Participants:
| Scene Title | I Could Just Eat You Up |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Huruma is (gasp) grocery shopping for meat. Not the people kind either. |
| Date | August 29, 2010 |
A Whole Food Grocery — Red Hook
Even cannibals need to eat.
No, this is not the punchline of some unfortunate workplace joke; Huruma does, in fact, do normal things like everyone else. It includes, and is not nearly limited to grocery shopping. The last thing she wishes is that she needs to run an errand, god forbid- but like anyone else it has to happen sooner or later. Wherever she takes her spoils, however, remains a total mystery.
She is also completely out of place here, at a supermarket she has chosen specifically for its location; nobody knows her here, though there is a chance someone could. Her complexion is contrasted by a sleeveless, low-cut, taut dress, the skirt coming to mid-thigh. Pile on the fact that it is a deep red, and she is teetering high on a pair of matching pumps, and she sticks out like a sore thumb. Her only jewelry is a gold necklace, its curved pendant sitting proud just under her collarbone. On one arm is hooked a red plastic basket from just inside the grocer entrance; its contents vary- but really, anything that someone else might be getting. Nothing too strange here. What is strange, however, is that she has been lingering around the meat cooler for the longest time, contemplative.
When one thinks shopping, one does not normally think Whole Foods. It's generally expensive compared to popping down the road to the local supermarket or big-box retailer, but the selection is amazing and the things that you can find on it's shelves? All natural, grass-fed, and minus anything that could be considered harmful by the longest stretch of the imagination. "So, we're here…." Jaiden's voice echoes over the aisle, a bit twangy, as all Australian accents are. "Have you come to a decision on what you'd like for dinner tonight?"
A basket in one hand, Jaiden's hand swinging with hers in the other, Delia meanders alongside the large man as she peruses the different items on the shelves. "I don't know…" she muses as she stops in front of the shelves containing some jarred spices. Looking them over, she hums softly and then glance up at him with raised eyebrows. "Chicken maybe?" She's not exactly a cook, the only things she's attempted out of her mother's old cookbooks are one pot and crockpot meals. Her idea of gourmet is sticking a red gummy bear head on a yellow body.
"We could do fish too… I can whip up a mean tuna sandwich." She grins widely at him and swings their hands a little to get him to smile along with her. "The secret is the pickles… you need to put pickles in the mix so there's a crunch. Otherwise you're just left with a squishy sandwich."
Something is wandering closer- and Huruma knows if she booked it now, it'd be too late. Best to just take it. She frowns and purses her lips tight, staying quite still even as one of two voices comes into the far range of her hearing. She doesn't know the one with the twang- but she can recognize Delia at this point without needing to see the redhead there. For now, her attention is boring onto the English tenderloins as if she could make them decide for her.
Needless to say, that doesn't work as well as planned.
"Chicken'll work. I can make a mean herbed chicken with coconut milk sauce. I think you'll really like it. And the thing I like about this place? They have pre-cut vegatables, so we can just throw them in a pan and go with a little butter. No cutting required." The man reaches up on his tiptoes and pulls a small bottle from the top shelf - saffron. "Here, smell." The seal is broken and the little wisps of spice are offered to Delia to smell.
It's almost impossible to describe the way a fruit or spice smells. How would you describe the way a banana smells except 'fruity'. How would you describe the odor of a rose besides 'flowery'? Saffron smells 'spicy', and in a good way. "Some of this stuff and we'll be golden, I think. Now…dessert…." The two round the corner from Spices to the Meat section.
"Chicken in coconut milk? That sounds pret-ty fancy," the redhead utters softly, wrinkling her nose. She stands on her toes along with him, just to see what he's reaching for, surprised when it's actually thrust near her nose. Taking a tentative whiff, Delia raises her eyebrows at him and puckers her lips slightly in thought. "You do realize, if you spoil me at the start, I'm going to expect this sort of thing all the time."
As they amble around the corner, Delia's entire demeanor brightens even more at the sight of the nubian giant in the little red dress. "Huruma!!" The exclamation calls attention to the redhead from every passerby in the store. Unfortunately for Delia, she doesn't know that the other woman is trying to be incognito.
Huruma is from nowhere near Nubia, but if it works for Delia- the dark woman leers to herself when Delia chimes her name, only to turn a slim, serpentine smile a moment later. She smiles to Delia like this, but her ivory eyes have wandered off to examine Jaiden thoroughly, both in his physical state, and his emotional one. During this, she turns to face them, the basket at her hip bobbing up against it.
"Delia." Fingernails tick once against each other, and Huruma's smooth voice disguises her irritation quite well. "This must be your boy, hmm?"
"Hey, I like to cook. Life is too bloody short to suffer through bad food. If you'll eat it, I'll cook it." Jaiden gives Delia a playful squeeze as she greets the dark-skinned, red-dressed woman, straightening a bit. It's his old-world manners coming into play, even though he's from Australia, and the fact that he's being pinned by Huruma's ivory gaze does make him squirm just a little (only head editors and headmasters at university normally have that effect on him!). "Pleasure to meet you, Ma'am." A shaky smile appearing again. "My name's Jaiden."
The sensation Huruma gets from the man is the same one would get from a man who's come across something a little intimidating. He's not afraid but he is damn respectful. Moreso since Delia knows her, apparently.
Jaiden receives a fond look before Delia turns back to smile at Huruma, nodding. "Yeah, this is Jaiden. Jaiden, this is Huruma… she's an old friend of my dad's." Customer, prey, friend… it's all the same when it comes out of the Ryans washing machine, at least where the other woman is concerned. "She's sort of my guardian angel too…" the redhead adds before giving his hand a light squeeze.
"Huruma, this is Jaiden, the guy from the train that I told you about." Or didn't tell her about, but Huruma knows more than what Delia actually said anyway. "We… were just shopping for something to make for dinner. Apparently Jaiden doesn't want to spoil me with more dollar menu cheeseburgers or gummy bears. Even though I begged." The cheeseburger, Delia's favorite meal ever.
It must be a very big washing machine. Huruma watches Jaiden with piqued interest, only taking her predatory gaze off of him when Delia finishes introducing the man. She glances back over her shoulder towards the cooler, and back to Delia.
"New friend. Old acquaintance." Huruma feels the niggling need to clarify this for her. She was not always his friend- whatever the word entails when it comes to the two. "He is making you dinner already?" Her lips curl into a small laugh, chin lifting. "How old are you, Jaiden?" She is curious about this part, though it is not so important- Huruma cannot waste time talking about age differences when two years ago she met her first immortal. Maybe it is simply to keep him- tentative.
"Twenty-Nine, Miss Huruma." Jaiden answers with a bit of a glance to Delia. Interesting friends her father has. Must have been the person who gave her that dress for the concert the other evening. "And yes….just dinner and a bad 80's movie. I am a gentleman, after all."
With a liberal roll of her eyes, Delia pastes a grimace on her face and cocks her head toward Huruma. "Come on, Huruma, how old? Really? It's not like he's a hundred or anything. Look at him, he's— Wow, twenty nine?" The redhead raises her eyebrows at him questioningly, no she never asked. The haven't actually talked about the little things.
"He's twenty-nine." She agrees, putting the emphasis on the twenty part. "You're actually the first person in the family to meet him, don't tell dad. Well, maybe tell dad, but… No, don't tell dad. I want him to think he's the first."
Not quite- but Huruma may be on the list for next time. Lulu's clothes were- way too short. She laughs again when Delia rolls her eyes, shaking her head teasingly to the girl. "Better than four-hundred-twenty nine, possibly. Those ones are …handfuls." In the driest tone she can manage. The dark woman cants her head like a bird of prey, eyebrows twitching up as Delia debates over what to tell or not tell her father. There was something else, too.
"…First person in th'family?" Hill-air-ee-us.
The trio are in front of the cooler where the red meat is, but Jaiden is able to, with a bit of a side step, grab a pack of chicken breasts which are put into the basket along with the few bits they've grabbed up until now.
"We've only just met a few days ago - coming up on a week, I think. I think we're both just trying to figure out what's best, and for now, we're just enjoying each others' company." Jaiden's truthful, and his emotions, although still guarded, are exactly as he says they are. No fear regarding this meeting at all, or what he's saying.
ORDER: It is now your pose.
Delia puckers her lips slightly and her eyes slide off to the other side as she listens to Jaiden explain their odd… whatever it is. "Four days or so?" She corrects quickly, nodding in agreement with the rest. "We went to McDonalds on Thursday… and uhm… Iiiii…" She hasn't told anyone about the rest of it. Not about the dress, not about the party, not about sneaking in after dawn. There's a small sense of fear that envelopes her, sort of a sheepish feeling. Her father would recognize her cues, of course, that she wasn't telling the whole story.
"Yeah, so Thursday! Man… then Friday and Saturday I was working… a lot… and uhm… uhmm… Dinner tonight!" A big smile is given to the inquisitor the question about including her in the family? It isn't even touched on, it just is.
"I think your father might'ave something t'say about me. Do I look Irish?" One of Huruma's hands unfolds, palm up at her side. No, you don't look Irish. She listens in carefully to Delia's tune, and the beat she sings it with. She senses the trepidation that mainly comes with lying- it is a telltale sign. Though she is not about to start making rules, of course. Not Huruma.
"Many things in this city move faster than usual." A resignation to a few days turning into closeness. It happens, and Delia, at least, is young and resilient. "An'I'ave th'feeling you are not telling me th'entire tale. But that is fine." A smile tics up.
Jaiden gives a glance to Delia as Huruma gives her…approval? Is that what was just given? He isn't sure, but something causes the man to relax. Only slightly. "We're just friends now, Miss Huruma. Nothing uncouth happening with us."
Looking down at the floor, Huruma knows very well that Delia is leaving out rather large chunks of the story. "Uhm… It's something I should really tell you about another time… because it's a long story." She gives a quick glance up to Jaiden and shrugs before giving Huruma a little bit of a weak smile. "And no you don't look Irish… but…" The redhead shrugs again and tilts her head to the side, "You don't have to be."
The pair of clasped hands between the two are swung lightly before the young woman speaks again, "We should get going, actually. Will you be at the store tomorrow? I can tell you everything then. It'll be worth the trip , I promise. There's midgets in it."
"No need for 'miss'." Huruma wags one hand at Jaiden, slightly dismissive, before her features turn skeptical. When they do, she shifts and turns, picking up a package of whole tenderloins and near where Jaiden was, a pair of chicken breasts. She has to step closer for those, and she comes perhaps too near- it is quite like finding that the circus tiger picked his cage lock.
"That sounds lovely, though I do wonder why dwarves'ad a key t'your weekend. I shall find out, won't I?"
"Yes ma'am." Jaiden holds his ground but there's a little thrill when Huruma steps within touching distance, his hand squeezing Delia's hand slightly tighter. He also wonders what the relationship between Haruma and Delia actually is, but that'll be asked a bit after the meeting the two have arranged at the store - wherever that is. Then, as an afterthought almost. "It was good to meet you, albeit briefly, Huruma."