there were many things galactus didn’t concern himself with, not since his days as galan another lifetime ago - the spectrum of lesser emotions and nuanced sensations experienced by a smaller organic compound body being one of them. but he listened to va nee, as he was now wont to, because when he did he was bound to learn something new about living as a gnat, and it served to alleviate his eternal B O R E D O M and distract him from his hunger, if only for a few fleeting instants. besides she didn’t seem to mind him, and for the first time in aeons he had been talked to and approached like a peer, and not someone to be feared or fought.
he nodded slowly, carefully separating the sweet potato mash from the chicken pieces in a pile on the side of the plate. “I do not understand. what is there to G A I N from different tastes, when all this ultimately only serves to nourish the body and replenish energy?”
he could understand the difference between Q U A L I T Y - a barren planet with dwindling life versus a lush one, but he didn’t really think of it in terms of taste, rather the satisfaction he derived from it by assuaging his hunger.
if nothing else, galactus was a keen study. with a shrug he loaded his fork with a moderate amount of mash and gave it his best effort to identify some semblance of taste. sweet and mellow with a nutty note, and a salty undertone. then came the texture: creamy, smooth, velvety. he had never noticed any of that before. it made him C U R I O U S as to the myriad of combinations that could be achieved by mixing organic food items in a variety of ways. he was beginning to understand why sentient life forms were seemingly addicted to such discoveries, and went to all sorts of lengths and trouble to make them varied.
“Ah.” he suddenly looked up to Va Nee, as if caught in a small epiphany. was he experiencing the tongue pleasure she had just mentioned? “you are right, the difference can be significant and elicit a host of sensations. but it still seems like a waste of effort in the pursuit of some V A P I D form of pleasure, don’t you think?” especially when one was as H U N G R Y as he.
“It isn’t the most efficient way to obtain sustenance in a hurry, I agree, but vapid? That is a matter of opinion.”
She leaned back in her seat, looking almost ready to hold court in their less than regal surroundings.
“Little pleasures enhance the lives of people, Galan. It motivates people toward their purposes in a day, a week, a month, or their entire lives. Maybe tasting your food is not going to help you toward your cause or needs, but for someone else, it might. For instance! There are people in this universe whose sole objective is to taste and evaluate the food they consume.”
