John looked over his list of ingredients that he could use to make a dish for his date with Gwen and decided to go with Rock Dove. Good old dependable Rock Dove, nothing else he had beats that! John could almost hear Lisa Simpson’s voice in his head, saying, “Poor predictable John; always takes Rock Dove.” It was not like he was thrilled to be making a dish out of pigeon, but his other choices were the various bugs he had absorbed, and he wasn’t sure that would be appealing to Gwen, even with how much different cultures valued them as food sources. Maybe another meal, he would try to use a crustacean based recipe with one of the bugs as an ingredient, but for now, that was off the table, both figuratively and literally.

On the other hand, John could use more “normal” ingredients that he had acquired, like a standard cut of chicken breast. Still, besides giving a buff, he felt that using a Dungeon Creature for that may have some other benefits, including the overall taste of the meal. Besides, European settlers had initially brought pigeons as a potential food source, though that idea had backfired spectacularly, like many other ideas from that period of time. And John knew for a fact that his pigeon was “raised” pristine, not like the garbage vulture John had used to acquire the pattern.

Since the Dungeon Creature version of the Pigeon was about the size of a standard chicken, John decided to make a roast out of the Pigeon, similar to how he would chicken. As he spawned the Pigeon in the Soul Space, he commanded it to die, so he was luckily able to avoid some of the mess involved in the process. As John butchered and cleaned the bird according to the process that was luckily outlined in one of his cookbooks, he was happy to see that that processed pigeon meat was added under his poultry materials. So, if John wanted to repeat this meal or others like it, he wouldn’t have to go through the butchering process again. It wasn’t that John was disgusted by it, just that it took a decent amount of time, and it would be nice cutting that down in the future. Hopefully, this would hold for most of the ingredients coming from the Dungeon; it would be nice only to have to prepare food when he wanted to. Hell, sometimes even cooking the food was a pain, so hopefully, like some of the previous foods John had absorbed, he could summon the finished product once he had cooked it the first time.

As John finished cooking and began plating the dinner, arranging the roasted rock dove with a side of chili-lime roasted asparagus, both of which he felt were spiced to near perfection, he felt a sense of pride in the meal he had prepared. The System seemed to concur that he had cooked a worthy meal, giving him a set of notifications to go through. The least surprising notification was that he had levelled Dungeon Crafting to level 6. However, he was enthused that his levelled Crafting ability seemed to be giving him hints about other ingredients that could be substituted to change the recipe in different ways. It appeared that if John made an improved version of the recipe, not only would he receive some Crafting experience for it, he would also increase the effects of eating the Food, especially if John used ingredients from the Dungeon. Wondering what the results of the recipe were, John brought up its description.

Roasted Rock Dove With Chili-Lime Asparagus

Description: A seasoned rich rock dove main dish with a side of spicy and slightly sour asparagus.

Required Ingredients: Rock Dove Creature Meat, Asparagus, Lime, Chili, Seasonings.

Effects: +1 CON, STR For 6 Hours, 1.1x Health and Mana Regen For 12 Hours, Homing Ability For 24 Hours.

Variants: Using Dungeon harvested ingredients such as Dungeon Plant Asparagus or Dungeon Harvested Seasoning will increase the bonuses’ effects or time active.

John was glad to see that his efforts for Gwen had been reason enough for the System to recognize them as a useful Recipe. It reassured him that the dish at least had a decent chance of tasting good and wouldn’t disgust Gwen when she ate it. John didn’t have any drink recipes to test out for dinner, but he figured that some of the soft drinks he had would be a novel and fun experience for Gwen. As John looked at the notification of him acquiring the Recipe, he was surprised that it mentioned that along with the recipe being available as a drop from the Dungeon’s appropriate entities, the Recipe’s completed version would also be available for Dungeon Trading. John was just about ready to call Gwen to start the dinner as he created a Dining Room adjacent to the Kitchen, though he had a feeling that she was not quite ready yet. To kill a little more time, John pulled up the semi-complete description of the Homing Ability, which creating a Recipe that gave it as a bonus had unlocked.

Homing

Description: The user has an innate sense of the direction of a specific place relative to the user’s position.

Prerequisites: ???

Research Points Needed: ???

Cost: ???

Drops Skill Gem Usable By Adventurers: Y

John guessed that he had gained the parts of the description relevant to adventurers because he had created a Recipe they could use. He was still missing the information about what he could do with his Creations regarding the ability, and John would have to ask Gwen exactly what a Skill Gem is. John wasn’t quite sure if that topic would be appropriate for dinner conversation, but since it was related to both of their careers and interests, he would bring it up if it seemed relevant to the discussion. Otherwise, John could always bring it up tomorrow; it’s not like it was an issue of utmost importance. As he was thinking about this, Gwen sauntered into the room, seeming to be hoping to surprise him a bit. However, John had a feeling that Gwen did not intend him to surprise him in one of the ways she had, and he had to stifle his laughter to avoid accidentally hurting her feelings.

Gwen was excited about the date. It seemed that dating on Earth was a bit more casual than it was on Urth, as John hadn’t even made mention of any kind of chaperone. That fact was both freeing and left Gwen feeling a bit nervous, as any first dates back home had been accompanied by some sort of chaperone to make sure the young couples didn’t get up to any scandalous behaviour. Not that she had ever got up to more than chaste kissing with a few of the suitors she had found particularly appealing, but it was nice to have a lifeline to help get out of any awkward conversations. Gwen didn’t expect the conversation to be uncomfortable. That was just her nerves speaking. To try and calm the jittery feeling she had, Gwen worked on her outfit. She wasn’t exactly sure what people on Earth wore on dates, so she went with what she had seen before. While the person wearing the outfit Gwen was modelling hers after had a bigger bust than Gwen, Gwen was confident in her assets and used the same chest accent that the ensemble had, and felt she didn’t lose out at all when comparing their lower bodies. That the person Gwen was using as a model also had a much lighter skin tone than she did also didn’t bother her, as she had worn outfits with similar colours before to great results. Gwen was also glad this outfit had an open back, as that meant she didn’t have to make any adjustments for her wings and could concentrate on making the clothes hug her curves in appealing ways. She was satisfied with the results, sure that John would appreciate how the outfit looked on her as he let her know he was close to being ready for their dinner. Gwen sauntered her way into the room John had set up for their dinner, thinking John looked handsome in the ombre mauve and rose gold collared polo shirt and black pants he was wearing. It gave him a dignified look that she hadn’t seen before on him, and concentrating on him helped her keep up her confidence.

John managed to hold in his laughter as Gwen slinkily made her way to the table. It wasn’t that she didn’t look great. In fact, John thought she looked stunning. He bumped finding or making her some pumps near to the top of his mental priorities, though not in actuality. However, John could picture just how great a high heel could accentuate her legs, which looked terrific enough on their own already, and they would help her image if she wanted to play the part of the temptress in their relationship. Regardless of his thoughts on her looks, John needed to show Gwen some more contemporary fashion examples. Other people wouldn’t necessarily feel that what she was wearing was appropriate dinner wear. He would find her some fashion magazines since she seemed to have some talent at modifying clothing, and maybe they could watch a second movie tonight set in a more contemporary setting. As John finished his thoughts on the matter, Gwen was approaching the table, and he remembered his gentlemanly duties and pulled the chair out for her, which earned him a warm smile from her. “You look great tonight, Gwen,” John said as he sat in his seat.

“Thanks, everything at the table looks scrumptious,” Gwen said with a sultry huskiness to her voice. “I hope I look half as good as the… meal before me,” she said with a slight pause while accentuating her body with her movements.

It took John a couple of seconds to collect his thoughts and keep his blush from spreading too much before he answered her. “I see you’ve dressed up in Wonder Woman’s outfit again,” John said as he cocked an eyebrow at Gwen.

“Yeah, she’s so cool,” Gwen said, her voice losing a bit of its husk and resuming her more standard upbeat tone. “I haven’t read any of her comics that you suggested to me yet, but she looks so powerful and beautiful.”

“As do you, but I have to warn that as amazing as you look, a leotard isn’t generally standard date attire. Though, you will hear no complaints from me if you choose to wear this outfit again,” John said, the amusement present in his voice as he added a wink at the end of the statement. “I have some ideas about what could be done to make it look even greater than it already does on you.” He was happy to see that his statement had caused a bit of a blush to rise on Gwen’s face, along with resulting in her wings fluttering a bit, which John had come to recognize for one of her tells that she was enjoying herself.

“We should start eating before our meals get cold. It looks like you did a good job. You look like you’re much better of a cook than I am,” Gwen said while touching John’s arm. He was very aware of the contact and was glad that he had chosen to seat them next to each other at the square table, rather than at opposite ends.

“It looks like you aren’t too bad yourself at tailoring, given how you fitted that outfit to yourself,” John said, returning the compliment. “I’ll have to pick up the Clothemaking sub-Ability soon. I have the feeling that we will be able to make some great designs together.”

“That’s cool, but I’m pretty satisfied with working on Research right now, so no need to rush,” Gwen said, and John could feel her appreciation for his consideration across their link. John and Gwen proceeded to enjoy a surprisingly excellent meal. They weren't surprised at the conversation’s quality, as he and Gwen enjoyed a fun and flirty talk, but instead, John was surprised at how good the meal tasted. He had expected it to be decent, but the Dungeon Creature Rock Dove had surprised him with how rich and tasty its flavour profile was. The fact that the meal was this good made John less wary about using some bug type Creatures as an ingredient. He had some tasty family recipes for shellfish that would taste great if the meat was even close to the quality of his usual ingredients. Gwen also seemed to enjoy the novelty of a carbonated drink that wasn’t alcoholic. Before they watched any movies, Gwen brought up another suggestion, that they spend some time with John showing her a wider variety of music. She had been casually listening to the songs on the playlist that John had provided and was interested in the different music available since she had enjoyed what she had heard so far. He agreed and told her that they could always skip songs if they didn’t suit her tastes.

John’s worry about her not enjoying most of the music he appreciated turned out to be unfounded, and Gwen’s musical taste ended up being nearly as eclectic as his. John did have to explain that it would be inappropriate for him to use some of the words the artists were using in rap music. While some people wouldn’t necessarily object to Gwen using that language, it would probably be best if she didn’t, given the words’ history. Sadly racial epithets were something that Gwen was familiar with, and it was a bit saddening of a reminder that bigotry can occur in many different places. On a happier note, some of the songs she had enjoyed the most from the listening session had included: DVNO and D.A.N.C.E. by Justice, Work On You by MSTRKRFT, Wanderlust by Every Time I Die, New Noise by Refused, November Has Come and Dare by Gorillaz, and Uno by Freddie Gibbs & Madlib. John wasn’t surprised by how much Gwen had enjoyed the EDM and Rap, as they seemed to fit her bubbly personality. He had been pleasantly surprised that she shared his affinity for Metalcore as well, as that wasn’t a genre that most people sought out.

John had received a notification while listening to the music but chose to leave it for later. However, since it was now late at night and there wasn’t anyone else around the terminal, John decided to give Jake and Lenny some tasks. For Jake, he left the job of setting up a reception area in the First Room of the Dungeon, as being a receptionist for the Dungeon would be one of his duties for the foreseeable future, and to think of any improvements that could be made around the entrance of the Dungeon. Lenny, John, sent out again to see if Lenny could gather any more samples of local flora and fauna that were yet to be part of John’s collection. Johnn had noticed a couple of species of birds like Magpies, Blue Jays, and Chickadees hanging around Sorenson Station and figured he should acquire their patterns. John was also able to make a bug net from one found in the lost and found and decided to equip Lenny with that so he could catch some of the Bees, Hornets, Wasps, Flies, Beetles, Spiders, Ants, and other Bugs that he had yet to capture. In the case of the Beetles and other bugs he already had patterns for, it was more to get a wider variety of designs for those kinds of Bugs and see how they affected the patterns he already had.

As John finished giving Jake and Lenny their tasks, he asked Gwen if she was ready to watch the movies. She said yes, and John began heading over to the entertainment room. However, Gwen grabbed his arm as she had other ideas about watching the movies. Gwen suggested that they could perhaps lay in John’s bed and cuddle while watching the films, with a blush on her face. John stuttered for a couple of seconds before agreeing to the change of plans, and they went to his room and settled in to watch The Two Towers and Inception.