Cooking Papa [Lucian - Alice]

It was an average day for Alice. It shouldn't have been an average day for Alice, but it was. In spite of the chaos that had consumed everything, in spite of all the lives lost and the earthshattering revelations spoken, life had returned to its regular pace and the citizens of Junction had seemingly resumed their daily lives. As she stared up at the marble ceiling in silence, the girl drifted through her thoughts searching for some way to make sense of all this to no avail. There was no clarity to be found in a situation like this... It was useless to look for an answer before any of the information hoisted upon her had a chance to sink in, but at the same time she found that the more she thought about everything occurring around her, the less sense it made. An exasperated sigh slipped through her lips and she shook her head in faintly fuming frustration.

Hearing the sound of footsteps below and Lucian's booming declaration of his arrival, she'd turn her head to the door to her room and gaze restlessly at it for a few minutes. Just like the state of the city as a whole, uncertainty would be the best way to describe her feelings and thoughts on her family. She had as many questions for their future as there were stars in the sky. Should they stay in the city or try to find some way out unbeknownst to the people responsible for the catastrophe? If they stuck around then would it be safe for them to be open about being Seekers? Was he going to allow her to help him or was he planning to try to tackle this on his own like he did with the Horsemen? There were so many; they kept flowing through their mind and piling up, and piling up, and piling up until she could feel her skull ready to burst.

Alice continued to lay there for a few more seconds, but ultimately the hesitation would fade as she reached her decision. Rolling off the velvet red sheets and onto her feet, she'd cautiously walk forward and halfheartedly push the door open. Searching around for him after heading downstairs, it wouldn't take any time at all to discover Lucian in the kitchen and swiftly she'd move behind a nearby wall with the intention of remaining hidden until she could think of a reliable opener for the conversation. However, the sound of rustling bags would enter her ears and pique her curiosity, so begrudgingly she steadily moved her head out from behind it to get a peek of what was going on. It was then that the true overwhelming horror of the proceeding calamity dawned on her. She needed no more than a second and a glance for every primal instinct and rational part of her brain to begin screeching at her warning her of the obvious danger that awaited ahead. Yes, there was no doubt...


What rested in that innocuous plastic container was an eldritch monstrosity unlike any she had ever seen! She had thought the ones at the Fungeon were terrifying, but this put them to shame beyond a shadow of a doubt! The limp and squishy tendrils drooping out onto the floor, the sickeningly suffocating stench that permeated the entire room, the aura of pure evil that radiated from every ounce of it...!!! It was such a frightening sight that she had to wonder if this was really just a mutant. Could it have been the source of all of this -- could it have been Him?!

Regardless, she knew one thing: if she left it be than both she and her father would be goners. Luckily for them the beast hadn't made any movements yet, likely out of the sadistic pleasure of toying with them, but the second it did she knew she'd have to act. In the meantime, she could only hope Lucian would heed her advice and rush as far away from that abomination as possible. With a determined look, she'd wave around an ethereal flag in a flourish as Nona appeared behind her readying itself to strike at the cluster of what was, in actuality, some kind of yellowish alien cabbage.

Overflowing with disbelief that more than drowned out the confusion from seconds ago, the words slipped from Alice's lips as she stood stiffly still with an expression of utter befuddlement. While on a rational surface level the explanation was simple to comprehend, it still took a moment for it to fully click as she engaged in a half-hearted Mexican standoff with the inanimate clump of unspeakable matter that gazed spitefully up at her. Slowly her Persona vanished into thin air and she found herself standing in awkward silence, a silence which only intensified as her father concernedly hugged her while she stood limply in wry confusion with her arms hanging to the side. "...Maybe I should have tried to eat an actual meal in that last month." She lamented silently mourning the decision to not deviate from her usual dietary habits prior to today. At least she could take some degree of relief in the fact that the record was set straight now and not later when she was out in public or something; she couldn't think of a more embarrassing situation than drawing everyone's attention in the supermarket and outing yourself as a Seeker over unfamiliarity with freaky space cuisine.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't, uh, expect lettuce to have eyes. That is lettuce, right?" And those were eyes, right? She narrowed hers at its and nervously hummed a lullaby underneath her breath while wondering what the exact symptoms of food poisoning were on other planets. Nevertheless, she'd sigh and frantically shake her head dismissively at the worries building up inside of her. It couldn't be that bad, could it? She had just initially overreacted. That was all. "Sorry. I didn't mean to almost sic semper tyrannis the salad. Well, I did but----" Her voice resignedly trailed off into nothingness in place of any further explanation of the obvious.


Understandably the burger was received with more open arms. She nodded graciously as she bit into it and savored the taste. While she was far from nostalgic about many facets of her home, she had no such reservations about Scarred Earth's more simple pleasures. On the contrary, it was pleasing to see they existed in some form within the city (even if she wasn't particularly a fast food kind of person these days). Owing to its small size, she'd finish the snack without much delay and exhale in gratitude as the flavors washed over her. With it out of the way, she'd linger tentatively in the room before beginning to slink away while opening her mouth to thank Lucian for the gift and excuse herself to her room. However, the offer he made next would catch her off guard. Not just because her expertise in cooking was limited to a few classes in home economics, but... Well, now that she thought about it, it was kinda a miracle they even had the chance to eat together. Before he was always so busy that she had grown used to family meals being nothing more than memories of the past, so this opportunity alone felt strange. And being asked to help him prepare the dishes? That was something she was entirely unused to.