[video] is it cheating to use sample intros? because I'm totally cheating.

[chromatose]

[So... phone. That's this world's version of a GHS, huh? Seems to work more or less the same; at least that's a plus. The concept of mass communication is new, admittedly. The average person doesn't have access to that where Ludger's from.

Might as well try it, though. What can it hurt? It's not like he's going to get many answers working on his own. He learned that pretty quickly when life started shooting him in the foot the last couple of months back home. And really, this isn't that unusual of an experience for him- he visits strange worlds all the time. They're just usually more familiar, that's all. He just has to stick with the usual format- ask around, meet people, destroy the diverg- well, okay. Not that part, this time.

That's the part I'm good at. Dammit.]

Excuse me, sorry to interrupt whatever you're doing. I'd like to know if anyone out there has heard of, or is from, either Elympios or Rieze Maxia. Barring that, uh...

[Crap, he doesn't really have another plan here. There's about a hundred questions he could be asking right now, and none of them are really useful when addressing - essentially - a crowd.

How the hell do I get out of here?

Nah. Probably gets asked a lot already.

The usual?]

What's your favourite place to eat around here?

[The usual.]

I'm a bit of a chef myself, so I'd really like to hear about the local food. Maybe we can trade recipes? I'd love to try something new. And hey, if anyone's looking for a cook... I mean, technically I was given a job already, but-

...I'm not exactly sure what a 'community youth advisor' does.

[Except. Advise youth in the community, probably.

He'll just be over here trying to memorize a new city and figuring out how technology works without spirits to power it. That'll be step one, with step two being "find some allies", since he's already finding himself to be a mess when he runs solo.]

Comments

text; I'm sorry someone had to

[maime]

advise youths in the community
pretty self explanatory

[There's a long pause before he apparently decides to only be mostly unhelpful. He's not much help on the actual questions.]

You say things like
stay in school
don't do drugs
etc

i actually spat out my water thank you

[chromatose]

[Uh.]

That sounds... really oversimplified. Not that I'm ungrateful! But isn't that kind of thing usually for parents?

video

[corviform]

Sorry, neither of those names sound familiar to me.

[ The chef comment is what grabs Gil's attention. ]

What do you like to cook?

[chromatose]

Honestly, I'll cook almost anything. My specialty is recipes with tomatoes, though.

[corviform]

[ His interest is renewed quickly. ]

Which Porter city are you currently in? If you're in Heropa, there's a number of seafood dishes I can recommend.

[chromatose]

It's Heropa, yeah. I take it fish is a major produce in the area?

[The area's so close to the ocean - something he hadn't see too much until his recent world-traveling job - so he kind of assumes it's common.]

[corviform]

It's right by the ocean, so there's a great fisherman's market if you want to take a look.

[ Gil doesn't live there anymore, but he drops by on occasion for the market. ]

[chromatose]

[Lovely. Well, he likes seafood just fine, so that works. He just needs to figure out a few more recipes, that's all.]

I'll have to check it out then. Thanks for the tip. I'm Ludger, by the way.

[corviform]

Gilbert. [ He offers an amiable smile. ] If there's a particular kind of recipe you want to hear about, like shrimp dishes or something like salmon, I can send you a couple of links. Sometimes you can find good recipes on the internet.

[chromatose]

Links? Is that... a function on the phone? I'm still adjusting to how this thing works, sorry.

[The GHS could accept coordinates, maybe this is similar?]

[video;]

[hoboagogo]

[SOMEONE ASKING ABOUT FOOD AND TALKING ABOUT COOKING?? Time to actually talk on the network for once.]

Heropa's got a few decent places, depending on what you want. There's some diner called Astro's that's got a weird space theme and some greasy western food. I usually just make shit myself, though. Let me know what kinda recipe you want, I'll dig one up for you.

[And then there's a pause, as he considers leaving it at that-- but decides to tack on another thought, also.]

I figure a youth adviser is a kinda counselor. You talk to kids and teenagers 'bout their problems, help 'em figure out what they wannna do in life, and give 'em the info so they can go apply for school or get a job, or whatever else. I used to do something similar when I lived down that way- they should train you pretty good on the job.

[video;]

[chromatose]

[He knew that talking about food was the right decision. It's a universal ice breaker.]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add it to the list. Know any recipes with tomatoes?

[Julius would love if he came back with something new, assuming he can track his idiot brother down at some point.]

And yeah, that... makes sense. As long as I do get trained, I might be okay. I have no idea why they thought I might be qualified for something like that.

[hoboagogo]

[He nods, and folds his arms over his chest, considering for a moment.] Shit, there's a ton. If you want it to be mostly tomatoes, then chop up some've those little plum tomatoes, peel and chop some cucumber, onion, feta, and basil, then mix it all in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

[A shrug. measurements and increments are for losers, obviously.]

I dunno. I dropped outta high school, and they had me counseling the kids with shitty lives and drug issues for a while. I figure they stick us pretty much anywhere.

[chromatose]

[Bah. He's a chef, he can probably figure out how to put something together with a list like that. He mulls it over as he considers the combination, then hums in thoughtful approval.]

Yeah, I can try that. Could make a good stew, too.

[Double specialty! Yeah, this was definitely a good idea. And it's taking his mind off of things, too. That's a nice change.]

Oh, you think it could be random? The jobs we get?

[hoboagogo]

[A bro-nod in response.] Yeah, you can go wild with the flavor combinations there. Make a sandwich out of it, shuffle some of the ingredients around, add bacon... I figured it'd be a flexible enough idea for you to start with.

We get some people here from worlds where they don't have a lotta that kind've stuff.

[As for the jobs, he gestures vaguely with a hand.] I dunno, really. It seems like some are pretty fitting, and some are ridiculous. My team's leader works at a clothing store, but the techies I live with work for a research place for robotic stuff.

Guess it depends on if we have any skills they need.

[chromatose]

I like it. A bit of variety goes a long way.

[And it's so relaxing to geek out about food for a change.]

I guess that makes sense. If there's an open position and a body to fill it, may as well do that rather than leaving people unemployed. And job hunting is really the worst.

[hoboagogo]

You know any good ones in return? I ain't picky about the ingredients.

[Ah, cooking and food. Small pleasures in bizarro JRPG worlds.]

Hell, tell me about it. Even if I wanted to go back to work, I dunno what I'd even wanna look for, let alone where to start. [A sigh and shake of the head. Good thing he's an unemployed bum.] But if you end up hating the place, there's usually people happy to hire imPorts pretty much wherever.

[chromatose]

Sure, I know plenty. The one I know best is a pasta margherita- I learned it as a kid and kind of tweaked it over the years. You make a mix of olive oil, garlic, basil, and salt to taste, add cubed mozzarella and some sort of sliced vegetable, depending on what flavour you're going for. I think grape tomatoes are the best, but I've experimented with mixed peppers recently, and the sweetness is amazing. Pour the mix over al dente linguine and you've got an easy dinner. Tastes great.

[Oh god, Ludger, shut up about food, that's too much.]

...Er. If it doesn't work out, I might go back to looking at cooking jobs.

[hoboagogo]

[Man, that does sound good. He's been testing out more Italian-style recipes, after all- despite trying to make more 'traditional' and Japanese dishes for the team to have something familiar, man, is it fun to mess around with completely different spice sets or ingredient focuses.]

-Changing it to peppers sounds damn good. Speaking of, you ever stuff one of those and bake it? You can put damn near anything in it- chopped vegetables, rice, garlic, ground meat or sausage, maybe some red pepper if you want it spicy.

[they are going to enable each other forever]

Yeah, you could. Would you wanna work as like a line cook, or be someplace you could make your own recipes?

[chromatose]

I've done stuffed peppers before, but I haven't experimented as much with it. I keep meaning to, but my brother really likes tomatoes, and he's the one who brought home the bacon, so to speak. I usually cooked his favourites.

I did stuffed apples a lot, though, as dessert. If you combine the right spices and cap the mix with a nice, flaky pastry smeared with sweet syrup? Tastes just like a fresh apple pie.

[Ludger is perfectly okay with this.]

As for jobs, I'd be fine with either, to be honest. I like being free to mix recipes, but even when you're the bottom of the barrel you can contribute to recipes if the chefs in charge can see you've got a good sense of taste. Real experimenting is best done at home, anyway.

[hoboagogo]

...Man, if I did that, I'd just be making spinach-protein-shakes and beef bowls for every meal.

[You are way nicer to your brother than Shinjiro is to the person who supports him here.]

Might be a bit too sweet for me... but some've the guys here would probably like that. Guess I don't do as much dessert baking as I could. [It's said thoughtfully. He might just be trying that baked apple recipe in the future, Ludger. Good show.]

Sounds like you'd be made for it, then. If it's what you wanna do, then go for it. Or try out the counseling job and keep your eye out for anything that looks likely opening up. [An amused huff-] I'd have to come check it out, see if you're all talk.

[chromatose]

[It's equal parts nice-guy and self-preservation. His brother's the only family he's ever had. His comment gets a laugh out of Ludger, though, so gold star? It's rare for him to relax enough for it these days.]

I may try out the job I've got before I go handing in my resignation, but... let's just say I'm happy to have a back-up plan. But you're welcome to come over and try my cooking if you don't want to take my word for it. Or if you'd just like to see what I do to that recipe of yours.

[hoboagogo]

[A pause, and he considers that. Before showing up here a year ago, he probably would have been far more flippant, turned it down. Likely not even gotten this far inti the conversation. But now?

He shrugs.]

Sure. Where did you get assigned to live?

[A pause as he glances up at the network ID. Wow, he has no idea how to pronounce that name. Or which part is given name and which part is family. Sorry, bud.] Luhd-gurr?

[chromatose]

[Pffft. Why is his name so hard for people around here?]

It's Loo-gurr. You were close. [Kinda.] And don't worry, I've already been told that it's a weird name.

[Thanks a lot, Kid Flash.]

My place is in Heropa, #25.

[hoboagogo]

Right. [So you just... don't say the d. He can roll with that.] Don't worry too much, people have issues with 'Shinjiro' too. And another guy I know, it drives me crazy to see his name spelled out. Looks nothing like how you say it.

[JAIME REYES, YOU AND YOUR WEIRD SPANISH NAME]

I think I know the area- I used to live down in Heropa #15 before moving up to De Chima. Next time I'm in town I'll have to shoot you a text.

Do you know what your work schedule's gonna be like?