[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[Richard is up early this morning, out and about before most of the rest of the household is even awake. He's not about to let his odd sensitivity to any sort of wind stop him from getting things done-- instead, he simply bundles himself up until he looks more like a walking pile of coats and scarves than anything else before making his way in to the center of town for a shopping trip. Of course, the downside of said bundle of outer layers is that it's a bit hard for him to see, meaning that he might occasionally stumble into people or objects before he even realizes it...

His first stop is the grocery store, where he can be found consulting a list and selecting ingredients. Okay, maybe making a black forest cake is a bit ambitious on his end, but he wants to give it a shot anyway. It SOUNDS delicious, if nothing else.

Then he heads to the item store to grab a few more things, even though he'd already picked out his main present some time ago. Perhaps a new toy for Tiger Festival as well...

Of course, then he realizes that his recipe calls for cherry liqueur, which requires a stop by Good Spirits to pick some of that up.

Finally, he heads back home to House 28, where housemates will find him in the kitchen baking something that smells very delicious and very chocolatey. The end result may be a little lopsided and the frosting job definitely leaves something to be desired (maybe he should've whipped that whipped cream a bit more, it seems a little runny), but at least it smells good?]

Comments

[wipesfaith]

[Trips to the grocery store take Jean longer than they really should, because he ends up getting sidetracked by the unfamiliar array of oddities that are supposedly food. He's been examining this box for the past minute, trying to figure out what the hell a "fruit gusher" is, if not some kind of wax.

Giving up, and finding the box's claims of edibility to be dubious at best, he shoves it back onto the shelf and continues down the aisle...only to have his eye snagged by another box labeled "Froot Loops."]

...Who the hell wants to eat something that ain't even spelled right? [He mutters this to himself, but he's not generally known for having a quiet voice.]

[ledbythewind]

Perhaps that is the proper spelling in the world it comes from.

[Hi, Jean. Hope you don't mind a sudden Richard peering over your shoulder at the very brightly-colored box. Although now that he sees what the other man is looking at for himself... well, it does look a bit questionable as far as edibility is concerned.]

Is that supposed to be some sort of breakfast cereal?

[The picture shows it in a bowl with milk the way one would usually eat cereal, but it certainly doesn't look like any kind of cereal Richard has ever seen before.]

[wipesfaith]

[His shoulders jump in surprise, and he turns to face Richard - still a walking pile of coats, he sees - rather than let his personal space be invaded.]

Breakfast cereal? [He looks over the box. "Sweetened multigrain cereal," it reads.] Guess so...

It's made out of some kind of grain, but they were too lazy to be more specific.

[ledbythewind]

[Richard's response is a smile of greeting, though he makes no move to step any closer. He's had his fun already; now he's just curious about the strange cereal.]

I don't know of any kind of grain that would produce cereal that color. It almost seems too bright to be natural...

[wipesfaith]

Maybe it's because there's fruit mixed in with it... [It's right in the name, after all.]

But I dunno any fruit that are these colors. [He points to the picture on the box.] Sure, apples are red, but they're not that red, and it's just the skin that's red anyway.

[Jean you fucking plebe, the red ones are cherry flavored.]

[ledbythewind]

Are you certain it's supposed to taste like apples?

[He peers at the box, searching for any sort of image of an apple on it to use as a hint.]

It would make more sense for it to be strawberry- or cherry-flavored instead. Those are the flavors one would usually associate with red-colored foods.

[wipesfaith]

Really?

[He scrutinizes the box again.]

Why's that? [Neither cherries nor strawberries are terribly common where he's from, so to him it makes way more sense to just use apples.]

[ledbythewind]

Because most red candies that I've tasted are cherry-flavored, or sometimes strawberry. Cherry seems to be the default flavor for something that's dyed red.

[It had been a bizarre thing to him too when he first arrived; while food coloring exists in his world, it isn't used anywhere near as often as it is in the food that shows up in the grocery store here.]

[wipesfaith]

It's dyed? What, like cloth? That's supposed to be edible?

[ledbythewind]

I believe they use some sort of food coloring that is safe to eat.

[He lets out a soft laugh.]

I don't think I'd be here talking to you now after all of the candy I've sampled here if it weren't.

[wipesfaith]

Right...

Seems kinda pointless to me. If it's just gonna be eaten, it doesn't need to look like a freakin' work of art or anything.

[ledbythewind]

Have you ever seen the decorated cakes in the bakery? Some of those look almost too beautiful to eat. I can't imagine putting all of that work into decorating them only to have them eaten in a matter of minutes.

[wipesfaith]

[He nods in vague agreement.]

Hell, it could look like a pile of crumbs slapped together with frosting and it'd still taste fine.

[ledbythewind]

But would you really want to eat something that looked like that?

[wipesfaith]

Don't matter to me...I'm not too picky.

[ledbythewind]

Picky enough to question the idea of eating something you aren't sure is made out of fruit or not.

[He can't help the little bit of teasing there, really. Jean left himself open for that one.]

[wipesfaith]

That's different!

[He jabs an accusatory finger at the box of cereal.] This crap doesn't even look like normal food - at least I'd be able to tell it's still a cake, even if it's just crumbs and icing.

[ledbythewind]

We could always just open the box here and try it to see how it tastes. After all, it isn't as if we have to pay for the food here. We won't be losing anything if we decide it isn't edible.

[wipesfaith]

[Let him staaaaare at the box for a long moment of consideration, before side-eyeing Richard.]

...If you eat it first, sure, I'll do it. [He's still dubious, okay?]

[ledbythewind]

You have a deal.

[Even if they don't taste like fruit, they can't be THAT bad... at least, he thinks. It's a chance he's willing to take.]

[wipesfaith]

[He'll grab the box from the shelf and tear it open, probably in the improper way, Now they'll never be able to re-close the box by slipping the tab into the slot... Pulling the bag open, he shoves the box toward Richard.]

Go for it.

[ledbythewind]

[Good thing Richard wasn't planning on putting the box back on the shelf-- he's figuring that either Asbel or Isamu will eat it if he won't.

When Jean holds out the box, Richard takes it, then lifts it up to his nose to sniff. It... doesn't quite smell like fruit, but it doesn't smell bad either. A quick glance confirms that these "Froot Loops" do indeed look like the pictures on the box.

It's the moment of truth: he reaches one hand in to grab a few of the brightly-colored pieces of cereal and pull them out. Before he can have second thoughts about this, he pushes them all into his mouth at once.]

[wipesfaith]

[He watches carefully for a reaction.]

So...? What's the verdict?

[ledbythewind]

[Chewchewchew... (and swallow, because he has proper manners)]

... I'm not sure if I would say it tastes like fruit, but it isn't bad at all.

[wipesfaith]

Let me see.

[He grabs the box out of Richard's grip and shoves a hand in to draw out a small handful of the colorful little loops. He'll bring it close to his face for a moment of suspicious inspection before knocking it all back.]