Private Hello There

Asian markets...? She'd heard a few things about those from her friends, but she'd never actually been. It'd be weird - and totally fun - to try going to one. Especially on a couple of sips of rum and Coke. She set the incriminating bottle down onto the counter beside her and pushed herself up, only to immediately be smothered by her girlfriend.

It's not that weird. Come on.

The girlfriend in question took Chris by the neck and kissed her, something full. This, she knew. It was enough familiarity for her to enjoy the few seconds of kiss she got before her girlfriend pulled away, bopping the top of her head with that adorable tail of hers. "Awww, but it'd be so funnnn to see what drunk us would come up wiiiith," she whined. She'd drunk-cooked for herself once and... okay, maybe that was a smart idea. Last time she'd drunk-cooked she'd ended up buying feta instead of tofu and had burnt it horrifically when she'd tried to cook it, resulting in an inedible mess.

"Fiiiinneee, but when we get back I'm cracking it back open," she warned.

Speaking of cracking... that staff ride, while she wouldn't admit it... it kind of scared her. She hadn't ever flown anything before, much less what was probably a magic stick... what if she fell and her antlers cracked off? What if she broke her legs mid-fall...

Nevertheless, her girlfriend seemed excited about it. "Sure," she tried to say casually, taking a few steps on the cold linoleum of the kitchen floor.

Oh sweet Pan, what had she said yes to?

Like lightning, Shiro took her hand and practically dragged her out of her dorm. Through the narrow halls. Through the lobby. Through the front doors. All the while, Chris was this close to not banging her antlers on the sides of the hallway or the doors.

Several close calls later, Shiro finally relented in the front yard, eagerly waiting for a slowly materializing stick - she knew it - that hovered at hip-ish level. It didn't even have seatbelts like a car would. It was just... a stick. A thin, twiggy, fragile stick. That was floating.

Instead of being secretly terrified like Chris was currently, Shiro hopped onto the stick, which supported her weight like it was nothing, and sprouted two extra arms. Two entire extra arms, like it was nothing. One set held the slim, slender beam - the other waited to entangle themselves around Chris' torso.

"Hop on."

What did she mean, hop on? It was a fucking twig!

Shut up. You can do this. It's probably fine.

Chris took that part of her brain that was terrified and slapped it straight in the face, dwarfing the staff even further as it took on the weight of Chris' body. At least it felt okay to sit on, sort of familiar. Shiro's second pair of arms wrapped around the faun girl's tummy and held her close. That was comforting, too. Maybe she could be into this...

That changed the second they took off. Though it was slow at first, it did nothing to assuage the feeling of knowing her hooves were no longer touching the ground, and that if she fell at this increasing height, it would be all her stupid fault for even agreeing to this shit in the first place. Dying on the way to the supermarket, after 500 years of life... what a shit way to die. Her legs shook, betraying her fear to Shiro., and it was all she could do to not appear ghostlike, her face was so pale.

"Tell me if I ever go too fast." They were coasting along, doing barely 10 kph - but in Chris' eyes they were barrelling along, the wind whistling in her ears and through her antlers and in her hair.

Too fast! Too fast! Too fast!

"This is fine," she managed to squeak.

-

One extremely terrifying staff ride later, the pair landed in front of a bunch of tiny, crowded stalls selling all manner of things, the heat and the sound of it wafting in the cool night air. Sweets she couldn't read the titles of tempted her from one corner. A wealth of bright-red peppers, laid out beautifully, caught her eye in another. The smell of fish and chicken and all manner of spices, though muddled, made her mouth water. Just from smelling this place...

Shiro took her hand and dragged a dazed Chris through the mouthwatering market.

The thing that came to mind when someone said the word "date" wasn't exactly a crowded market - hell, Chris' idea of a date was the lunch fare that populated many a boring rom-com before the good stuff caught her attention - but now that she was here, the night air and the jovial crowd flooding the street... it almost seemed like a party in slow motion, except this time it was merchants and delicious spicy scents and the girl she'd been seeing and novelty everywhere. It was actually really fun.

As Chris' eyes darted every which way, struggling to take in just how giant and yet homely the market was, Shiro tugged at her arm and led her to the pepper stall that had first caught Chris' eye. In addition to the downright giant selection of peppers, bottles of red with colourful labels lined the walls. One dull sniff sent Chris' nose spiralling. Wow, Shiro wasn't kidding. This stuff smelt hot.

In the center of the stall sat a woman that looked as though she was as old as Delphi herself, though her expression was much more tender. The woman's tails waved softly in the evening breeze as she spoke rapid-fire at Shiro - Japanese, Chris guessed. Shiro replied just as quickly, giggling. Chris didn't know why until the cat girl turned to her.

"She's teasing me about bringing a date here," Shiro explained as the elderly woman hobbled over to them, leaning on a walking stick. For a second Chris wondered if it had the same properties as Shiro's... Nah. Probably not. Moreover... while she wasn't embarrassed at all about being with Shiro, Gods no, it was still weird to hear herself being referred to as a "date"... though not quite bad.

More rapid-fire Japanese, none of which Chris could make heads nor tails. So she just nodded at the lady and looked at Shiro expectantly. As expected, the black-haired girl delivered.

"She wants us to try a new sauce she's been making. She'd mentioned it last time I was here - apparently she's been carefully picking the peppers to use." That, at least, was music to Chris' ears - she didn't know she'd be getting freebies at the market! The faun girl inched closer to the stall again, Shiro at her side. The woman jabbed at a series of brightly-coloured peppers - presumably the ones in the sauce she scooped up straight from the jar, holding it out to Chris.

"If you say so, babe," she shrugged, and carefully took the spoon, raising it to her lips.

Instantly the world exploded - or it seemed to - with flavour. It had enough spice to actually taste like something to her fucked-up tastebuds, which in itself was a giant plus, but the other flavours... wow, this was some top-quality shit. She smiled, face reddening from the spice, but she didn't look bothered by it at all.

"Holy shit... it's so tasty...! Mmm!"