PSL for Chicklet

[thoughtbubble]

Atom's friends from school had left the diner a little earlier. He had volunteered to hang onto to supplies for their group project, and took a while longer packing all the papers and supplies into his backpack before leaving.

As he headed out the door, the restaurant staff smiled and said good bye to him, thanking him as they did every customer who stopped in. He looked back to wave to them, not paying attention to who or what was on the sidewalk when he first stepped out from under the awning of the building.

Comments

[upupatomway]

"Oh!" Atom laughs at his mistake. "Don't worry. If you come up a little short I'll cover the rest of the cost for you. There are still other flavors you need to try!"

[manga_goddess_skuld]

"Really?!" She asked, overjoyed.

[upupatomway]

"Sure! Go ahead and order another round." It doesn't occur to him yet that his wallet might hurt later. That's a future Atom problem though.

[manga_goddess_skuld]

"THANKS!" she said happily, and bounded to the counter to order a kitchen sink with two scoops of everything and then an extra four scoops of vanilla on top of that.

[upupatomway]

The robot behind the counter is surprised but gets scooping. They tell her she can wait at the table and they will bring it to her soon.

"The kitchen sink? Isn't that the largest thing on the menu?" Atom asks. He thought she'd be going for another bowl the same size. She wasn't kidding about how much ice cream she wanted!

[manga_goddess_skuld]

She nodded and went back to her seat, happily. "Yes, thank you!"

[upupatomway]

"Do your sister drink the same amount of tea and sake? Goddesses must have special stomachs!" He's trying to think of how large a human's stomach typically is. Could it be a matter of a larger size or is it magic?

[manga_goddess_skuld]

"Urd drinks even more sake than I get ice cream," she complained a bit. Notice how she didn't complain about Belldandy?

[upupatomway]

He's not sure if he should ask if Urd gets drunk off the sake. She must drink an amount that would be harmful to a human. Maybe that's part of why Skuld doesn't like how much sake Urd gets but is okay with her other sister's tea drinking.

"Maybe you can convince her to switch to ice cream and you can fill a freezer with it? Then you'd always have some around."

[manga_goddess_skuld]

"I wish I could, but booze is what she needs. Just like I need ice cream."

[upupatomway]

"Is it something you're born with that you discover then? You can't choose a food?"

[manga_goddess_skuld]

She shrugged. "I don't remember ever having a choice. It's just always been ice cream for me."

[upupatomway]

"Huh. So a goddess has to keep eating different foods, until one day she finds the right one?" Hopefully it's always something as common as what Skuld and her sisters love.

[manga_goddess_skuld]

"Um, maybe. I don't really remember," she admitted.

[upupatomway]

"I know you only look similar to a kid, but do you go to school at all? My sister and I both go to school. We have human classmates and mostly human teachers. There are a few robots on staff."

[manga_goddess_skuld]

"Huh... weird. Sentaro asked me about school too." she shook her head. "I'm on Earth to learn about Earth things for now. But I've finished most of my training already."

[upupatomway]

"You might like it, actually. Even if you only went for a day or two to try it. The people are really nice, and there are so many stories to read. We have art class- that one is really tough for me, but I learn a lot from it."

[manga_goddess_skuld]

Skuld going to school as anything other than a guest lecturer or a visitor would be an unmitigated disaster. Not that she knew that.

"I guess I could think about it, but... what could a school on Earth even teach me? I'm already a genius, and humans... kind of mostly aren't."

Ab.so.lu.te. di.sas.ter.

[upupatomway]

"I don't know... Maybe most humans don't have the memory or the calculative power that a robot brain can have, but I still learn things from them. You aren't interested even a little bit about the subjects you're not already a genius in?"

[manga_goddess_skuld]

"What subjects could there be that humans know that I don't know more about?" she asked, halfway between miffed and challenged.

[upupatomway]

He can see she doesn't like the suggestion, but he wants to give an answer on behalf of his human friends. They're not totally clueless beings.

"Well..." His eyes dip down towards his bowl and back up. "They mastered the art of making ice cream, for one."

[manga_goddess_skuld]

She blinked a few times, then nodded. "Okay, they can do that..."

[upupatomway]

"How about painting? Or sculpting? I find it much harder than it looks. But the best artists I know are humans."

[manga_goddess_skuld]

"I mean maybe, I never really tried those but... what's the point?"

[upupatomway]

It's a good question because the subject of art is complicated, and he still isn't sure he has wrapped his electronic brain around it philosophically. Granted, it's thanks to that challenge and his curiosity that he has heard a multitude of answers to that kind of question.

"There are all kinds of reasons for doing art. You can communicate with it- even things that can't always be put into words. You can record history with it. You can explore ideas and reflect with it. Sometimes, it's just plain fun! You should try it- even if it doesn't turn out good- the experience is an important part of it."

He tilts his head as he gives some thought to an example. "Like, you could try to show other people exactly how great ice cream makes you feel by drawing it!"