+ The True Moral +

[pig_and_pepper]

[ Grey ruffles obscure the broadcast, until the Duchess takes a step aside. She has taken her head off whole, and placed it carefully on a scale. She watches the numbers rise... rise... rise, until the scale beeps, and stops just at 39.9 pounds. The Duchess sighs, pleased, and picks her head back up. ]

Heavy is the head that knows the truth, make sure 'tis not too much to bear!

[ A long silence follows.

After a while it occurs to her that her audience may be with her still. ]

'Tis all I shall tell you today. If you wish to dig, dig yourself, what good is any truth if it lies buried with you? [ She taps her lip. ] Cremated, I suppose, that would be more accurate.

[ The Duchess primly sets her head straight in her lap. ]

Now, shall we bake a cake to help us through these frightful times? [ She clears her throat. ] You will need two eggs, two tablespoons cocoa, half a cup shortening, one and a half cups white sugar, one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon vanilla extract, one cup buttermilk, two and a half cups all-purpose flour, sifted of course, one and a half teaspoons baking soda....

[ This will go on for some time. Feel free to bake along. ]

Comments

[audio]

[theothermrgray]

[That wasn't awkward at all. Nope, no deep, dark secrets here. Hah hah hah...]

[Best to address the Duchess with formality. Might as well keep her company as she bakes.]

I appreciate your skills as a baker, my lady. Most nobles would just have their cook make every meal for them.

[audio]

[pig_and_pepper]

Too many cooks spoil the broth. Not by numbers, my friend, by percentage! You take a thing which pleases, and add another which does the same, and yet--

[ She shudders. ]

Spoiled the broth quite rotten, for all of us, my good friend.

[audio]

[theothermrgray]

[Is she trying to... No, there is no way she would know. She's only here to warn. Then again...]

Mmn. You might have a point.

Speaking of spoiled things, do you have plans this weekend? I never see you about during the events, and I do get worried for your safety.

[Not that much, but he won't admit that to her face.]

video

[choosetruth]

[This is... very interesting both in the fact that there is a woman literally weighing her head and in that she seems to be talking about truth, a topic very near and dear to Georgia's heart.

Heavy is the head that knows the truth. Ha. Doesn't she know it.]

I'm always in favor of sharing truths. Sometimes makes the easier to bear.

[Sometimes not.]

video

[pig_and_pepper]

Does it? Words alone hurt so very dreadfully, imagine what damage a truth might do. To the one who shares, keeps, hears-- [ She cracks an egg with flourish. ] I should much rather entertain. Distract.

video

[choosetruth]

[Her frown deepens very slightly under her sunglasses.]

Sometimes it's damage that has to be done. Distracting and entertaining won't solve anything.

[thisismadfreaky]

[He squints and debates whether or not to even answer. They're hardly ever helpful when he talks to the locals. Were they even locals, or had they all just been here so long they forgot everything else from before? It's all a lot to consider and Cisco isn't sure he's completely ready for that kind of thinking just yet.

Nevertheless. An Event warning was always the prime time to get answers, if you could think of the right question to ask.]

Dare I even ask why cremation is more appropriate? [Because that's just a tad concerning.]

[pig_and_pepper]

You'd not want the truth to dig its way from the ground again, would you? It must be disposed of properly, as must all things.

[thisismadfreaky]

Once something is known, it can't be unknown. [A beat.] Well, I guess unless you stick around here long enough.

[ofletters]

[ "Salt and burn." Words he thinks of now that echo in the voices of younger Winchesters, and in their father's. It's been a long time since they've taken care of any bodies.

... Probably for the best. ]

Where should we dig?

[pig_and_pepper]

In the ground, my good Sam. There's no sense digging through air. Water is another matter, but I suppose you'd drown before you get deep enough. [ She lifts her spoon, and watches the batter drip from it. ] But then, who says you will not, as it is now...

[ofletters]

And... why're the times 'frightful?'

[ Sam knows better than to expect a straight answer from these people, but he has to try, right? ]

audio

[postictal]

[Truth. Cremation. Fire.]

[...how good.]

Why cremated?

audio

[pig_and_pepper]

Negligence, my dear. They're already dead, they just don't always have the sense to notice. [ She slams her fist down hard on a lump of dough, and begins to roll it out. ] Nothing quite spells the end like fire.

audio

[postictal]

[He jumps at the unexpectedly loud bang the impact produces - though it might just be her words that put him ill at ease.]

...guess you'd be right there.

[video forever]

[mydude]

...Like, I'm happy to bake a cake with you or whatever, but I don't quite get how you'd like. Enjoy it.

[What with her mouth not being connected to her throat and all.]

[pig_and_pepper]

[ The Duchess puts on a dramatic tone, and gestures with flourish: ]

Thank you, my dear Duchess, what a wonderful cake you made! Blessings upon you, Your Grace, what a splendid recipe! Heavens, you magnificent and extraordinary woman, my senses have never beheld such a delicacy before!

[ She stops, her body all but bowing. ]

You see? You see the moral now? Reactions are what matters the most, not cause, but effect.

[mydude]

[Taako squints.]

Uhhhh.

[Nope, he can't follow that at all.]

I just want to know what effect eating cake would have on your head.

[...Snort.]

Does it go straight to your hips?

Video

[moraloutrage]

[Sorry, he's new to this, so one particular aspect of this broadcast happens to catch his attention.]

MISS! MISS!!! BUT, YOU... YOUR HEEAAAAADD!!!!!

Video

[pig_and_pepper]

[ The Duchess looks down on-- Well, the Duchess chest tilts, as if looking down, and her head glances about, somewhat aimlessly. Her shoulders shrug. ]

Yes, dear? What of it?

Video

[moraloutrage]

I... I am sorry to inform you, b-but... but... YOUR HEAD HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUR BODY!!

[video]

[deadshapes]

[Oh cool, another one of the Wonderland denizens, or whatever. She's not sure they actually have an official title.]

Hi there. You're different from the last two I saw.

...I like your head.

[That seems like the polite thing to say.]

[video]

[pig_and_pepper]

Why, thank you! 'Tis important to always keep one's head about - if not firmly on your shoulders, then at the very least in close vicinity, so as to always retrieve access to it when there's trouble afoot!

[ She sighs. ]

'Tis important to aim for the head as well, as everyone well knows. Shall we hope we won't need to think of that too soon? Why, yes. Yes, we truly should...

[Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5tVbVu9Mkg

[mettatonvevo]

[Oh it's been awhile since he's spoken to the Duchess! He still has her gift which he appreciates despite not really knowing what to do with it currently. All the same it's... good? To see her?

And honestly he's kind of curious if what the Duchess is instructing will actually turn into a cake. So he gathers the ingredients as she instructs, sets his camera up and himself up in the kitchen and gets ready to bake along.]

Is that why you had to set your head aside? Because the truth was weighing it down?

[He adjusts his little apron to make sure it is on tight.]

All right, what's the next step in this recipe?

[pig_and_pepper]

Truth, responsibilities, conditioner styling spray, fear-- 'tis a long and heavy list, my good friend. I try rope and tape and cloth, but they only hold so much...

[ Her lone head shakes itself sadly, but perks up when the subject turns to her recipe. ]

--Oh! Why, you preheat the oven, grease the pans, and give the shortening a good beating!