Here's where I gloss over the whole thing that was NOT a date (thanks, Derrick, now I sound defensive. Asshole.) - mostly because nothing much happened. Derrick bought me a shirt and trousers that hadn't been worn to death, and a new pair of shoes with actual soles. Mel was surprised by the offer to go to the eatery, we got dressed nicely (I'm not sure where she got the dress from, but Mel normally didn't share shit like that), and we walked the hour there to have dinner.

We ate, we talked, we schmoozed, we carry on, go home happy.

End of story.

The walk back was pretty nice. Mel and I got to discuss some more serious stuff (a belly full of fresh fish and a bit of fermented wine helped us loosen up, I guess), and we felt like the best of friends.

All in all, it was a lovely time.

10/10, would recommend.

I also got some really great ideas. Sure, Mystic Falls was too far away to get fresh fish delivered, and it would be expensive as hell to do, anyway. But they worked with what they had, and that's what I needed to embrace.

Problem was, Mystic Falls didn't exactly have much in the way of unique food sources.

The forest was about the best place to get anything worth calling unique, and that mostly just consisted of mushrooms or nuts. Maybe flowers? Were flowers edible? Should I be serving flowers?

I told Mel some of my ideas along the walk. Some of them she thought were silly, but some of them apparently sounded like real winners.

After we got back in the late evening, I let Mel go to bed while I stayed up playing with the menu creator.

Yes, yes. I know. "Harper, you're an idiot and are going to end up with a migraine." I hear you. I do.

But I was motivated.

The first dish I wanted to create was going to be just a basic affair. I needed a staple, something I could create no matter what supplies we had.

After talking to Karina, Antonio, and Dean (Mystic Falls' apothecary, greengrocer, and butcher, respectively) a few days before, I had decided I wanted to avoid using meat as much as possible, but also that I wanted to focus on attack-boosting food. Which meant meat.

The combination told me soups and stews. It meant the dishes I put together could be meat based, but that I'd only need to put as much meat into the system as was required, but the rest of the meal would still make a hearty fucking dish. Would save me a hell of a lot of time and money.

And soups and stews were something you could craft in batches and keep on warm without doing much damage to the quality. Perfect for a business that had no idea what it was going to do, visitor wise.

But... I didn't want Ambition to be all soups and stews. That sounded boring. And Catch of the Day had shown me that you didn't need to hyperfocus like that.

After flipping through the various menus, I decided to start with three dishes. It would be a decent amount of variety until I figured out what people liked, what ingredients were available, and how much of everything I'd need. Three dishes let me show off my creativity without breaking the already seriously broken bank.

The first stew I wanted was a pretty typical beef stew. Potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms would fill out the bulk of the dish, and I'd be able to use a cheap cut of beef for the meat source since I was going to be stewing it. The fat would cook out slowly over time, making the meat soft and pliable.

The dish creation menu told me I'd need a few other ingredients though, including some spices (to which I added the staples of salt and pepper, but also a considerable amount of adobo) and fresh, clean water. We had a well out back, so I wasn't too worried about the water. I would need a pot large enough to cook a few servings of stew in, which I didn't currently have, but I would be able to pick that up in town the next day. Not a huge worry.

The second dish I put together wasn't a soup or a stew at all, but was inspired by something I'd had in Kinon.

It was called curry.

The dish was a little hot, owed to a considerable amount of a certain spice mixture called Massaman. I'm sure that, if Karina didn't already have the required ingredients, she'd quickly throw them together for me. It was like cinnamon and cloves and cumin. The only really weird ingredients were (apparently) a shrimp paste, which we might need to get imported, and some special chili peppers.

Massaman curry was another vegetable-heavy dish, but I wanted this one to be a little more green. It really wouldn't matter what I put in it. Green beans would work, but so would broccoli or even snap peas. And I added a considerable amount of potatoes (so much so that the menu seemed concerned and produced a warning message), and then some citrus to balance out the spicyness. A bit of lime seemed like a great addition.

As soon as I finished designing the dish, I realized that I was feeling hungry. Sure, I'd just eaten like two hours before, but all this thinking about amazing food I was going to cook was really turning on the wet works in terms of saliva production.

But it was late. If I ate now, I'd regret it with a sour stomach in the morning. And as much fun as working with a bout of indigestion was, I wanted to pass.

I started the design for the third menu option, but just stared at the screen.

What the hell was I going to make?

The first two dishes were attack forward, with lots of veggies to make up the majority of the calories. They were warm, filling, and comforting. I wanted something like that for the third dish, but I wanted to stay away from soups or stews.

I could go pasta?

Making pasta wasn't too time consuming, and it lasted a decent amount of time when properly stored. I could even dry it out and it would keep in storage for weeks. But what kind of pasta dish could I offer that wasn't going to be just the same old thing?

At one point, I decided I was tired of staring at the menu and I started wandering around Ambition. Which, maybe wasn't my best idea. First of all, it was dark, barely illuminated by my little menu. Second, Mel and I hadn't moved any of the tables and chairs outside, so the dining area was a little cramped. Third, I hadn't sanded anything down, so as I went to move stuff out of my way, I ended up getting scrapes and scratches, and feared for a splinter.

Eventually I sat back down and just stared at my options.

If I made a pasta dish, the wheat-forward nature of pasta as a base would turn the stats towards defense. But if I added some meat, say, meatballs, it could turn it back to attack.

But what if I got really creative?

I started putting together the ingredients in the menu. It felt a little chaotic, almost like I was some scientist playing with chemicals I shouldn't have. I wondered if Karina felt this way when she was putting together a potion or a spice blend.

The system tried to fight me. It told me what I wanted to do couldn't be done.

But I just kept pushing.

And eventually, I created it.

A dish of spaghetti and meatballs, with three different meatballs made from three different sources.

The first was your standard beef, and it leant attack stats to the dish. The second was made of mushrooms, and it gave the dish some HP stats. But the third was pork, which gave the dish a splash of something special - experience points.

And with the pasta base, boom. Defense.

I almost laughed maniacally, but decided Mel was asleep and it would be mean to wake her up.

But I cackled in my head.

Totally normal.

Definitely not crazy.

I needed sleep.

Duncan's Delight

Stats: HP +10, Attack +5

Duration: 5 hours

Description: This beef stew is slowly simmered for hours before being served. It is rich and flavorful, and exactly what you need on any day ending in 'y'.

Mari's Massaman

Stats: HP +25, Attack +3

Duration: 5 hours

Description: A spicy curry loaded with potatoes. Sometimes served over rice, this curry will satisfy any adventurer even without.

Mel's Spaghetti and Meatballs

Stats: HP +10, Attack +15, Defense +10, Global Learning Speed +5%

Duration: 5 hours

Description: A culinary masterpiece that should not exist.