Scene #9158: Hungry Girl

Owner	Pose
Angela	The Seven Chefs are a group that the Trideag Association knows about. Sally from Sally's Soup Kitchen actually hired Trideag on behalf of the Soup Kitchen. And it seems your work was so well liked that a member of the Seven Chefs wanted to schedule a meeting. She named herself as Greta but nobody in Trideag has met her before. That doesn't mean that Knifty isn't feeling very protective, however, since while she knows THE QUEEN can take care of herself, she is naturally worried that the person who cooks people might want to cook her. She doubts that Greta is the type of cannibal who only wants to eat people without tentacles. Nevertheless, now is not the time to be making extra enemies as Trideag isn't in a position to pick fights with every dangerous or objectionable City element. Ceri has elected to set this meeting up in the park area rather than in the Trideag building proper and has set up some wooden tables and park benches in case people want to sit down. She isn't managing this meeting, though, because she has been pulled into LobCorp today. Instead... Finn is 'escorting' Greta in despite, comparatively speaking, looking like he's the one who'd need the escort because Greta? She's nearly as tall as Nonon, and actually as broad and while she isn't quite as athletic as her, she is fairly muscular. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a bun behind her head and she has a chef's toque on her head along with bright blue eyes. She is dressed like she just got out of the kitchen, wearing a chef's coat with two rows of button across her body. She looks like she's in her thirties, maybe early fourties. "Well ain't ya just the sweetest thing, guiding little ol' me all the way here. And with this setup! Well gosh, it sure is quaint as hell." "Aha... Well it's part of my job and I wouldn't call you old." Finn says, all smiles. "Well ain't you the sweetest thing!" Greta pinches at Finn's cheek. "I could eat you right up!" Nobody in the City really goes around without even a little protection unless they're in a Nest and Greta is no exception. In her left hand is a larger hammer and meat tenderizer that looks like it's seen considerable use. In her right is a preservation cooler that the City is known for, keeps food fresh for practically forever. "Now!" She claps her hands once. "where's our Hungry Girl?"
Kale Hearthward	This place again. Why did Kale sign up for this? It's not like Rita Ma of all people needs a security escort. Maybe an honor guard, but not a security escort. Maybe it's just morbid curiosity that's bringing him back here for this mission? Or he just had a hole in his schedule that needed filling with something productive. Or he wants to make sure Aidan's not going to go mess up this early on. > "Well ain't you the sweetest thing!" Greta pinches at Finn's cheek. "I could eat you right up!" Kale shifts uncomfortably. He's not sure if that's meant as a joke. He's also not sure if he wants to probe and find out. "Is this..." Really just about meeting Rita Ma, is the question on Kale's lips (beak). "Really all there is to this request?" is what he settles on saying.
Rita Ma	Rita is of several minds about District Twenty-Three. Most of them are bad. The fragmented feelings drift around inside her uneasily, rarely connecting. Culinary culture- well, she's a prodigious little cook. Eating human flesh- decidedly a fan of it. A culture of eating human flesh- somehow this is where it falls apart. It should be heaven for her: a place where nobody has the right to be repulsed by her. It feels like a parody of her insecurities, instead. But can she even explain why without sounding crazy? Won't everyone else think she's a hypocrite? 'I only eat evil people. If I eat at a place that grabs random people, aren't I encouraging an evil system?' The more she turns that over in her head, the more it feels like the kind of distinction only an unhinged person would make. - - - - She's approaching from the main building's foot-path when Greta claps her hands together. The sound startles her from her swirling thoughts. Right, Rita thinks. I have to make nice with her. A thought that intensifies the bitter taste in her mouth. She picks up the pace slightly, and slides smoothly between Greta and Finn, subtly protecting the latter from the former. "It's good to meet you, Ms. Greta," Rita says, and to all but the most intimately familiar with her, her eyes-shut smile up at the huge woman seems effortlessly sincere. "I thought I'd bring some food too, even though it's not your favorite kind. What did you want to talk about?" Her clothes are uncharacteristically severe: crisp buttoned shirt, simple skirt, matching leggings, and dress flats. A thin hair-ribbon among the blonde is the only splash of non-neutral color. In her other hand is a much more ordinary cooler.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan stood in the armory. "No firearm. No, no. The shield needs to be HEAVY. Heavier than this sci-fi stuff." Then, before he left, as a grand afterthought, "And I want shoes." Aidan had never owned shoes in his life, "But I gotta be able to climb in them." A thoughtful pause, "And they need two inch lifts." Humming a rhythmic mining song to himself, Aidan hoves in close to this greeting. His recent fuck up with Ritescu has been weighing on his mind. He's still too passive. And there's that whole thing with Sarracenia he needs to unpack. Aidan puts his brain hard at work. Is it rude to bring food to a chef? Naaaaah. He settles on his standard 'I'm going to meet someone important' outfit rather than whatever Tridaeg uniform, and a steady income and access to an actual shower means he is shiny and lusterous once more. And shoes for once! Shields at his sides, no sidearm. And a large tupperware! He walks on the other side of Rita Ma, who doesn't REALLY need an escort. But he is happy to amble along with Rita. First comes a merry wave to Finn. Then a lift of his eyebrows as he sees 'Greta'. In a chef uniform, one of those chef hats he sees in pictures. And she's HUGE. Alright, maybe I could stand to work out a little. Immediately, Aidan's smile freezes in place as the radio TTS comes into his ear and then he sees Rita's look. Damn. Pretending to be human practice? That's... Aidan pushes it out of his head, trying to grab back his smile. His pretending is only as good as one semester of Community College Drama Class, but he does try to think sunny thoughts. Trees. Treeeees~. "Pleased to meetcha, Miss Greta! It's nice to meet a celebrity. I'm Aidan Proudpick."
Angela	Greta laughs. "Well never talked to a giant chicken before! So lots of new experiences for ... YOUNG Greta here!" She steps away from Finn and makes her way towards Kale, offering her a handshake. "Between you and me, how didja taste? See, my fellow Chefs think autocannibalism--with proper preparation of course--is the highest form of culinary achievement. Now, they aren't so crass as to use ''cloned'' meat but that's about as close as I'd expect an Outsider to go, unless ya wanted to prove me wrong, happy to practice on an arm or leg if you'd like..! But you have to tell me honestly how it tastes if you want the service...!" But she doesn't take a swipe at him or anything, instead she actually answers his question. "I'm a curious woman. Feeling out new possibilities." Finn's doing his best to be pleasant but his body language loosens up ever so slightly when Rita intercedes--not that Finn feels that great about it. Relying on Rita to give him space feels like a betrayal of Rita and he exchangse a look with Knifty who has followed Rita out and is clenching her little knife with both hands like she might just start stabbing wildly. Her danger sense is blaring loudly despite there being no suggestion at all Greta might turn violent. Maybe the 'violence' Knifty is worried about isn't about that hammer. Greta moves like a predator that has her pick of prey, sitting herself down at the bench facing Rita in a wholly unhurried manner. Extending a finger outward, she pushes the cooler towards Rita--partway... --and then suddenly pulls it back with that selfsame finger. "Ah! Sorry for the tease, Miss Rita, it's great to see you, I just realized I was being mighty sloppy! I was just going to push this your way like it was some kind of backstreet deal, but it's a gift! And I didn't tell you where it came from or nothing, like I was some kind of newbie. My excitement really is getting the better of me." She takes a moment to consider Aidan as he steps in to introduce himself too. A celebrity? Greta's eyes widen slightly at the labeling but she asks instead, "You a friend of her, Proudpick?" Like most people in the City, she is accustomed to singular names and Aidanproudpick is way too long. Finn sheepishly waves to him where Greta can't see his expression and he frantically points to his eyes. Smile with the ''eyes'', his frantic gestures seem to be suggesting. Greta turns her attention back to Rita. "Anywho, as I was sayin'. I know you helped deal with that loser who took over Chewie's--was really souring the neighborhood with his shoddy cooking, and wasting meat and everything. Sally was real impressed with ya. And it got me thinking... Hungry girl like you, walking all the way through District 23 and everybody I could ask said you didn't even have a bite... So it got me thinking. Maybe all that junk on the street wasn't good enough for ya! So I prepared something a little extra special."
Angela	She slaps the top of her cooler, "The meat here comes from District T--see we get all types in District 23. Rich folks have a tendency to get curious. They get tired of all of life's little pleasures because they can get ahold of htose pleasures too easy! They don't fight for it, see, handed to them on a silver platter. That's no way to live, I'd get bored too!" She smacks the cooler again. "So this fellah, he kept coming to my kitchen, always ordered me to 'make him the best meat I could prepare'. Well, the customer's always right in matters of taste, so I'd do it properly every time. But after I hear about you, I do some digging. Looks like he was making lots of payments to the Shi Association. Executing workers who made him look bad, even superiors to climb his way up that corporate ladder at Gearclaw Corp. Real shark in the business world type of guy. Fired a whole bunch of poor fellahs right before Christmas too. Made a lot more money than that jerk you chowed down on not so long ago." NOW she pushes the cooler back over towards Rita. "So this is a gift, so you can do what you'd like with it..." Greta watches Rita, looking towards those shut eyes. "But if you could do me a favor, I'd like to know if he tastes better or worse than the guy who took over Chewie's. Could ya do that for me?"
Rita Ma	Rita sweetly puts her hand over Knifty's balled-up fists, squeezing them, and casts a warm look back at Finn over her shoulder too. "Good job," she says, meaning more by it than just 'for escorting Greta'. When she sits so-elegantly across the picnic table from Greta, it's with an arm around Knifty's waist, pulling her down to sit together. Squeeeeze, just as firmly as Knifty likes it. "and everybody I could ask said you didn't even have a bite..." Rita's eyes scan the cooler's seam, like they could lick a drop of flavor from it. She does her best not to react to the teasing flourish. "I didn't realize people noticed. I'm sorry. I don't mean any disrespect, Ms. Greta." 'Something better'? What could that possibly mean? Rita's seen some tasty bodies, but she knows her scruples are stronger than her stomach. If this is just some specially-flavored dead guy, she'll have one nibble to be polite. "Rich folks have a tendency to get curious." Oh. Oh, no. Rita's shoulders draw in; eyes widen subtly. Right in the ethics. As that description of bourgeois villainy goes on, Rita can feel the excuses that prop up her self-control creaking and loosening. A hot and cold and achingly empty feeling fills the gaps. "I--" She swallows drool. Every salivary gland in her mouth hurts. "--see. Um, thank, you, Ms. Greta. You really are considerate. It seems like you know a lot about me." Rita slides the cooler off the table and into her lap, swallows again with a tiny little shudder, and thumbs the lid like she's about to pop it open. Wait. Think. Why is she doing this? She wouldn't poison me at our own base. Is this to drive a wedge between me and my friends by making me look scary? The locals don't care. Aidan and Kale already know. So is this to find out if I'm a threat to the City's upper class? ... Does she think that's a good thing or a bad thing?? "Of course, a chef's joy is seeing people enjoy it. I already ate, but if I don't have a little now, I'm being rude. Isn't that right, Ms. Greta?" Her polite-sweet demeanor would be more convincing if her fingers weren't slightly trembling. "I'm still not sure I understand your motives, though. Is this just a reward for cleaning up the neighborhood...?" Finally she pops the cooler's lid and looks inside.
Aidan Proudpick	"Well never talked to a giant chicken before!" "He's a ha-" The rest of the conversation hits Aidan's mind. Aidan makes that noise that Daffy Duck makes. It's a sort of glsssyk noise, like trying to swallow, gulp, and biting your cheek all at the same time. He turns to stare at Kale, mouthing, 'how didja taste?' The squirrel is locked in stunned silence, every part of him frozen from ears to tail as he tries to decipher the threat level of what he just heard. It passes through his brain several times, trying to figure out the scope and logistics of what he just heard. There's no amount of C-List theater actor teacher prep work that can help him here. A predator... His eyes fall towards Finn first. Then over to Kale. Knifty nervous, already in fight or flight. Finn trying to be gracious. Get ready to r- Shut the fuck up, you. Instead, Aidan moves around with his own tupperware, opening it up to reveal the walnut scones inside. A few too many bits of brown around the top, a bit more brown on the bottom than they should be. One of them, more off color than the others, Aidan fishes out first. He offers one to Knifty, Finn and Kale. Not vegan, made with real eggs. Every moment, he keeps his body towards Greta, never turning his back on her. "Proudpick." The initial response fades quickly into a smile, indeed with his eyes. It almost sounds like a nickname, and he can enjoy that. He grins enough to smile with his eyes, but then keeps his gaze locked on Greta's own eyes. "I like to think so. Miss Rita is one of the best people I know, and I'm hoping it rubs off on me." Greta talks about eating a rich dude. Aidan frowns, looking at the box. He clearly deserved it, but... to eat him and just hand him over?
Kale Hearthward	FIRM HANDSHAKE! "Not a chicken," says Kale automatically, but without much force behind it, not least because of what Greta says next. > "Between you and me, how didja taste? Kale's eyes go a bit unfocused. Oh no. Other people know. And Greta just let it out in front of the other elites. "Ah, um-" CHOOSE A RESPONSE >> (Stratford-upon-Avian: Hard) Deny everything and make up a plausible lie for why you were spotted in the area. >> (Pecking Order: Medium) Deflect attention onto Aidan instead. >> (Number Goes Up: Medium) Professionally and courteously change the subject. >> (Breakfast Boy: Trivial) Actually engage with the question. \|··\| \|· \| \|··\| \| ·\| - CHECK SUCCESS \|··\| \|· \| "It was interesting," says Kale, after a moment, deciding to throw caution to the wind. Fuck it, it's out there. The only way out is through. Play it off like it's no big deal. Etcetera etcetera. "From what I could tell, the chefs here prepared the meat well, it was packed efficiently and cleanly to go. If it weren't for the unfamiliar choice of cuisine, I'd have thought it was no different than any other five star operation. The waitlist to get an order certainly was comparable!" "It's - gamey. Like wild meat?" Kale's had venison all of once in his life so he's going off of what other people have said. "Probably needed more time than I gave it. I mean either in time spent cooking or - probably marinating in something." "But - I'm not sure I would do this again. Either, uh, cloned or... otherwise. The experience was interesting but I'm not sure I got what I wanted out of it, and I'm not sure what I wanted out of it to begin with. I think probably, in your circles, where you have a whole culture set up around it, it's more meaningful, but I can't say it's for me. Thank you for asking, though." Aidan's acting weird. Kale's not sure what that's about. Probably best to just ignore it. Aidan being Aidan isn't anything new, and he hasn't pulled a weapon on anyone yet.
Kale Hearthward	Rita's facing the choice of literally eating the rich. Huh. "Is - that allowed? Doing that sort of, um, harvested targeting? I mean, targeted harvesting?" "Anyway - Rita, do you remember if we need to, uh, clear gifts with Trideag central? I think there was a rule about needing to check before we accept anything, but I think you'd know better than I would." Like Kale wouldn't pay strict attention to and memorize the rules. This is giving Rita an out if she needs it. ... He certainly isn't in a spot right now to judge if she does or does not... sample.
Rita Ma	Previously, Rita had been too distracted to devote her attention to Kale's social suffering. That changes. Her attention swivels smoothly to him, like a lion being approached by a gazelle. five star... cuisine prepared the meat well It's - gamey. marinating in something cloned or... otherwise Her eyes are juuuust glassy enough, face just slack enough, that it's hard to tell what's going on in that little head of hers. The first emotion that finally breaks the sharkish surface is-- well, she looks vaguely aghast. Her malfunctioning brain fires enough spare neurons to form words with her mouth; famously, the thing mouths are second-best at. "You didn't get me any?"
Angela	Knifty's hands are squeezed. She doesn't drop the knife, but her posture relaxes just enough that she doesn't look like she's immediately about to try to stab Greta repeatedly. Just less of that twitchy nervous energy. ''I'm sorry. I don't mean any disrespect, Ms. Greta.'' "Hey hey hey, none of that. Customer's always right in matters of taste, didn't I say that?" Greta wants something. What does she want? Even Greta couldn't articulate it quite right. She is vaguely disatisfied and she doesn't know why. She shouldn't be, right? She's well off enough, she's doing what she loves, but even so there is ''something'' that needles in the back of her head and prevents her from truly being happy. Behind the smiles, behind the playful dialogue, something is bothering her. And she doesn't know what it is. And she has seen a little spark of an answer in Rita. And that is why she is here. To see if she can get a little more closer to what she's looking for. That's what Stars of the City do for those that can't help but look up into the sky and wish. ''Kale describes Kale's taste.'' Greta mulls on that for a moment. Five stars from cloned meat? It sits at odds with her personal philosophy. She kind of thinks, actually, autocannibalism is kind of stupid? Is she wrong? Do the other Six Chefs know what they're all about? No, he's a gourmand not a gourmet. What does he know? He might even just be trying to be polite. "They're that busy this time of year, huh. Well guess it is the winter season." Greta can't quite hide her nonplussed reaction but then... ''I'm not sure I got what I wanted out of it.'' This cheers her up. "Yeah, yeah...! Like--yeah, it's the most 'out there' option but that doesn't mean it's gonna SATISFY." ''Is - that allowed? Doing that sort of, um, harvested targeting?'' "Eh, even if a Nest loses a feather here and there, no Wing'd mind. Wings losing feathers is normal." That doesn't really answer if it's ALLOWED but she doesn't seem to be worried about comeuppance. Not even CEOs are particularly prized in The City. You can always find another Feather to be the new CEO..so long as the guiding principles of The City endures. Greta also doesn't seem to be particularly concerned about any 'rules' concerning gifts. ''It seems like you know a lot about me.'' "Aw I wouldn't say that. I know a little about you, and I'm just leveragin' it. I'm hoping." She doesn't know what to say she's hoping for. ''I already ate, but...'' "You're still hungry ain'tcha? Don't worry, you don't gotta eat it all now! It'll still be fresh if you pick it out later but if you want my ADVICE, I'd start with the bone broth soup. I never feel like those preservation boxes work quite as well with soup, but everyone says I'm crazy and it's just the same, haha...!"
Angela	The cooler is more spacious on the inside than on the outside. Greta is not one to stiff on presentation either. Chewie is like the Bob Belcher to Greta's Julian Slowick. There is a small aroma diffuser embedded in the preservation box, producing pleasing and soothing smells like when passing by the butcher's at the supermarket. There is, as she promised, a bowl of soup but it isn't in a plastic container, it's in a wooden box that slides open, the interior lined with metal. In the box is the bone broth soup--it looks a bit like a pork blood soup albeit without any pork. Indeed, though there are clearly visible ribs within the soup, there's no meat inside at all! Greta explains. "Wasn't sure how well cooked you like your meats, so they're off to the side but you can dip the meat in for however long you wanted it cooked. If you prefer it raw or rare, I wouldn't leave it in there for more than a minute." There's a variety of dipping sauces, each one contained in a little brown cup with a lid on it. There's soy, vinegar, chimichurri, and some manner of chili oil. The meats are either thinly sliced or 'medium' sliced, none of it is too thick and they are carefully folded away into sections like deli meat, sprinkled with a light garnish. There's some T Bone steak, some tenderloin, some shank. They're all raw, but they all look incredibly tender and thoughtfully cleaned up (Greta specializes in tenderizing) and the cuts are perfectly along the sinew. There's are little shark shaped pepper and salt shakers tucked away in the corner and a little tin box full of napkins. "Enjoy it as much as you'd like, but only take out what you mean to eat! Even if you put it back in later, it won't be quite as fresh!" She suggests. Finn exhales slowly and he says, "You sure you want htis right now, Rita? We can bring it back..."
Kale Hearthward	> "You didn't get me any?" Kale goes blank. Of the many responses he anticipated he might get if this ever came out- - well, okay, that's a lie, he assumed he'd be able to keep it under wraps and not have to deal with news of his indulged curiosity ever getting out to his peers, so he anticipated none of the responses- - but this, this was regardless not one of them. "..." He ends up going with the first thing that comes to his mind, mostly out of desperation to have something to say. "Rita Ma, while we're not at each others throats like we once were, we're not exactly friends and at best work colleagues right now?" Kale crosses his arms. "Why would I think to get you any? I mean, I had to literally buy your favorite crab dish in the simulation in order to try any of that." Shortly after the contents of the cooler are revealed, and... well, provenance of contents aside, the presentation really does look top notch? Some part of Kale feels like he should take back that comment about not being close enough to share food. Only a small part, though.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan's eyebrows rocket up his forehead, threatening to shoot off his face as Kale goes on about preparing himself and tasting himself. He is lost again for overly long, trying to process that statement. He is still holding the tupperware and thinks of standing in front of Kale to block Rita from his line of sight. He's about half way through the action, Wait, what if I taste better than Kale. The lengthy conversation of Echolalia vowing to eat him comes back to him. "You didn't get me any?" Aidan bites into his scone to distract himself. ...What DOES he taste like. His brows lower again. Is that why everyone talks about eating him? He's a good looking guy. Does that factor in? He is deep in thought, trying to parse the sudden flurry of the single strangest conversation he's heard in his entire life. Would they shave him first? Aidan looks into the box. This isn't a bribe. This is a labor of love. Or... no, Aidan remembers watching Breakfast Boy. And a few other cooking shows after that. Aidan whispers as quietly as he can, knowing only two other people here will hear it. "Miss Rita. I think yer the celebrity food judge. You gotta comment on presentation and taste." Then also whispering, "Oh, you both should do a cooking get together. It would be fun."
Rita Ma	"I had to literally buy your favorite crab dish in the simulation..." "With simulation-money! That I gave you!" Rita won't contest that they aren't exactly food-sharing besties, but implying she'd gouge for her home cooking is a step too far. Hmph. Then- click- Oh, no . . . The cooler being dimensionally-noncompliant is the least of Rita's 'worries'. Just having it open makes her pupils constrict, though not for the perfume- for the tiny traces of blood that lie under it. This is beautifully refined, thoughtfully presented. As much as it makes sharp, twisting hunger stab up through her guts, the presentation causes a pang of something else: Am I disgusting compared to these people? I think I'd still rather be eating him alive. Rita's serenity and her fogged-over eyes can go very well together. When she tears her gaze away from the cannibal cornucopia to look at Finn, her smile is so so soft. The dreamy intoxication of blood mingles with her sincere emotions- like she'd said at the year's start, 'it's all just me'. "I'll be okay, Mr. Finn. Thank you lots for worrying for me, but it's important." She's gotten that feeling, somehow, from Greta. "The only risk is I'll embarrass myself. If you'd think any less of me, please look away; that's all I can ask." She doesn't say the same to Knifty, who is acting as a one-arm stress ball. She knows Knifty won't. Aidan and Kale seem conflicted-at-worst, in their own ways. - - - -
Rita Ma	"I think yer the celebrity food judge. You gotta comment on presentation and taste." "You're right, Aidan. Let's see." Rita picks through the box with a discerning eye, alloying 'nearly-panting monster' with 'refined heiress' energy. "It's extremely well-butchered and prepared in traditional red-meat cuts, excluding skin and sinew. I see influences from American beef styles. There's, ahhh, no brains, and the only blood is cooked. I... haa-have to assume," pant-glk, "this is for sanitation and the human palate. I'm new to those things." Rita is simply too strong to worry about prions. She picks out a clean rib from the near-boiling broth, heedless of the heat, and cr-crk-crunches it in her jaws like a stick of celery. "Mmmph." After sucking out what's left of the marrow, she swallows the rest of the bone whole. "Hah. Um, good balance of crumble and 'snap', not too mineral-y. Thirty to forty years old, male, good diet, pa-ahhh-artly sedentary lifestyle?" Her hands tremble a little as she licks her fingers off. "Uahh... um. Next..." "I like all the spices and sauces. It's, ahh, culturally broad." She has the presence of mind to sprinkle on a little salt and dab at her lips with a napkin, but that's really not fooling anyone. Her pupils are pinprick. Her skin is pale. A droplet of sweat rolls down her temple with the strain of being so measured. "But, um, I like to let the flavor of the meat come through, so I'll be having it unseasoned..." Rita, trembling, lets go of Knifty to pick up a steak with both hands. "A 't-bone' steak is cut from the vertebrae. There's--" She licks the 'notch' of the T, where it faced in towards the spinal column. Her eyelids flutter. "Only a little, ahh, hint of the cerebrospinal fluid left. Even though he was sedentary, the spinal muscles are strong. Ms. Greta was careful to pick somebody with good posture. Let's try..." Little tiny nibble of the meat. An equally-tiny tremor runs through Rita's body, audible in the flutter of her breath. Her higher brain functions suffer a flickering blackout, then recover. "E-even, though, I usually like blood, this is definitely better than that restaurant guy. He was tough. He hadn't eaten well. The richest people are well-nourished, and sort of velvety, a-and..." Rita's hands clamp down and shatter the bone. She eats the rest of the steak, bone shards and all in two bites that each sound like the strike of a guillotine. Juices fleck on the picnic table and run down to her collarbone. Wild, wide eyes meet Greta's. Their hollowness could swallow up anything.
Angela	Greta frowns at the idea of having her food ''judged'', not because she doesn't have faith in her cooking but largely because she feels that her skill is good enough it should go without saying, but she soothes it over with the knowledge that these people simply haven't TRIED her cooking before. And this is TO GO even, the ambience is half the battle! Knifty doesn't look away, indeed she's kind of staring at Rita with worry in her eyes. She is empathic enough to recognize that Rita's not exactly comfortable with this arrangement, not even just from the texts. More to the point, Greta makes her uneasy enough that she's inclined to ASSUME that something wrong is going on. Not Rita eating human meat, that's one of her charming qualities, but in the way it is being presented. Finn just can simply tell that Greta isn't exactly here just to thank Rita--maybe that part is genuine! But there's something that Greta wants too even if she's not saying it. Kale protests about WHY he isn't giving Rita food, though Knifty is the only one who really understands it. Food can be tough to come by, you can't just share it with just anyone. Greta watches Rita eat carefully, more like a scholar than your new best friend. She's trying to understand something. She does crack a smile as Rita mentions her victim had good posture, and even has a small little laugh at that. But then Rita says it. ''The richest people are well-nourished, and sort of velvety.'' Greta pulls back in her chair, looking at Rita's wild hollow eyes. A realization is slowly dawning on her, something she always knew but had been ''tenderized'' right on out of her. "I knew it..." She whispers. "They always speak of love being the secret ingredient, the most important ingredient...! But they've boiled all that away in favor of exoticness. Yes, they love cooking... but they've forgotten other ingredients. Justice... If love has flavor, then surely ''Justice'' has a flavor too..." She grins widely, like a shark. "Thank YOU, Miss Rita... You taught me something real important, something even I'd forgotten...! Haha... What other flavors have we been ''neglecting''..." She stands herself up slowly. "Now don't take that to mean my gratitude wasn't genuine. It sure was..! But I figured, you could also help me figure something out I've missed... And you have!"
Kale Hearthward	Kale, out of continuing morbid curiosity more than anything else, gets his notepad out of his breast pocket and starts taking notes as Rita begins her attempt at Celebrity Guest Judging. At 'sedentary lifestyle' he raises an eyebrow, but otherwise doesn't react and keeps taking notes. At 'The richest people are well-nourished", the pen stops scratching at the paper. There's a pause after she bites down the last time. "You make it sound like you're saying that rich people taste better, due to their lifestyles and diets," says Kale, before his mind catches up with his beak. Then he pauses again, and his eyes look up from his notepad to the representative of the Seven Chefs, the people who are culinary leaders of leading people into culinary. "Uh..." "... That's obviously not what you should take away from this," he says. "That would mean that the restaurants here should be targeting the City's elite and affluent. Since they taste better. Allegedly. And that's definitely not something you should do. Even if it sounds like it could be the hot new food trend that you can get out on the forefront of, and the idea of serving up 'justice' is maybe sort of appealing to some people in some ways, it's a bad idea and you shouldn't do it." There. Good job, Kale. Crisis averted.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan smiles and nods in confidence and commiseration with Rita. He is confident in her. That she is a good person. The first bite. Through the bone. Watching sea creatures turn people into chum. Biting, thrashing, ripping through them. Good posture, announcing every part of his life. His spinal fluid? Watching the shadow people bring utensils over his head, about to carve into him, rip him apart to be someone's meal. Standing up to Greta, trying not to look like he was someone she should chop up, that's one thing. Watching Rita bite, chew, crunch through bone. But also... no, describe everything about the man that she can glean. Comment on how that lifestyle makes him delicious. It takes the strength out of his legs. His hindbrain screams in white new panic. How she wishes there was more BLOOD. Every crunch. Every shard of bone flicking across the table. Every gobbit of meat sucked back in. Just the sounds of chewing soon drill into his brain. "then surely ''Justice'' has a flavor too..." A second later, Aidan finds himself behind a bush, conjuring a wall of wind just above him, just in time for him to fall over to his hands and vomit his dinner and scone to the grass.
Rita Ma	Rita heaves and bubbles her way back up into some kind of clarity. Pink froth is on her lips by the time a spark of life comes back to her eyes. Normally she'd be witheringly self-conscious of a grisly display like that, and some of that still shows in her initial shrinking, but Greta is praising her and Knifty's being Knifty and Kale is at least dispassionate, and so she's bolstered back up into a brave smile. She's grown up so much!! "Haaah. Um. S-sorry, I... you're completely right, Ms. Greta! 'Justice' is amazing, isn't it? And, and it's sort of perfect, because..." Girlishly twirling her hair, heedless of the meat-juices still on her hands. Rita's going to need a shower. "'Eating someone' is the highest kind of reclamation, right? It's 'taking' 'everything they are'. Everything they've added up to." Bravely gathering momentum, bright-eyed and sunny. "For the ones who are greedy forever, for the ones who starve other people, there can't be any other fate, right? 'Eating those beneath you' is what animals do. The ones above you are hoping you'll stay like animals. But humans can do better than that! And, rewarding yourself with a treat, you can become even more just! Isn't it beautiful?" What a beautiful moment of shining friendship! Rita holds out a raw steak to Greta, beguilingly. "it's a bad idea and you shouldn't do it." She clamps her other hand, also meatjuice-slick, around Kale's beak with the comedic timing of a vaudeville hook. "Ahem. As the highest-ranking Trideag member on this official Trideag mission, I order you to consider it a good idea until the mission's over. Okay, Mr. Kale?" She's merciful! He's released when he nods. A minute later, she notices the blinking outline where Aidan used to be. "Oh. I wonder what happened to Mr. Proudpick."
Kale Hearthward	> "Ahem. As the highest-ranking Trideag member on this official Trideag mission, I order you to consider it a good idea until the mission's over. Okay, Mr. Kale?" His eyes go wide. Can she do that? Is there a reason he can rely on to refuse? After a moment, he nods. "... Uh..." Orders he's not on board with are honestly kinda new territory for Kale? He was an Empire fanboy through and through during his service there and didn't really start questioning it till after he left, and while the Paladins do mandate disagreeable things like 'attend a hundred boring meetings' and the like, he has had wide latitude there for the most part for things that actually matter. "Uh - then... you've got... stasis boxes, right? If uh, if this is a good idea? Then I would start stocking up on ingredients sooner than later, since when word gets out the rich people are going to start beefing up security." He rubs his beak. In addition to this being new territory, he also doesn't have the imagination stats to successfully navigate 'holding two different opinions in your head at once'. "This is going to cause a lot of social upheaval masked as a mundane culinary movement and I'm... excited? About this? I like when social orders start collapsing?" He sounds kinda like he's in pain.
Angela	Greta is caught up in Rita's spell as readily as she was some monster Rita had taken control of. She earned money because that was something that The City considered success, but it didn't bring her happiness so she spent it on necessities and tools for what she loved--but even for The City, there's a limit to how much tastiness you can buy--even if you make the meals yourself. No, those other Chefs were IDIOTS. Love, Justice, there's likely others. She's gonna REVOLUTIONIZE how people eat! She realizes it now, as she was--all she could have ever been was a big shark in a small pond. she's still not entirely there yet, she knows she's not, but she's nodding along to Rita's words as if entranced. Knifty's unease fades a little, though not entirely. Her Queen had it handled! Of course she did! Finn did politely look away, if a bit awkwardly. He worries that she'll think less of him, actually for doing so but he'd rather do that then run off and vomit like Aidan just did. The sounds, honestly, with the bone isn't THAT much better--Finn is NOT an experienced Fixer and he's never had to kill anyone as part of his duties. He was expected to do things like fetch cats and the like. He looks down at the calluses on his hands from all his intensive training. Steady yourself, he tells himself, you gotta toughen up for your sister, right? ... But he hopes, strangely, that he doesn't toughen up TOO much. ''You make it sound like you're saying that rich people taste better, due to their lifestyles and diets.'' "It makes sense! People care about what food their ''cows'' eat, of course a pampered man with soft hands would taste better than one working in a mine all day. AND they're rare ingredients." Sorry Kale, sorry Aidan. She's had a REVELATION and she can't be deterred at this point. Knifty squeaks a little at being squeezed. ''And rewarding yourself with a treat, you can become even more just! Isn't it beautiful!'' "Yeah, yeah... Damn it, this guy was some of the best I could get my hands on but..." She thinks it over, and then the fervor seems to fade a little, thanks to Rita becoming a commander suddenly but also thanks to her own swirling thoughts clueing her in on an OBSTACLE. "...Well that's something for Greta to worry about," She decides. "You can't rush a good recipe, so I'll have to think nice and hard about what you taught me today, Miss Rita. I really owe ya one...!" Rita owes her a steak of friendship. Greta doesn't usually eat people while they're still alive, but the utter lack of hesitation she has when she takes the steak of friendship and bites into it in a show of eat the rich solidarity, well, she must have done it before. She doesn't even think twice. "You ever need anything, Miss Rita--just let me know and I'll pay ya back nice and square!" Her thoughts aswirl with wonder at how one can make justice even more tender. With so many possibilitiesb before her, there's no telling where she'll end up.