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[ It’s the opposite for Akira. He has been anticipating this moment the whole ride— ]

Elliot is definitely riding. I can supervise.

[ With a grand gesture and a bright expression, he presents Ryoji as the driver and their great steed... luckily, there aren’t too many cars on this side of the lot, so the sky really is the limit. ]

[ Hella. Ryoji takes his place at the cart, feet up on the bottom platform of the cart so that it rears back just a little, the front wheels lifted off the ground and then set in front of Elliot's feet as Ryoji turns it his way. ]

Go on and climb in. We can switch off when we're inside, and you can go for a solo ride!

H-here!?

[IN THE PARKING LOT?? He looks around, as if trying to see if there's any cars just WAITING to come up and kill him. But no, the parking lot is pretty empty......and he has way too little of spine to tell this hopeful duo no]

...O-Okay.

[He gulps and starts climbing up into the cart, hoping that Ryoji is holding it steady while he does so. This is weird, he hasn't climbed into a cart since he was a little kid. Though sadly, with how small he is, he still fits in perfectly fine like he did when he was a little kid.]

How's this?

[ He wants to say that they're trying to have fun, not kill him, but maybe a near life-death experience in a solo cart ride is what Elliot needs? It will definitely kick off the month! Either way, Akira is pulling out his phone

because he's damn straight RECORDING THIS. ]

Perfect. You're doing great, Elliot.

[ He won't say that the cart is meant for you— ]

Whenever you're ready, Ryoji. Show him what's it like to be the best cart racer in Recolle.

[ Time for a near death experience with Akira's blessing. Ryoji kicks off— slow at first, against the resistance of inertia and gravel of the parking lot, but quickly builds up speed, faster and faster towards the front doors of the grocery store that are supposed to part for them like the seas but maybe this is too fast? maybe they're going too fast for the sensor to ping their existence and signal the door to open and they're going to crash and Elliot would hate him forever and

nah, the doors slide open at the very last fraction of a second, there was never any reason for worry. ]

[Even with Akira's reassurances, Elliot is nervous. He grips the side of the cart like some kind of death grip as they set off. And the first part of the ride wasn't so bad. It's actually a little fun! Elliot enjoys going fast, believe it or not.

But then he sees where they are moving quickly to. That sure are the automatic doors they are fast approaching]

R-Ryoji-?! Ryoji look out-!

[But Elliot's warnings seem to go unheard or ignored. They are still barreling faster and faster towards those doors. So he does the next best thing: screaming. He screams as they get close the doors, and as they pass through the doors. He stops when he realizes they aren't going to crash - but dear god he's shaken up from that near death experience.

Also the entire front of the store might be looking at them now.]

[ Akira actually didn't expect Ryoji to aim towards flying into the grocery store, so he's left in the dust with wide eyes like wow. He thought he was the crazy one? He ponders what he should do as Elliot's scream fills the air, not at all feeling the urgency.

Checking his footage, he follows after them with a light jog only to see that they're under the scrutiny of the cashiers... ]

Ryoji, I thought you were just going to push him around the lot.

[ Looks. At. Him. ]

[ He thought wrong. Ryoji at least manages to slow the cart to a stop before they crash right into the registers, and after making sure that's done, belatedly adds his voice in with Elliot's screaming. ]

-—AAAAAA! [ haha is that the store manager coming over? ] I love this store too!!

[ Just. Pretends they were cheering this entire time. He abandons the two of them and leaves Akira to help Elliot out of the cart as he strides right up to the manager and starts asking about the international foods aisle, whether there are any authentic Finnish ingredients, etc. doesn't even give her the opportunity to get properly angry about the disturbance. ]

[Meanwhile Elliot is back in the cart, his heart still racing from that near death experience. But also staring after Ryoji. What the frick dude. What the frick. He can't even focus on all the people who are clearly staring at him for his screaming because Ryoji is just so YOLO.]

S-Suddenly I'm really relieved we didn't take his bike here.....

Yeah... [ Only because it would mean that they both have to suffer together. They both don't need to suffer, okay? Let him help Elliot out of the cart. ] If you can't stand on your own, you can hold on for a bit.

[ He watches as Ryoji goes to small talk with the manager? It seems to be working as she's trying to answer all of his question as best as she can. She kind of gives them a glance of sheer dread. Someone get this cheerful boy off of her? ]

Hey, Ryoji, did you want to do some kind of soup or stew? Or should we try out stuffing some cabbages?

[ COME BACK. ]

[ Come on, guys, they would have gotten here in record time if they'd taken his bike: yellow lights don't exist, only go and stop. He does listen, though, if explicitly asked to take the bus, or give Elliot the best cart riding experience of his life, or come back and rejoin the group instead of harassing the workers. The manager at least looks relieved enough to let him go, for Akira and Elliot to deal with instead. ]

Depends on what Elliot is comfortable making. I looked up some Finnish things I'd like to try, but a lot of them have ingredients that are difficult to find in grocery stores...

[ He pulls his phone out and flips to an open notepad shopping list, containing things like reindeer and blood and tree bark. ]

[Thanks to Akira's help, Elliot's able to get out of the cart! He's shaken up from the cart ride, but he's not injured, so he'll shake his head politely at Akira as he steps away from the cart to prove he can still walk.] No, I'm fine. Thank you.

[Annnd he comes Ryoji again. Elliot will hold onto his own hands in front of him as he listens and glances at the list that Ryoji is pulling up]

As long as it's not any grilled meat like steak, it should be alright--

D-does that say blood?

... Hm. If we went to specific stores, they might sell congealed pork's blood?

[ Is that enough? He's thinking this blood is probably not that, but... Hm. Stroking his chin, he looks at the list. It's very.

Different from what he's used to! But it also makes him excited to try new things out. ]

It sounds like we have to improvise.

[ This is going to be a disaster. ]

[ They're being ~cultural~ which is the entire point of Finnish movie/food night, and the reason why Ryoji spent much of his life going around the world trying new things. To think he can experience Finland from the comfort of his own home; he's willing to make some adjustments to make it happen. ]

Deer have four legs and so to pigs, so I'm sure that substitute will work. And pigs come with blood in them.

[ We can slaughter our own pigs! House bonding time! ]

[You know Akira's idea sounded reasonable and Elliot was willing to try it. It was a bit gross, but he's cooked enough that he'll be able to get over it. But then Ryoji just had to speak up with that idea.]

N-No way!! I-I'm not draining a pig for blood!

I don't think we can buy a pig whole right now, either...

[ That seems out of their budget? ]

Maybe we can stick to the simpler stuff. Sometimes, that's best.

[ They can try some more challenging dishes if they can substitute certain ingredients like deer for normal beef. It may not be the same, seeing that a deer is a lot leaner, but it'll have to do. ]

Do we want to split up and divide the list? Or should we go as a congregated body, like a blob with one mind.

[ :( Alright, simpler substitutes it is. Ryoji looks down at the list in his hands, mulls over something for a bit, and then makes his decision. ]

A formless blob sounds fun, but splitting the list would go faster. I can take the first three.

[ The aforementioned items; leave the blood to him! Also Akira you should really just give orders like the leader you're supposed to be, because Ryoji shouldn't be allowed to make decisions, and people get stabbed when Elliot has to play tiebreaker. ]

[Oh don't worry, Elliot's not gonna be the tiebreaker in this one. No one is getting stabbed today.

Elliot glances over at Ryoji with a look of uncertainty. He likes you Ryoji but you already nearly rammed him into a door, harassed the management, and wanted to buy a live pig for him to drain the blood out of. So for some reason? He does not trust the idea of Ryoji being left to his own devices.]

A-Actually...it'd be slower, but it might be better to stick together so we're sure we buy the right stuff...?

[He looks at Akira. It's up to the Leader to break this tie. ]

[ He just thinks they all can make decisions of their own like adults?? Why must this suddenly be a Life and Death situation. But looking at the list he can see that maybe... Just maybe... Ryoji shouldn't take the first three. He may trust him, but

Hm. ]

Don't you have snacks to buy, Ryoji? Why don't you get those first and you can come back to find us and we'll divide the list after.

[ It gives Elliot and Akira ample time to buy the weird substitutes. ]

[ Why does Elliot and Akira still like and trust him respectively. ]

I can do that! Akira hasn't had a turn in the cart yet, so Elliot, why don't you give him a spin around the store and I'll take care of these snacks?

[ Multicultural snacks!!! Except they're all prepackaged and meant for human consumption, so they're disappointingly safe and edible. Ryoji will be back in like... half an hour to find them, I guess, because he does have a lot of different snack foods that he likes and wants to share with the entire household. He also has to get his own cart, because it starts off innocently enough with things like stroopwafel, prawn crackers, and snap pea crisps, but then he gets distracted when he finds those little lychee jelly cups that come in a huge 5 pound container and of course he gets the entire container, and there's also a party tray of an assortment of baklava and there's 63 pieces and he has to get the entire thing so everyone can try one of each type, and then there's a box of toasted Sriracha-flavored crickets with the legs removed so they don't get stuck in your teeth, and everything goes into his cart. ]

[Idk about Akira, but Elliot has really bad judgement about when he should defriend someone. That's why he still likes you Ryoji. That's why.

BUT HEY a decision has been made! One that Elliot can live with too!]

Oh, okay! See you soon, Ryoji.

[A HALF AN HOUR LATER...shopping on Elliot and Akira's side went pretty smoothly! They found a number of the strange items on their list - or at least substitutes for them. Elliot even attempted to give Akira a ride in the cart! Keyword being attempted, as his sheer lack of physical strength made it a rather...slow and sad ride.

But none of that took nearly the entire time- the store isn't that big and the list isn't that large. So by the end of the half an hour, they were sitting in one of those in-store restaurants that a lot of stores have while waiting for Ryoji. And waiting. Elliot was about halfway through a fruit parfait he'd gotten for himself, when he glances at his phone's clock nervously. ]

...D-Do you think something happened to him? It shouldn't have taken this long....

Edited 2017-10-10 04:22 (UTC)

[ Akira didn’t mind the slow ride... he actually wasn’t bent on getting a ride since he had his chance as a child, even if it was by himself as a driver. In the end, it was a nice stroll as they picked up their ingredients. He also added some extra stuff he would like (herbs, tofu, and some other things) that were on sale. They had a good haul!

And now they’re here at the mini food court in the grocery store. He has with him some flan, eating it slowly in case Ryoji pops up and pleads to try their desserts for whatever reason. Does a person really take half an hour to buy snacks? For a moment, he keeps his spoon in his mouth as Elliot asks the question of the hour.

Pulling out the utensil, he hums as he ponders. ]

I think he should be fine... Who would want to kidnap him, anyway?

[ Damn. He still loves you, Ryoji. Don’t worry. ]

[ Man, international food is so interesting. Did you know people eat little fermented shark meat cubes, chips flavored with roast lamb and mint, hard candies that taste like fish, foie gras bubble gum... There's nothing Finnish he can find, but Finnish snacks are like... salt and tar and fish? or something, so he's trying hard to find something Tuuri might like.

This takes another half an hour and he still doesn't leave to rejoin them. He's getting one of everything in the store, since the manager probably is never letting them back in again. ]

Ha, ouch .... You're not wrong though.

[Elliot sure wouldn't want to kidnap him. Akira's right, he's probably fine.

~HALF AN HOUR LATER~

They are still at that restaurant. Elliot's fruit parfait has been finished and thrown away. Elliot is getting more anxious by the minute.]

Okay, I'm getting really worried. W-What if he rode a cart out of the store and got hit by a car?

[That seems completely possible with Ryoji]

Edited 2017-10-10 05:22 (UTC)

... If he did, he wouldn't die.

[ As morbid and gruesome as that sounds, it's unfortunately true. Akira isn't affronted by that, BUT he does understand they do need to check up on Ryoji. Something might have happened and he is worried. Throwing his pudding cup into the trash, he takes control of their cart of wonders. ]

Ryoji Search Party go!

[ Akira will start on this aisle. Elliot can follow him or go off on his own. ]

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