Chapter 12 Making You Dinner

Iggy twiddled his thumbs as he sat at the table. Nobody said anything as they waited for Foodie to finish making their dinner, which told Iggy about the mood dominating the room. While he couldn't speak for his siblings, he knew that he himself felt more than a little concerned. Sure, Foodie's points about needing a good meal did make sense, and Iggy had to admit that he felt something when looking into his eyes earlier. Heck, under any other circumstances, Iggy would probably be ecstatic that this was happening!

And yet, he just couldn't shake the fact that their search for the traits had come to a screeching halt. Even after getting a text from Roy and Lemmy that they were going to go to the area described by Foodie, Iggy's soul still buckled under the weight of the circumstances. He really wanted to continue searching; desperately wanted to continue searching. The fact that he wasn't actually out in the world doing so made him feel… inadequate. It made him feel as though he wasn't being as proactive as he should be, that he was wasting precious time and stalling when it came to making progress.

Regardless, he still sat. He sat completely still, not looking at anything in particular. He mostly just thought about what could possibly be running through Foodie's mind right now. He imagined that the trait was happy; or, at the very least, Iggy hoped he was happy. They hadn't found Morton's depression yet, and Iggy believed that Foodie's separation from that very severe mental condition would help him feel better.

In fact… he was going to see for himself if that was the case. He got up from his chair, which garnered a raised eyebrow from both Sarcasm and Rage. Iggy took a deep breath before turning away from them and heading towards the kitchen. He immediately noticed the smell. There was something so rich about it, so alluring that it actually helped the worried Iggy to smile. Seriously, this scent was delectable! It told him exactly what he should expect from the dish his brother was making, and Iggy couldn't be happier because of that.

When he opened the door to the kitchen, he initially peaked his head inside without fully stepping in. He saw Foodie, standing in front of the oven. The trait actually whistled as he waited for the dish to cook, something that actually drew Iggy's interest. He fully entered the room, captivated by both the scent as well as Foodie's demeanor.

"Salutations."

Foodie did a double take before turning toward Iggy. Now, Iggy didn't know for sure if this was just his imagination, but he thought he saw Foodie's eyes grow wide for a second upon seeing him. He also thought he saw Foodie tremble a little bit, but again, he couldn't say for sure.

"Oh. Hey Iggy." Foodie hesitated for a second before putting on a smile. "How are you?"

"Positively fine, thank you very much." He looked at the oven, the source of the aroma that had been so desirable to him. "May I ask what the dish you decided to make is?"

Foodie blinked before his smile grew bigger. "It's a type of creamy pesto chicken." Foodie chuckled. "I've been wanting to make it for a while now, mostly because I absolutely adore pesto."

"Oh really?" Iggy asked, admittedly interested.

"Yeah. It's a really great dish component, and it adds a nice flavor to whatever entree it's paired with." Foodie let out a breath before putting his twinkling eyes back on the oven. "Plus, we don't eat dishes with it very often. It is my belief that the ingredient would be the perfect way to give all of you a treat."

"Hmm. Possibly." Iggy managed to smile. "I can say I am looking forward to it just based on your enthusiasm alone."

Foodie blinked, gawking at Iggy. "Really now?" A silence befell the room as Foodie did a double take. "Well, that's good." He put his hands behind his back. "It's always good to be excited."

Iggy didn't respond to this verbally, instead just opting to nod. He didn't know whether he should continue this conversation or if he should switch to another topic. Heck, he wasn't even certain if he should stay. Part of him told him that it would probably be best if he just went back into the dining hall and waited for the dish to be done baking in there. He didn't know why; there was just something about the way Foodie stood that told him that would probably be for the best.

But, since he wasn't even completely sure, he just stayed still. He kept glancing between Foodie and the kitchen timer, biting his lip as he tried to come up with something to say.

"How does it feel?" he finally asked. "How does it feel to be separated from your other traits?"

Foodie stayed quiet for a minute before giving a definitive answer. "It's… strange. I feel better in a lot of ways, and yet I also feel worse in a lot of ways. Everything is the same as before… and yet, it's so vastly different that I don't even know what to do with myself." He seemed to squirm a little bit. "And honestly, I'm not even one hundred percent sure if I dislike it. I feel free in some ways like my world just opened up. And yet, I am still just one trait. I think I would live my best life as part of the whole…" he looked over at Iggy before hanging his head. "Sorry. Went off on a bit of a tangent."

"That's perfectly fine." Iggy considered what he wanted to ask very carefully. "How much do you remember being part of the whole?"

"Remember? That's an interesting word. I don't know if I 'remember' it, as it wasn't really me who was experiencing those events. I didn't really have fully realized thought and consciousness when I was part of Morton. I was just a trait, so everything I did and experienced was in service of him. And because of that, the time before the split feels more like a dream than anything else. It's like I was seeing and experiencing these things, and yet, there's something that seems off to me when I recall these events. It's like… again, it's like a dream."

Iggy considered this. "I suppose that makes sense." He chuckled. "It is fascinating, I must admit. Extremely so, if I were to be frank."

Foodie snickered. "Somehow, I'm not surprised to hear you say that." Right at that moment, the kitchen timer beeped. "Oh!" Foodie's entire form lit up. "It's finally ready!" He made his way over, turning off the timer before he grabbed hold of the oven mitts. He pulled the dish out of the oven, and Iggy had to admit he was impressed upon seeing the color and appearance of it. The pesto looked and smelled amazing when paired with the chicken, so much so that it made the Koopaling salivate. Seriously, Morton was able to make something that good looking? Why did nobody tell Iggy before!

"Oh mama." Foodie took a deep breath, inhaling the scent before sighing in content. "Yeah, this is definitely good." He smiled as he turned back to Iggy. "We just have to wait for it to cool, then I can dish it for everyone."

"Sounds good." Iggy looked back at the chicken, staring at it as if it were a shiny gold nugget. "My goodness, I had no idea you were so talented."

Foodie blinked again. "Th…thank you." He looked Iggy in the eye, sporting probably the strongest bout of surprise Iggy had ever seen. "It's really nice to hear you say that."

Iggy beamed. "It's true."

FoFoodie's jaw dropped before doing a double take. "Man, I guess this means…" he looked back at Iggy, and all of a sudden turned into a squirmy, wriggly mess. "Never mind." He stepped closer to the oven, possibly as a way to separate himself from his older brother.

Although, Iggy wasn't content to just let the conversation end there. There were too many questions he wanted to ask Foodie. And honestly, there was one in particular that threatened to consume him. He had been thinking about it throughout this whole conversation, which meant that at this point he couldn't not ask it.

"Foodie…" Iggy hesitated as Foodie turned back to face him. Even though Iggy wanted to ask this question, it was still hard to verbalize. "Foodie… have you… do you by any chance know if Morton was…" he took a deep breath, running his hand down the length of his mohawk. "I had a theory about Morton. In fact, this theory is what prompted me to split him up in the first place. It…" he swallowed a lump. "Do you know whether or not Morton had depression?"

Foodie did a double take. Iggy almost expected him to laugh that theory off because of this. After all, with the amount of shock hidden in his body language, wouldn't that make sense?

However, that was not what Foodie did. He stayed silent for a little bit before whimpering. "I shouldn't tell you this. I really shouldn't be telling you this." He turned back to Iggy, cringing as he did. "But… yes. Yes, Morton has depression."

"Oh!" Iggy exclaimed. If he were to be frank, he couldn't believe he had retrieved that information that easily. It was almost unnatural, in a sense, to get to know the answer to that question without much of a struggle from Foodie. He wasn't complaining, of course, he just found it odd. "Well… that's great!"

Foodie gasped. "Great? How can that be great?"

"It's great in the sense that I know now," Iggy responded. "Obviously, the fact that he has depression isn't great at all. In fact, it is a very harrowing fact, and there is no way I would be happy knowing that about him."

"I see." Foodie bit his lip while going over to the cupboard and getting plates. "Well, it's the truth. He has depression, and… well, he just has it."

Iggy frowned at that word choice. "What is that supposed to mean?" Foodie seized up, which alerted Iggy to the fact that he used an accusatory tone. "Never mind, forget I said that." He cleared his throat. "Do you, by any chance, know what is causing Morton to have depression?"

If Foodie seized up before, now it looked like he was frozen in place. "Causing?" he squeaked.

"Yes." Iggy stepped closer to him. "Obviously, a chemical imbalance is a very possible cause. But personally, I think there's more to it than that; there has to be some sort of external factor interfering with his mental state." He took another step closer. "Foodie, do you think you know what that might be?"

Foodie turned toward Iggy. Much to the Koopaling's shock, there was fear in the trait's eyes. Yes, fear. He even shook while looking at Iggy, something that made Iggy's heart skip several beats.

"Um…" he looked Iggy up and down, not daring to turn away while battling his hesitance. "I don't… I'm not…" he eventually looked Iggy in the eye, an action that made the genius's stomach twist and churn. There was something about that look, something so insidiously horrifying. It made Iggy afraid, more afraid than he had been in a very long time.

Foodie cleared his throat. "I'm not sure." Iggy raised an eyebrow, which seemed to speed up Foodie's speech. "Again Iggy, trying to remember what it was like before the split isn't exactly an easy thing to do for me."

Iggy didn't buy that. He didn't know if it was Foodie's body language, tone, or just the way he looked at his brother, but Iggy knew the trait was hiding something. The problem was he didn't know what. He had a feeling it was important, which made his ignorance even more difficult to deal with. He wanted to know!

Before he could press on any further, Foodie finally got the plates down and went over to his chicken pesto dish. "Let's just eat, okay? I really do want you guys to try this."

Iggy opened his mouth to protest, but just as quickly shut it. "Okay."

So, the two of them got right into dishing the meal. Iggy kept stealing glances at Foodie, tempted to ask him more. However, he kept his mouth shut. He kept it shut even as they worked together to bring the dishes out to the others.

"Well!" Foodie exclaimed while setting the dish tray down on the table. "It's ready everybody! Creamy pesto chicken, with an addition of basil leaves, baby tomatoes, and pine nuts." He smiled. "I hope you guys like it."

"I'm sure we will Foodie!" Wendy said as she came over and took her dish.

Larry snorted as he got his. "Yeah, maybe this being good might make up for how it took forever to make it."

"Watch it, twerp," Rage growled as he smacked Larry on the back of the head.

Iggy took his dish and went to go sit down next to Foodie. He noticed anticipation in his eyes, possibly because he hoped for validation. Well, Iggy wasn't going to make him wait any longer. He picked up his fork, took a bite…

And his eyes grew wide. "Wow."

"Oh man, this is actually really good!" exclaimed Fear.

Sarcasm adorned a smirk as he cut his chicken. "I don't even want to berate this; it's too good for that!" He took another bite, delight shining through his normally incredulous eyes.

Iggy nodded and turned back to Foodie. "You did an amazing job, Morty." He smiled. "I'm proud of you."

Foodie did another double take before putting on a tiny smile. "Thank you," he whispered. "That means a lot coming from you."

Iggy grinned and took another bite. All his previous worries were gone. He ate away at Foodie's dish, wondering why Morton hadn't cooked for them before. Seriously, with this much talent and skill… Morton really wasn't living up to his full potential in the world of cooking. Iggy just knew he was going to try to convince him to do so when they all put him back together.