13thcommander | Labrynthum Inbox

If anyone can, it'd be you.

That's the plan - either fill in the gaps, or figure out what I can definitely do better.

Soups and sandwiches are always a classic. Plus, you can make a lot of soup and have it feed plenty of people. The dining out options here aren't exactly the nicest, either, so cornering part of the savory side of things could work to your advantage.

Thank you for your vote of confidence.

I agree. There aren't many options, which is why I've been learning how to cook since my arrival. If other people aren't willing to learn, perhaps we should give them options to part with their shards rather than learning themselves.

I've been working on stews since I got here, trying to recreate some of my mother's old recipes. So far, I haven't been able to get the spices quite right.

Exactly. And we're a hell of a lot nicer than whatever the Cask and Anvil has going on, even if you hired Eren for some reason.

[ Which is also something that lingers on Jean's mind - giving Eren reasons to connect to this place, a reason to not try and fistfight Vaeros or whatever harebrained scheme he keeps wanting to come up with.

That second statement, though... ]

If you'd ever like any help with that, let me know. I'm no spice expert but sometimes two heads are better than one.

[ He also thinks it might be a personal endeavor Erwin doesn't necessarily want help with. ]

I'm sure Eren would be very useful when it was time to punch the rising dough. Otherwise, perhaps his needs would be best met in the back of the establishment.

[Calling it now: Eren is the dishwasher.]

I would enjoy that. If nothing else, we can compare our mother's recipes, see if there are any regional differences?

[ Jean laughs a bit to himself about Erwin's very diplomatic response but doesn't comment on it otherwise. He does employ Eren to help out with bread from time to time, so he can't argue that. ]

I'd like that. I'm guessing you didn't grow up within Wall Rose?

Technically, I suppose I did. But we were in a small community that butted up close to Wall Sina, similar to how Trost butts up against Wall Rose. My family's house was close to the gate into Sina, so I spent some time in the city as a child.

I consider myself more from Sina than Rose, although I know those who grew up in Sina proper would take offence at that notion.

They would. Hell, I used to be one of those people who would get shitty about people further out from Rose than us in Trost.

[ He's an adult, he can admit his various failings. ]

For soup, that's a good thing to know, though - we would have had access to the same spices. Though maybe your mother had access to some interior exclusive stuff since you were so close to them.

As did I, when I was much younger. Anyone who wasn't right next to Sina was clearly beneath me, in my youthful, foolish mind.

She did, but she was also a thrifty woman. She'd talk about the fancy interior spices with longing, and then get angry with my father when he bought some for her.

With age comes wisdom, and all that, right?

[ JEAN YOU ARE NINETEEN. ]

Someone once gifted my mother some of the interior spices. I asked her if we were going to hold onto them for special meals, and she told me keeping them and never using them was a mistake a lot of people make with things like that.

But to tell you the truth I don't think I ever noticed a difference in how it tasted as a kid, haha.

[Child, you have so much wisdom left to learn! Erwin isn't going to comment on it, though; he knows Jean won't believe him. Erwin didn't believe his own elders at Jean's age, so he knows how it goes. Some things just need time to marinate.]

Likewise with my mother. She kept those spices in jars and never used them. I found the jars when she passed away and I was cleaning out her house.

The Survey Corps cooks were delighted to have them, and the stews were exceptional after the next few missions.

That seems like a good use of them, honestly. But, that gives us a good starting point - she probably used what would have been readily available.

[ Jean's also mature enough now to know sometimes there's an element of nostalgia you can't quite recreate. But it'll be a fun project to share with the Commander - with Erwin. With a man he knows the shape and forward face of but not too much else besides.

Something else crosses his mind when he spots them hanging up in the living room. ]

We have our ODM gear now, too. I have the new variant, if you ever wanted to check it out.

You do?

[RECORD SCRATCH, subject change!]

I would. Very much, in fact. I know the Corps switched over to them, but I never saw them.

For obvious reasons.

Well - let me know when I should bring it over and we can look at it. With your new arm, it might be easier for you to use, or harder. The biggest adjustment for me was not needing to use my hips to adjust the grapples, since it's housed on the arms.

[ Jean knows how to set up the gear for both versions, though - the updated gear even has a version that just uses the hip housing. ]

I imagine it would be a considerable challenge with the new arm. I’m getting faster, but I still have to concentrate to move it.

I wonder if it’s possible to make a hybrid, one that uses both hips and arms.

It actually is - I know Captain Levi and Mikasa used the hip models as well, when we attacked Marley. The updated design should work with either style, and I think... I can retrofit the old set with what we have here to work, though I might need to contact one of the blacksmiths for some parts.

You might have to get used to only using one blade, but the arm should help with your balance at the very least, and if all you need for the controller is to launch the grapples, we could wire up launch control to one controller... hm.

Edited (after much staring at ODM gear pages) 2024-02-03 09:39 (UTC)

Before we could even think about retrofitting anything, I'd need to get my hands on my own gear. Recreating the harness otherwise would be a nightmare.

[When you're a big, heavy dude like Erwin, your harnesses need to be custom-made. He also doesn't want to ask anyone else to do it, since the last time he talked about the harnesses he got accused of wearing fetish gear.]

If you need any help with that, I have shards I can spend on them. I also know people can request things they didn't originally have - Eren wanted his gear after I got mine, and they actually gave him the Anti-Personnel model.

You'd probably do best to start with your model, though; it'll be more familiar.

That's a very kind offer, but don't waste your shards on me. I have plenty of my own banked away. I just hadn't thought about requesting my gear.

That's good advice: I'll make sure to request my own, personal gear, lest I get something I'm less familiar with.

Well, he asked for it specifically, to be fair.

I have noticed Vaeros wants people to be pretty exacting in what they ask for, though. Don't want to get a different gear from some guy also named Erwin Smith.

[Congratulations, Jean, you just made Erwin bark surprised laughter at his phone.]

Now there's a horrifying thought. I don't think the world is ready for two of me.

They say two heads are better than one, you know. Then again, I wouldn't want a second Eren or myself running around either.

[Jesus, Jean.]

The world DEFINITELY isn't ready for more than one Eren Jaeger.

Yeah, you and me both.

What about two Levis?

[ He throws out Levi because he's thinking about the Jaegerists, and this conversation has been mostly lighthearted and he doesn't want to bring up that Eren has a bunch of little mini Jaegers. ]

I'm far too old to keep up with two Levis.

Erwin, respectfully, you're not that old.

[ Though he does understand that in Survey Corps years, especially for Commanders, Erwin is positively ancient. ]

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13thcommander - 2024-02-06 16:44 (UTC) - Expand

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neighsaying - 2024-02-18 00:57 (UTC) - Expand