#One lunch session and got reminded just how inadequate

[rising-volteccers]

hiii! it's star anon 🌟

this week was relatively hectic, and it's just wednesday! 😭 i was going through your writing prompt tag and the first set that popped up (food as a love language) reminded me of how i felt today.

tw for discussions of eating and food!

technically, i felt "fine", but for some reason, my hunger cues were non-existent? for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, i barely had the motivation to eat. this is very odd for me because i love food. 😔 i resorted to eating outside and going for my comfort foods, which at least helped me eat and hydrate regularly today. i was surprised because this happened out of nowhere, though i'm thinking it's the stress piling up from college. i kept zoning out during today's lectures and study sessions.

so yeah, all this made me think about how murdock would prepare to respond to situations where any of the crew members may be going through what i experienced. three prompt bullets stood out to me:

⋆ “i know you said you weren’t hungry, but i made you something anyways.” ⋆ gently reminding them to eat ⋆ always having the ingredients for their comfort meal on hand in case they have a bad day

of course, murdock would do any of these for all the crew members, though i feel like this would be a more frequent occurrence with friede, liko, and dot. i guess that's because they're the most prone to forgetting, overthinking, or worrying.

though do feel free to go about this in any way you wish! i'd love to see your take on this. ❤️ i'll just take it easy for now. hopefully, the rest of the week goes better for me, and i hope it does for you as well!

Heya! I totally get what you mean about stress dampening hunger cues. I'm someone who experiences the same and still working on finding ways to eat better! I hope that the rest of your week goes well, and that you'll do well with your classes! I believe in you!

This was such a nice prompt that I ended up writing a piece about it! I also rub my self indulgent hcs about Friede too in this hehe. Hopefully this would be a nice read!

Series: Pokemon Horizons

Characters: Murdock, Friede, Liko, Dot

(This piece centers around food and eating. Also the food mentioned are meant to be potato stew, ochazuke and bento respectively!)

--

The quote 'food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate' has stuck with Murdock for the longest time. He can't properly recall the origins, only that it carved a spot in his heart and he grew around it. Murdock enjoyed food and cooking. He loved cooking for others. To him, there was no greater joy and satisfaction than seeing the people he cared for eat the food he made for them.

When he became the chef for the Rising Volt Tacklers, Murdock understood the weight of responsibility now saddled atop his shoulders. With all the traveling they do, he needed to take into account the supplies on hand. Mollie helped him in that regard but ultimately, it came down to him on how he stretched a particular ingredient to use in several meal times. 

Not to mention keeping track of everyone's eating habits. Food allergies aside, Murdock knew what people liked and disliked so he cooked accordingly, ensuring that no one left the dining table hungry. He also regularly asks what the crew wanted to eat for mealtimes, indulging in special requests or making someone's favorite if he felt like they could use a pick me up.

(Like Liko for example. She had adapted to life on board remarkably well but unlike the ever cheerful Roy, Murdock noticed that she had the tendency to keep to herself. It reminded him of Dot–it was thanks to her friendship with his niece that Dot had started to come out of her shell. The gratitude he had couldn't properly be expressed through words so he showed it through his cooking.

The day after they found Liko and got back her pendant, Murdock chose to make one of her favorite dishes. He sensed that she had a lot on her mind, unsurprising given the nature of her disappearance. It pained him to learn that a child her age had to experience an awful thing yet he felt pride that Dot saw Liko to be a valuable friend, drawing her out of her room and off the ship for the first time since he brought her along. 

Murdock spent the time after breakfast prepping the ingredients to make a stew. It was similar to Mollie's favorite but with more potatoes added in and different seasonings were used. He also made fresh buttered rolls to dip into the stew, making it into a hearty meal to enjoy during lunch. 

When he spotted her initial surprise morphing into quiet excitement, Murdock knew he made the right choice. He happily refilled her request for seconds, enjoying the warmth that blossomed in his heart at seeing her overall mood improved). 

Aside from making the food, Murdock got into the habit of reminding others to eat. He understood that at times, circumstances made it difficult for all of them to sit down and have a meal together. If they were in for a spot of rough weather, most of them would eat when they had the chance to seeing that they had different responsibilities in getting the Brave Asagi through safely. 

Arceus knows the amount of times where he gently nudged Orla into leaving the engine room to grab some muffins he made, or all but strong arming Friede into eating something because the endearing fool had it in his head that he would only eat after the danger had passed. Mollie didn’t need much convincing seeing that she ate when she was hungry, while the Liko and Roy happily ate anything he put on their plates. Especially Roy who ate like he had a bottomless pit for a stomach. Good appetite for a growing boy his age. 

These days, Murdock found that he had another person to add to his list of gentle reminders. It was one that he’d always be happy to do so because it was Dot, his niece who recently started eating solid foods. He trusted Mollie’s assessment in that Dot got all the nutrients she needed from the gummies but it still pained him to see her subsisting on only that.

Eating shouldn’t just be about getting the appropriate amount of nutrients. It should be an occasion, something to enjoy and make one feel happy to be alive. Thus when Dot started to eat the doughnuts he left out, it motivated Murdock to find more dishes for his niece to try. Once Dot started to eat more, he encouraged the habit through gentle reminders. 

(Like the night where Murdock spotted Dot standing on deck, a rarity seeing that she only really came out when Liko or Roy was around. Quaxly was with her, spotting his presence first by waving a wing at him. This prompted Dot to turn and look at him in surprise.

“Uh… hi,” she spoke up, soft and slightly hesitant.

“Good evening Dot,” Murdock responded warmly. He knew better than to press the reasoning behind her being out here, lest he spooked her into returing back to her room. Instead of letting the silence between them grew awkward, he asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

“H-huh?”

“Have you eaten yet?” he repeated gently. Judging from the way Dot fiddled with her sleeve, it gave him his answer. Murdock kept his tone kind, lacking any judgement upon knowing that she hadn’t eaten dinner yet. 

Murdock instead invited her to join him for supper. Dot looked hesitant at first but Quaxly’s encouragement had her shuffling behind him as they made their way to the kitchen. While she sat at one of the chairs, he made a simple Johtonian dish where the leftover rice he planned on using for fried rice tomorrow had soup added into it. He found this to be a nice, comforting dish that was light on the stomach. 

Dot seemed to agree, or at least she ate it with minimal complaints. Murdock hid his smile behind each spoonful, pleased to see his niece slowly learn the joys of eating).

Still, sometimes reminders were not enough for he could not contend with what went on in a person’s mind. In this particular case, he meant of Friede’s. His captain proved to be the one that pushed Murdock to expand his repertoire. Try out various recipes that would fit his particular palate, or fit a certain texture that he liked.

Murdock knew of his dislike for sour and sweet-spicy flavors. His aversion to slimy and too soft textures, of leafy greens and things that pop in his mouth. How he had the tendency to skip meals when he became fixated on a task, or whatever belief that settled in his brain that told him that he shouldn’t eat until they were in calmer waters. Sometimes Friede just plain forgot to eat, citing that he didn’t feel hungry until Murdock placed food in front of him. He ate like a Munchlax by then. 

While it pushed him to work harder, Murdock did not harbor any resentment towards Friede. In fact, he found it to be quite the fun challenge to see what sort vegetables he could sneak into the captain’s meal without him realizing. The sense of pride and gratification to see Friede happily eat something that he made was one that he cherished too. It made him happy that he was able to provide his friend a proper, balanced meal that he could enjoy without worry. 

(A recent memory of this was the time Friede became fixated in understanding more about Roy’s Ancient Pokeball. He apparently found some old books from an antique store during their last supply run in the city that could provide more information and had holed himself in his room since then.

While Friede did come out occasionally, it was for more coffee and some berries he swiped from the fruit bowl before he disappeared in his room again. Murdock had long since learnt that while he could force Friede to eat something, that would in turn make him reluctant to eat whatever meals that he ate now in the future. Something about association with an unpleasant event, even if it was necessary for his continued good health. 

Instead, Murdock spent a bit of time after everyone ate their dinner to make something for Friede. He pulled out a medium sized container that would fit his purposes. Murdock easily put together some sandwiches, vegetable sticks with peanut butter and sugared doughnut holes to put inside. Friede would be more likely to eat something that he could eat with one hand, as well as contrasting crunchy and soft, toothy textures. 

Murdock also filled a thermos with his preferred nighttime blend before carrying it with him to Friede’s bedroom. He entered after some perfunctory knocks, finding the young professor hunched over his desk with several open books, one hand lightly tugging at his hair. An easy indicator for stress, he came to learn. 

“I know you said you weren’t hungry but I made you something anyway.” Murdock went straight to the point, knowing that Friede would be in no mood for small talk. 

Friede briefly raised his head to acknowledge Murdock’s presence and the containers he placed on his bed, then went back to his book with a soft grunt. 

The chef simply smiled, bidding Friede a good night before returning back to the kitchen so he could clean up. Come the next morning, Murdock would find Friede fast asleep on his bed, the container empty sans a few crumbs while the thermos was all but drained).

So yes, Murdock shows his love through the food he makes. It speaks for him when words would fail, and the joy he gained was enough to make all the effort he put in worthwhile. As long as his family ate well, Murdock wouldn’t ask for anything more.

[don-dake]

最近 (又) 約咗表姐一齊食晏！(笑) 今次我哋揀咗一間本地土生土長，老牌美式熟食店嚟試探。聽講呢間熟食店近期間會由目前嘅居所搬走。

搬到邊就未清楚，但趁佢哋未搬時盡快嚟試一次先！到底都未肯定佢哋會唔會成功搵到新嘅地點嚟落腳嘛！老闆娘又都一大把年紀嘞，本來已經超過退休嘅年齡，今次如果搵唔到新居所，可能會認真考慮將小生意持久閂門啩？

但同老闆娘一齊打理熟食店嘅後生老闆（老闆娘嘅孫）會點打算呢？畢竟佢未到退休嘅地步啩？希望佢哋會成功搵到新居所，繼續做落去！如果要持久閂咗一個有四十多年歷史嘅生意就太可惜啦！

講返正題罷！一踏入呢間熟食店就好似時光倒流噉！佢哋嘅內飾由八十年代冇咩變化。如果仲唔覺得夠氣氛嘅，還有臺收音機喺嗰度一直播緊七十，八十年代啲舊歌畀你完全投入時光倒流嘅感覺添！

對我噉鍾意懷舊嘅人嚟講，我好欣賞店內嘅佈置。唔單止舊派款，坐位都整到好似美國嘅Diner噉，要圍住櫃檯，面對開放式嘅廚房嚟坐。

講到菜式，佢哋嘅招牌菜就係三文治嘞。其實，唔包括飲品同甜品嘅話，���咗三文治同漢堡包之外，亦都冇咩其他菜式選擇嘞。

呢個係老闆特登噉安排嘅。聽講以前餐牌本來有多種菜式可揀嘅（例如：牛扒，意粉，精選早餐，等等）但因為最近人手唔夠，亦都畢竟係小小嘅家庭生意嘛，所以為咗保持菜式嘅高級水準，老闆決定喺食物品質邊發心機，選擇縮細餐牌，只留咗最暢銷嘅菜式喺餐牌上。

↑ 龍仔四（加埋貓巴士）：係咪成碟畀我哋食㗎？（你哋就休想呀！本來打算同你哋共享嘅，但你哋咁為食，竟然要成碟？！冇你哋嘅份！笑）

↑ 你四萬噉口都無用！我唔會心軟嘅！（其實有時候睇緊貓巴士時覺得佢嘅笑容有啲陰濕喎！笑）

今次嗌嘅係熟食店嘅招牌之一：魯賓三文治。本來想嗌佢哋另外一個招牌，古巴三文治嘅，可惜賣晒。但無所謂嘞，魯賓三文治都幾好食！黑麥麵包烘到啱啱好，塗上牛油嘅麵包烘到又脆又香，麵包塞滿嘅粗鹽醃牛肉亦都美味可口，唔會鹹過頭，又唔會太乾，加埋芝士，德式酸菜同千島醬就真係絕配呀！加上又係老闆親手整嘅椰菜沙律，老闆娘親手泡嘅熱朱古力…一個字：正！

睇嚟我哋喺網站睇過嘅食物評估係冇介紹錯嘛！而家諗緊，我長咁大，呢次其實係我第一次嘗試粗鹽醃牛肉，第一次嘗試一件正宗嘅魯賓三文治喎！

希望第時仲有機會返嚟再試下未得試嘅古巴三文治，同埋嗰日亦都賣晒嘅合桃批罷！呢兩樣我都未嘗試過呀！

新詞：熟食店，精選早餐，魯賓三文治，古巴三文治，黑麥麵包，粗鹽醃牛肉，德式酸菜，椰菜沙律，合桃批

[xyliane]

sugarhighs and chaperones

summary: just because people ship gon and killua, doesn’t mean they realize gon and killua are already together. killua’s daughter and a motley crew of his students take it upon themselves to correct this issue. leorio does not understand how he keeps getting roped into these things.

notes: a very special thanks to @sunfloweranimator whose comment on a previous headcanon post lead to...this mess. gen, fluff featuring inedal zoldyck, fourteen year old troll, leorio paladiknight who is too old for this shit but it’s not his problem if the kids are sugarhigh, a collection of well-meaning but ridiculous students, and killugon in their thirties. 1800 words.

notes the second: I’m so sorry for the delay, but next chapter of “all roads” is going up in the next few days! I was computer-less for most of the weekend still need to edit and this was half-phone-words

---

“Hey oldest geezer, I’ve got a question.”

“Inedal, you’re my favorite fourteen year old, but you know you can call me Leorio. Or Uncle Orio, like your siblings. Or Dr. Paladiknight if you feel polite for once.”

“But if Dad is the geezer, then you’re the oldest geezer.”

Leorio is immediately and viscerally reminded that Inedal is Killua’s daughter to an almost terrifying degree, her voice over the phone matter of fact like she’s stating the obvious for an idiot. He carefully turns away from the chart he’d been staring at to press fingers against his already pulsing forehead. He’s almost used to Killua’s oldest calling him at odd hours about topics ranging from wrapping sprains (so Killua won’t know) to how to unbreak a broken lockpick (so Killua will know). But usually, she just barges in with whatever it is she needs, knowing Leorio will have what she needs. That she’s hedging means either she’s growing up or wants something she’s not comfortable with. “So what’s your question?” he says.

She hums tunelessly, probably flipping a coin or a knife across her knuckles. Leorio almost starts to ask again, before she blurts out, “How do you go on a date?”

Aaahhh. Leorio leans back in his chair, a smug grin growing on his face. She’s a little younger than her dad had been before he’d started asking about this sort of thing, but it’s about time. Although why she’s asking Leorio and not Gon is another question entirely. Maybe she doesn’t want Killua to know. “So who’s the lucky kid?” Leorio asks. “Is it one of Killua’s students? Or someone from school?”

“Ew, gross!” Inedal half-screams, her voice echoing like she’s pulled the phone away from her ear. “No, this isn’t me! This is setting up Dad and Gon!”

“But...” Leorio crunches his eyebrows together. “They’ve been together for years. Hell, you know they’re together.”

“I know. But Gon only just got back, and some of Dad’s students don’t know, and they’re trying to set them up with each other to try to get my old man to relax a little.” She blows out a puff of air. “They don’t appreciate that he is relaxed, especially now that Gon’s back. He’d be training them over minefields, not the cliffs outside of your city, if he wasn’t relaxed. It’s obvious.”

And there’s the headache. “Have you been stealing their things again?”

“Only when the old man doesn’t notice. And I’m training my hatsu!”

Leorio is understandably terrified when she finally figures that out. Killua had to adopt the prodigy thief girl. “Inedal. Dating. Your dads.”

“Killua’s my dad, Gon’s Gon.”

“Right, right.”

“So? You gonna help me get them on a stupid date so the idiot teenagers my dad teaches can get their heads out of their asses?” Leorio waits, hoping that Gon’s influence holds out a little bit. She finally relents. “Please?”

“Anything for my favorite fourteen year old.”

----

Leorio regrets the anything almost immediately. She’s Killua’s kid, raised by Killua and Gon themselves. She will never fight fair, and uses every skill at her fingers to get what she wants. Which is how Leorio ends up chaperoning a mess of young adults, plus Killua’s kids Inedal and Fen, into a cafe in the bushes outside of Naclabore’s fifth most famous outdoor fish restaurant. It’s not the most expensive, and definitely not the most attractive, but it’s a place Leorio ends up going when he’s taking favored patients once they’ve healed after a particularly risky procedure, or the occasional friend blowing in from out of town. That the cafe next door has such convenient bushes for observation is completely a coincidence.

“How many of you have mastered zetsu?” Leorio asks.

About half of the teenagers thrust their hands in the air, cocky grins on their faces belying their overconfidence. Killua would eat his students alive if he knew they were overplaying their hands. The ones that have mastered it, two or three of the students as well as Fen and Inedal, have been in it since they got within sight of the restaurant. Leorio too, but he’s been a doctor for more than a decade and friends with some of the most reckless idiots in the world for two. It’s self-preservation. Not that Gon or Killua has been very good at that either.

Well. Leorio’s a doctor, not a teacher. Not his job. And Gon and Killua seem to be having a good time, wide grins on both their faces and only occasionally reaching over the table to toy with each other’s hands. At one point, Gon brushes something off of Killua’s cheek, and two of Killua’s students turn to each other and make a noise like tires squealing against pavement. “Okay, so. Those who know zetsu, can stay. Those who don’t, get going.” He turns to Inedal, who’s opening cameras on four different phones with a sly cat-like grin on her face. “Can I leave now? I have work tomorrow.”

“Oldest geezer, we both know you’re sticking around.”

“Yeah, Uncle Orio!” Fen adds, his grin wide and guileless. “We’ll pay for your lunch, too.”

Leorio eyes the ten year old boy and the fourteen year old girl, and looks right at the oldest of Killua’s students. Razin stares right back at him. While not Killua’s longest-taught student, Razin’s in their early twenties and seems to have accepted that Inedal is too stubborn for her own good. Much like her dad and Gon.  “You're here,” they say, shrugging, and settle back into their salad.

“You’re talkative,” Leorio mutters, and they smirk and shrug again. “Fine, I’ll stay til they leave. But this is your fault.”

----

A list of things Killua’s students think they know about Gon, as per them not shutting up the entire time Leorio’s eating his lunch. (Inedal, thankfully, follows through on Fen’s promise. She also looks like a cat that ate a dozen canaries, so Leorio gives up bothering to stay in zetsu. If he’s getting a paid-for day off, he’s going to enjoy it.)

1. Gon is Killua’s best friend. 2. Gon is a two-star lost hunter best known for tracking down Ging Freecss multiple times, getting gem hunter Iundara Gola to finally accept payment on almost forty years of work, and how he helped end a war with Killua. 3. Gon is able to vanish into the woods and return weeks later having saved three endangered species and a giant hawk. 4. Gon can turn his whole right arm into a sword that he uses to carve trees into boats. 5. Gon once swam from the Yorubian continent all the way to the Bergerose Nations to find the right swarm of shrimp for a dinner for his mom. (Leorio nearly chokes on his drink at this one, because he knows exactly what they’re talking about, and...no. No. But yes. But no.)

A list of things Killua’s students think will happen with Gon and Killua, kept PG more likely due to Leorio’s adultly presence than Inedal and Fen’s youthful egging on.

1. Kissing. How many dates before it happens is a debate that lasts all lunch. 2. Easier training sessions while Killua daydreams over his best friend, an idea that a few of the more intelligent students shoot down immediately, but such voices of reason are drowned out. 3. More dates, which means less time spent being zapped for inadequate form.

That Inedal isn’t telling them most of these lists is complete and total bullshit of one form or another, says more about her ability to keep her mouth shut for the sake of the game than any inconsistencies in narrative. Fen is practically vibrating, spinning increasingly ridiculous tall tales about things Gon and Killua have done, until his ice cream arrives and he buries himself up to his elbows in the frozen dessert.

Absolutely none of this is Leorio’s fault. He’s just the chaperone.

----

The only warning most of the not at all covert gathering of students has that Gon and Killua have finished their lunch is how Inedal mysteriously vanishes from sight midway into a conversation with one of the students about how she does her hair. The student looks briefly puzzled before Killua appears all but out of nowhere right behind her. “We’re doing zetsu training for the next two weeks,” he says with the sort of gleeful menace usually reserved for melodramatic laughter by movie villains.

Almost the entire table scrambles to their feet, dishes scattering across the stone. Leorio narrowly rescues the last of his wine, sipping it as casually as he can with Killua’s grin widening to something horrible. “Sup, old man. It’s been a while.”

“Leorio!” Gon calls, and Leorio is half-choked by Gon leaning in for a hug. He’s not as tall as Killua or Leorio, but he’s built as solid as ever, and his hug is strong and tight.

“Welcome back to civilization, buddy” Leorio says.

Killua exchanges a look with Gon, and he sighs. “What are you even doing here. With my students. And...” He tilts his head to the side, lightning flickering through his thick ponytail. There’s a yelp from overhead, and Inedal bounces out of the tree, glaring and embarrassed at being found. “Two of my kids.”

“You need to stop teaching Inedal how to wrap people around her fingers.”

“You need to stop letting her.” But he ruffles his daughter’s hair affectionately nonetheless, leaving her pigtails a staticky mess. She huffs and plops into the seat next to Leorio.

Fen all but vibrates his way up Gon’s arms, tugging at the shorter-than-usual spikes on Gon’s head. Leorio guesses he got it trimmed before meeting up with Killua and the kids. “You got a date with Pa!” Fen says, smile wide.

“I did,” Gon says, and smiles warmly. Killua’s cheeks turn a little pink.

“You gonna go on another?”

Gon’s smile stays the same, but his eyes dance. “I dunno, Fen. That’s all up to Killua.”

“What do you mean it’s up to me,” Killua grumbles. “You’re the one who--”

“You have to take him out again!” one of the students says, hopes higher than Yorknew Tower.

“Yeah! Killua’s a great guy, and a great teacher!’”

“He’s kind of an asshole about his chocolate, but I’m sure you’re already used to it!”

“And he talks about you a lot, even if the stories seem weird.”

“Did you really catch stars in your fists?”

Killua holds up a hand, and everyone shuts up almost instantly. Leorio is more than a little impressed. Until Killua opens his mouth and says, “Wait, are you dumbasses trying to hook me up with Gon?”

“That is why all the students set you up,” Inedal says, and picks at her nails to avoid Killua’s boggled stare. “They even paid for Uncle Leorio’s help.”

“I wasn’t paid!”

“You got lunch. And dessert.”

“Which Fen ate.”

“Which you let Fen eat. He eats too much ice cream. Aren’t you a doctor? Shouldn’t you tell him to balance it with carrots or something?”

Killua and Gon both choke back laughter. Or more accurately, Killua started groaning about Fen and sugarhighs, while Gon asks, giggles tickling out of the back of his throat, “I don’t know, Killua. Dating sounds fun.”

“Gon, we’ve been together for fifteen years.”

“But we never officially dated, Killua. Boyfriend and boyfriend. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Killua opens his mouth to say something absolutely ear-meltingly awful and not at all safe for Leorio’s mind, but holds off at the last minute. Maybe he thinks better of it and has actually grown up at some point in the last twenty-plus years. Maybe he catches sight of his kids. Instead he says to Gon, “More dates this time. You’re buying.”

“Half.”

“Two-thirds. And as for you all...” Killua glances at his best friend and smirks. “Before we start in on retraining your zetsu, we’re going to go back to camp straight through the mountains. Inedal, I think you could use a refresher too. Gon, you mind grabbing what we need?”

A chorus of terrified groans echoes around Leorio, who simply leans back and enjoys the chaos.