002 ♍ In Which Our Correspondent Discovers The Function Through Which To Visually Broadcast

[mamadonna]

[ The video clicks on to show Dolorosa fussing with the computer. Well, most of her. Only the bottom of her head is visible, as whoever used this terminal last is far shorter than she is. After a few moments of this, the camera shakes and refocuses to show her face, and after double-checking it against the display on the monitor, she smiles and places her hands in her lap.

She looks tired, and the bags under her eyes have deepened from getting very little sleep this past month. ]

Well, I'm pleased to see they have heard and followed my suggestion to improve the cafeteria menu! The recent state of affairs has been simply atrocious, we can't have growing children expected to receive their necessary sustenance from such negligent offerings.

More than this, it allows little excuse for one to not eat healthfully, so I must encourage you all to observe your proper nutritional schedule each day. Should you require assistance, or perhaps more direct motivation, [ ie. her pulling you by the ear to the cafeteria ] my services remain available.

I'm glad to see local operations improving following the dreadful events of the past weeks.

[ Of course, she...doesn't know about the puffer fish soup... ]

Comments

[mamadonna]

[ She pauses from her own work to admire his. It's such a drastic difference in composure that she can't help but notice, and certainly worth affirming and encouraging. ]

Well, I should apologize for not recognizing earlier that I was in the presence of one so talented!

[mutab1e]

[He looks up at her, quite startled.]

W-what? Um... it's fine, I'm really not that skilled. I mean, I taught myself...

[mamadonna]

[ She resumes forming her cakes with a smile. ]

Then it would appear that you had a gifted teacher.

[mutab1e]

[And Equius just keeps looking. Apparently it takes a moment for him to process that. But when he does, he mumbles something that might have been thanks and returns to mashing. How he even manages it with a complete lack of upper body strength remains a mystery to all.]

[mamadonna]

[ She begins working on her glaze as she waits for him to finish mashing, watching him work with some pride. ]

[mutab1e]

[And then the mashing is done. Equius sets the bowl of potatoes next to Dolorosa and then... stands there doing nothing, because ow his arms are kind of really hurting now and he doesn't know what comes next.]

[mamadonna]

[ She gives him a nod, then stuffs the potatoes and gets everything ready to stick in the oven. She's not gonna risk sticking Equius in it, so she takes the pan and makes the run herself. ]

[mutab1e]

[Oh. They're going into the oven. Good. But of course he follows her over as standby, to fix anything that goes wrong before she accidentally gets herself incinerated. ...It's not a very nice experience, hence the concern. But fortunately everything goes well, and no one dies.]

Is there anything else, or is that it?

[mamadonna]

Well, aside from the waiting while the actually baking is done and the consumption itself, of course, I thought we might serve them with fruit.

[mutab1e]

Oh, that would be a good idea. [His tone is a little lighter, a little lighter, at the thought of it.]

[mamadonna]

[ She takes a pineapple and a knife, beginning to slice off the top and bottom. ]

These will preferably be stripped of their hide prior to eating them. You could do so prior, but the hide is unpleasant to chew and has an unpleasant taste. [ She might've...tried it once or twice. ]

[mutab1e]

I would say so, yes. [He stares at the spiky fruit. There are similar varieties on Alternia, but those usually promised various ill effects, so he had been pointedly avoiding it up until this point.] The flesh... is edible, then?

[mamadonna]

[ She continues trimming the fruit, and carves a piece of to hand him. ] You can sample for yourself.

I had done so the other morning, so you can be assured that it is safe and edible.

[mutab1e]

Oh, thank you.

[WOW that is a really strong fruit, and it shows on his face. But at least he knows it's edible now, and it's quite good besides. Dolorosa totally knows what she's doing. ...Well of course she would, she's an adult jadeblood, he would expect nothing less, right?]

[And then he kind of... sits there, for more than a second, thinking. When he next speaks, it's very quiet.]

...Why are you doing this?

[mamadonna]

[ She has her reasons, of course. Wanting to feel useful, feeling compelled to involve herself with others, concerning herself with the lives of others. And also, perhaps, a surrender to any hope of seeing the revolution she's lived and suffered for happening with her generation, but she would always have hope for the next.

She stops slicing and leans her chin on a hand, giving Equius one of her more ambiguous smiles. There was, after all, a much better question to ask. ]

Is there a reason I should not?

[mutab1e]

[Um, YES???]

I... you don't know me in the least. Y-you are an adult. You are of a higher caste than me. It just... doesn't make sense.

[mamadonna]

[ Her posture straightens. ]

My age should be irrelevant to the consideration. [ Summoner's rebellion what's that? ] Our relative positions are also moot.

My son was of a lower caste than you, actually. But, to a less kind sort who puts more stock in such matters, rather than necessitating an instant death as it would to him, it would likely inspire a higher degree of neglect. Therefore I see it as only proper that I should compensate for this lack.

[geometry]

[He listened to all of Dolorosa's explanation, and in the quietest and most easily-ignored part of his mind, he admitted that it did make some sense. But fortunately, he did not have to vocalize those thoughts, because there was another discrepancy that he could focus on instead.] ...Your son? [Did she mean her descendant? Assuming she was one of the few who had one?]

[mamadonna]

[ She's been told about her descendant, but she still remains skeptical about the whole thing. ]

He was a grub who would not be assigned a lusus save for my intervention. And so, I assumed the role myself.

[geometry]

[Normally, so would he, but he's had the 'fortune' of meeting an Ancestor-Descendant pair. Both have tried to kill him on separate occasions, and one succeeded.]

[He frowned. An unusual path to take in its own right, but... not completely farfetched, he decided.] Why would he be refused a lusus?

[mamadonna]

[ She glances at her timer as she continues slicing the pineapple. The recurrence of certain signs has been certainly curious, but she wouldn't like to jump to any conclusions. ]

As I'd previously mentioned, his caste was below consideration. Were he discovered, he would be culled without hesitation as an aberration.

I found this possibility unacceptable.

[geometry]

Well, yes, but...

[Equius knew a troll like that himself; though he hadn't quite noticed it yet, the nullblood's horns and the Dolorosa's were exactly the same. But this nullblood had a lusus, according to the few times they were willing to share knowledge oft heir lives and situations. He never really understood why she could have a lusus being in the state she was in, but always chalked it up to some overly-sentimental, stupid custodian taking pity on her. Despite this, he had grown used to the idea.]

...I see. And... I'm sure that must have put you in great personal danger, as well.

[mamadonna]

[ A little more than just danger, it eventually doomed him, her, and everyone they cared about. And even now, after having gone through it all, she can't quite decide if she would still have done it all again. She likes to think she would, at least, but ultimately she's glad to not have known the details of how it would end rather than just an awareness of the possibility.

The question noticeably catches her off-guard, as her slicing skips a beat and she answers in a more subdued tone than before. ]

Nothing I hadn't knowingly submitted myself to. He would not be capable of facing it on his own, I felt the alternative would be unconscionable.

[geometry]

[He nodded, considering this answer. It was very against the normal mindset a troll would adopt, but considering what he already knew about the Dolorosa and her actions, perhaps calling her troll-like would be a bit too much to ask. No troll he knew would... well, maybe that wasn't an entirely accurate statement, because he could count twelve trolls (including himself) who would give shelter to a child of filth like that. But he liked to believe that none of them would have raised her, willingly, from grubhood.]

[He had been speaking to the Dolorosa for long enough now, right? He could ask her the one question on his mind right now, couldn't he?]

...Do we need any other fruits?

[...No, apparently not.]

[mamadonna]

[ That's okay, she's patient and will be ready to hear his question when he's ready to voice it.

In the meantime, she points with her knife to a bowl she'd brought out. ]

There are, in fact. The bright, spined ones are not as intimidating as they seem, though separating them from their hide may be a delicate maneuver.

The small red ones are quite sweet, and require little more than the removal of their stems.