fandomhigh | International Cuisine

"Today," Hannibal said once everybody had arrived, "we are going to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. That is the capital city in a country far to the east of here. The Mongolian people come from a nomadic tradition, and much of their cuisine is meat- and dairy-based. There are also a number of influences from neighboring traditions."

He led them through the portal and onto a fairly ordinary-looking street across from, of all things, a mall. "Our restaurant for the day will be Modern Nomads." There was a coffee shop across from this one, too. At least it wasn't an American chain? "You will find many traditional foods here, from bone soup to noodle dishes. Lamb is a popular meat."

He led them into the restaurant. "They use local meats and ingredients, and also include plenty of greens for those of you who might prefer not to eat so much meat. I'll be getting several of the sharing plates for the table. The local language is Mongolian, but many will also speak some English. Or," he added with a nod to Kaylin, "Chinese."

They were brought to their table, and he gestured for them to be seated. "Please enjoy, and as always, let me know if you have any questions."

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"Very logical, if unfortunate for you," Hannibal said. He watched the fork bounce and reached out slowly to set it to spin. "How many other Peridots do you think might have found this out?"

Peridot frowned a little bit more, losing herself in thought, now.

"Not many. If... if any at all. And if any did find out about it, they likely wouldn't have survived long enough to make much use of it."

"Mm. As I told another student earlier this week, those in power rarely appreciate having that power diluted. And will often take extreme means to maintain it."

"The idea that the Diamonds would do that to us is still a new one to me," Peridot confessed as she let the fork drop and reached for a nearby bowl of broth. Then she kind of just sat there, holding the bowl in her hands.

It was comfortably warm.

"But... it isn't entirely a surprise, either."

"You knew that they would do what they had to, but you never realized they were using that power against you," Hannibal guessed.

Peridot nodded, and glanced down at the Yellow Diamond insignia on her chest.

"It turns out, they aren't exactly what I had taken them for my entire life."

"What had you taken them for?" Hannibal asked. "And what made you realize that wasn't what they were?"

Peridot shifted her weight a little uncomfortably.

"Gems worth serving," she sighed. "I followed Yellow Diamond. I thought she was a being of logic, and capable of seeing reason, but..."

She shook her head.

"She wouldn't even hear me out when I tried to present my case for sparing the Earth."

"And a logical being would have wanted all the information at her disposal," Hannibal said.

"Would have at least heard me out! I had first-hand experience with this planet! A plan that would allow the Gems to benefit from Earth's resources without destroying it!"

Peridot, sit down. Chairs were not for standing on. Not that it made much difference, granted.

"Instead, she wanted her geoweapon, no matter what the cost!"

Really, it was probably just as well that many people here didn't speak English.

"An unfortunate lesson to need to learn, but as an inhabitant of Earth, I for one am thankful for your point of view."

Not that he couldn't leave these days, but he rather liked Earth.

Peridot was still scowling as she shifted around to sit back down in her seat.

"Won't she be mad when she finds out we stopped it from destroying the Earth."

Stupid clod Yellow Diamond.

"But you did stop it," Hannibal pointed out. "And yet you still felt you were unworthy?"

"It's one victory versus thousands of years of conditioning," Peridot pointed out. "It's harder to break than you'd think."

"It can be," Hannibal acknowledged. "But you've begun, it seems." He tapped her fork.

Peridot looked down at her fork, and then broke into a little silly smile all over again.

"So it would seem," she agreed.

It was... nice.

"It's entirely possible that, had you not begun to break through your indoctrination previously, this breakthrough would not have been possible. Enjoy it," Hannibal advised, smiling. "Make it your own. Practice whenever you can."

Of course, it might get her strange looks outside of the island, but that wasn't Hannibal's concern.

As if being green with triangular hair wasn't going to get her strange looks?

"I plan to," Peridot replied, grinning, "At every possible opportunity."

Well, there was that, of course.

"Good for you." Hannibal toasted her. "Meanwhile, what do you think of the soups?"

International Cuisine | Friday, 3rd period

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