soniaroadsqueen | Tokyo, Japan, Monday

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Tokyo, Japan, Monday

Portalocity was weird. Ringo hadn't really traveled with them much, so this was something of a revelation for her. Somehow booking a reasonable late-morning departure from Fandom resulted in a just-after-dawn arrival in a small park a couple of miles from the apartment she shared with her sisters. Of course, despite that, all three of them were waiting.

Rika, with her knowing, motherly smile, managing to look like a carefully-styled model even this early. Mikan, tomboyish hair cropped short and sticking out every which way, smirking mischievously and tapping her foot with nervous energy. Ume, seated on a bench playing with her dolls, but glancing up and meeting Ringo's eyes when she arrived.

With a grin, Ringo dropped her bags and rushed forward into a big group hug, melting into the group for a moment. All worry and stress disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Now then," Rika said as they eventually disentangled themselves, "why don't you introduce everyone, and then we can go get some breakfast?"

[ooc: For those along for the ride. NFB for distance.]

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"Are you not even going to try the local cuisine?" Kathy asked, looking for something that might count. "And are you really expecting a festival to have steak? They's not gonna serve anything you need to eat with a knife and a fork."

"I dunno," Dante said, "Maybe it's local to slice up the steak. Or put it on a bun. It's possible."

"Not the kind of buns you're thinking of," Kathy snorted. "Will steamed pork buns be an acceptable compromise?"

"Still sounds kinda weird," Dante said, "But sure, I guess, if you're not planning to sneak in a spider or whatever."

"Fried tarantula is Cambodian, not Korean," Kathy said with an exaggerated eyeroll. "You're safe from spiders. And even I'm not brave enough to try natto. Which isn't bug-related but incredibly gross-sounding."

"People actually eat spiders?" Dante said, squinting at her. "...What's natto? Do I even wanna know?"

"They're high in protein, I guess?" Kathy said with a helpless shrug. "Same with natto. It's slimy fermented soybeans. I hear it reeks. Honestly, what's a little beondegi compared to that? At least it's not rotten!"

Okay, now she might just be trying to see whether or not she could make Dante lose his appetite.

"Do people over here like food that isn't disgusting?" Dante asked. "... I mean, y'know. To some of us."

She was going to roll her eyes so hard she got a headache if she kept this up. "You'll like pork buns," she declared. "And I'm sure there are other things here that you'll enjoy if you just keep an open mind."

Not even weird things! But, like, vegetables and fish and things that weren't hamburger. "Tiny island, remember? Not the vast rolling grasslands of America. They had to make due with different diets. Although..." She slowed her pace and her eyes got large. "Wagyu." A long, slow inhale. "Dante! We're in the country of kobe. We've got to find some to try!"

Hey, Dante was an inner city East Coast kid who needed a ton of protein in his diet. Vegetables? Ehhh. Fish? Ehhhhhhh.

(Or as the Dutch would say: what the farmer doesn't know, he won't eat.)

"Kobe?" he echoed. "...Wait, that's steak, right? I'm up for that."

FARMERS KNOW VEGETABLES, DANTE!

"The best of steaks," Kathy corrected, reaching for his hand so she could drag him around the festival if she had to. "Delicious, amazing expensive steaks. And we're gonna find some an eat them and go home and brag."

Was she seriously dragging him around by the hand?

Dante shot her a mildly confused-slash-disturbed look.

"Hey, as long as you're paying."

Was he seriously confused about Kathy dragging him along in the wake of her enthusiasm?

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But if I'm paying, you have to eat everything, right? Not just the stuff that looks like something you'd find in America. You have to live a little, Dante! Experiment! Appreciate a new culture!"

Yeah, but by the hand.

"Nope," Dante said, shaking his head. "Nice try, I still don't have to eat shit."

Would he have preferred by the front of his pants?

"Oh come on, Dante," Kathy said, giving him a look that asked seriously?! across all languages and cultures. "I'm not going to pay for an amazing meal in Japan if you refuse to at least try the stuff on your plate."

Since when did just saying 'hey, let's go over here!' stop being an option? Not that he was really kicking up a stink about the handholding anyway, but seriously.

"You keep trying to feed me bugs," Dante pointed out. "No offense, but I think I'll settle for a cheap burger somewhere if that's the deal."

Since she'd gotten so enthusiastic that it was all she could do not to just bounce her way through the festival?

"I promise there will be no bugs in dinner," Kathy said, sighing. "They're more of a snack thing anyway, at least in Korea. No olives, either, okay? Superhero's honor."

"I'm only doing this if I can say no to anything that looks disgusting," Dante said. "All right?"

"Okay, but if it doesn't look absolutely gross, you'll at least try it, right?" Kathy checked. "Who knows? You might even like something."

"Fine, fine," Dante said, waving her towards the stands (with the hand she'd been holding, yes, and which had now ceased doing so).

Well, once she'd stopped trying to drag him around the festival in order to work out an agreement, there'd been no real reason to hold his hand.

"Awesome! Now just time to find a place that sells it..." Kathy said, grateful for the discreet English signs that had been hung up on booths and in windows. Her Japanese was limited to a handful of words and characters she'd picked up online and she bet Dante's was even more non-existent.

"I thiiiiiiiiiiiink I remember a place down this street a ways," Kathy said, peering. "Shall we?"

Look! No running or grabbing your hand, Dante. Just ignore the bouncing on her toes, okay? You couldn't have everything.

Dante had gotten as far as he needed to with hand gestures, so far.

"Sure," he said, "It's been at least ten minutes since I had the love meat."

Look, he had to bring that up. Because love meat.

Kathy was very glad she hadn't needed to see which hand gestures he was using, considering his preferred activities.

"This is the very steak place," Kathy said. "Which is an excellent followup to the love meat."

Edited 2016-01-12 23:38 (UTC)

Dante let out a laugh. "Very steak, huh?" he said. "My favorite kind of steak. Maybe they'll have much nachos, too."

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Tokyo, Japan, Monday

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