Lee Samson's Provisions

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<div class="open_container">\ <div class="logo">[img[lsp_assets/images/logo_smaller.png]]</div> <span class="text">A romance…possibly. <<link "Play the Game!">><<audio "bgm" volume 0.5 loop play>><<goto "First">><</link>> <<link "Play the Game! (without //excellent// music)">><<goto "First">><</link>> Benji Bright © 2019-2020. Version 0.96 [[Credits]] | [[About the Author]] | [[Instructions]] | [[Known Issues]] [[Changelog]] Content Warning: Income inequality, alcohol use, oblique references to homophobia, coarse langauge, and some kissin'.</span> </div>

<div class="standard_container"> <div class="game_text">\ <h1>Credits</h1>\ - Background photo is by Dan Meyers on [[Unsplash|https://unsplash.com/photos/F16B5nl7Qk8]] - The background song is "Saloon Love G" written and performed by the amazing Mike Sutjipto. You can find out more about his band (alongside the fabulous Sara Haile-Mariam) [[Makeda!|https://makedaband.bandcamp.com/]] and grab their EP "I'll Say It How I Want To" at their bandcamp. - Thanks to Dan Cox for his incredibly illuminating videos on narrative game programming lessons on youtube. If you're interested in doing interesting stuff with various engines including Twine (the one I used to make this) [[check them out|https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTWJzxNdsIDHiYzGh-2Fd1w]]. - And, of course, Chris Klimas who develops Twine and Thomas M. Edwards who develops Sugarcube, which is the story format I usually write in. Please consider supporting the former [[here|https://www.patreon.com/klembot]] and the latter [[here|https://www.patreon.com/thomasmedwards]]. - Lastly, Alex, for helping me work through the bugs and keeping me from chucking my laptop into Lake Michigan. <span style="font-size:2em;"><<back "⬅">></span></div></div>

<<cacheaudio "chopping" "lsp_assets/audio/chopping.wav">> <<cacheaudio "chopping_faster" "lsp_assets/audio/chopping_faster.wav">> <<cacheaudio "bgm" "lsp_assets/audio/saloonloveg.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "pour" "lsp_assets/audio/pouring_1.wav">> <<cacheaudio "season" "lsp_assets/audio/Cracking_Pepper.wav">> <<cacheaudio "fry" "lsp_assets/audio/Throwing_Vegetables_into_Hot_Pan.wav">> <<set $personalityreroll eq 0>> <<set $rapport to 5>> <<set $name_list to ["Dog", "Rust", "Piggy", "Clem", "Roll", "Barrel", "Wood", "Backyard", "Chatter", "Blink", "Wellwater", "Grass", "Barn", "Dust", "Fisher", "Boomerang", "Lim", "Crag", "Husk", "Flip", "Hogtie", "Kip Kip", "Prince", "Switchback", "Ice", "Tan", "Mild", "Sweetbread", "Sugar", "Salt", "Pepper", "Potlid", "Salmon", "Eel", "Wishful", "Handsome", "Muck", "Driven", "Washup", "Inkling", "Brutus", "Produce", "Poppy", "Piecrust", "Lasso", "Dustbowl", "Young", "Halfglass", "Bigboy", "Lumps", "Backpat", "Thirsty", "Rolly", "Dipper", "Wafer", "Sunset", "Gravel", "Rockslide", "Backpack", "Greenwood", "Oak", "Drifter", "Sample", "Chimney", "Nextdoor", "Salamander", "Cure-all", "Alabaster", "Westward", "Dreary", "Bentfork", "Blackglass", "Umbrage", "Splash", "Tinkle", "Quell", "Ornament", "Gravy", "Newblood", "Slippery", "Bait", "Hook", "Peachpit", "Rockstone", "Usedup", "Flicker", "Drygood", "Caveat", "Candle", "Lip", "Corned Beef", "Revel", "Capstone", "Hot Lunch", "Mutt", "Shaker", "Drink", "Crack", "Salvage", "Beefsteak", "Rider"]>> <<set $dish_list to ["Rabbit Stew", "Buffalo Stew", "Jarred Pickles and Whitefish", "Fried Apples and Molasses Pudding", "Panbread and Beans", "Sonofabitch Stew", "Cabbage and Cream Salad", "Dutch Oven Trout", "Mountain Oysters and Red Bean Pie", "Corn Pancakes and Catsup", "Slapjacks and Beef Jerky"]>>

<div class="mini_logo_header"><<link "[img[lsp_assets/images/logo_smaller.png]]">><<script>>UI.restart()<</script>><</link>></div>

/* Build */ His build suggests he's not unfamiliar with considerable labor. He's brawny, but he's lighter on his feet than you might expect.|b_muscular Even fully dressed it's hard not to eye how his muscular body is shaped underneath his thin cotton clothes.|b_muscular He's got a lean frame, but it's easy to miss since he carries himself like six pounds of beef stuffed in a two pound sack.|b_lanky He's rail thin like he's been living off of whiskey and cigarettes for longer than advisable but damn if his hipbones don't warrant a second glance.|b_lanky He's a husky guy, but carries the weight unapologetically. Like he'd chosen not to be minimized under any circumstances.|b_chubby He's a big guy and his broad midsection and thick arms make a solid case for further inspection.|b_chubby

<div id="sc1"><<set $years to random(4,16) + " " + "years">>\ Lee Samson is a son of a bitch. Everybody in town knows it, even if they keep their voice down around His Holiness because his watering hole is the only one with decent food and drink in Pleasant. Still, he treats his staff like they ought to be happy and gracious to serve one of the richest men in the west and not like they're the lifeblood of his operation. You've thought a thousand times that today's the day you get out from under his money-grubbing thumb, but something always seems to be in the way: a persistent cough, a bare larder, or a lingering case of nerves about where else on the hard frontier you might be able to find paying work. The mines, maybe. But you've seen those men come into Provisions with haunted, desperate looks in their eyes that no amount of drink or home cooking can chase out. You've wondered if the devil has his hands in Pleasant, but ain't it more likely that the devil's got his hands round everyone's throat just the same unless you find him someone else's throat he might like better? You've watched pots and flicked skillets at Lee Samson's Provisions & Home Style Cooking for $years and counting. Every day so far has been more of the same: there are bad days, and worse days, but most of them just blend into a weight that buckles the shoulders and stiffens the knees. <<include "desc_output">> <<include "secondary_desc">> //<<link "No that's not what he was like.">><<if $personalityreroll neq 1>><<set $personalityreroll to 1>><<endif>> <<replace "#desc_output">><<include "desc_output">><</replace>><<replace "#secondary_desc">><<include "secondary_desc">><</replace>><</link>>// <span style="font-size:2em;"><<link "➡">><<replace "#sc1">><<timed 300ms t8n>><<include "Scene_2">><</timed>><</replace>><</link>></span> </div>

<<silently>> <<set $name to $name_list.pluck()>> <<set _looksvar to random(1,3)>> <<set _buildvar to random(1,3)>> <<set _personalityvar to random(1,3)>> <<if _looksvar eq 1>> <<set $looks to "shaggy">> <<getlooks "l_shaggy">> <<elseif _looksvar eq 2>> <<set $looks to "cleancut">> <<getlooks "l_cleancut">> <<else>> <<set $looks to "tattooed">> <<getlooks "l_tattooed">> <<endif>> <<if _buildvar eq 1>> <<set $build to "muscular">> <<getbuild "b_muscular">> <<elseif _buildvar eq 2>> <<set $build to "lanky">> <<getbuild "b_lanky">> <<else>> <<set $build to "chubby">> <<getbuild "b_chubby">> <<endif>> <<if _personalityvar eq 1>> <<set $personality to "terse">> <<getpersonality "p_terse">> <<elseif _personalityvar eq 2>> <<set $personality to "kind">> <<getpersonality "p_kind">> <<else>> <<set $personality to "goofy">> <<getpersonality "p_goofy">> <<endif>> <<endsilently>>

<<widget "getlooks">> <<silently>> <<set _passageContents to Story.get("Looks List")>> <<set _passageText to _passageContents.text>> <<set $DIALOGLIST_1 to _passageText.split("\n")>> <<set _splitList to $DIALOGLIST_1.filter(function(line) { var tag = line.split("\|")[1]; return tag == $args[0]; })>> <<set _line to _splitList.random()>> <<set _splitLine to _line.split("\|")>> <<set $lookslist to _splitLine[0]>> <</silently>> <</widget>>

/* Looks 1 */ who looks like he hasn't had a good shave since the devil was a boy.|l_shaggy whose wiry facial hair puts you in mind of a porcupine. If porcupines were twice as handsome and half as cuddly.|l_shaggy with his hair tied away from his face and stubble so fierce you'd swear he shaves with a handful of gravel.|l_shaggy with hair like a man who makes his living posing for pictures and a smile that all but confirms it.|l_cleancut with a jaw broad as a bear hug and shiny black eyes.|l_cleancut who's got Roman features like you'd find on the back of a coin or carved into rock.|l_cleancut with a shaved head and pricey looking skin inked from fingertip to shoulder blade.|l_tattooed whose massive black-and-red tattoo seems to appear every time the breeze or an errant motion exposes an ounce or more of skin.|l_tattooed whose shoulders bear elaborate coral blue whorls of waves and water. They match his watery blue eyes, that make it seem like the world is hard for him to look at straight on.|l_tattooed

You get the sense he wouldn't hurt a fly, unless times were lean and the fly was asking for it.|p_kind You find him—at first blush—to be a man who'd color at the cheeks if he forgot to take off his cap indoors.|p_kind You get the feeling that he's a sweet, sensitive sort who could have gone on to the arts or something intellectual if given half a chance.|p_kind You don't get the impression he's a talker. But then some guys tell more story through a raised eyebrow than a sermon.|p_terse You find it hard to get more than a couple words out of him, but that's how it is with some men: their silence is a kind of armor and they're rarely unprotected.|p_terse You find he mostly enjoys the quiet. Not out of malice, maybe, but habit. Or so you think. He's doesn't expend the words needed to confirm your theory.|p_terse When you first lay eyes on him, he's juggling a set of knives. A habit which he's quickly disabused of. But you have to admit his pranks, japes, and constant smiling are infectious.|p_goofy You can hardly pass a handful of words with him before he's cracking an off-color joke or meandering through a questionable tale.|p_goofy You can tell right away how much he likes to laugh, which isn't particularly useful if he can't work his ass off, too.|p_goofy

<<widget "getbuild">> <<silently>> <<set _passageContents to Story.get("Build List")>> <<set _passageText to _passageContents.text>> <<set $DIALOGLIST_2 to _passageText.split("\n")>> <<set _splitList to $DIALOGLIST_2.filter(function(line) { var tag = line.split("\|")[1]; return tag == $args[0]; })>> <<set _line to _splitList.random()>> <<set _splitLine to _line.split("\|")>> <<set $buildlist to _splitLine[0]>> <</silently>> <</widget>>

<<widget "getpersonality">> <<silently>> <<set _passageContents to Story.get("Personality List")>> <<set _passageText to _passageContents.text>> <<set $DIALOGLIST_2 to _passageText.split("\n")>> <<set _splitList to $DIALOGLIST_2.filter(function(line) { var tag = line.split("\|")[1]; return tag == $args[0]; })>> <<set _line to _splitList.random()>> <<set _splitLine to _line.split("\|")>> <<set $personalitylist to _splitLine[0]>> <</silently>> <</widget>>

<div id="desc_output"> <<include PersonalityCreation>>\ But one day a man appears <<print $lookslist>> <<print $buildlist>> <<print $personalitylist>> A <b><<print $build>>, <<print $looks>></b>, and <b><<print $personality>></b> man.</div>

<div id="secondary_desc">And though it isn't his name, everybody calls him <<print $name>>.</div>

<div id="sc2">And you're expected to train him. Lee doesn't so much explain this to you as he ushers $name into the small kitchen—//your// kitchen—throws him an apron and then leaves the two of you to feed the people of Pleasant. And regardless of your actual feelings, outwardly you respond to this intrusion <<cycle "$your_reaction" autoselect>> <<option "angrily">> <<option "happily">> <<option "without much fuss" indifferent>> <</cycle>>. <span style="font-size:2em;"><<link "➡">><<replace "#sc2">><<timed 300ms t8n>><<include "Scene_3">><</timed>><</replace>><</link>></span> </div>

<div class="standard_container"> <div class="game_text"><h1>Instructions</h1>This is a piece of interactive fiction, meaning that your choices change how the game moves forward. Here are some basic instructions to help you move through the game. -Links like this : <<cycle "$nothing" autoselect>> <<option "Click me!">> <<option "Click me again!">> <<option "Again!">> <<option "You get the idea">> <<option "∞ Clicks">> <</cycle>> may change certain elements within the story so make sure everything is to your liking before you move on. - While arrows like this <span style="font-size:2em;"><<click "➡">><</click>></span> move the story forward. - ''KEEP IN MIND'': Once you've made decisions and moved the story forward, the only way to go back is by resetting the game, which you can do by clicking the game's logo at the top of the screen. Be careful when hitting that button though, because your progress will be lost once you restart. HOWEVER! It's a short game, so don't get too worried about messing up because you can always hop back in. Have fun and get smooched, if you want! -Ben <span style="font-size:2em;"><<back "⬅">></span></div></div>

<div id="sc3"><<nobr>> <<if $your_reaction eq "angrily">> <<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport - 2, 1, 10)>> Instead of rolling out a backslapping welcome, you leave $name to his own damned devices. You didn't have a hand in hiring him and you don't see why you should educate him on the finer points of his job. It's up to him to prove that he's not just a nuisance. <<if $personality eq "terse">> <<getresponse "terse_to_hostile">> <<elseif $personality eq "kind">> <<getresponse "kind_to_hostile">> <<else>> <<getresponse "goofy_to_hostile">> <<endif>> <<elseif $your_reaction eq "happily">> <<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 1, 1, 10)>> You welcome $name into the kitchen and start out by showing him where everything is that he might need. He picks up quickly enough that you suspect he has some experience behind him, which will hopefully mean an easier time for you. <<if $personality eq "terse">> <<getresponse "terse_to_kind">> <<elseif $personality eq "kind">> <<getresponse "kind_to_kind">> <<else>> <<getresponse "goofy_to_kind">> <<endif>> <<else>> You don't make a production out of showing $name the ropes. After all, if you've seen one kitchen then you've seen 'em all. You're confident he'll learn to handle things on his own and if not, then he won't be the first cook to get run out of Provisions. <<if $personality eq "terse">> <<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 1, 1, 10)>> <<getresponse terse_to_indifferent>> <<elseif $personality eq "kind">> <<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport - 1, 1, 10)>> <<getresponse "kind_to_indifferent">> <<else>> <<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport - 1, 1, 10)>> <<getresponse "goofy_to_indifferent">> <<endif>> <<endif>><</nobr>><span style="font-size:2em;"><<link "➡">><<replace "#sc3">><<timed 300ms t8n>><<include "Scene_4">><</timed>><</replace>><</link>></span> </div>

/* Hostile reactions I */ $name doesn't react to your miniature tantrum, instead he watches you carefully and absorbs the lessons you refuse to teach.|kind_to_hostile Your aggressive silence seems to suit $name just fine. He holds his own at what quickly becomes his end of the small kitchen.|terse_to_hostile $name mostly just grins at you, making comments under his breath that you can't catch. He's a damned comedian and you need a chef.|goofy_to_hostile /*Kind reactions I */ $name appreciates your efforts to help him acclimate to this new kitchen and he doesn't mind telling you so.|kind_to_kind $name doesn't seem to know what to do with your warm and inviting manner. He tugs at his sleeves and looks away a lot. A muttered "mighty kind" under his breath is the closest you get to thanks.|terse_to_kind $name slaps you on the shoulder as you show him around the kitchen. "We're gonna be fast friends, I think. Just you wait," he says.|goofy_to_kind /* Indifferent reactions I */ $name seems to appreciate your hands-off approach. Once he realizes the tour is over (almost as quickly as it begins) his shoulders relax. "Alright then. I guess it's down to work," he says.|terse_to_indifferent $name fills the air with chatter and jokes, but you hardly have time for his antics. The people of Pleasant aren't going to feed themselves. After a while, he gets the gist and a quip about the size of your pans dies on his lips.|goofy_to_indifferent $name seems to be looking for more than you're willing to give. He asks a lot of questions and despite his smiling, warm affect, you keep your explanations brisk and clipped. He figures out pretty quickly that you mean business and he slips into a companionable silence.|kind_to_indifferent

<<widget "getresponse">><<nobr>> <<silently>> <<set _passageContents to Story.get("Responses")>> <<set _passageText to _passageContents.text>> <<set $DIALOGLIST_1 to _passageText.split("\n")>> <<set _splitList to $DIALOGLIST_1.filter(function(line) { var tag = line.split("\|")[1]; return tag == $args[0]; })>> <<set _line to _splitList.random()>> <<set _splitLine to _line.split("\|")>> <<set $responselist to _splitLine[0]>> <</silently>>$responselist<</nobr>> <</widget>>

<div class="standard_container"> <div class="game_text"><h1>About the Author</h1> <div id="author_photo">[img[lsp_assets/images/author_photo.png]]</div> Benji Bright is an an author of interactive fiction, high-minded smut, and apparently Westerns, if you give him the write prompt. Benji Bright is a pseuodnym of writer and game maker Bendi Barrett. You can find out more about either identity at the following sites. [[Benmakesstuff.com|https://www.benmakesstuff.com]] (a super work in progress) | [[Patreon.com/benjibright|https://www.patreon.com/benjibright]] (currently running) <span style="font-size:2em;"><<back "⬅">></span></div></div>

<div id="sc4"><<set $dish to $dish_list.pluck()>><<set $dish_2 to $dish_list.pluck()>>\ <h1>The First Month</h1>The two of you work side-by-side. It's a challenge at first, but you teach $name to make $dish and find out that his specialty is $dish_2. It's slow going and his <<link "knife work">><<audio "chopping" play>><</link>> isn't much to speak of, but his fingers stay on his hands, so you aren't too concerned. A few weeks into your first month, you notice $name doesn't seem to be making friends too quickly, <<if $personality eq "goofy">>for all his endless performative gamboling around and goofing off<<elseif $personality eq "kind">>despite a disposition like a barrel of honey poured into a bucket of sugar<<else>>perhaps because he's the most miserable looking bastard you've ever seen outside a churchyard.<<endif>> It's a Sunday night and Pleasant is quiet: the reverent headed to their beds and the unrepentant seeking whatever trouble they can. The two of you are cleaning up after dinner and you cast a glance over at $name, washing utensils and dutifully putting them away and you wonder if you oughtn't stand him a drink at the Pleasant's only other drinking establishment: Miss Rita Strong's. <<cycle "$hangout" autoselect>> <<option "But then you figure his loneliness is no business of yours." declined>> <<option "So you ask him to join you." accepted>> <<option "Instead you fish out a bottle of whiskey and a couple short glasses." personal_date>> <<option "But rather than drinking away both your troubles, you offer to brew some tea and talk, if he's amenable." personal_date_dry>><</cycle>> <span style="font-size:2em;"><<link "➡">><<replace "#sc4">><<timed 300ms t8n>><<include "Scene_5">><</timed>><</replace>><</link>></span> </div>

<div id="sc5"> <<set $skip_scene to 1>> <<if $hangout eq "declined">><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport - 1, 1, 10)>>\ You don't owe anything to $name, so you don't make the offer. You leave him muddling through his place in Pleasant like you did, like everyone did. Maybe that's the only way anyone ever really finds their way through. Instead you go home to the single room you rent from Lee Samson—the sonofabitch—and lie under stiff, starchy sheets. You dream of a driving rain without end and a terrible wind that howls and howls and howls. <<nobr>> <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc5">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Scene_7">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <</nobr>><<elseif $hangout eq "personal_date">><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 2, 1, 10)>>You sit across from $name and <<link "pour">><<audio "pour" play>><</link>> the whiskey. He takes his glass and you offer a toast: "To the future and come what may." <<if $personality eq "terse">>"Hear, hear," he says<<elseif $personality eq "goofy">>"You said it, brother," he replies, laughing,<<else>>"And may what comes greet us kindly," he adds,<<endif>> and begins to sip the whiskey. There's a bit of silence between the two of you, but once the booze starts to take hold, $name swirls the whiskey in his glass and looks up at you.<<include "Bar Conversation">> <<elseif $hangout eq "personal_date_dry">><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 2, 1, 10)>>You put on a pot of hot water and as it boils, you sit across from $name and talk. He's more forthcoming and forthright than usual, <<if $personality eq "terse">>even bordering on friendly,<<else>>warm and steady,<<endif>> until he comes to something that it seems he'd rather not dive into. But once the tea is poured he puts his rough hands—his //cook's// hands—around the mug and maybe the heat of it coaxes the story out of him.<<include "Bar Conversation">><<else>><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 1, 1, 10)>>Ms. Rita—wearing a corset that would choke the bones out of a jellyfish—leans over the bar and <<link "pours">><<audio "pour" play>><</link>> three, then four fingers of whiskey each. You thank her and then raise a glass to your fellow cook, who <<if $personality eq "terse">>clinks his glass against yours without a word<<elseif $personality eq "kind">>seems to nearly well up with gratitude as he raises his glass as well.<<else>>sloshes near half the whiskey out of his glass with his overexuberant cheer.<<endif>> He takes a few sips. <<include "Bar Conversation">> <<endif>></div>

$name starts to tell his story. "There was some trouble back east. I didn't break the law, as such, but there're some things that folks don't expect from an upstanding man, you understand. Some things that mark you as different. Hard to come back from a thing like that." He goes quiet and you <<cycle "$encourage" autoselect>> <<option "encourage $name to continue." continue>> <<option "let $name lapse into silence." stop>> <</cycle>> <span style="font-size:2em;"><<link "➡">><<replace "#sc5">><<timed 300ms t8n>><<include "Scene_6">><</timed>><</replace>><</link>></span>

<<include "lines_set">><div id="sc6"><<if $encourage eq "continue" and $personality eq "terse">><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport - 1, 1, 10)>>$line_1 "Not everything needs discussing," he says. And that's that. You get the sense that pushing any further will result in more than just a stern word, so you finish up your drink and bid $name a good night. <<include "Scene_7">><<else>><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 1, 1, 10)>>$line_2, he peers into it like an out of work mentalist trying to conjure the old magic. But it doesn't seem to take. He looks up. Rather than tell his story, he asks, "do you think love is possible out here? Out in hard country, among people with nothing and less to their names? Or is it just struggle and survival, finding temporary comfort in whatever and whoever you can?" <<if $personality eq "goofy">>He manages a smile at the end, but it's perilious thin.<<endif>> You reply: "<<cycle "$love_response" autoselect>><<option "I imagine that love is closest to a weed: grows even where no one's asked for it." warm_reply>><<option "I suppose all things are possible, but I haven't seen love bloom out here, $name. Just hunger." cold_reply>><</cycle>> <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc6">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Scene_6b">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<endif>> </div>

<h1>The Second Month</h1>You and $name <<link "season">><<audio "season" play>><</link>>, <<link "chop">><<audio "chopping_faster" play>><</link>>, and <<link "fry">><<audio "fry" play>><</link>> your way into the height of summer. But even as your working relationship comes together, other difficulties begin to emerge. For example, when <<if $personality eq "goofy">><<include "Goofy Check">><<elseif $personality eq "terse">><<include "Terse Check">><<else>><<include "Kind Check">><<endif>>

<<if $hangout eq "accepted" or $hangout eq "personal_date">> <<set $line_1 to "$name gives you a look stiffer than the whiskey in his glass.">> <<set $line_2 to "He swirls the amber drink around">> <<else>> <<set $line_1 to "$name's hard gaze drills into you from behind the steam rising up out of his cup.">> <<set $line_2 to "He takes a sip of the tea, as genteel as any belle.">> <<endif>>

Summer is long gone, but this night is full of August and even in the dark of night the heat doesn't want to let go. The customers have all gone to wherever they might find relief, leaving you and $name standing in the small ktichen of Lee Samson's Provisions and Home Style Cooking. A strain of guitar playing comes from outside, wafts in through the open window. Later, you won't be able to recall who made the first move exactly, but $name's hand ends up around your waist and he begins to move to the guitar song. It's too hot to be so close to another living being, but there's something spare and lovely about the music and $name is so gentle and earnest that you let him lead you in slow circles though neither of you is gonna win any awards for fine dancing. "Would you mind—?" he asks, <<if $personality eq "goofy">>grinning like a kid<<elseif $personality eq "terse">>serious as a child<<else>>tenderly as a guileless youth<<endif>>. You swallow. Nod. And this man, all but a $looks stranger to you just three months ago, leans toward you and kisses you. His lips are soft and he's gentle as a calf. At first, anyway. The music goes on a while longer then tapers off, but the heat in the kitchen grows and grows. <<include "The End">>

<<set $final_dish to $dish_list.pluck()>> If there's anything you come to learn about $name over your three months together in the small kitchen of Lee Samson's Provisions and Home Style Cooking it's that he's almost as big a son of a bitch as the proprietor himself. $name makes a name for himself in that kitchen to rival yours and it galls you. It makes you furious every time someone praises his $final_dish. But rather than throw your dish towel into a fire, you work harder. You perfect //your// $final_dish until no one can tell your dish apart from $name's, which galls the $looks chef. As your kitchen rivalry turns into a full on feud, word of the competing cooks spread past Pleasant and folks from all sort of towns start to fill the long tables of Provisions to see what the fuss is about and to taste the food of the so-calledd dueling cooks. One summer night Lee Samson comes by to tell you and $name that the business is doing better than ever. As he pats your shoulders and smiles his oily smile, you catch $name's narrowed eyes and the seeds of conspiracy are planted. $name is almost as big of a bastard as Lee Samson, but you've worked with him in this tiny space and turned a frontier kitchen into a major draw for a tiny town. //And isn't it about time//, you think, //that we got a bigger slice of this pie.// And when you next look over at $name, you can see the same wheels turning in his mind. He looks at you and probably sees the same: the enemy of an enemy. So you smile, and Lee smiles, and $name smiles. <<include "The End">>

''The End.'' ---- You ended the game with a rapport score of: $rapport out of 10. <<click "Play again?">><<script>>UI.restart()<</script>><</click>>\ OR Check out my patreon below where $3 of support gets you stories, games, and other extremely NSFW goodies: [img[lsp_assets/images/patreon.png][https://www.patreon.com/benjibright]]

In the two months that you cook beside $name, you pick up snatches of his story, but nothing definitive. He's a solid cook and you appreciate his <<if $personality eq "goofy">>buoyant energy<<elseif $personality eq "terse">>singular focus on the job<<else>>radiant warmth and concern<<endif>> but you never get close enough that you'd call him a real friend. You stay friendly and, when necessary, you band together to warn off Lee Samson from whatever ill-considered plot he's cooking up to milk another dollar from the people of Pleasant. But you never really feel like you //know// $name. And it's just as well, because one day Lee Samson, red-faced, tells you that the "motherfucker ran off! Left a note in his room saying he's going south to find better paying work. Can you believe—" and on and on. And you can believe it. You've long wondered what it is that keeps you tethered to this job, to this town. Maybe it's just fear of going from having nearly nothing to having less than that, of pitching yourself headlong into the abyss. //One day//, you tell yourself, //I'll leave this place, too.// But until then, you sharpen your knives, you find your smile, and you greet a set of hungry patrons every day. And then the next. <<include "The End">>

You find yourself spending most evenings with $name. It isn't a conscientious decision: it's more like a sandcastle building up around you as you wait for the tide to rush in and to your surprise the tide never comes and the sandcastle has become a huge palace. $name sits on the floor of your bedroom with his back against the wall and tells you about his dreams: the ones where he's sleeping and the ones where he's awake. He wants to see the ocean. He wants to learn piano. He's hates sad endings and he's terrified of the law. You tell him that you don't want to be stuck in Pleasant forever, that you're desperate to own something, //anything// that belongs to just you, and that he's your best friend. This last bit seems to come as a surprise to $name, but he takes the news gracefully. "Never had a best friend," he says. "How's it feel?" you ask. He smiles <<if $personality eq "terse">>shyly<<else>>broadly<<endif>>. "I suppose it feels a little like coming home." You smile back. "Yeah. I can see how it would." And after that, what else needs to be said? <<include "The End">>

$name jokingly refers to one of the miners as a thick-necked bruiser, inadvertently injuring the man's delicate sensibilities and causing him to want to break off $name's $build arms. Knowing that $name vitally needs those arms for the lunch rush, you ponder whether or not to get involved and ultimately decide that <<cycle "$goofy_check" autoselect>> <<option "the lesson $name needs to learn about taking the people of Pleasant lightly is more important than his help with lunch." minus_outcome>> <<option "$name is an idiot, but he's //your// idiot. So you wade in to break up the dark clouds before it really storms." plus_outcome>> <</cycle>> <<nobr>> <<if $extra_scene eq 1>>\ <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc6b">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Goofy Check2">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<elseif $skip_scene eq 1>>\ <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc5">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Goofy Check2">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<else>> <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc6">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Goofy Check2">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<endif>> <</nobr>>

you catch wind that Lee Samson has been making $name work double shifts without increase in pay or adequate breaks. You show up one day to find $name looking as rung out and beat dry as Mr. Rickman's twice-pulverized laundry. You swear that man hangs his clothes on a line like the final word in a long-standing vendetta. $name hovers over a simmering pot looking half-likely to fall in and you <<cycle "$kind_check" autoselect>> <<option "rail against the kind of business owner who would ride his employees half to death and expect quality product as a result." plus_outcome>> <<option "put a hand on $name's shoulder and tell him to catch a few winks in the back while you keep the kitchen moving along." plus_outcome2>> <<option "shake your head. Only a fool would let Lee Samson take advantage of them like that. Maybe next time he'll learn." minus_outcome>> <</cycle>> <<nobr>> <<if $extra_scene eq 1>>\ <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc6b">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Kind Check2">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<elseif $skip_scene eq 1>>\ <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc5">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Kind Check2">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<else>> <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc6">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Kind Check2">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<endif>> <</nobr>>

the customers start to complain that $name's surly mood is putting them on edge. "Life out here's tough enough without having to stare at his miserable mug," complains Missy Perkins, an otherwise affable and good-natured seamstress. The complaints increase and you <<cycle "$terse_check" autoselect>> <<option "kindly remind everyone that whether or not they like his attitude, they love $name's cooking." plus_outcome2>> <<option "quietly encourage $name to be a little more welcoming." plus_outcome>> <<option "mind your own business. After all, they have to see him for a few minutes at a time while you work with the quiet bastard all day." minus_outcome>><</cycle>> <<nobr>> <<if $extra_scene eq 1>>\ <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc6b">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Terse Check2">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<elseif $skip_scene eq 1>>\ <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc5">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Terse Check2">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<else>> <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#sc6">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Terse Check2">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <<endif>> <</nobr>>

<<nobr>> <<if $rapport gte 8 and $love_state eq "yes">> <<set $ending_state to "lover">> <<elseif $rapport gte 8 and $love_state eq "no">> <<set $ending_state to "friend">> <<elseif $rapport lte 3>> <<set $ending_state to "rival">> <<else>> <<set $ending_state to "stranger">> <<endif>> <<if $ending_state eq "lover">> <<include "Romance Ending">> <<elseif $ending_state eq "rival">> <<include "Rivalry Ending">> <<elseif $ending_state eq "friend">> <<include "Friend Ending">> <<else>> <<include "Stranger Ending">> <<endif>><</nobr>>

<div id="gc"><<if $goofy_check eq "plus_outcome">><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 2, 1, 10)>>You step and let the thick-necked miner know that if he causes a ruckus he'll have to go over to Rita's—the only other cookery in town—and eat there from now on. You can see the wheels turning in his head as he goes from positively apopletic to cowed within moments. As fine a woman as Rita is, and as strong a pour, neither she nor her tow-headed son Mason is worth a half a fuck in the kitchen. So you get $name to apologize and the two men shake on it before returning to something like peace and quiet. $name tries to thank you, but you brush it off. "Two cooks in kitchen's like a pair of legs, you can't break one off then hit the dancefloor," you tell him. He likes that one. He howls laughter and you can't quite hold back a grin as you tell him to get his ass back to work. <<else>><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport - 2, 1, 10)>>Luckily it doesn't come to violence. The thick-necked bruiser in question seems to do the math and realize—in an uncommon bout of self-awareness—that rendering one of the only decent cooks in Pleasant senseless might not do him any favors in the longrun. So he leaves it at a stern warning and moves on. $name takes the whole event in stride, laughing it off in his typically jokey manner, but you think you can note a chilliness in him now. But his work doesn't suffer and there is so much work to be done.<<endif>> <<nobr>> <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#gc">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Romance Check">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <</nobr>> </div>

<div id="rc"><h1>The Third Month</h1>Another month comes and goes and you haven't knocked Lee Samson on his ass yet, so you mostly count it as a success. <<if $rapport gte 8>>But you've noticed that it's become a little easier to hang around with $name and sometimes in the idle time when you're close enough to hear whatever song he's humming to himself so low it's nearly a prayer, don't you wonder if there might be something there between you? And wouldn't you like to find out? <<cycle "$love_state" autoselect>> <<option "//Desperately. Maybe one of these days I'll say something to him. See if he feels for me like I'm starting to feel for him.//" yes>> <<option "//There might be something there, but what I feel for him isn't exactly romantic. I wish him well and I want to be around him. That's enough.//" no>> <<option "//Maybe yes, maybe no. I think it all depends on what he'd like. But I can't say I haven't thought about kissing his mouth and having him kiss me back.//" yes>> <</cycle>><<else>>The intense heat of the summer months begins to mellow into the pleasant warmth of the early fall and you grow comfortable in the rhythms of the kitchen between you and $name. People around town grow comfortable, too. You get the sense that nothing in particular will ever change in Pleasant or in the small kitchen the two of you share, which is usually the feeling people get right before everything does. <<endif>> <<nobr>> <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#rc">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Final Check">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <</nobr>> </div>

<div id="kc"><<if $kind_check eq "plus_outcome">><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 1, 1, 10)>>$name sleepily nods along to your rant. He flags throughout the day, but manages to mostly keep it together. It's the last time Lee Samson is able to pull his nasty tricks and $name later thanks you for speaking out against your ratfucker boss.<<elseif $kind_check eq "plus_outcome2">><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 2, 1, 10)>>$name goes out back and sits in the sun. You can see him through the cracked window with a well-worn cap low over his face. He's still within moments of sitting and you keep the kitchen moving while he naps. When he comes back in, not entirely well-rested, but human looking now at least, he thanks you more than once. And the two of you set to work.<<else>><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport - 2, 1, 10)>>$name manages to keep up more or less, even though he nods off once or twice over the stove. He doesn't burn down the kitchen and he doesn't injure himself, which is a minor miracle. At the end of the day you tell him to get some sleep before he runs himself into the ground. You'd prefer not to have to dig him a grave during the middle of the dinner rush. He half-smiles at that and goes about his business. You wonder if he's alright, but by the time you think to ask he's already down the street growing smaller by the moment.<<endif>> <<nobr>> <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#kc">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Romance Check">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <</nobr>> </div>

<div id="tc"><<if $terse_check eq "plus_outcome">>You try to get $name to be more friendly. "It's a matter of a smile and friendly word is all," you tell him. "A bit of make believe to smooth things over." "A lie," he replies stiffly. "Neither the first nor the last to be taken on in the name of other people's comfort," you shoot back. "So will you try? As a favor? So I can get these clucking chicken out of my ear?" $name seems miserable, but he agrees, and as the days turn into weeks, it seems to become easier for him to put the customers at ease. The complaints stop: Thank the Almighty!<<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 1, 1, 10)>><<elseif $terse_check eq "plus_outcome2">><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport + 2, 1, 10)>>This approach causes grumbling from the town's residents, but over the course of a few weeks they seem to come to collective realization that a steady supply of hot, delicious food is worth putting up with a little surliness on $name's end. One day, he thanks you for you intervention. You plead ignorance. "I didn't do a damned thing. Pleasant decided to accept your sad bastard moods all on their own." Your disavowal seems to endear you to $name all the more and you find that he seems to work at being more friendly to the customers anyway. Slightly.<<else>><<set $rapport to Math.clamp($rapport - 2, 1, 10)>>The complaints keep coming until they don't anymore. Maybe Pleasnt's residents have decided that it's not worth it to bash the new cook or maybe they're just getting better at circulating their complaints amongst themselves. Either way, you continue to work alongside $name and he continues being his laconic self. In fact, he seems to draw further into himself. His cooking excels with the increased introspection, but you find that some days after long shifts working side-by-side in that small kitchen together—you can't recall passing more than a word or two with him at all.<<endif>> <<nobr>> <span style="font-size:2em;"> <<link "➡">> <<replace "#tc">> <<timed 300ms t8n>> <<include "Romance Check">> <</timed>> <</replace>> <</link>> </span> <</nobr>> </div>

<div id="sc6b"><<set $extra_scene to 1>><<if $love_response eq "warm_reply">>$name seems to find your reply acceptable. But rather than addressing your statement directly, he just shrugs and laughs a little. <<else>>$name crinkles his nose at the suggestion, but he doesn't disagree with you. Instead he shrugs.<<endif>> "You have years of experience on me out here, so I suppose that's how it really must be," $name says. He gets up to leave. "Thanks for a fascinating evening." You watch him go and once he's gone you continue sipping your drink, finishing it a bit slower and keeping company with your thoughts.<<include "Scene_7">> </div>

<div class="standard_container"> <div class="game_text">(I'll add to this as we go along) - Some of the spacing is FUCKED UP. Time got real thin at the end there and I thought I'd have time to fix it. Maybe later! -Some users are having issues with audio caching. It's on my to-do. <span style="font-size:2em;"><<back "⬅">></span></div></div>

<div class="standard_container"> <div class="game_text"><h1>Changelog</h1> 0.96 -Fixed a serious crash cutting off one of the major ending routes. <span style="font-size:2em;"><<back "⬅">></span></div></div>