fandomhigh | Philosophy of Food | Monday, 4th period

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Philosophy of Food | Monday, 4th period

Hannibal welcomed everyone to class just a little more studiously calm than usual. And with wet hair. Swimming to school had not been in his plans. Still, he was determined to fulfill his obligation.

"Good afternoon. I hope you made it here without too much problem. Today we continue our discussion of what is and isn't food, and how our preferences are formed."

He waved toward the table behind him, which held pairs of dishes this time. "We've got an assortment of foods and beverages today. You may choose only one from each pair - you cannot have both. You may choose neither, if you prefer. But in any case, you must explain your choice. Why do you prefer the option you've chosen - taste? Nostalgia? Curiosity? Feel free to debate with each other as well, and ask each other or me questions. Remember, there are no wrong answers - it's reasoning and thought we're looking for."

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Being choosy.

Prompto Argentum

Billy Batson

Nell Ingram

Wring yourself out if you need to.

After the strangeness of the last weekend, Prompto still hadn't quite gotten back much of an appetite. Those twenty years were weighing heavily on him, and who could really blame him? There had been...a lot there, and some of it he wasn't even sure if it made any sense or what it all meant and some of it couldn't possibly even be true, could it? What did it mean if it was? What the hell was he supposed to do with all these weird, horrible, depressing, impossible future memories all stuck up inside his head?

Needless to say, he was having a little trouble focusing on class today, but he was definitely got to try. Distraction was good. Food distractions were especially good, even if his stomach turned a little, thinking about his lack of appetite over the weekend and the reasons for it...

...but at least the activity was easy enough. He could easily wing his way through this one.

While giving his poor bare chin the occasional little rub. He didn't care what anyone else said, he thought his beard was sick as hell.

"This one is simple." Hannibal sighed. "If perhaps too apt today." He tapped each of two carafes; they had glasses and ceramic cups nearby. "Both simple tastes, and little difference between them. Hot water; iced water."

"Oh, well, that one's easy," said Prompto, with a faint grin almost of relief, as he poured himself a glass of iced water. "Gotta go with the cold! It's nice and refreshing! Hot water can be nice and comforting sometimes, too, like on cold days, but then just make tea or hot cocoa or something, you know? Make it a little more interesting, hot water by itself...kinda boring. For me," he added hastily as to not offend any hot water lovers. "I just like cold better. Unless, like, it's cold out."

He should just...stop now. Which he made sure he was doing by pointedly drinking to cut the babble.

"So, what you eat is affected by the weather. And boring food is of no interest to you."

"Yeah, man," Prompto had to chuckle a little at that. "If it's boring, what's even the point?"

Hannibal grinned. "I agree wholeheartedly."

Nell picked ice water. "M'not so much a fan of hot water without some tea or something in it, but ice cold water is pretty much always nice."

"Why do you think water is fine on its own when cold, but not when hot?" Hannibal asked.

"I don't like the taste of it as much," Nell said. "I don't really know why. I don't like it lukewarm either."

"Paté," Hannibal announced, uncovering the next two dishes. "With fresh-baked, lightly toasted bread and garnish, or as a lump." He grimaced slightly at the latter; after the time spent preparing it, it nearly physically hurt to present it like this. "These are the same basic food, although the first does have some accompaniments."

Was it bad that Prompto almost wanted to go for the lump just because he almost felt bad for it, lumpp that it was? But just looking at it with his already wonky appetite today assure him that he couldn't actually bring himself to do it, and he was going for one of those nice little garnished toasted nibbles.

"Presentation's important, man," he said, shrugging, and actually managed to leave it at that, imagining a proud little Iggy in his head nodding in passionate agreement.

"It is," Hannibal said, smiling. He was pleased to find at least one of the students that agreed with that.

"Have to say I'm going to go with the bread one because I think I'd like all the different tastes and textures together," Nell said.

"Complexity can be a welcome experience," Hannibal said. "If the bread were available to eat with the other version, would that change your opinion?"

"I'd be happy to try it," Nell said. "I'd be happy to try it now, 'cept you said we could only have one."

Hannibal nodded. "The purpose of this class is to explore our preferences. But if you'd like to take some of it home with you, please feel free."

The covers came off the next set of dishes. "Pan-fried salmon, or barbequed salmon head. Please keep in mind," he added as he squared the plates up, "that the head of the fish has much more nutrition, particularly prepared like this."

Aaaand, just like that, approving head-Iggy was back to shaking his head and facepalming in dismay, especially after the comments about the head's nutrition, because Prompto wasn't even hesitating going for the pan-fried salmon.

"Yeah, again, presentation," he offered. "I kind of tend to avoid food that's sort of looking back at me."

He was a little disappointed, though, that it didn't taste much like Kenny's Salmon that you get at the Crow's Nest, but too much of that stuff was just a heart attack waiting to happen (which was, argueably, why it was so delicious).

"And we're back to not eating food that looks like the animal it was," Hannibal said. "That's a common theme for many people. Plausible deniability."

"Huh," Nell said. "I guess I'll try the head one then. Prob'ly more tasty too with all the stuff still there."

"I happen to think so," Hannibal said. "It doesn't bother you, then, that this food looks more like the animal that it was?"

Nell gave him a wry look. "I've hunted and butchered my own food more times'n I can count. Not much like that bothers me."

"Why do you think that it bothers some people?" Hannibal asked.

"Seems to me like most people don't like to know where their food comes with. They want it all to be clean and sanitized," Nell said. "Separates them from the killin', you know."

Hannibal nodded. "And yet they clearly do know; they just prefer not to think about it."

"Yep. Never said people made sense," Nell said, shaking her head.

Hannibal laughed. "As a trained psychiatrist, I feel I must agree with you on that."

Nell grinned at him. "Guess I'm in good company."

This was another set of carafes. "Beer, or wine," Hannibal explained. Which were not at all included because they could probably all use a drink. "The beer is home-brewed; the wine is a very good vintage."

And Prompto's stomach made a little gurgle of complaint in a reminder that part of the reason he didn't have much of an appetite today was also thanks to the ~~oh so handwavy~~ drinking he'd done 'catching up' with Sidon last night.

Which was also twenty years from now? But still only yesterday? Gods, it was confusing, but he'd had way too much beer last night, whenever exactly that may have been, so he went for the wine.

Of course, he wasn't going to say that was why, though. "I think I'll go with the wine," he said, adopting a somewhat lofty tone, "because sometimes I just like to be fancy. Also, isn't, like, wine supposed to be a good pairing for fish and pate and foods like that anyway?"

"It is," Hannibal agreed, "although there are also beer pairings for foods. But you think of wine as more fancy than beer?"

"Well, sure," Prompto grinned a little. "It's got fancier glasses, doesn't it?"

"That depends entirely upon the specific variety of wine or beer," Hannibal said. "Each has their own shape of glass."

"Can't say I've ever had an alcoholic drink before," Nell said, "and I'm not sure I'm all that curious, but I'll take a sip of the beer just 'cause all the menfolk seem to like it so much."

Turns out, she didn't particularly like it.

"And?" Hannibal asked. "What do you think?"

She made a face. "Not to my taste, really."

"Cotton candy," Hannibal explained, pointing at the pale purple threads. "Homemade. It's not so fluffy as the mass-produced stuff, and the dye is natural. And chocolate, anise, and sea-salt toffee."

"Ohmygod," said Prompto, once they got to the desserts, his first impulse to be that he couldn't possibly choose one over the other, that was an impossible choice, but he barely got through the thought before his stomach suggested that maybe sugar wasn't the best idea right now, buddy? And he winced a little.

But....cotton candy! And...and chocolate! The toffee would probably be super rich right now, so maybe the lighter cotton candy was the better choice, but...at the same time...chocooolaaaaate.

"This one's too hard," he said with a laugh. "But I have to try this toffee." A little bit. Just a bit. Or maybe a little more, and, gods, he was going to regret this, but it would be sweet, wonderful, delicious regret. "Sorry, cotton candy. It's just, if I'm going to splurge on dessert, might as well make it really worth it, right?"

Hannibal chuckled. "And by splurge you mean the extra calories, or the richness of it?"

"Both!" came Prompto's enthusiastic, chuckling answer. "I mean, usually, I wouldn't mind the richness so much, but I'm...not feeling so hot today, actually. Kinda...getting over..." The residual lingering of the feeling of his cells rapidly declining to function due to a complete and total breakdown due to the fact that he was actually a poorly-made clone not intended to live past a certain age? "...a cold."

"Well, I hope you feel better soon," Hannibal said.

From that cold, yes.

"The cotton candy looks delicious..." This was very hard. She wanted to try the cotton candy, but that toffee...

Still she'd had toffee before, but never cotton candy, so she went with that.

He's here! He's got a swimsuit and towel in a bag, and his hair is still wet, but he's here.

Mostly SP today, but I'll do what I can!

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Philosophy of Food | Monday, 4th period

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OOC!