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[interveningly]

If anyone requires me in the next few days, I'll be at Wellspring.

[Housekeeping kids, assume he told you he'd be gone before this]

Comments

[ghost_of_00]

[00 contemplates what to write, if she should write anything since she already knows what this is about. She sorts through some of the common expressions: good luck? It'll be fine? See you soon?]

[...]

Is ice cream permitted in the clinic?

00

[interveningly]

I do not know.

[...]

Why?

[ghost_of_00]

For your recovery.

[interveningly]

I am uncertain what frozen dairy products have to do with my recovery.

[No, really. He's not used to this whole 'comfort food' thing still]

[ghost_of_00]

[She wasn't either, until people taught her.]

They can be comforting, especially when shared.

[interveningly]

A hypothesis I am willing to test.

hideously belated QL

[interveningly]

[Veda is sitting up in bed, with a book - more engineering things. He feels about 100% less awful than the last time he woke up in Wellspring, though there's a dull throbbing in his head still that the painkillers haven't quite erased.]

QL

[ghost_of_00]

[00 arrives at the clinic with a small carton of Neopolitan ice cream. That will give him three flavors to sample.

She also has two spoons. Hopefully Veda won't find that too unsanitary.]

Hello.

QL

[interveningly]

[He glances up from his book. There's gauze taped over his right eye and forehead, but that aside, he does look a lot calmer than the last time he was here]

Hello.

QL

[ghost_of_00]

[00 notes that calm. Of course, he's here for a voluntary surgical procedure, not to be put back together from a vivisection.

She takes a seat in a chair by the bed and opens the carton, offering to him.]

This flavor is called Neopolitan. It is made up of chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.

QL

[interveningly]

[He takes it, looking down at the three neat rows of colors]

...I wonder what the origin of the name is. It seems to have little to do with the flavors themselves.

QL

[ghost_of_00]

When I asked, I was told that it is Italian in origin. But I don't know enough about Italy to say what the relation is.

[She hands him a spoon. TRY IT, VEDA.]

Re: QL

[interveningly]

[He takes the spoon, and dips it into the vanilla first, before slipping it into his mouth and savoring it thoughtfully]

QL

[ghost_of_00]

[And 00 watches him, studying his reaction. It looks like he's being thoughtful and analytical about it.]

I was warned that people commonly eat all the chocolate before the other flavors.

QL

[interveningly]

[He contemplates this]

Would it not then make more sense to simply buy all chocolate?

QL

[ghost_of_00]

[She shakes her head, almost imperceptibly.]

Chocolate is a common favorite, but it is not the only one. Since you are not familiar with ice cream, I chose a variety with multiple flavors for you to sample.