Sick Times Are Not Fun

The demon was quiet for a moment at that one, his eyes drifting off to the side in thought. "If I was stable and stronger, I think I would do that. Help others through this. Nothing is worse than being alone in the matter." That is honestly how people were driven mad and also to doing that harmed themselves or others. It was a dangerous affair making it sad there were so few that were actually trained properly for these sorts of things. "I am pretty sure it is, but hey guess trying never hurt," the demon would say with a small smile as he rubbed his arm. Yeah....this was going to be tricky grounds, but he couldn't run from this snag, so why not try and deal with it the best way he could. Even if said way wasn't a fool proof solution to the issue. It was something at least, right?

That aside, the demon would only give a nod at the small comment given in regards to the drugs. He had nothing else to say and he also had no intention of trying the drug right now. Oh no. He was here to help the other and that is what he would do. If for some odd reason he did end up taking the drug well he'd cross that bridge if he needed too, but for now he was content with leaving it as it was. Speaking of leaving things as they were, it seemed the other was fine with him not poking him about the past matter his previous question might've gotten into. While this sort of stuff used to bother Rika, he found himself okay with this a sign that perhaps he was simply at the point of expecting this by now.

In any case, the silence would last between them for a bit until they got onto the subject of food. To what he heard, the demon would ponder that. "Well yes some odd things are good. Though, I am not sure what you mean by fruit soup. Do you mean like a soup made of fruit or like a fruit salad?" Well better to know what the heck the other was talking about rather than assume things. "Hmm. Well, i hope you don't mind me digging around a bit to see exactly what I can make for ya." After all he wasn't familiar with the other's kitchen, but at least he didn't have to wonder where it was.

He would trail behind the other as he moved towards the kitchen and once in the space, he would look around a bit to orient himself with the new space. Now let's see here....

"Well...to each their own. I would probably not make a good therapist. Don't have the best personality for it." Not to say that he didn't care or such, but the way he tended to approach things could be a volatile choice in that field. Understanding can play a huge part, but you also need to know how to get it across the right way. "There's enough hurt as is anyway.", he would snort faintly, leaving it at that.

He would puff his cheeks slightly. "I mean what I said. Soup. Out of fruit. If I wanted salad, I would say salad. Don't complicate your life please.", he would comment, his tone somewhat amused there. In any case, he would give the other a side glance before he moved to go to the kitchen. "Just don't break anything." He could live as long as his things did not get destroyed or something. That said, while the other looked around, he would go search through one of the cabinets above the counter.

"I can understand," the demon would say with a nod. The job wasn't for everyone and while he did want to help people, therapist isn't the word he would use for himself though. That aside, the demon would find himself tilting his head at the other when he heard the comment given. He wanted to poke at it, but something about the way the other spoke made him hold his tongue. Maybe now wasn't a good time to get into that.

Leaving that topic where it was for now, Rika would find himself highly amused at the other reaction to his words. As the other puffed out his cheeks, the demon would find himself watching the other with a lopsided grin. "You're kinda of cute when you do that," he would say and then giving a light shrug he would continue. "Hey I had to make sure. A fruit salad could be like a soup and well too late to warn me about that. My life is already complicated without anyone elses help." It was a sad truth, but he just couldn't accept simple and had to go and pick at it too much. Such was his blessing and curse.

Anyway, the kitchen. The demon would stay by the entrance for a bit looking at the lay out of the kitchen before going in further and actually begin hunting for items needed to cook a soup. Out of habit he aimed for a lower cabinet to find a pot as he spoke. "Do I worry that much in a kitchen?" He could be a klutz yes, but he wasn't gonna just become a wrecking ball for being within the kitchen.

When the other called him cute, he would blink at first, before reaching over to grab the idle octopus plushie from the sofa top, putting it on his head. "That's what I have this for.", he'd state in a deadpan, before responding to the soup thing. "Fruit salad...isn't liquid enough?" He wouldn't really class the two together, seeing as soup was soup specifically because it was liquidy in some way. A salad...normally wasn't.

Anyway...kitchen time. And yes, he would walk there with the plushie still balanced on his head, though he did place it down on the small table in the center of the room before going off to dig through cabinets. "Basic statement. You asked if I don't mind. I say I don't as long as everything stays in one piece.", he would snort. That said, yes, the other would be able to find pots in the lower cabinets. Seeing as some of them could be big and all, it was better than storing them up where one could drop that on their head accidentally while trying to get it. Even with his height, he preferred not to balance big pots above his head somewhere.

Regardless, he would soon find what he was looking for, proceeding to kind of stare at the orange bottle in his hand. He was clearly thinking about something, it would seem.

To the other's actions and words, the demon would find himself actually laughing a bit at that one. "Well it is cute, but I still say you are cuter." And it was the truth though how the other was really taking that was beyond him. Well at least the guy wasn't complaining, so this was probably good. Anyway soups.

"I honestly don't think we are on the same page," the demon would begin as he scratched the back of his head. "Fruit salad has juices in it so to a degree could be soupy; however, from what I am gathering you mean a literal soup made out of fruit. And if that is the case, I've never heard of it or tried one until now. What is it exactly?" Might as well try to figure it out since they were the topic no?

Well wherever that went, the demon would look through the cabinets finding a reasonable size pot for what he was wanted to do. With the proper pot in hand he would rest it on the stove for the time being before moving to grab a smaller pot too. After he had his pots, he would go to see what the other had food wise. He would check out the pantry taking note of no canned soups, but he did eye some other things that he could use instead. Digging around, he would get an onion, flour, and fresh cloves (if the other had them). With the pantry goods in his hand, he would move about the kitchen looking for other things such as salt, tomatoes, spices, and chicken. As he gathered what he needed, he would respond to the other. "Ah I see." Well that was fair enough he suppose.

In any case, he'd wash his hands before moving to work on peeling the onion. As he was doing this he would take note of the other staring at that bottle. He'd watch him for a moment before looking back at the onion. "What's wrong love?" he would ask as he continued to work.

He would stare at the other blankly for a few seconds before huffing. "You would." To be fair, he had kind of expected something cheesy, so this didn't surprise him. And while he could have retorted to it somehow, he didn't want to waste his energy right now. "A lot of things can be juicy, but you don't call them soups, do you?", he would shrug lightly. "It's a soup that's made to be eaten cold. Kind of like a dessert of sorts, since it's fruit." Though of course, fruit could be used as a normal meal too. To each their own.

In any case, when the other questioned him, he would look towards the guy, albeit it seemed more like he was looking through the other than at him. He would keep up his stare for a few moments before shaking his head and looking back down at his hand with a sigh. "Just...thinking..." Yeah, there was a lot to think about, alright. Outside of the fact that he wasn't feeling the best right now.

Rika would give the other an innocent smirk as he rubbed the back of his head at that one having nothing to say or add onto it. There was no need to and as long as the other wasn't fussing he was fine with this. "No, I suppose that is true." Not everything that was juicy was called a soup. Still if fruit salad was all he knew then what did the other expect for him to say? Anyway..."That sounds like an interesting soup. Perhaps I'll find a way to make it and try it one day." He did enjoy new challenges and tastes when it came to food and while fruit sounded weird perhaps it had a good flavor to it and was likable. He'd just have to experiment and see one day.

That aside the demon would finish peeling the onion moving over to place it with the other vegetables before shifting a bit to work first with the meat. He would keep it away from the other items to keep them from getting contaminated as he carefully began to cut the meat taking off fat and making the chicken into small pieces that could cook fast, but also would be easy to eat. As he worked, he would hear the other answer his question. "Thinking about what?" he would ask his eyes staying on his work even if he was feeling a bit concerned for the other right now.

"Mmn." Well, that was up to the other in the end. He had just mentioned it because of the whole hot/cold issue back there. It wasn't originally meant to be much of an extended conversation, though this was fine too.

He would close his eyes briefly. "Life...I suppose." That was the best way to sum it up at the moment. It wasn't really helping him though, as he was distressed in more ways than one. Nevertheless, he would stop his idle staring for now, fishing out one tablet from the bottle, popping it onto his mouth and moving over to lean against the table for now.

The demon would just give a light smile, but nothing more as the soup topic ended and the work on an actual soup began. He would prep the chicken pieces before placing them in the larger of the two pots and then moving to get water to put it on the meat. Once that was done he'd return to the stove and season the meat and water before leaving it to let it cook. Once that was done, he'd clean the space he used for the meat before moving on to the vegetables. Still working, he would pause to glance over at the other when he heard his answer. He would consider the words before refocusing on the cooking.

"Life huh. Wanna talk about it?" he would ask as he moved to the sink and began to run the water to chop the onion.

He would frown slightly. "Bad idea right now." It was enough that he was nearly giving himself a panic attack at the moment. Besides, such a conversation would heavily interfere with cooking and most likely eating as well, and that would defeat the entire purpose of this. "I'll answer your questions after this thing kicks in, and we get done with the food, because I'm fairly sure if we start discussing this now....we won't be eating anytime soon." For many reasons.

"That bad, huh?" the demon would say softly surprisingly not frowning or getting upset about this as he smiled faintly at this. "Alright then. I'll give your space," he said making slices in the onion before turning off the water and bring the onion over to the cutting board. He chop the onion some more using half of it to create small cubes of the vegetable putting the other half to the side, he would work on cutting up cleaning and cutting up the tomatoes pausing only to get his other pot heated up so when he was done with all the chopping he could dump it right in there. He would work in silence for now not having much to say as he simply let his mind be in the amount. Aware of his actions. Aware of the other and not wandering to places it did not need to be. He couldn't be too sure, but outside of sickness he was pretty sure the other might be under some sort of strain. He was pretty certain it wasn't just to show him or deal with pain that the other was taking the medicine now.

"Maybe...", he would make a small grimace there. Well, yes, he was taking this for reasons beyond just showing off his meds and all that. Several of them, even. Though, he would shake his head as he propped himself on the table, sitting on it for the time being. "I don't mind talking though...just not about those topics right now...we can talk...about onions? I don't know..."

The demon would hum with a light nod at the response given not pushing the matter any further as he continued to work. When the other mentioned continuing to talk the demon would give a faint snort. "I had just ran out of things to say. Though since you brought up onions, he would moved to get the cloves ready. "Do you like to cook? I noticed you didn't have many canned goods around."

"I don't like buying pre-made food. You can't know what was actually put into it, and I'd rather not eat more potential weirdness than necessary. I'm fine with cooking. It can be a good way to pass sometimes." He wouldn't say he loved it with all his heart or something, as it could be a hassle at times, but he generally didn't mind doing it. Besides, when you want something exact, it's easier to cook it than to try to find an already completed mush somewhere in a store.

"That is true. You can't really know what is in those cans and what not. Though I have to admit, I rely on them can goods quite a lot to make shopping and cooking easier for me." Was it the best life style? Who knew, but at least it kept his stomach full and left him with money to manage everything else in life too. "Cooking is a nice thing to do. Kind of calming in a way." The demon would finish his chopping and after putting a bit of oil in the pan he would begin placing his veggies and spices in the pot letting them begin to cook for a while before he brought it all together. While he was waiting for things to cook, he would move the used dishes and items to the sink and begin to clean them.

"I would say most things don't take too long to make without them anyway." A simple soup is a fairly quick fix, so why would you need to have a can of it? Unless you're really the type of a person who doesn't have enough time to prepare nearly anything the usual way. Besides, cans aren't big, so if you make your own, you'll actually have more on hand. "Only to a certain point. You have to pay attention to not burn something..." It wasn't the best time for daydreaming, so how calming it was could be rather varied.

"I suppose it depends on how lazy someone is. Some find it a huge hassle to do this." Home cooking was great and all, but even simple dish required prep time which at times took longer than opening a can of something and heating it up. In the end, the choice rested with the individual. "Well, I don't mean it will put me to sleep or zone me out to that point. I am paying attention. It just quiets the voices for a bit as my mind focuses on something else. Something simple. It is...a nice change." And so it was. It made him more manageable and normal that was for sure.

"Unless you're really busy, or dislike cooking, it technically shouldn't be." And well, if even a simple dish was a hassle to you...what did you eat? Everything from cans or just order take out constantly? That can't be good for long-term health. "I don't....find it to be any different...though, it's better than doing nothing at times." His concentration could be all over the place at times, so he couldn't count on focus to make him feel better.

"Well sometimes business has nothing to do with it. More like do you have the will to make the effort or do you take the easy out? I think depending on the person it can be sheer laziness." Though in his case it was a combination of things. Sometimes he was lazy, but other times it was just his mood in general that made him more inclined to do something that didn't use up what little energy he had....or he just didn't eat at all. None were healthy options, but that was how it was for now. "I suppose it has a different effect on me. A focus keeps me calm. Without one I just," he would snort softly as he shook his head at that one. He kind of exploded all over the place is what, even more so if a bad mood was in play. In any case, he'd finish cleaning the dishes and check on the pots to make sure everything was cooking nicely and not burning. Mhm so far all good.

"When put that way, being too lazy to even make a proper meal for yourself sounds kind of bad...." If not even food, what would you do for your own well-being? It was the main thing that kept you alive after all. "It depends on the type of focus for me...some work, some don't...", he would huff faintly as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Well, I will agree being lazy doesn't lead you to the right choices that is for sure." Quick solutions to the problem sure, but the best ones? Most definitely not. One had to work for quality results. "Is that so. Well what works for you and what doesn't?" the demon would ask as he moved to lean against the counter for now since the pots needed to do a bit of work before he had to interfere again.

As he settled, his eyes would drift over to the other who was now sitting on the table and looking at the ceiling. He wanted to know what the guy was thinking. He could ask, but he honestly didn't want to derail the piece and potentially ruin soup time either, so for now he kept quiet as he shifted his eyes elsewhere for the moment.

"Kind of....situational. Though...I suppose things that require more focus than that. Cooking can be done rather mechanically unless it's a recipe you're not familiar with yet." It allows your thoughts to wander still, so it isn't as great of a help as it may seem. It's easier to not concentrate on issues when you have to turn your full focus on something, without much of a break.

"I suppose so. Though I always am fully focus even when I know the recipe well. Will screw up if I zone out. Not exactly a pro at auto-piloting cooking." He would give the other a lopsided smile before becoming contemplative of the rest. "Situational, huh? Well can you give me some examples of what works and doesn't work for you focus wise?"

He would shake his head slightly. "That's a hard question. Situational kind of means it isn't set in stone completely. I suppose I usually focus well when I do programming stuff? Though, I'm not sure why it really matters anyway, as focus isn't always an answer to things. I would say that at times being distracted it actually better." Of course, depends on what said distraction is, but it can easily work better at capturing one's attention away from problems than trying to hardcore focus on one thing.

"Well, I was curious about what you like to focus on is all. Though, I suppose distraction is a good word versus focus...though in the end, distractions just I dunno...help me run away I guess. i find focusing on something helps me work through it all." He could have a distraction yes, but in the end when the distraction was gone he still had an issue to deal with, but when he was focused on something, he somehow worked through his issue via whatever he was doing, so at the end he was more calmer. It was odd in a way, but it worked for him. That aside..."Programming stuff. You told me you worked with the stuff before. Is it a passion of yours or...?" The demon would tilt his head, finding it kind of ironic that after all this time the basic stuff still seemed to just come at random times versus the beginning.