

4. My stomach's growling like crazy!
Man that smells so good... what's there to eat?! You're just so starving you're withering away. If only there was someone with a nice meal to the rescue. Or are you able to fight your stomach and go down to the closest store to grab some food?

5. Augh...my stomach…
What was in that meal just now? The person who gave it to you meant well probably, but their cooking skills are not up to snuff. Is there a polite way to tell them to stop? Or perhaps it’s beyond the point of being polite. Either way it’s time to stop before anyone else falls victim!

6. REVENGE BENTO
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Or y’know be a bento box with nothing but rice in it with nori bits spelling out “curry” while claiming you made curry for lunch. Or whatever other petty ideas that are in store to make the receiver of this meal to get your message.

7. Allez Cuisine!
Wild card! Pick and choose your prompt or come up with something new!

Comments

[gold_drum]

((Glad I'm apparently from an electric stove country, then!))

"Yeah!" Gold gives an encouraging thumbs-up.

Gold's fried peels are finished much faster than the stew, after he flips them around a few times to keep them from burning. He sprinkles some salt and pepper, and they're done! There's a delicious scent from them, too, as he piles them on a plate and leaves them to cool down a bit. They turned out well, in Gold's opinion, perfectly crispy.

"You want one?" Gold asks Lillie, mostly out of politeness, since he noticed her watching him. Despite the tasty smell, though, they are still just potato and onion peels!

[timidlyblooming]

((Yup, much safer!))

Lillie blushed at being caught staring, but nodded. "Y-yes, but only if you don't mind! Just one is enough... I'm sorry for staring."

She had no idea such a simple thing that would normally be tossed away could smell and look so appetizing!

Snowy came to walk around Gold's legs, peering curiously up at him. What's that smell?

[gold_drum]

"It's cool. They're still pretty hot though," Gold says, carefully taking an onion peel with his fingers and blowing on it, then eating it. Mm, the power of butter and salt!

The potato peels are pretty similar to potato chips, but the onion peels are a bit of an acquired taste, and probably less suitable for a rich young lady's tastes.

Gold looks down at the sensation of something brushing by his legs, and sees Snowy.

"Oh, hey. You hungry too? I dunno if Vulpix can eat these though," he says as he crouches down, and then looks up at Lillie questioningly. Maybe she'd know?

[timidlyblooming]

Lillie selected a potato peel, after taking a seat, since it really did remind her of potato chips! Just more moist.

She carefully tasted it and brightened. "It's tasty!"

At Gold's questioning look, Lillie gave a helpless sort of smile, not really knowing the answer, then broke off a piece of her potato peel for Snowy to try.
"Careful, it's hot."

Snowy simply sniffed at it at first, but once it wasn't so hot, she licked it up... and also seemed to enjoy it, barking happily and wagging all her tails!

"Thank you, Gold!"

Lillie's soup seemed to be ready now, its scent becoming more pronounced.

[gold_drum]

"Thanks!" Gold smiles, and even flushes a little at the compliment, looking away in embarrassment. Now that he thinks about it, this might be the first time he's ever been complimented on his cooking! He's only ever really cooked for himself and his Pokemon before now. It's kind of an amazing feeling.

And Snowy liked it too! That's great. Gold grins as he watches her.

"You're welcome, Lillie," he says, standing up again, and eating some more of his food. I guess they introduced themselves off-screen at some point ^^;

Gold glances at Lillie's soup, since it's starting to smell better and better. But since he only gave Lillie a small piece of his cooking, he feels like it'd be unfair to ask for hers, so he says nothing and just keeps snacking.

[timidlyblooming]

Lillie, fortunately, didn’t need to ask, she poured Gold a bowl regardless as courtesy and to repay his kindness. She set the bowl down, trying to give Gold as chunk-free a bowl as possible, with some vegetables.

She poured a small amount for Snowy in a heavier bowl she can’t knock down easily, before setting it down too.

“Let’s eat, okay?” Lillie said, eagerly.

[gold_drum]

Getting a bowl of soup in front of him surprises Gold, and he glances at Lillie like he's wondering if she made a mistake. But, well, he's never going to say no to free food!

"Thanks! You're nice, Lillie," he says, taking a spoon. He also takes his plate of fried peels and sets it a bit closer to Lillie. "You can have more of these too, if you want!"

Then it's time to eat! No matter how the soup turned out, Gold eats it ravenously.

[this is precious...]

[timidlyblooming]

The funny little chunks make her bowl a bit chewier, but in a way... it's almost fun, even if it's not quite how it's supposed to be! And it's always something that makes her feel more proud and brave and capable, learning to do something new, by herself...

Gold even liked it too, so Lillie couldn't help laughing a bit with sheer delight. "You really think so?"

She happily ate more potato peels, even taking one onion one, but finding it... a bit difficult to chew or swallow, so she very discreetly gave the rest of that piece to Snowy while Gold was wolfing down his soup.

[yeah :3]

[gold_drum]

Gold doesn't really see anything wrong with the chunks. As far as he knows, this is exactly the kind of soup Lillie was trying to make. And it's tasty!

"Yeah! You're a nice person. Um, or a kind person? I dunno what the difference is between those," Gold says with a shrug. "But I think anybody who gives somebody food for free is nice!"

Gold doesn't notice Lillie giving the onion peel away, but he'll eat the peels Lillie won't, no problem. He's just too busy eating soup right now.

[late, late, sorry!]

[timidlyblooming]

"Then, you're nice and kind too, Gold," Lillie said. "I think kindness is an important part of being a nice person... I don't think someone unkind could ever be very nice. It takes effort to be nice, sometimes, and that's what kindness is, isn't it?"

It would be too contradictory! Lillie finished up eating and quietly watched Gold a moment, then asked, curiously, "... how did you figure out those could make such good snacks?"

[it's fine!]

[gold_drum]

"What? Nah," Gold says with a laugh, reflexively rejecting the 'kind' label. "I'm not really... I mean..." He pauses, turning over Lillie's words in his head. Huh. By that logic, maybe he is nice and kind. "Um, well, it's easy to be nice to people who are nice!"

Lillie's question has Gold's smile freezing up a little, but he hides it quickly with a bigger smile. He doesn't want to freak out Lillie or make her worried about him, so he lets out a laugh before talking casually.

"Well, I didn't have a lot of food when I was a kid, so I just figured I'd eat as much of the food as I could! So I ate the parts that weren't used for recipes, too! Making them taste good took a while to figure out though..." Gold shrugs, in a 'it is what it is' kind of way. "So it was just a lot of trying to make use of what I had! Anyway, thanks for the food." Having finished eating, he starts quickly gathering up his dishes to take them to the sink.

[timidlyblooming]

"I suppose you're right!"

That made sense, maybe it's harder to be nice when someone's mean to you...

Lillie noticed the change in his expression and felt immediately bad, wondering if she said the wrong thing. The explanation that followed shifted her fearful, apprehensive look to one of pity.

"... o-oh."

Lillie stayed quiet a while, unsure of what to say.

"... I'm sorry."

Was that enough? Was that even the right thing to say?

"For carelessly reminding you of something like that..."

[gold_drum]

Ah, crap, he failed.

"No, no, it's no big deal!" Gold said, waving his hands in an effort to literally wave it off. "I mean, it's not like you reminded me of it or anything! It's not something I can forget!" No, shit, that makes it worse. "I-it's not something to apologize for, it's just, normal. It's how I grew up, that's all."

Gold pauses, sits down heavily, and sighs. He's not really making anything better, is he.

"...My bad. I'm bringing the mood down," he says, leaning against his elbows on the table, hiding his face behind his hands. "Can we just forget I said anything."

[timidlyblooming]

No, yeah, that. Just made it worse, sorry, Gold, Lillie looked saddened.

But! She walked resolutely over when he sat down in defeat, and took a seat next to him.

"I'm sorry, this might be a bit too forward of me, but..." Lillie began, very seriously. "But... I don't think you're bringing the mood down at all. You have nothing to be sorry for. And, um... I admire you. Really. I think you must be a lot stronger than me to carry those memories with you, even if they're painful. My mind... couldn't handle memory that was too painful, so I just forgot. It didn't stop the fear, or anything else, it just made me feel lost and confused. So... having those memories with you... I think you must be very strong.

"And... I'll always listen to you, if you want to talk about it. Because I think talking about it helps..."

[gold_drum]

Gold listens to Lillie, but only looks at her when she mentions forgetting a painful memory, surprised. It strikes a chord, reminds him of somebody, so the way Lillie talks about herself is kind of bothering him.

"...Thanks," Gold says, with no real intention to talk about himself. At least, not yet. But he steels himself, taking a deep breath, and looks Lillie in the eyes. "Forgetting something painful doesn't make you weak," he says, with full belief in what he's saying. "My best friend from back home, he's like you... He forgets things he doesn't want to remember. And he's definitely not weak! I always thought he's really strong, being able to carry on even though he doesn't even always know what he's afraid of. It... It's scary seeing him like that sometimes, so I can't even imagine what it's like for him." Gold pauses for a moment, grimacing at his own memories, before continuing. "So you're not weak. I think different people just... carry their memories differently? So, um, we're both strong."

Gold finishes talking kind of weakly, like he's not sure how to end that. But he hopes Lillie gets something out of that, even if he mostly ended up just talking about Silver. He's not even sure how similar Lillie and Silver's experiences even are, but he feels really strongly that Silver's strong, and that's why Lillie's got to be strong too!

[timidlyblooming]

She felt a sort of affinity for Gold's friend, just from his description, even though they had likely never met... but Gold's statement caused her to blink in surprise, then smile.

"Yes... maybe it's just a different form of strength. There are all kinds, after all! Thank you, Gold."

She really was grateful, her voice growing soft.

It seemed that Gold didn't like to talk about his problems, which reminded her of Ash. If it were Ash...

"Oh, um, by the way, Gold, have you ever seen a Z-Move before?"

[gold_drum]

Gold's glad he managed to cheer her up, and also move on from his problems. He smiles to Lillie in response.

The question comes as a surprise though, and he blinks, a bit thrown off by the change in topic, but maybe Lillie wants to move on from talking about her problems too.

"Z-move? I dunno what that is, so I guess not," Gold says with a shrug. "What about it?"

[timidlyblooming]

"Well, if you have a Z-Ring, like this one," Lillie showed her bracelet, which looked a bit old and worn, only slightly too large for her, although she had it fastened tightly. "... and a Z-Crystal to put in it, you can power up a move into a Z-Move! If it's a type-specific crystal, it powers up moves of the same type as the Z-Crystal! Some are specific to certain species... this one's for Ice types, it's an Icium Z. Well, there are many different types, but... would you like a demonstration?"

Lillie's idea of a good distraction, it seemed, was a lesson.

Snowy barked, waving her tails, looking determined.

[gold_drum]

Huh, it's lesson time. Gold doesn't really get why it's lesson time, but if it's important to Lillie, he'll listen. He nods occasionally to show he's listening while she talks.

"Sure, if you wanna show me," Gold replies. A crystal for powering up moves, huh... And this one is Ice? Gold didn't think Vulpix knew Ice-type moves, but you learn something new every day, he supposes. He shifts a little in his seat to watch the demonstration better.

[timidlyblooming]

It's Lillie's awkward attempt to provide a distraction! Also, she's a know-it-all, so it naturally turned into a lecture.

"Certainly! But, we'll probably have to step outside, Z-Moves are very powerful. They can take down multiple opponents and do a lot of damage."

[gold_drum]

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," Gold says, standing up with only a bit of embarrassment at not realizing that. He sticks his dishes in the sink before following Lillie out.

"So, do you only have the Ice crystal or do you have others too?" he asks on the way out, not really aware of whether Z-crystals are rare or not.

[they're certainly... dramatic!!]

[timidlyblooming]

Lillie also put away hers and filled them up with water, to let them soak and soften for easier scrubbing afterwards.

"I only have one. Usually, one must complete a trial to receive one! A wild Sandslash gifted me this one..."

After she helped them defend their territory, that is.

Once outside, Lillie went a good distance away from Gold, with Snowy standing somewhere in between them, also keeping a distance.

Glowing energy gathered in the crystal, billowing outward, like wind.

After touching her bracelet, she made sweeping gestures outwards with either hand in either direction, while Snowy crossed her paws.

"Snow silently fluttering down from the heavens... countless glimmering crystals of ice... o, freezing Z that covers the land... along with my heated soul, return once more to the heavens!"

[gold_drum]

A Sandslash, huh. Gold vaguely knows what that is, so he nods.

Gold makes sure to keep a distance. He's not sure what to expect, so what happens kind of blows his mind. He stares, open-mouthed. That's... that's...!

"That's awesome!" he gushes once the move's done, running over to Lillie. "And cool! And... and beautiful!" Okay, so he doesn't have the vocabulary to express his feelings about it, but you can see his excitement in his eyes. "You think if somebody let me borrow their crystal and bracelet, I could do that too?"

[whoops, late, here you go! ^^]

[timidlyblooming]

“Thank you!” Lillie said, happy and confident.

Snowy also barked her appreciation at the praise and nuzzled Lillie’s leg. They’re a great team, aren’t they?

Lillie gathered Snowy up into her arms.

“Well, I think… as long as it’s compatible, I can’t see why not! But, you know, it can take time, it wouldn’t work when I first did it. It’s something you have to train for too.”

[not late at all!]

[gold_drum]

"Oh, it takes training? I guess that makes sense," Gold says, enthusiasm slightly lessened. "It looked pretty complicated, with all the chanting and the posing."

Still, Gold imagines doing a cool Grass-type pose of some sort with his Meganium, Carn, and it's too cool to abandon just because it's difficult!

"Hey, do you know anybody else who has those things in Ultern?" Gold asks. He's been a bit aimless for a while, having explored most of the island, so maybe trying out a Z-Move could be a new goal to aim for!