I can move mountains, I can work a miracle [OPEN]

[rassera]

WHO: The residents of Nonah 05 + YOU!
WHERE: Nonah, Residence #005
WHEN: All month long (January)
WHAT: Nonah 05 open log for January Shenanigans
WARNINGS: Obligatory Bull and Tetsuo warnings apply.


Starters will be appearing in the comments. If you want something specific from any one person (Kaneda rassera, Tetsuo iamtetsuo, Bull rideme and Ken amadaman), feel free to drop them a line and ask! Otherwise, feel free to add your own starters for the whole household or individual residents as you like.

Comments

[missleadingquestions]

[Maya finds it just like home. There's american products here, too; they'd lose business otherwise. So for Maya and her strange little world, finding stores where immigrant families or second, third generation families had established stores like this was just like being back in Los Angeles. This is what her stores were like-- albeit the brands had always been much different and the general atmosphere still always felt slightly off, and it was in the past technically, but... it felt enough like home for Maya.

She navigates the aisles swiftly, leading them to the back, closer to where the refrigerated sections can hold fish and meat and frozen foods. There she finds a certain display case and gestures with practically her whole body.

In the display case are fish laid out on top of ice; whole fish, headless fish, fish filets. Crab legs point upward from plastic grass dividers like they're partying. There are frog's legs in the middle of the display. Mussels, clams, and scallops are scattered in piles on the ice. Beady little crayfish eyes stare out from under a pile of lobster tails and bright orange salmon flesh, bright red tuna steaks, and the slick white of rainbow trout and tilapia filets.

There are pre-packaged versions all around outside of this display case, and each one of them is priced moderately-- at least according to 2015 standards, and what's most remarkable? The scent. The display doesn't smell like too-old fish that's been out for days. It smells clean, the faintest hint of ocean water lingering above the carefully prepared and cleaned selections.

Welcome to the fish section, boys.]

[rassera]

[Convenience stores, gas stations, and pharmacies were Kaneda's frequent stops. Even now. Kaneda never really went inside a supermarket for anything, even the things he cooked with. Bull and Charlie did most of the shopping, he just took out of the fridge whenever he needed it. So to see so much food, laid out and neatly signed, baskets everywhere and people weaving in and out of each other to grab things...it's a whole new world for the both of them.

And for the first time in a long while, he can read some of the things in this country.

It's no surprise that Tetsuo sticks close by him, knowing the noise and stimuli is probably way over what he's had back at the house. There's silent reassurance in the way he leans back a little, nudging Tetsuo's shoulder for him to follow as Maya pulled them towards the counters in back.


....


And when they get there, Kaneda stops dead in his tracks. If Tetsuo didn't stop at the same time, he'd probably have ran into him with how abrupt it was. It was like looking at a picture, honestly. He'd seen something like it. Stores back home had pictures of fish like this, although what was on the design and what was actually sold were two completely different things. The fish was colourful, pink and orange and white, displayed like an art piece and being actively served to people. At prices that would could feed them for a straight month back home.

The prepackaged stuff was more familiar, but even this was a huge improvement to back home. The word 'artificial' didn't exist. Whatever was in that container was the real thing. Honestly, he's not sure how to take all this. Kaneda's eyes meet Tetsuo's for a split second, mouth slightly agape. He wasn't the only one seeing this, right?

Right?

Kaneda approaches cautiously, like a kid who'd get in trouble if he was caught. Slowly walking his way up to the window with a salmon displayed, eyes fixated on it. Scallops and mussels to the side, and the crab legs next to that. Pure amazement doesn't even begin to describe Kaneda's face, hand and forehead pressed up against the glass.

He couldn't believe this. This stuff just didn't exist, at least not for the price ranges they're asking.


Congrats, Maya. You won.]

[iamtetsuo]

[Wide, honest shock wipes away any hesitancy. There's no room for gloom here; only awe, slowing down even as Kaneda stops dead. He stays right at his shoulder, mouth hanging open.

Fish. Real, iced, fresh fish. Whole fish glisten, scales bright instead of the murky shapes he's seen a few times in poisoned waters. Half fish. And more than just fish, there's crustaceans! Frogs! He'd been expecting a canned display, maybe some heavily doctored preservative mush in shaped strips and freeze-wrapped...

Kaneda's eyes meet his, and for the first time since they got to America, maybe the first time in years, they both know for dead certain that they are on the exact same wavelength.

He follows along silently as Kaneda makes his cautious approach, like two wild animals cautiously circling some other predator's catch. It's some instinct that makes his feet move as Kaneda's does, ending up pressed against the display shortly after Kaneda is. There's no way this is real. It must be some trick.

His eyes dart rapidly across the display, trying to take in what his mind just can't quite comprehend. It's as if Maya casually handed them a vault full of gold, or gave them a billion yen lottery ticket, or the keys to an eight story mansion. Things like this just didn't exist in casual reality.

Someone took away their world long before they were born. By the way these two stare at the display, in unguarded wide-eyed wonder, it's like Maya just offered a piece of it back.]

[missleadingquestions]

[Maya stays a few paces behind them, watching as the boys get caught up in their awe, approaching the case. She watches them, and at their faces, the bitterness she'd felt before melts away.

There's something about their reactions-- something about the looks on their faces-- that tells her it was never about her word against theirs. It was their reality against hers. They believed the world to be something much worse than she did because that had been real for them.

Maya slips a step or two back and raises the little camera she carries with her, changes the setting on the lamp, and takes a picture from behind them as they stare in wonder at the fish display. As the camera spits out its tiny, credit-card sized print, she pockets it in her dress and looks back up, smiling before she decides to try and get a second snap on her phone. Cass'd wanna see this.

Having had enough evidence collecting, she steps forward to join them, hands behind her back.]

So, what do we want, boys? Salmon? Tuna? Whitefish?

[She'd say 'I told you so' if it didn't seem so... worthless now. Winning wasn't nearly as good as showing these two something they believed they couldn't have before.

That doesn't mean she won't tease.]

I mean, there's faux crab too, but I figure we can take on the real deal tonight.