After spending the rest of the day at the lake, Ferris and Amiya logged out. When Ferris tried to sit up, he immediately fell back down since his body hadn't moved as he’d expected it to; he’d gotten stiff after spending so many hours in the same position.
… Everything… hurts.
Ferris didn't know how to deal with muscle pain. He decided to go to sleep and hope that it would go away by the time he woke up.
“Big brooooo—” Amiya groaned aloud from her room.
“Whaaaaat,” he called back, rolling onto his stomach. Ow.
“I’m hungry~”
“... There's stuff… in the fridge.” They hadn't eaten lunch, so the food he’d prepared for Amiya earlier was still there.
“It hurts to move…” Amiya whined. “Help me up~”
… Well, there went his plan.
After taking a few moments to mentally prepare himself, Ferris got up (oof, ouch) and walked over (ow, ow) to help Amiya get out of bed.
…
“Ugh… No more gaming marathons for me…” Amiya rested her face on the dining table. “Let's set a reminder to take a break and stretch next time…”
“Nn,” Ferris agreed as he took the food out of the microwave and set it out. Moving did seem to help him loosen up, and skipping lunch didn't feel great; it was a vicious cycle where being hungry made him think of the fish from earlier, and thinking of the fish made him hungrier. Fortunately, his portion of the food was enough to whet his appetite for the time being.
However, while they were eating, Ferris suddenly stood up and began rummaging through the pantry. Having a bad premonition, Amiya asked him,
“... Whatcha doing?”
“Trying stuff,” he curtly replied, not turning to respond.
Uh oh.
Whenever Ferris got fixated on something like this, he tended to do weird things. Amiya was pretty sure that this time had something to do with the… Genepbe-something sauce that Belphegor fed him. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to stop the force of nature that was her brother…
———
“... What did you even put in to make it look like this?”
The “sauce” in front of Amiya was incredibly dark—nearly black—with non-uniform chunks and multi-colored speckles, as though it were infected with various molds; it was a small comfort knowing that Ferris wouldn't have used anything that was actually spoiled, though the inexplicability of its appearance otherwise was concerning in its own right.
“Stuff,” Ferris replied, nonchalantly pouring the substance over a pork chop for himself.
“... What does it taste like?”
Ferris tilted his head.
“... Dunno?” He hadn't eaten it yet, after all.
Hesitantly, Amiya tried to dribble only a tiny amount of the sauce onto her pork chop, but a chunk gave way and caused a large glob to sploot onto it instead.
… Sploot? Food was not meant to sploot.
Amiya glanced at Ferris. He sat patiently with a piece of the pork chop already cut and on his fork, watching and waiting for her to prepare her own bite; it seemed that Ferris wanted to taste it at the same time as her.
Urgh…
Now she had to eat some of it. She carefully cut off a piece from the section with the least amount of the sludge (which was still fairly drenched) and brought it to her face.
“Cheers…” Amiya toasted with a cramped smile.
… *chewing*
As her consciousness faded, Ami had one final thought——
——Bel… We’ve created something terrible…
After spending the rest of the day at the lake, Ferris and Amiya logged out. When Ferris tried to sit up, he immediately fell back down since his body hadn't moved as he’d expected it to; he’d gotten stiff after spending so many hours in the same position.
… Everything… hurts.
Ferris didn't know how to deal with muscle pain. He decided to go to sleep and hope that it would go away by the time he woke up.
“Big brooooo—” Amiya groaned aloud from her room.
“Whaaaaat,” he called back, rolling onto his stomach. Ow.
“I’m hungry~”
“... There's stuff… in the fridge.” They hadn't eaten lunch, so the food he’d prepared for Amiya earlier was still there.
“It hurts to move…” Amiya whined. “Help me up~”
… Well, there went his plan.
After taking a few moments to mentally prepare himself, Ferris got up (oof, ouch) and walked over (ow, ow) to help Amiya get out of bed.
…
“Ugh… No more gaming marathons for me…” Amiya rested her face on the dining table. “Let's set a reminder to take a break and stretch next time…”
“Nn,” Ferris agreed as he took the food out of the microwave and set it out. Moving did seem to help him loosen up, and skipping lunch didn't feel great; it was a vicious cycle where being hungry made him think of the fish from earlier, and thinking of the fish made him hungrier. Fortunately, his portion of the food was enough to whet his appetite for the time being.
However, while they were eating, Ferris suddenly stood up and began rummaging through the pantry. Having a bad premonition, Amiya asked him,
“... Whatcha doing?”
“Trying stuff,” he curtly replied, not turning to respond.
Uh oh.
Whenever Ferris got fixated on something like this, he tended to do weird things. Amiya was pretty sure that this time had something to do with the… Genepbe-something sauce that Belphegor fed him. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to stop the force of nature that was her brother…
———
“... What did you even put in to make it look like this?”
The “sauce” in front of Amiya was incredibly dark—nearly black—with non-uniform chunks and multi-colored speckles, as though it were infected with various molds; it was a small comfort knowing that Ferris wouldn't have used anything that was actually spoiled, though the inexplicability of its appearance otherwise was concerning in its own right.
“Stuff,” Ferris replied, nonchalantly pouring the substance over a pork chop for himself.
“... What does it taste like?”
Ferris tilted his head.
“... Dunno?” He hadn't eaten it yet, after all.
Hesitantly, Amiya tried to dribble only a tiny amount of the sauce onto her pork chop, but a chunk gave way and caused a large glob to sploot onto it instead.
… Sploot? Food was not meant to sploot.
Amiya glanced at Ferris. He sat patiently with a piece of the pork chop already cut and on his fork, watching and waiting for her to prepare her own bite; it seemed that Ferris wanted to taste it at the same time as her.
Urgh…
Now she had to eat some of it. She carefully cut off a piece from the section with the least amount of the sludge (which was still fairly drenched) and brought it to her face.
“Cheers…” Amiya toasted with a cramped smile.
… *chewing*
As her consciousness faded, Ami had one final thought——
——Bel… We’ve created something terrible…
