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You are always trying to help, even when your so-called "helpfulness" becomes more of an irritation and a hindrance.

[Yeah..... yeah it's just Leon being Leon.]

I can't not help... I can't just ignore those things!

[he literally doesn't care, leon.]

And I am telling you that I don't need your help!

[...]

Especially not to eat a single piece of food!

I just didn't want you to be hungry... you don't have to get so mad about it.

[he's being exceptionally grumpy all day. even stahn can't help but notice it.]

[Leon's so good at being exceptionally grumpy though...... it's his talent.]

Just...keep moving.

[Hmph.

... And eventually Leon will properly take a bite of the pizza bagel, and it will, in fact, be tasty.

What a shocker.]

[naturally, stahn's not going to let that slide by.]

It's good, isn't it?

[He jumps--he didn't think Stahn was watching him--and almost chokes on the bite he'd taken.

jfc stahn.]

It's-- it's acceptable, I suppose, for what is little more than street food.

[what else is he supposed to do? look at everything else? that's how he ends up with free pizzas in the first place, which leon also complains about!]

You say that like all street food is bad. A lot of it is really good and tasty though!

Of course it is bad.

[Oh look Leon's snobby upbringing is rearing its nasty head.]

It can hardly be considered proper food.

Well... what's... "proper food," then?

[this will probably somehow end up terrible for leon in the end, but it's one way of finding out what kind of other foods leon may actually want to eat.]

I don't think there's anything wrong with this ...

[This will undoubtedly end up terrible for Leon in the end, but at least he'll answer.]

Proper food is served at a table, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Snacks hardly are proper food and should not be counted. Proper food should be eaten with utensils, and not the fingers--the meals should be taken as they are and not require seasoning or garish additions.

[That's all relayed as though from memory. It probably is from memory, because he sounds pretty unenthused when he says it, and when he realizes exactly what he's relayed, he makes a vague face.

Ugh... maybe he should eat all of this street food, at least it wouldn't be ~proper manners~]

[or maybe not as bad, mostly because stahn has a really hard time wrapping his head around some of this.]

Wouldn't it be.. pretty bland without seasoning? I know I don't cook that much, but a lot of the best meals have a lot of flavor! And you usually... use seasoning for that.

[he's no whiz like lilith, but he knows that she seasons things plenty, because he's gone to the market plenty for her. plus, so many great goods are seasoned.]

I don't know if "proper food" is a good way to describe it. Food is food, if you eat it and it tastes good, fills you up and keeps you going, that's what's important. I don't think anyone should decide what is and isn't food. Snacks may not be meals, but aren't they still food?

[leon's definition sounds really dumb and arbitrary, even if that's what distinguishes leon as someone raised with privelege and a country boy like stahn.]

It is supposed to be seasoned properly by the cook, and left alone after that.

[That's all there is to it... it's impolite to mess with the meal after it's brought out, or so Leon was taught.

He doesn't know, Stahn... there are some manners that were beaten into his head as a child and he doesn't exactly always know where "ridiculous proper manners" begin and end.]

Obviously you can make an argument like that all you'd like, but it does not change the fact that there is nothing proper about this street food.

[Which...almost makes Leon want to eat it more out of rebellion to these manners but on the other hand, he still has that visceral "ugh" reaction that's been bred into him too.

The struggle.]

Maybe but... Why does it have to be proper?

[maybe that's part of what's tripping stahn up so much about this conversation. he scratches his head, looking at a street cart that's selling roasted sweet potatoes.]

If it tastes good, isn't that all that matters? A lot of them are snacks, but a snack can still be good or good for you. And some of the street foods I've seen are meals!

[with forks and everything. stahn think that halal food cart in the distance would be insulted by leon's insinuation.] Things are pretty different here than back home anyway... so maybe we should be giving more things a fair try, right?

[What a question that is, honestly.

"Why does it have to be proper?"

It's a question that really pokes at the basis of Leon's entire upbringing, thanks, Stahn. It has to be proper because that's the way it is. The uneducated masses may be able to do things differently, but Leon's position requires that he knows better. That he does things properly. That he eats proper food.

Even if the pizza bagel's pretty good, and the roasted sweet potatoes sound delicious, and even if he thinks that etiquette is all one big lie to begin with--some things are hard to shake.]

You can do whatever you want. It isn't as though you require my permission.

[As for himself, well... he has a lot of things to wrestle with there, even though he, himself, thinks it's stupid that he does.]

I know... but it's better to share these things.

[to stahn, it's not a matter of "proper" vs "improper." it's not about upbringing or where they came from. to stahn, they're friends.

and being friends means sharing experiences, whether it's on the battlefield or it's just a simple snack. they're things he can't do with leon in any other place but cerealia, and he doesn't want to waste that.]

We didn't get a chance to do these things before so... why not just do it now while we can? [he wants to keep a positive spin on it. when they traveled back home, they shared meals and snacks because they couldn't be too frugal. it's something that continued in the second half of their journey, and it's something he wants to continue here and now with leon.]

[That's just Leon being fussy, Stahn, don't be silly.]

Because I do not want any of this food.

[SO THERE.

that's so simple and yet so childish]

You'd still eat it if you didn't have a choice though, right? Like back when we were traveling.

Naturally.

[He's not going to be picky while traveling, that would be stupid.]

But given the choice, I will choose something else.

Well, this isn't that much different, is it? We don't leave the city, but it's still pretty different than Darilsheid in every way.

[they have things you can't get anywhere in seinegald, or fitzgald, or any country in their world. so to stahn, it's easier to treat it much the same.]

But nonetheless our options are far greater here than when we are traveling--it is a faulty comparison.

[Now Leon's just being contrary to be contrary, as he tends to be.

Because he's Leon.]

I can choose to eat whatever I'd prefer.

You can, but isn't it good to try new things, too? You may find something you really like! You had to try what you already know in order to decide you like it.

[at this rate, they'll never even get to the store to buy those boots. maybe stahn should be paying attention to where they're walking.]

[Stahn................... that's deep--]

Do not treat me like a child.

[Oh.]

I am more than aware of that, and do not need you to condescend to me about something like this.

[Leon's gotta Leon.

But yeah they seem to have forgotten the Mission, but that's...okay....]

I'm not trying to—

[treat him like a child, or be condescending. he frowns a little, shaking his head.]

...I just think there's a lot of good things out there you'd really like, Leon.

[But nonetheless, that's how Leon took it..... unsurprisingly. Leon sure is so very Leon.]

I don't need you meddling in my life like this--or meddling with my tastebuds.

[That was a lame line, Leon.]

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