the engima deepens

[fish_or_die]

Characters: Jungo and you! And also possibly Jungo²
Setting: The cafeteria and the aquarium, morning to afternoon on March 1st
Format: I'll match what I'm given.
Summary: Jungo has more questions than he does answers, so he's going to hang around and try to learn how to cook things that aren't chawanmushi. Later, his cat gives him a tour of the aquarium.
Warnings: None. This shouldn't get too bad.

[Cafeteria:]

[There are a lot of things in the tower recently that Jungo just doesn’t understand. That’s not too new to the chef from Nagoya; he tends to follow orders and go with the flow. He barely explores the tower aside from the floors he’s grown accustomed to, and he’s grown a bit used to life inside the Tower...or at least, he thought he had. The games he had to play, the talk of souls, the video of someone being eaten...those are definitely things he’s not used to. He wants some answers, but he’s not entirely sure where to look, so he goes to do what he knows how to do best.

It’s just a bonus that there are new ingredients to cook with.

While Jungo is perfectly content to stand in the kitchen and try whipping up various things with them to the best of his ability (while also realizing that these ingredients are pretty simple), he’s going to be a bit more proactive about cooking for others as well. If he sees anyone just sitting around the cafeteria, they can count on an intimidating looking guy walking up to them and trying to get their attention.]

Hey. Why aren’t you eating?

[Sure, he's not smiling. His voice is a bit low, threatening, and his tuque covers one of his eyes if he's standing at the right angle...but it could be worse. If he already knows you, he's going to cook up something and bring it over without being asked...and he's never cooked fish sticks before.]

[Floor 10:]

[Once he’s done experimenting with things and chatting with others, Jungo spots something familiar out of the corner of his eye. It’s his own cat, also named Jungo. The human Jungo doesn’t have a habit of watching where Jungo goes during the day, so he decides to give chase this time. He follows the cat up the flights of stairs until he’s standing in the aquarium for the first time; he’s never gotten off to look around this floor before. The wild cat isn’t against the company, but to anyone walking by it will very much look like a cat is leading Jungo on a tour. Every so often, the cat will stop to stare at a certain fish, and Jungo will speak to the cat.]

Mm. So that’s one you like, too, huh?

Comments

Floor 10

[idolizer]

Oh. Fancy seeing you here.

[ Sayaka's voice comes from a distance, as she's standing somewhere far from the aquarium. Her voice is somehow gloomy... after everything that happened, who would ever be happy after hearing the truth about their situation? Not the idol, of course, even if being dead became a source of slight relief. Ironically enough. ]

I suggest you don't get too close to the fishes. They might attack you.

[fish_or_die]

[Jungo is kneeling a few feet away from one of the aquariums as the cat Jungo watches the fish inside...it's no different from a cat watching a bird or a mouse, but clearly there's going to be no catching attempts. Or at least that's what Jungo is hoping.

He stands when he's greeted, and he can smile just a little.]

Hello, Sayaka. Thanks for the warning. Jungo already told me to be careful, but we've already had a close call. [There's a fish running out of air somewhere on the floor, in other words. He'll just walk over to her...] Did you want to see the fish, too?

cafeteria;

[chainsawn]

[ Bringing food to the people he knows, huh? Well, Urotsuki sure is sitting around in the cafeteria. She's actually one of the people who isn't eating though, she's just leaning on the table with her elbows, resting her head on her hands.. and staring.

Like usually, really. ]

[fish_or_die]

[Oh, good, it's someone that he recognizes. Really, that's enough to brighten Jungo's day. It doesn't take much. He finishes what he's working on and decides to take it out to Urotsuki. He places a tray of egg rolls on the table.

...Well. They're supposed to be egg rolls. He kind of had to improvise everything, but he did have bread, chicken, fish, eggs...just enough to try and make something. They probably only taste marginally better than plain fish sticks, but...]

Hey, Urotsuki. I just made this.

[chainsawn]

[ Don't worry, Urotsuki being.. well, Urotsuki means she'll eat anything. When they only got served really gross food in summer she ate all of it without blinking.. so when someone actually makes food for her, she's sure to like it.

Her eyes widen just a tiny bit when she sees him, in fact. ]

.. You made food..? Are you going to eat it? [ Not like she realises it's for her. ]

[fish_or_die]

[Now that he's set the food down on the table, he takes a seat opposite the other. He'll speak after a moment, once he realizes that she doesn't get it.]

It's for you. I've already had plenty to eat. Let me know if it's good, alright?

[chainsawn]

[ Food..? For her..? Sure, someone made her food here before, but she didn't imagine there would be a repeat from someone else. So she stares like he offered her something really weird to eat, but slowly the blank surprise turns into a blank smile instead. ]

Food.. just for me..? Ah, you're so kind..

[fish_or_die]

Mm. It's nothing. It's been a while, hasn't it? So if eat them, I can make you some more.

[Really, he's glad he's run into Urotsuki at all considering how...different the Tower seems. He's grasped some of it, but the entire mood seems off. It was never a pleasant atmosphere, but lately...]

Are you doing well?

[chainsawn]

Hmm. I'm okay.

[ She says it blankly as usually, but there's something genuine about the way she says it. Urotsuki doesn't lie much either way. The girl is slowly starting to poke the food a little, as if she's playing with it before eating it. ]

And you..? You're okay too?

[fish_or_die]

That's good. Everyone seems so unhappy lately.

[And he's dealt with it, too. Watching her play with her food reminds him of something, though...he reaches into his pocket and pulls out something wrapped in a napkin. It's still safe, so he stares at it for a moment before tucking it back into his pocket.]

Mhm. I'm okay. There's been a lot going on, too. I'm glad you're safe.

cafeteria

[reddeadvirtuoso]

[Well Jade had just been spacing out, staring at her food, but the sudden sound of someone speaking made her jump a bit, looking up from her untouched plate of food to look at this super tall guy she didn't even recognize at all. Well alright then.]

Uh. Not hungry?

[fish_or_die]

[It's when people stare at their food that Jungo knows something is really wrong. Most people feel better after they've eaten something...oh, well. He looks down at this girl. If she's not hungry, then that should be fine, but...]

Would you like to eat something better? I'm trying to get used to this month's ingredients.

[It's a helpful offer, right? He doesn't see how this isn't helpful.]

[reddeadvirtuoso]

Uh. Not really. I'm not really that hungry.

[She looked back down to stare at the plate once again. Honestly, her skipping meals was a pretty regular occurrence nowadays.]

I mean, I guess it's not bad? It's kind of bland though, but everything is kind of bland. The dinosaur shapes are awesome though.

[fish_or_die]

Oh. That's okay, then. Maybe later.

[It's an offer he extends to everyone, so it's no big deal to him. He thinks he can cook better than what's on her plate, anyways.]

I've never seen them in dinosaur shapes before. Is that normal?

[reddeadvirtuoso]

Huh? Yeah totally.

[She picked up two of the dinosaur nuggets, one in each hand.] You know chickens are descended from dinosaurs, right? There's this rare sub-breed of chickens that don't have beaks and look more like mini-velociraptors.

[Aaand now she was playing with said nuggets as if they were actual little dinosaur toys.] Anyway, they keep 'em farms for these special nuggets. They're a hit with the kids.

[fish_or_die]

[Jungo watches and listens to every word that she has to say. There's no disbelief in his eyes, and he even seems interested in the story...but it's not until he opens his mouth that the supposedly grown man truly reveals how gullible he is.]

Hm. I didn't know that. I've never seen them before, but if kids enjoy them, then that's good. Have you seen these chickens before?

[reddeadvirtuoso]

Nah. [She takes one of the nuggets and bites its head off, probably more for the action of biting a dinosaur's head off than because she actually wanted to eat it.]

I lived in the middle of a city. There was hardly even any leg space, let alone chicken space.

[fish_or_die]

[If it were anything other than hunger, Jungo would have missed it anyways, unfortunately.]

Mm. I live in the city, too. It's crowded, but there's a lot of nice people. I don't see chickens very often, either.

Cafeteria

[yougotthatwrong]

I'm not really that hungry.

[The answer to the question was said by a relatively gloomy teenager as he picked his food around, looking halfway between depressed and bored.]

[fish_or_die]

[Well...he's going to set down his plate of overly simplistic dumplings, anyways. They're stuffed with chicken nugget or fish stick meat, anyways, so they're not that great...but he's trying.]

You don't look good, [he decides to just get to the point.] What's wrong, Naegi?

[yougotthatwrong]

O-oh, I've been thinking.

[Not about Maizono-san, but yeah, that's what he's been doing anyways ever since that big network post by Feferi-san.]

Have you been cooking all this time?

[fish_or_die]

Yep. There are new ingredients. ...They're not high quality.

[He says this and somehow sounds a bit disappointed for a change. He's been thinking, too, of course. Just not as much.]

What are you thinking about?

[yougotthatwrong]

Well, what just popped up in the Network, to be honest.

[not that it's going to stop him, but it's still... surprising.]

[fish_or_die]

Mhm. I thought so. It's not something I really understand, but that doesn't mean you should stop eating.

[Actually...wait. Maybe Naegi will know more.]

...I don't know very much about this place. Sorry, Naegi.

[yougotthatwrong]

It's alright, you're still pretty new to this, right?

[there's just a slight smile on his face as he said that.]