PM16: Debating Food at the Nasty Burger

Phanniemay 2016: Day 17: Food

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Just a quick little one-shot with no real direction; maybe a little OOC (just imagine them as a little older in that case...?)! 

Please enjoy!

"Ever wonder why they called this place the Nasty Burger? I just don't get it. The food here's great," Tucker remarked as he chomped down into his burger. The sauce came dripping out and onto the wrap that had come with it, making Sam gag. 

"Because it is nasty?" she responded, sipping at her soda. 

"That's just your view as an ultra-recyclo vegetarian," he retorted. "This place is a safe haven for students everywhere, with delicious, meaty products that offer savoury nutrition."

"Ew, stop; you're going to make me lose my appetite." Gagging again, Sam pushed her drink away. "And I doubt the students over there would agree with your statement." She jabbed a finger at the counter, where a couple high school students were standing, dressed in the Nasty Burger working uniform and looking bored out of their mind and uninterested. 

Tucker glanced at them. "Okay, fine; so they might not be a huge fan of Nasty Burger, but I stand by my statement." He held the burger out to Sam. "I'm serious. This thing is amazing. Why won't you try it?"

"Ugh, there goes my appetite." She fanned the air in front of her as if she'd just smelled something foul, pushing the burger out of her face. 

"You weren't even eating anything! You're just drinking a soda," Tucker exclaimed in retort. 

Sam shrugged. "Well, you need an appetite to be able to drink things."

"You need to be thirsty to be able to drink things," he retorted, pulling his food back and biting into it once more. He began chewing as he said, "Man, this is good. See, this is the good life. You're really missing out, Sam."

She groaned. "Don't even try to get me to eat that darn burger. I'm not going to do it."

"But it's so good and we get protein—"

"Okay, enough with the 'good'. I get it." She paused, frowning at him. "We don't need that protein. There are plenty of substitutes."

"Yeah, like tofu or soy and that's it," he responded. When she opened her mouth to argue, he quickly added, "Well, you know what I mean. Very limited options that aren't exactly top tier food choices in terms of deliciousness. Anyway, science has proven that just surviving off of stuff like that isn't exactly healthy for the body. Or at least, you're not getting enough protein or the protein you need. For the most part, meat is still pretty necessary to daily life."

"Well, we're called omnivores for a reason. We can adapt. I don't eat meat and I'm fine," Sam protested. "Anyway, can you not talk with your mouth full? It's really gross and distracting."

He swallowed. "Okay, okay; jeez. Sorry. I was just trying to get you to try something new."

"And I don't want to." She began playing with the straw to her drink, swirling it around as she rested her cheek against her other, free hand. 

"I know it's useless but it's sometimes worth the try." He shrugged. 

Sam frowned. "But like, do you not know how they treat those poor animals? The conditions they live in are absolutely horrid."

Tucker hesitated. "Yeah, but...we need protein to survive. And everyone knows. To be honest, it's just so delicious I can't just give it up. It's just the way things are—just the way our society is."

"So you'll turn a blind eye and just let it happen?" 

"...Well, yeah; technically," he replied. "To put it really simply without delving into the whole controversy of it and the mentality behind it. It makes me look like a jerk but it's not like I'm the only one."

"Yeah," she said, looking a little disgusted as she thought of all the poor animals and awful people. "We humans sure are sympathetic creatures."

"Hey, don't give me that. Of course I don't like the way the animals are treated before being turned into food, but I like meat, Sam. I'm a growing boy. And I like meat. Sure it's bad how the animals are treated, but what can we do? It's a part of our lives and it's on a really large grand scale, which makes it really hard to change. It's just that sort of thing where you kind of have to brush it aside in your daily life—"

"But those poor animals are suffering—"

"—Even if you join a protest or sign a petition every now and then," Tucker finished. He sighed. "It's cool that you care about the animals, and I hope things change, but I can't pretend to be against having any meat at all."

"Well, yeah; that's not what I meant." She was silent for awhile. Then: "Wow, Tuck. That was deep." She paused before smirking teasingly. "For you, I mean."

He finished off his burger. "Hey, you pushed me into that corner. Making this conversation all deep and stuff."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, sorry. I'm just really passionate about my views."

"I know." He smiled. "I've been hanging out with you long enough. Ultra-recyclo vegetarian, right?"

She smiled back. "Right."

Just then, two people fell through the roof—literally going through the roof—before turning solid when they hit the ground. The two of them were wrestling, and a boy with snow-white hair and glowing green eyes was on the bottom. 

"You're so skinny!" the creaky voice of an old woman commented, before the voice turned violent: "Eat your meat and grow up strong!"

"I'm not eating any of your gross ghost meat!" the boy underneath the old ghost lady shouted. "Will you get off of me!?"

"How dare you try and avoid the healthy benefits of meat? Look at how weak you are without it!" the lady screeched, grabbing him even harder by the collar.
  
He struggled to pull away, trying to avoid the meat she was about to shove into his mouth. "Ech, let me go, Lunch Lady!"

"Looks like Danny's in trouble!" Sam exclaimed, jumping up. 

"Wanna put our differences of opinion on food aside and help out?" responded Tucker, holding up his arm in a flexing pose. 

"Sure." She grinned slightly before the two charged into the fray, ready to help their friend...