[.... oh my god. is this where Akira gets all his jokes? or is it the other way around? maybe they feed off of each other like some weird sort of infinite pun loop??]
[stop ... stop that line of thought, Dave, even if it's a completely plausible one. Ryuji's the first friend he's tried texting who isn't currently a living pit of lava, so he just keeps texting frantically. that's as good an indicator as any that he's probably just fine — and it's as good an indicator as any that he's a bit relieved that Ryuji's okay.]
ugh god dammit didnt astoria think any of this through before sending us out on a new world quest its not like we willingly went off to robocollege and caught a robovirus she just kinda dumped this shit on us right what are we even supposed to do i dont want to just sit around and watch nor can i even remember what youre supposed to put in chicken noodle soup
[It's a positive feedback loop. Don't worry, Ryuji hated it at first, too. Dave, you'll learn to love it. Akira's great at puntificating.
Anyway, that's a lot of texts heading in a few different directions and he sure as hell has no idea how to settle that rage, but he does know a few things, here.]
Nah, she's probably making shit up as she goes and hopin' for the best. I mean, that's kinda how I've done stuff over the last year, and you win some you lose some dude, can't be too angry.
Besides, like, I thought you were supposed to get shots before you went to college.
ok but dude that doesnt really give me a proper picture of what kinda egg were dealin with here like theres this huge ass broad spectrum that still fits the definition do you mean its scrambled or freshly hatched or what is it actually an eggy loking thign just there for decoration
[hey how about you make your bird motif a little more on the nose, Dave.]
actually are you busy right now can you come to the kitchen if this shits as good as you say it is im just gonna have to get this rhyme right
[Here's Ryuji, staring at his device with the most weirded out look ever. Please don't put baby birds in ramen, dude. Fresh eggs are better, but preferably ones that aren't fertilized?
But, alright, he'll help a dude out with his rhyme henmenship. (new day, new roll, gatcha).]
Nah, ain't busy. Gimme a few I'll be right over.
[The kitchen isn't that far off from the bedrooms, so he gets there decently quick. Ryuji is starting to get some sniffles, so his voice sounds a little more nasal than it had before, but otherwise he's doing alright. Shit, some soup right now wouldn't be that bad of an idea, huh?]
[in any case, Ryuji seems to have found that spot in the text where it’s hard to tell whether Dave’s joking or not. would he actually use freshly hatched? would he drop in an eggy loking thign for some extra ironic notes? it’s ... it’s genuinely hard to say. and he probably wouldn’t give off any air of a hint of his meaning in his expression if he said it in person.]
[but he does quirk an eyebrow at the question that’s fired his way when Ryuji arrives, because:]
I don’t know how to cook. [because that bodes pretty well for him and this endeavour he’s dead set on. but he does have a notebook and a bright red pen, and Ryuji likely at least some idea of how his magic works by now. uh. maybe?]
[That much was kind of apparent from their texts, although Ryuji doesn't really know what to expect when he walks into the kitchen. There's a good chance, and he would be both surprised and not surprised at all, that Dave's lording over a freshly hatched chick and trying to dunk it into a pot of boiling water, and he sighs concernedly when that's not the scene he arrives upon.]
It's cool, we all gotta start somewhere.
[But lacking pots and pans, Ryuji can't help but wonder if he's going to write a recipe to death or actually try to start creating, when it hits him that the two are one in the same, really.
This feels like cheating, kind of. Not that he has a problem with that either, so he pulls up a bar stool and leans up against the table, trying to not look so goddamn obvious at poking to see what he's got there on paper.]
So... whatcha need me for? Aside from like, amazing company.
[there's not really much to sneak a look at on the notebook right now: just a list of words that rhyme with egg and one or two doodles of a very angry looking chicken. you can tell by the eyebrows.]
[it's a cock drawing, if you will.]
[i've written a thing, regretted it, then sent it anyway.]
[but Ryuji's patting himself on the back doesn't get much reaction out of Dave, aside from a very slightly quirked eyebrow. dude's definitely not the worst company he's had, that's probably fair enough. and he'd probably make a great hairdresser, if there was a market to turn the entire world blond, or something.]
This magic conjuring shit works better the more details I have. [so here he is with his notebook, his red pen, and his expectant look, like he's a journalist or something.]
So, gimme some more details. [on the soup, he means. the more vivid the better!]
[There he goes again, drawing cocks on everything he gets his hands on. Congrats on the 3* pull by the way!
Ryuji, though, was mostly using self-deprecating humor at the comment, and seeing it fall pretty much flat, he feels a little awkward- which ends up as it usually does, smiling sheepishly and trying to brush it off like it never happened in the first place.]
Uh...
[He didn't know he was going to be interviewed for this month's copy of Chopsticks, but, alright, he's not really opposed to it. He can talk about ramen at great lengths. At boring lengths. At lengths so long that everyone will leave the room entire tens of minutes before he's done.]
Okay, so the most important thing to a good bowl of ramen, is makin' sure it has a super freaking hearty broth. [He nods as he talks about it, making sure that Dave takes away the "hearty" part of this.]
If you're gonna go old fashioned, which, in my opinion- and it's a good opinion, to tell you the truth... then you hafta make sure you're using pork bones to season the soup. Some people crush 'em up, but they have to sit for a few hours in boiling water or else the flavor ain't gonna get carried over.
So, when you take that first sip, you get this monster flavor burst in your mouth that's rich and filled with all these super powerful notes of meat. [... monster flavor burst...]
That's the first step. You can always tell a shit ramen if it doesn't have the right aroma, or if it's too watered down. That first sip's, like. The most goddamn important part of the entire thing. And it should burn your throat to hell, or it ain't served pipin' hot enough. [Is this too much all at once?] And when it slides down your throat, you're gonna feel it, and ugh it's like somethin' just crawled outta the bowl and burnt you all the way down, but it's a good feelin'.
[both of their senses of humor seem to be firing in all sorts of missed directions today — Dave had meant the hatched egg as a joke, after all.]
[but if these are the details Ryuji's gonna give him, then these are the details that Dave is gonna work with. this is ... either going to be the best bowl of ramen ever, or a. really fucking weird Fabio-emblazoned romance novel of a bowl of ramen, honestly.]
[or a ramen monster.]
[Dave looks up from his notebook.]
Okay. And what exactly am I supposed to be doing with the egg?
[Ryuji crosses his arms. He hadn't even gotten to the lecture on toppings, and here Dave was, cutting right to the chase. Man, have a little patience! This is practically a sonnet to the one thing in life he truly loves.
Or something like that. He's a mess.]
Well, so, like. First of all. You're gonna wanna put your ear up to the egg and make sure you don't hear any clucking sounds from the inside.
[His cheeks rise upward, even though he tries to keep his lips in a straight line.]
That's how you know you have a bad egg.
[Why.]
... but other than that, you're lookin' to soft boil it first. You want the yolk to be runny as hell but the... uh. I dunno... the white stuff? [The egg white....??? Ryuji...] What's the word for that. Anyway- that should be firm.
[there we go, joke successfully lobbed and caught. like a sportsball hitting and snugly settling into a sports glove.]
[Dave purses his lips, though he does so in a way that suggests bland amusement over annoyance. Ryuji's just being added to the rolodex of people whose interest in terrible jokes is starting to rub off on him. it only took four months!]
[Ryuji should ask Akira about the NOSH bowl one day.]
Right, right. Hatch up a good egg before starting any of this, is what you're saying.
[no ... why....]
But, you're thinkin' of egg whites, dude. White stuff's just the shit that goes in between Oreos. Or, like. Mayo.
[Without missing a single beat in this train of thought-]
You put mayo in between your oreos?
[The side of Ryuji's mouth curls upward into a smirk. He knows what Dave was implying here, or, at least he hopes he does. There's always a chance the dude really does just dip his chocolate disks into the creamy wasteland of mayo, and then he won't know what to do with this information.]
...
[What the hell is a NOSH bowl?]
You keep talkin' about hatching eggs. The more you do, the more I'm kinda picturing your ass sitting on a bunch of twigs keeping some chicklets warm and effin' toasty, and lemme tell you, that is one hell of a messed up image.
[Dave just miracle whipped a touchdown right out of the park, slamming it into a basketball net in the parking lot from downtown. That is, to say, unfortunately. Nah, he doesn't really get it. And to be fair, Ryuji grew up eating mayo on a lot of stuff Dave would probably find all sorts of weird. Fruit salad consisting of bananas, kiwis, apples. Pancakes with kewpie mixed into the batter. Maybe it's a time honored tradition to eat that sort of stuff in Texas. Okay, he believes it.]
Whoa, sorry. Didn't mean to be culturally insensitive here.
[Goddamnit... NOSH bowl...]
Yeah, sure thing, mama bird. [And also, apparently, species insensitive.]
Eggs are really important to soup. It's like, uh. It balances out the broth since it's really rich. Kinda like harmony and melody to a song, y'know? That first bite of yolk enhances the flavor, but it's, uh. It's super precious since you only get one chance to experience it in the entire thing.
[He's getting so misty eyed about ramen, and almost romantically philosophic. Gross.]
[Dave was about to correct him on the mayoreos, until Ryuji went and started talking in a language that he really understands. a soft-boiled egg being a a harmonizer, or even a personal focal point in a song, isn't the weirdest metaphor he's heard.]
[it's like the drop that gets your heart rate going, or the way a singer hits that one note that keeps you hitting the repeat button until you give yourself melody fatigue. and for the songs that are really good? the ones that hit all the notes that you look for in music? that fatigue never lasts very long.]
[apparently being a mama bird aside, maybe that's why he takes a bit longer to scribble rhyming notes about the egg than he did the rest of the elements of this lecture.]
Okay, last question. What kind of bowl do you put it in?
[how ... is that at all relevant. but his expression remains unchanged — maybe he's actually serious about this one?]
Ryuji's lips part, eyebrows furrowing. It's just... it's a bowl. What else type of thing do you even call it? Suppu bouru. There's donburi, but that has a totally different style of connotation, and Ryuji struggles to find a decent answer to that. This isn't a joke, right? He takes a look over at Dave to discern any inkling of heckling going on right now, but he seems pretty stoically chill.]
Uh. Hm.
[There's cup ramen, too. And can ramen from some vending machines... but those never really tasted that great, and if Dave is going to rap up greatness, that detail needs to be left out entirely.]
It's... just a soup bowl? Or, maybe like, if you're into cup... ramen. I ain't really sure what you're askin' here.
[it isn't a joke, as absurdly like a joke as it sounds.]
Rhythmically speaking, the bowl's the most important part of this whole thing — like, I could either rap about all this stuff you've lectured on separately and it'd take a few days to get it all in one pot, or I could just rap about meaty explosions and throat-burning noodles all in a fancy as fuck bowl and get it done in one go.
[it's getting more absurd, isn't it?]
But if it's not anything special usually, I'll just have to improvise.
[This absolutely makes 0 sense to Ryuji at all, but he's not a composer and doesn't really get the process behind putting together a rap. He's decent at keeping a beat though, shit, he can do it with drumsticks or his own mouth- just doesn't see why Dave can't come up with something that walks through the entire thing in one stanza.
But... maybe it's meant to be that way. A good bowl of ramen, before served, isn't something you just throw together in a microwave and out pops greatness onto a ladle and nearly throatgasmic soul-rending satiation.
Fancy as fuck, though? The point is usually to keep it cheap, unless it's one of those shops in Ginza that offer the dish at a premium alongside tenderly cut pieces of fish and meal sets.]
You mean like a ceramic bowl? Or maybe... somethin' like a fine piece of China? You know the type, right? They're big and white and have blue imprints all over 'em with designs and shit. Totally catches the eye.
[Dave says, scribbling away in his notebook. he thinks he's got enough to work with now, and hopefully Ryuji doesn't die of boredom while he sounds out some verses? but great art and great rhymes take a few measures of patience and time, especially if you want to give a fix-what-ails-you bowl of soup a good start.]
[that is to say, this shit'll solve a roberculosis disaster faster than magic mom has heard, and god who the fuck is letting me write this shit]
[Dave stands up and starts pacing a bit, mumbling to himself. if Ryuji catches anything else he's saying, it'll likely be just as completely dorky as that stuff up there is.]
[and then, his task complete, he sets a bowl down on the counter in front of Ryuji. that ... sure is a bowl of ramen, all right. well, a test bowl of ramen — it's probably not a good idea to rhyme up a whole vat of the stuff without at least making sure it doesn't kill anybody or something.]
[things Dave completely nailed: - the egg. man, he put a lot of thought into making that egg perfect
things Dave got kind of? right - the flavor of the broth - the noodles
things Dave pretty much botched - forgot the seaweed - the meaty explosions. because the soup ... literally explodes ... not injury-inducing, though. it's an awful lot like eating a bowl of ramen-flavored liquid pop rocks.]
[Nah, he's not really bored. It's sort of amusing to watch him get down with his bad self, drumming the ghost of a beat down on the table lazily. Straight up chuckles like an idiot at some of the stanzas, too, but not in a "this is embarrassing" sort of way, since the rap he's used to back home is pretty absurdist compared to the type you'd hear coming out of Atlanta or something.
It's only when he starts taking this backstage that Ryuji stops being able to focus too intently on what's going on. His mind wanders off to his sick friends, and he hopes that whatever Dave is capable of whipping up is going to be something that they can consume to feel better about their (god...) roberculosis.
He's snapped back to reality by the slam... poetry made reality of a bowl in front of his face. Holy shit? HOLY SHIT. It smells right. It looks right. It's missing a few things, but for a first attempt, he's thoroughly impressed.
And then it hits him that he's supposed to taste test. Take the spoon right in and enjoy the soupy fruits of Dave's labor.]
Dude... you, uh.
[His eyes could practically start to well up as he heads over and grabs a spoon to get down and dirty.]
Shit, man, it ain't cool to cry in front of another guy, but I'm pretty close. [And digs right in, getting a sip of the broth. It starts to snap, crackle and pop, though, and Ryuji's face goes completely blank.]
What [pop] the [pop] hell. [He sticks out his tongue, and yeah, it's still crackling audibly.]
Aw shit, you gotta do this over. This ain't right at all!
[there's ... definitely something about the inflection of that one sentence that suggests making rice krispies ramen was not at all what Dave was intending. and that's only confirmed when he looks back down to his notebook and crosses out a few stanzas. okay, so the void takes the mention of explosions of any sort literally. good to know!]
[— wait, fuck. he should have remembered that from the time he made exploding coffee beans.]
[good work, Dave.]
Okay, well — is it cool aside from the fireworks? I've only got one more shot at this, so next one's gonna be big enough to feed at least a sportsball team of sick people.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[stop ... stop that line of thought, Dave, even if it's a completely plausible one. Ryuji's the first friend he's tried texting who isn't currently a living pit of lava, so he just keeps texting frantically. that's as good an indicator as any that he's probably just fine — and it's as good an indicator as any that he's a bit relieved that Ryuji's okay.]
ugh god dammit
didnt astoria think any of this through before sending us out on a new world quest
its not like we willingly went off to robocollege and caught a robovirus
she just kinda dumped this shit on us right
what are we even supposed to do
i dont want to just sit around and watch
nor can i even remember what youre supposed to put in chicken noodle soup
no subject
Anyway, that's a lot of texts heading in a few different directions and he sure as hell has no idea how to settle that rage, but he does know a few things, here.]
Nah, she's probably making shit up as she goes and hopin' for the best. I mean, that's kinda how I've done stuff over the last year, and you win some you lose some dude, can't be too angry.
Besides, like, I thought you were supposed to get shots before you went to college.
That said uh
I absolutely know what goes in a good soup
no subject
[Dave has about five more hours of complaining he could be doing, but it appears Ryuji's said something to slow his griping roll for now.]
what
you do
what goes in good soup
no subject
Well okay man the basics are pretty simple?
A broth you make outta leftover bones
Some richly flavored protein like pork
Noodles, man you can't forget about noodles
You ever have the satisfaction of that just sliding down your throat like a straight up flavor explosion in your mouth
And then some toppings like spring onions, seaweed, eggs, sesame
It's real easy dude
no subject
that uh
never heard noodles described that way but ok
also what do eggs have to do with anything
[guess who’s never had a proper bowl of ramen? This Cool Guy.]
no subject
WHAT DO EGGS...
Holy shit, dude
Eggs are so goddamn important to a good cup of soup and if you haven't had it then your life just ain't complete yet.
no subject
dude that doesnt really give me a proper picture of what kinda egg were dealin with here
like theres this huge ass broad spectrum that still fits the definition
do you mean its scrambled or freshly hatched or what
is it actually an eggy loking thign just there for decoration
[hey how about you make your bird motif a little more on the nose, Dave.]
actually
are you busy right now
can you come to the kitchen
if this shits as good as you say it is im just gonna have to get this rhyme right
no subject
What the hell?
[Here's Ryuji, staring at his device with the most weirded out look ever. Please don't put baby birds in ramen, dude. Fresh eggs are better, but preferably ones that aren't fertilized?
But, alright, he'll help a dude out with his rhyme henmenship. (new day, new roll, gatcha).]
Nah, ain't busy. Gimme a few I'll be right over.
[The kitchen isn't that far off from the bedrooms, so he gets there decently quick. Ryuji is starting to get some sniffles, so his voice sounds a little more nasal than it had before, but otherwise he's doing alright. Shit, some soup right now wouldn't be that bad of an idea, huh?]
Yo, chef. What's cookin'?
no subject
[in any case, Ryuji seems to have found that spot in the text where it’s hard to tell whether Dave’s joking or not. would he actually use freshly hatched? would he drop in an eggy loking thign for some extra ironic notes? it’s ... it’s genuinely hard to say. and he probably wouldn’t give off any air of a hint of his meaning in his expression if he said it in person.]
[but he does quirk an eyebrow at the question that’s fired his way when Ryuji arrives, because:]
I don’t know how to cook. [because that bodes pretty well for him and this endeavour he’s dead set on. but he does have a notebook and a bright red pen, and Ryuji likely at least some idea of how his magic works by now. uh. maybe?]
no subject
It's cool, we all gotta start somewhere.
[But lacking pots and pans, Ryuji can't help but wonder if he's going to write a recipe to death or actually try to start creating, when it hits him that the two are one in the same, really.
This feels like cheating, kind of. Not that he has a problem with that either, so he pulls up a bar stool and leans up against the table, trying to not look so goddamn obvious at poking to see what he's got there on paper.]
So... whatcha need me for? Aside from like, amazing company.
no subject
[it's a cock drawing, if you will.]
[i've written a thing, regretted it, then sent it anyway.]
[but Ryuji's patting himself on the back doesn't get much reaction out of Dave, aside from a very slightly quirked eyebrow. dude's definitely not the worst company he's had, that's probably fair enough. and he'd probably make a great hairdresser, if there was a market to turn the entire world blond, or something.]
This magic conjuring shit works better the more details I have. [so here he is with his notebook, his red pen, and his expectant look, like he's a journalist or something.]
So, gimme some more details. [on the soup, he means. the more vivid the better!]
no subject
Ryuji, though, was mostly using self-deprecating humor at the comment, and seeing it fall pretty much flat, he feels a little awkward- which ends up as it usually does, smiling sheepishly and trying to brush it off like it never happened in the first place.]
Uh...
[He didn't know he was going to be interviewed for this month's copy of Chopsticks, but, alright, he's not really opposed to it. He can talk about ramen at great lengths. At boring lengths. At lengths so long that everyone will leave the room entire tens of minutes before he's done.]
Okay, so the most important thing to a good bowl of ramen, is makin' sure it has a super freaking hearty broth. [He nods as he talks about it, making sure that Dave takes away the "hearty" part of this.]
If you're gonna go old fashioned, which, in my opinion- and it's a good opinion, to tell you the truth... then you hafta make sure you're using pork bones to season the soup. Some people crush 'em up, but they have to sit for a few hours in boiling water or else the flavor ain't gonna get carried over.
So, when you take that first sip, you get this monster flavor burst in your mouth that's rich and filled with all these super powerful notes of meat. [... monster flavor burst...]
That's the first step. You can always tell a shit ramen if it doesn't have the right aroma, or if it's too watered down. That first sip's, like. The most goddamn important part of the entire thing. And it should burn your throat to hell, or it ain't served pipin' hot enough. [Is this too much all at once?] And when it slides down your throat, you're gonna feel it, and ugh it's like somethin' just crawled outta the bowl and burnt you all the way down, but it's a good feelin'.
no subject
[but if these are the details Ryuji's gonna give him, then these are the details that Dave is gonna work with. this is ... either going to be the best bowl of ramen ever, or a. really fucking weird Fabio-emblazoned romance novel of a bowl of ramen, honestly.]
[or a ramen monster.]
[Dave looks up from his notebook.]
Okay. And what exactly am I supposed to be doing with the egg?
no subject
Or something like that. He's a mess.]
Well, so, like. First of all. You're gonna wanna put your ear up to the egg and make sure you don't hear any clucking sounds from the inside.
[His cheeks rise upward, even though he tries to keep his lips in a straight line.]
That's how you know you have a bad egg.
[Why.]
... but other than that, you're lookin' to soft boil it first. You want the yolk to be runny as hell but the... uh. I dunno... the white stuff? [The egg white....??? Ryuji...] What's the word for that. Anyway- that should be firm.
no subject
[Dave purses his lips, though he does so in a way that suggests bland amusement over annoyance. Ryuji's just being added to the rolodex of people whose interest in terrible jokes is starting to rub off on him. it only took four months!]
[Ryuji should ask Akira about the NOSH bowl one day.]
Right, right. Hatch up a good egg before starting any of this, is what you're saying.
[no ... why....]
But, you're thinkin' of egg whites, dude. White stuff's just the shit that goes in between Oreos. Or, like. Mayo.
no subject
You put mayo in between your oreos?
[The side of Ryuji's mouth curls upward into a smirk. He knows what Dave was implying here, or, at least he hopes he does. There's always a chance the dude really does just dip his chocolate disks into the creamy wasteland of mayo, and then he won't know what to do with this information.]
...
[What the hell is a NOSH bowl?]
You keep talkin' about hatching eggs. The more you do, the more I'm kinda picturing your ass sitting on a bunch of twigs keeping some chicklets warm and effin' toasty, and lemme tell you, that is one hell of a messed up image.
no subject
[god. you gonna catch that joke, Ryuji? though, Dave sometimes lobs them overhead on purpose.]
[also, this is a NOSH bowl.]
That mental image is all on you, though. I'm just makin' sure I'm getting the full scope of how important an egg is to soup here.
no subject
Whoa, sorry. Didn't mean to be culturally insensitive here.
[Goddamnit... NOSH bowl...]
Yeah, sure thing, mama bird. [And also, apparently, species insensitive.]
Eggs are really important to soup. It's like, uh. It balances out the broth since it's really rich. Kinda like harmony and melody to a song, y'know? That first bite of yolk enhances the flavor, but it's, uh. It's super precious since you only get one chance to experience it in the entire thing.
[He's getting so misty eyed about ramen, and almost romantically philosophic. Gross.]
no subject
[it's like the drop that gets your heart rate going, or the way a singer hits that one note that keeps you hitting the repeat button until you give yourself melody fatigue. and for the songs that are really good? the ones that hit all the notes that you look for in music? that fatigue never lasts very long.]
[apparently being a mama bird aside, maybe that's why he takes a bit longer to scribble rhyming notes about the egg than he did the rest of the elements of this lecture.]
Okay, last question. What kind of bowl do you put it in?
[how ... is that at all relevant. but his expression remains unchanged — maybe he's actually serious about this one?]
no subject
Ryuji's lips part, eyebrows furrowing. It's just... it's a bowl. What else type of thing do you even call it? Suppu bouru. There's donburi, but that has a totally different style of connotation, and Ryuji struggles to find a decent answer to that. This isn't a joke, right? He takes a look over at Dave to discern any inkling of heckling going on right now, but he seems pretty stoically chill.]
Uh. Hm.
[There's cup ramen, too. And can ramen from some vending machines... but those never really tasted that great, and if Dave is going to rap up greatness, that detail needs to be left out entirely.]
It's... just a soup bowl? Or, maybe like, if you're into cup... ramen. I ain't really sure what you're askin' here.
no subject
Rhythmically speaking, the bowl's the most important part of this whole thing — like, I could either rap about all this stuff you've lectured on separately and it'd take a few days to get it all in one pot, or I could just rap about meaty explosions and throat-burning noodles all in a fancy as fuck bowl and get it done in one go.
[it's getting more absurd, isn't it?]
But if it's not anything special usually, I'll just have to improvise.
no subject
But... maybe it's meant to be that way. A good bowl of ramen, before served, isn't something you just throw together in a microwave and out pops greatness onto a ladle and nearly throatgasmic soul-rending satiation.
Fancy as fuck, though? The point is usually to keep it cheap, unless it's one of those shops in Ginza that offer the dish at a premium alongside tenderly cut pieces of fish and meal sets.]
You mean like a ceramic bowl? Or maybe... somethin' like a fine piece of China? You know the type, right? They're big and white and have blue imprints all over 'em with designs and shit. Totally catches the eye.
Anything rhyme with China?
no subject
[Dave says, scribbling away in his notebook. he thinks he's got enough to work with now, and hopefully Ryuji doesn't die of boredom while he sounds out some verses? but great art and great rhymes take a few measures of patience and time, especially if you want to give a fix-what-ails-you bowl of soup a good start.]
[that is to say, this shit'll solve a roberculosis disaster faster than magic mom has heard, and god who the fuck is letting me write this shit]
[Dave stands up and starts pacing a bit, mumbling to himself. if Ryuji catches anything else he's saying, it'll likely be just as completely dorky as that stuff up there is.]
[and then, his task complete, he sets a bowl down on the counter in front of Ryuji. that ... sure is a bowl of ramen, all right. well, a test bowl of ramen — it's probably not a good idea to rhyme up a whole vat of the stuff without at least making sure it doesn't kill anybody or something.]
[things Dave completely nailed:
- the egg. man, he put a lot of thought into making that egg perfect
things Dave got kind of? right
- the flavor of the broth
- the noodles
things Dave pretty much botched
- forgot the seaweed
- the meaty explosions. because the soup ... literally explodes ... not injury-inducing, though. it's an awful lot like eating a bowl of ramen-flavored liquid pop rocks.]
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It's only when he starts taking this backstage that Ryuji stops being able to focus too intently on what's going on. His mind wanders off to his sick friends, and he hopes that whatever Dave is capable of whipping up is going to be something that they can consume to feel better about their (god...) roberculosis.
He's snapped back to reality by the slam... poetry made reality of a bowl in front of his face. Holy shit? HOLY SHIT. It smells right. It looks right. It's missing a few things, but for a first attempt, he's thoroughly impressed.
And then it hits him that he's supposed to taste test. Take the spoon right in and enjoy the soupy fruits of Dave's labor.]
Dude... you, uh.
[His eyes could practically start to well up as he heads over and grabs a spoon to get down and dirty.]
Shit, man, it ain't cool to cry in front of another guy, but I'm pretty close. [And digs right in, getting a sip of the broth. It starts to snap, crackle and pop, though, and Ryuji's face goes completely blank.]
What [pop] the [pop] hell. [He sticks out his tongue, and yeah, it's still crackling audibly.]
Aw shit, you gotta do this over. This ain't right at all!
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[there's ... definitely something about the inflection of that one sentence that suggests making rice krispies ramen was not at all what Dave was intending. and that's only confirmed when he looks back down to his notebook and crosses out a few stanzas. okay, so the void takes the mention of explosions of any sort literally. good to know!]
[— wait, fuck. he should have remembered that from the time he made exploding coffee beans.]
[good work, Dave.]
Okay, well — is it cool aside from the fireworks? I've only got one more shot at this, so next one's gonna be big enough to feed at least a sportsball team of sick people.
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