Private What is Food?

[Ura Iolar]

Ura... was not a great cook. Or a cook at all. Lervon didn't cook, eat, or drink, much to Kyra Perl 's own annoyance at times. But... someone had offered to attempt and teach her about food and cooking, and was curious about her species version of eating. This was a fellow Padawan, Subject 648 Slipknot . Exactly why he had offered, she wasn't sure, but maybe now she'd understand why everyone loved that shake shop outside the temple.

With that, Ura slowly walked to the kitchen she was supposed to meet Slipknot at. She'd never seen the kitchen actually, and to say she was a little late would be an understatement. She peeked her head in, confused by literally everything but a jar that she saw.

"Um.... Slip? You in here?"

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Ura Iolar

Slip stood in the kitchen, preparing for his attempt at teaching someone something. Especially how this person didn't eat, like at all. Absolutely bizarre.

Honestly, he didn't even know why he had offered this lesson to her, or even where this sudden surge of confidence came from. Normally, Slip was extremely nervous around people, unable to offer to do anything, and he was usually complete unconfident in his skills. But for some reason, he had managed to find the confidence to offer this class. So, here he was, about to try and teach a lesson to someone who doesn't even understand food. This was gonna be interesting.

To be honest, he mainly just wanted to see how Ura survived without eating and drinking. Obviously she did, or at least Slip thought she did. Whatever the case, he knew nothing about Lervon, despite all of those classes back in supersoldier training about the species of the Galaxy. Besides, all those classes were to learn how to effectively eliminate each species and memorize their weaknesses. He, of course, wouldn't mention this to Ura. It wasn't exactly a great talking point.

The shadow man stood off in the corner, not speaking, just watching. At least he wasn't making some snarky comment or something.

Someone's here.

The voice came and went suddenly, but Slip was already in action, turning towards the door. In the doorway, Ura was peeking in. Ura was perhaps one of the few people that ever noticed his existence. And, she was nearly as anxious and nervous as him, so at least he knew that she felt the same way as him.

"Ura, come on in. I'm just setting up for our... lesson? Is that what it can be called? Whatever the case, I managed to secure the kitchens long enough for us to do... whatever this is." He waved to her. "Get accustomed to the kitchen and where everything is, I'm almost done setting up."

 

[Ura Iolar]

Ura looked at Slipknot, seeming happy to see him, and happy that she got the right room. Her friend was nervous like her, but he soon had her more focused on finding her way around the kitchen right now. She looked around, attempting to understand everything around her. There were... metal containers. sharp things that looked like small swords. Some ceramics. Thinks that got had toggles. A strainer. And jars. Ura couldn't help but look in one, just in case. Empty. Ok. She looked back, still completely confused by everything as she looked at it.

"So.... What is all this?"

Subject 648 Slipknot

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Ura Iolar

As Ura started looking around the room, Slip got back to preparing everything. He wasn't exactly the best cook, but his experience from survival training when he was in the labs and his knowledge of how to prepare food from his surroundings would be enough to at least show Ura what everything was and explain food to her in general. Luckily, it seemed like most species could, generally speaking, eat the same food. Of course, there were plenty of species couldn't eat certain things, but they would get to that eventually.

Slip moved a couple of jars around into a neat and organized system. Slip liked a clean work environment, as it made his head feel less cluttered than it always was, but having stuff organized gave him a small moment of reprieve from his rushing and fractured mind. He grabbed a menacingly sharp cutting knife and looked at it. It was extremely polished, and he could see his on reflection. He looked at himself for a couple of seconds. He hated seeing his own reflection, as he could never believe that the person looking back at him was... himself. The person in the reflection looked so... normal. Completely unlike how Slip felt and was inside. It was like his own reflection taunted him, showing him that being normal was so close, and yet so far away.

Then, Ura snapped him out of his trance by asking a question. Slip set the cutting knife down and turned to her. "Well... you're gonna need to be more specific than that," He told her. "The ingredients? The tools? The equipment?" He asked.

"If you mean generally, then this stuff is all used in the process of cooking and baking. You have your ingredients, which when combined in certain and different ways can make different things. Your tools, such as knives, ladles, mixing, and many other stuff is used to combine those ingredients in specific ways to create your final result. And the equipment, such as stovetops, refrigeration units, and others are used to cook, bake, and store the ingredients." Slip tried to explain to her.

"So!" Slip then said, clasping his hands together. "Where would you like to start?"

 

[Ura Iolar]

When Slip said she’d have to be more specific Ura froze. More specific? She honestly didn’t think that cooking would feel like working on a starfighter. She looked at her fellow Padawan again, trying to take in all the things he was telling her. He talked about ingredients, which was the most confusing part to her. She didn’t really know what the final outcome was supposed to be. Or why you would want to keep something cold that you ate. She looked at everything, just....

“Uh.... Can we start... simple?” Ura would slowly lean against something. She forgot what Slip called it. “Like... is there simple food?”

Subject 648 Slipknot

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Ura Iolar

Slip watched as she froze at his question, and looked at him. He could tell that he was overwhelming her with all of this stuff, and was confusing her greatly. No doubt she would be confused and puzzled by all of this, like she had told him, their species didn't eat, they weren't even carbon-based life forms, they were silicon-based, if he remembered correctly. Which meant that their anatomy and needs were greatly different than many other species.

"Sorry if I'm overwhelming you. Just... calm down. We'll take it slow, okay?" He told her, reassuringly. He didn't want to overwhelm her, of course, he wanted to teach her and help her out a bit in interacting and understanding carbon-based lifeforms

"Let's start simple. Firstly, Ura, tell me more about your species. How do you function? How do Lervon 'eat'? How do they get the energy to function?" He asked her. It was a good start, and it would allow Slip to get a feel for what he was dealing with. Plus, it would allow Ura to build confidence in saying something that she knew a lot about. If he knew how Lervons worked, he would be able to alter how he was teaching her, and put it into terms she would be familiar with and that she would be able to understand.

 

[Ura Iolar]

Ura looked at Slip, closing her eyes to calm down. She could learn this. When Slip notes they would take it slow, and asked if that was ok, she nodded, looking at all the cooking stuff.

“Y-yeah. Slow’s probably better.” Slip then asked her If she could explain what Lervon did for energy intake, and how they functioned. Ura looked around, trying to figure out how to explain how exactly Lervon survived, but soon seemed to find a way to say it.

“Ok, so Lervon are different compared to carbon-based life. We take in energy from things like sunlight, or electricity. Some have even guessed the Force is involved somewhat, but it means that we don’t exactly eat. We don’t break down material for energy, we absorb what’s there. I guess similar to a Mynock, but not as destructive.”

Subject 648 Slipknot

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Ura Iolar

Ura started explaining how Lervon functioned, and how they gained energy. So, Slip listened, and started taking mental notes in his mind. So, Lervons took in energy from the sun and electricity? Strange... She also mentioned that the Force might be involved in it. So instead of breaking down materials, they merely absorbed it.

"So Lervons can photosynthesis? But instead of a chemical process it's more of a transfer of energy through the Force? That kind of makes sense, I guess. And with electricity? So... if, let's say, I were to get some power converters and hook you up to them, you could, in theory, absorb that energy?" He asked. He didn't mean for it to sound insensitive, but Slip was just curious. He didn't really know if that question would be insensitive to Ura or not.

"I guess I should explain how us carbon lifeforms work, huh?" Slip said. He would try and explain it as simply as he possibly could, seeing as how Ura didn't really know anything about it. "What we do is that our bodies, like Lervons, need energy to survive. But instead of using energy directly from sources like sunlight or electricity, we have to gain it indirectly from food and stuff like that. Most of the time, our energy source also relies on sunlight, too, but indirectly. The sunlight provides light energy to plants for fruits and vegetables, animals eat those plants, and we eat the animals, fruits, and vegetables. There is other stuff, things like candy or other artificial foods, for example, that don't rely on the sun, but are made through chemical formulas and compounds. Anyway, after we eat the food, enzymes and chemicals in our body break the food down into raw energy and nutrients, which our bodies then absorb, supplying us with the energy we need to go about the day. Did you got all that?" He asked her.

"Any questions so far?"

 

[Ura Iolar]

Ura tilted her head, trying to think of how to answer. “Well.... Yes, but it can’t produce enough heat to melt or partially melt.” Ura sighed. It wasn’t the best answer, but it was her answer. Then Slipknot explained how others took on energy, and how food worked. It was somewhat surprising, and she just tried to wrap her head around everything.

“So.... Like animals back home? Ok.... I think I kind of understand. But then what makes people like certain foods? If it all does that anyway?”

Subject 648 Slipknot

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Ura Iolar

Slip listened as she replied to his question. So, the energy couldn't be able to melt her, huh? That made sense to Slip, a being made of sand would have to worry and extreme heats and glassification. Slip made a mental note of this information, just in case it could come important later on.

Then, Ura asked him what makes people like certain foods. That... that was a much harder question to answer. Slip thought about it for a second, then said, "No one is exactly sure. It all has to do with our personal preferences, and which foods taste the best. When we eat, our taste buds absorb flavors in the food, and that is translated into signals and feelings in our head. Our food preference is depending on what signals and feelings our brains like the best." He told her. "It's a bit confusing, I know. But that's why I'm here, to help you figure out us carbon-based life forms!" He said, enthusiastically.

He then remembered something she said, about the animals back on her homeworld. Slip barely knew anything about the Lervon, not even where they were from. Slip leaned against the counter and looked at her.

"Your turn, Ura. Tell me about your homeworld. What is it like? What's the environment like there? What was your favorite part of living there?" He asked her. "And tell me about Lervons. What are other Lervons like? What is your culture like? How come you're the only Lervon I've ever met?" He continued. This was meant to be a learning experience for both of them, so now Slip wanted to learn more about Ura, as he was fascinated by her.

 

[Ura Iolar]

Well, at least Slip admitted that it was confusing. She had tried to understand it, but it was confusing. It was personal though. There wasn't one thing that made sense there other than that. She closed her eyes a little, then heard the question about her homeworld.

"You want to know about Yurb? Oh.... Well.... It's an arid world, with some oceans. Lots of sand and one of the continents has a lot of mountains. And Lervon.... Well, I don't know how to explain us. We... can't really hide our emotions, so there's that. I guess they're kinda like me. Culture I guess is more isolated. Tight knit. And with use not leaving our homeworld too much... well.... We kind of creep most species out, and since most see us as emotionless, it doesn't help things."

Subject 648 Slipknot