Mosaic City, located along China's coast, is quite large city sometimes called the Crossroads Between Nations due to its diverse population. While it was once a large tourist spot, the city was placed under a blockade as the military appeared claiming there was a radiation leak. The true hazard, however, is much more sinister.
"I apologize, Vice. It's just a form of respect I use for adults." she replied. Yes, it was actually her own code of respect for people who are older than her, but she knew that he didn't like the title at all. She could tell that titles made it boring and that she should start calling people casual titles like what teenagers call themselves. She followed the young man to the convenience store which had some people shopping for food to get them by. She could tell that these people were living normal lives without luxury of any kind. She responded, "It was a strange force that lead me to this city, Vice. Perhaps, it was fate that brought me here."
The thoughts swirled around Vice's head the moment he heard the woman call him Vice. He had yet to introduce himself like that to her and that she'd actually know that particular nickname of his? He was trying to be subtle about the things he did and the intrusion on his personal life, having some complete stranger actually know his nickname that his supposed 'friends' only call him, well, with the tension of the battle not too long ago Vice was still quite a bit jumpy over it.
Having some random bystander suddenly show up acting as if she was royalty and knew his nickname, the paranoia in him almost got him ready to push the girl down with a revolver down her throat. Fortunately, the young man managed to wipe his face of the conflicting thoughts that reared itself in his head.
"Who told you that name?"
The young man would ask as he moved in closer towards the plastic carriers made available for the customers. Picking one basket up for his convenience, the young man then began to move on ahead towards the aisles.
"And fate? Is that going to be a recurring answer for you whenever I ask a question you have no idea about?"
"It's a name reserved for my friends, Blue. You're not quite there yet I'm afraid so I'll be requiring you to call me by another nickname."
The young man answered easily enough, his voice bleeding into a relaxed tone more or less as he picked up a small pack of milk and some pastry bed for the road. Placing them onto his little basket, the carrier object suddenly creaking from the added weight, Vice then turned around to face Isolde once more in order to better emphasise his answer on the matter of having people be led by fate.
"I don't necessarily believe in fate to be honest. Really, from experience it seems to be what people use as an excuse for things that happened…or rather cheesy and flat pick up lines for the girls they like. Either or, I don't make it a habit to go around leaving things to chance when I can understand and learn how a supposed event happened."
"I'm not much of a teacher, that much I'll admit. If you actually want to get tutored on why things happen, then you'll probably be hurting by the time we finish our sessions."
Yeah, Vice was pretty good with the whole visual-audio, logic-mathematics, and interpersonal methods of studying, learning, and relaying but when it came to teaching a particular subject that he had experience in, he always found it to be far more effective to learn from experience and through physical motions rather than trying to get it all in your head. That, and it was pretty good exercise too. Something that a lot of girls felt they needed to do in order to keep their figure and all that. Royalty or not, Vice was pretty confident that Isolde over there was still a girl, and thus prone to what most girls would value. Like their appearances for one.
"I don't exactly live like most people though. I'm not what I'd call a conformist to the masses so your view on things might be a bit more skewed if you decide to try and learn from me, Blue."
The young man announced as he grabbed onto some spaghetti sauce, strings, canned goods, and a reheatable form of nutrition. This should do for the first lesson, he guessed. Grabbing another misplaced pack of strawberry milk and tossing said drink towards Blue with a 'heads up' to warn her, Vice then moved on ahead towards the short line forming at the counter.
"With that said though, the first lesson can start in cooking. Unless you already know how to prepare different kinds of food without others helping you. We'll be conducting the lecture in my apartment since I doubt you'd be allowed to go into the kitchen in yours."
The line moved one customer ahead.
"You up for that, or are you gonna back down now?"
Vice just hummed in agreement to the girls boast about being able to cook. If she was confident about her abilities then that was good, or at least it wouldn't matter when the thing would be seen later on. Soon enough the line itself had all but vanished and vice finally got his turn to pay for the goods he'd be buying. Without much I a fuss to his name the employee just punchedin the counter the amount needed and Vice easily enough obliged to the required amount.
Carrying the own paper bag between his arms crook, the young man then led Blue back to his vehicle where he stored the goods in to make it easier travelling from point a to point b. After finishing tha particular chore, the young man unlocked his vehicle and began pushing it towards the area where he lived in. In attempt to further glean information on the woman, Vice decided to endure some small talk.
"So Blue, which particular royal family are you from?"
"European Royalty, from the royal family. Most likely in line for the throne, though I doubt I'd be able to pick out just which number you are. You at least have the up bringing down, somewhat. Or at least you practiced it enough to make it 'seem' passable to those who don't know any better, i.e. me."
Vice commented as they neared the garage that had been allotted for anyone who owned a vehicle. Saluting informally at the guard stationed at the toll gate, Vice rolled in his vehicle into the spot that had been more or less reserved for him. Pulling out the bag of foodstuffs, Vice then placed the vehicle on lock down again before nodding towards Isolde to just keep following him.
"I'm living alone for the moment so if you find anything distasteful, just try to bear with it for the time being. Actually, you could count it as lesson number 2 where you'll find that places are not usually up to par with your standards."
Arriving at the elevators, Vice then pushed on the button where his place was. Blasted elevators always did take longer than he wanted.
She followed him through the toll gate. The place was really normal for a civilian. She actually found the place's furnishings to be quite interesting rather than distasteful. Her view of anything without nobility was good. At least, she didn't look down on commoners. However, there were some people who fit the stereotype, most likely that they were arrogant aristocrats while she disagreed with their views. Oh, what's that? Another lesson? He must be teaching her to bear with anything distasteful. At least, it was working. She responded, "I don't find the apartment itself distasteful. In fact, I like it the way it is, Lazarus."
"The apartment itself is usually well maintained in order to give people a semblance of order and decency for when new people arrive to go buy. The room themselves however aren't quite as grand as the advertisements make it out to be."
Vice quipped as he entered the elevator and kept the damnable doors from closing with his shoulders in order to allow Isolde safer passage. Elevator music soon filled up the silence as Vice kept his mouth shut in favour of looking over the number at the top of the doors. Three, two, one, and ding, Vice waited for the doors to open up once more before allowing Isolde to leave the contraption first and followed suit.
"As I say that, it isn't really all that wrong to point out what's wrong in an area. It's still an indispensable skill for when one makes decisions and whatnot."
Arriving to his room and unlocking it, Vice then opened the doors to reveal his spotless, overly clean, and not to mentions sterile 3 room apartment.
"Make yourself at home while I go prepare the first test for you."
Vice hummed nonchalantly as he began setting down the things he had bought from the convenience store. It cost him quite a bit but he was pretty sure that the drops he'd manage to gain from his endeavours in the outside realm could help line his pockets a bit faster. The spaghetti sauce and the required noodles were placed together, the 3 step preparation meal was then placed next to them, then came the instant noodles cup, and lastly the repeatable meal that carried in it a few dumplings and some soy sauce.
"So first order of business."
The young man began, his voice stern and commanding as if he was asking for obedience from the girl. Flourishing his arm and pointing towards the pack of noodles and the spaghetti sauce first, t was obvious to what he was going to be having Isolde do.
"Your first lesson is, well, a cooking lesson. I want to see how good you are in the kitchen with out using any kind of special ingredients, or secret recipes. Prepare them normally, like how a normal person should, and come out with an everyday dish. After that, you'll also be cleaning the dishes you used with your bare hands. No using of machinery to help clean up after you."
Sitting down on the chair that he pulled out for himself, Vice then placed his left foot on his right knee and crossed his arms. It was time to play the waiting game.
She went straight to the kitchen, obviously a little anxious that he was kind of watching her. Nonetheless, she got to work. She poured cold water into the pot and put it on the stove to boil. She waited until the water came into a hard boil. She poured two teaspoons of salt into the boiled water and opened the noodle pack to use for her dish. She carefully placed the noodles in it as to not cause any splashing. Using the fork to stir the spaghetti for a few seconds, she then waited for the water to boil once again. She turned the dial down to a minimum and waited for the spaghetti to cook. She stirred the spaghetti occasionally and once it got soft, she turned off the burner. Straining the spaghetti and putting it in a heat-resistant bowl to allow itself to cook, she poured in some spaghetti sauce in a separate pan. She covered the pan with a lid and turned on the burner to boil the sauce.
Once the sauce began to boil, she turned the heat down. And when that was done, she turned the burner off and mixed the spaghetti sauce into her dish. She took out a plate and placed her spaghetti on it with a big spoon. Well, that was not bad, but he'll have to taste it first. She wondered what his reaction would be. She was a little nervous about what he would think about her cooking.
Vice eyes' never really left the girl's form. She did everything…well, as blandly as she could. That told him so many things about how she went about life and so little about things as well. When the girl had given him the dish. Just the simple hot noodles with hot tomato sauce on it pretty much. There wasn't even any kind of meat, nor onions, nor cheese, nor anything aside really. It was as bland as it could be. The young man then simply looked up towards the blue haired female and pointed over at the cup noodles to do next.
Inspecting the plate a bit more closely, well, there wasn't even a fork to go with it. Less marks for her.
"I know I told you to do it normally like every other person would but I don't think I remember telling you not to put any actual effort into it."
Vice pointed out as he then directed her attention towards the plate she had given him.
"Common people have access to other ingredients as well. Meat, vegetables, and such. Those aren't secret ingredients and your lack of foresight to ask if I had any took away quite a couple marks off of your grade."
The young man then pushed the plate away from him, not even deigning it fit enough to be edible, and moving it towards Isolde's side of the table.
"After cooking the next meal, I want you to eat the Spaghetti one and tell me what you think you could have done to improve it, besides what I already told you."
Well, that wasn't good. Some ingredients and a fork would've made her grade higher. If only she knew that before he had to point out that she was missing something. The next meal she'll have to prepare will have to be better than that. Peeling off the lid, but only half way, she poured hot water into the cup. Stirring the noodles a little with a fork, she put it into the microwave for about two minutes. While waiting for the timer to stop, she sliced some meat and carrots to add to the mix. Probably some corn as well. When it was done, she added the ingredients into the cup. Yes, it will probably make up for some of the lost points. And for the final act, she put a single fork inside the cup. She'll have to wait and see what he'll do next. But, she'll have to eat the spaghetti she cooked earlier. No problem.
She took out another fork and ate the spaghetti. It tasted good, but it lacked the flavor to make it taste really good. She responded, "The spaghetti I cooked could use a little flavor. I could've used some meatballs now and then."
"Well, I'd have been disappointed if you even messed up instant noodles."
The young man informed as he stood up from his seat and grabbed the frozen meal. Moving towards the fridge and storing the meal in the freezer, Vice then returned to his seat before picking up the cooked instant noodles that was prepared for him. Picking up the fork next, Vice then began to eat a couple of forkfuls first before looking over at Isolde once more who had began to comment on her meal.
"Mmm."
Vice grunted as he took another sip from his cup.
"So what was the point of this exercise, Blue? Have you thought about it or were you blindly following orders?"
Vice said in the cheeriest, most joyous tone he could muster at that point. Hell, he even had his eyes crinkled and his face contorting into a smile as he said it. there was nothing but positivity radiating from him when he said that word out. And then he opened his eyes into a narrowed gaze, a distasteful frown on his face.
"Do you want me to point out the meaning of this exercise for you? Or would you want to try and salvage what ever is left of the mess you've made for yourself?"
The young man offered as he looked into his cup noodles before chugging the entire salty broth down his throat. He moved over to the water dispenser and used the cup itself as a container for the refreshing fluids. His pointed gaze never really left Isolde's profile even as he began drinking down the mineral water.
"At least you've got the sense to back down on a lost fight despite what others may say."
Vice nodded as he took a seat to his preferred chair on the dinner table. He leaned back on the back rest and crossed his arms once more but not before placing the half filled cup of water on the table.
"The exercise was meant to make yourself think. To think if things are as what's supposed to be, to see if you're only supposed to do what's needed, or if there are so many more options to explore."
Vice continued as he drummed his fingers on his bicep as kept the lecturing up.
"There's quite a few good religious references for this particular lesson too, and even in our history pages kings show that they managed to lead their kingdoms to greatness due to their wits rather than only brute force."
Taking another sip from his cup of water, Vice then finished his little statement.
"Can you imagine how your own choices would result unto other people's lives and the aftereffects if you refused to think?"