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[scathe]

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[scathe]

[trying to determine whether she's being sarcastic or genuine with that response.]

Can be

after hours I don't want people to watch

[begot]

okay! 🙂

[ It's not like she relishes having other people watch her getting flipped onto the mats, anyway.

Then, related, even if she doesn't bother explaining why: ]

do you have a favorite food?

[ Actually, recalibrating for Elias' Elias-ness— ]

or stuff you really won't eat?

[scathe]

[for better or for worse, elias hasn't had the chance to discover a favorite food. he's okay at cooking in the sense he can grab any kind of meat and vegetables and put them together for a meal that'll hold him over, but he's no chef. he thinks about his mother, how she'd throw two pieces of white bread on a pan with american cheese and butter and call it a meal, how the pantry was more stocked than the fridge, how he'd watch her from the table in the kitchen because they didn't have a real living room, and see her in that ratty old apron, holding a tarnished spatula in one hand and a glass of lemonade in the other.

he thinks about that grilled cheese.]

I'll eat whatever

[.....]

why

[begot]

more training after training-training means we'll miss mealtime.
you should still eat.

[ Offered with ease — a gesture, not a favor. ]

i was thinking of packing something.

[scathe]

So pack something
sandwiches

that good?

[begot]

good!

[ Good in Elias-speak, anyway. An answer, not a roadblock. ]

let me know if you want anything in particular, otherwise i'll bring a few.

[scathe]

Chicken or turkey

[grilled cheese doesn't keep very well, anyway.]

you figure protein shakes out yet

[begot]

chicken or turkey it is.

[ Then, a little peek under the curtain (a little honesty): ]

protein shakes taste like shit.

[scathe]

👍

[that gets a snort.]

You're not supposed to like them
gulp them down like they're water.

[begot]

[ Sent after considering (and deciding against) a more substantive response: ]

🤢

[scathe]

[her response is oddly cute to him– girlish, in a sense. a sign of playfulness.]

Don't be a baby

[begot]

[ Text loses nuance, but the response makes her smile where it might not have a month or two ago. ]

at least babies don't have to drink wet sand.