Trying to Feed Three Wolves [Maia]

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She had seen him use the card for food. Thus being hungry counted as an emergency…

Right?

Maia didn’t want any of this crappy Ethean food anyway. What she really wanted was some rice. Not the spicy rice, the good rice. The sticky rice. And good gods, did none of these stores have nori? It was like trying to find a mouse in a lavender field. Extremely hard to say the least. She had finished putting away the meager amount of things that she had owned and decided to venture out into Ethea. She was carrying the holo-watch on her, and had programmed it to take her to a grocery store. At least that was what she had thought at first.

Instead it had taken her to two different restaurants and none of them had any fresh fish or rice.

Was it really too much to ask for?

Maia had finally had her way to the grocery store and was slowing walking up and down the isles looking for rice. The Ethean language was hard to understand and the Ikigian girl didn’t really want to put the effort in to properly understand it. What she wanted was food, and for her glorious Ikigian rice, she would find what she needed.

Besides, it shouldn’t cost that much, right?

The girl adjusted her hair out of her face from under the cap she was wearing. She also was wearing one of her “father’s” old hoodies. She didn’t have a lot of clothes, and when she had run out, he had given her the ratty one of his. It was a bit too big, but it was comfortable. Though there was a smell she couldn’t quite place. She could have sworn it smelled familiar. Tapping on the holo-watch Maia turned down one of the isles. Hopefully this one would have rice in it.

She had picked up one of the little baskets at the front of the store when she had come in. At least that was the same as in Ikigai. After multiple people bumping into her she couldn’t help it but let out a “くそ” in Ikigian. She doubted anyone would be able to understand her, though she got a few looks from a man in a suit. Putting a finger on her bottom of her eye and pulled it down and stuck out her tongue. Was it childish? Maybe. Did she care? No. She just wanted her rice and to get out of this infernal country. The girl had picked up a flyer when she had come in, taking out her sharpie and circling the rice, and the spice that she needed. Hopefully it would help in the future of getting what she wanted. Luckily they seemed to be on some sort of sale? Numbers were the same at least. She knew that much.

Hopefully this would happen soon enough.

Of course that wouldn’t be the case. Maia had just found the rice, which was for some odd reason right by the spices, which she really didn’t understand. She ultimately was perusing the spices when something bumped into her handheld basket. It bumped into her with such force that she stumbled a bit and lost her balance. Annnd there went her rice, up, into the air, which comically landed in the offender’s cart. “Nimiral!” of course this would have to happen, it was just her luck.

“Aiâ!” The Ikigian girl would pull her knees up to her chest, as she seemed to have landed on her ankle. It wasn’t a good scenario at all. Glaring up at the seemingly redheaded girl Maia sneered. Of course this happened. Some preppy shopping girl would have to harm her on her first time out in an Ethean grocery store.

“Damnit…” The Ikigian girl would rise to her feet tentatively testing her ankle and find it nothing but sprained. This would lead the girl to glare at the other. “Watch out next time.” The Ethean words would come out jolted and stiff. Her tongue was not used to the harsh sounds that this language required. “Not hurt, but…” Damn, what was the word? “Ouch.” Maia would point to her ankle before shaking her head and pointing at the rice in the cart. “Mine.” Hopefully this girl would understand.

She didn’t need any more annoyances today.

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This really wasn’t how Maia had wanted to spend her day. Like at all.

Getting run into by a person who seemed to not even care? Nope, not how her day had been planned. The whole scenario wasn’t something the Ikigian girl had ever imagined would happen to her. She was normally pretty easy going in the grocery store, avoiding people was her style. However when people ran into her she couldn’t control it. It was all sort of annoying to say the least. Not to mention a bruise on her pride, and that was what really mattered right? Maia’s pride? Hence the scowl on her face and the scene that unfolded.

Maia blinked as her attacker looked… like she was the one hurt? That was odd. She didn’t understand why the person was… worried? It was quite odd to say the least. Maia was more used to people being general assholes and not giving two shits about how their actions affected others. Or at least that was the normal in her everyday life. Did… Did this girl just apologize? Who was this girl and why was she so nice? A scowl formed on Maia’s face, a general indication of her frustration. It wasn’t in her experience for others to be nice to her, let alone apologize. “Sorry?”

She couldn’t comprehend the word, especially used in this circumstance. “Yes,” was the word out of her mouth. At least the woman realized it was her fault. As she stood Maia gingerly put pressure on her ankle. She winced at the pain but kept going. It wasn’t that much pain she was in. As Maia pointed to the rice she was pleasantly surprised that the teenager seemed to be willing to go with her demands. “Ok.” Maia would nod, her ankle was fine. To demonstrate she walked around on it a little. “Why such hurry?” Her curiosity was peaked. Why was this woman in such a hurry that she knocked her over?

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Maia would nod, accepting the girl’s apology. Because Maia could sense the other girl was being sincere, she actually gave a shit, she was more likely to be nice. Well at least as nice as Maia could be. She wasn’t very nice to begin with so from a grimace her face turned into a small scowl. That was as close as a smile that Maia is capable of really. Besides, she wasn’t that happy. “It okay. You not mean to.” There. That should give the girl some sort of reassurance. Easy words in Ethean to say. They might have made the sentence a bit choppier but she got her point across, or at least she tried.

As Maia tested her foot, the wince was brief. It noted her pain and discomfort but it wasn’t anything severe. More of an annoyance really. Yes, it would make carrying groceries home a little harder, but it wouldn’t be that bad, not really considering. She hadn’t planned on buy all that much anyway. Instead she would be more focused on making the most of whatever ingredients she could find here at this store. Maia was finding there weren’t that many Ikigian imports here in Ethea, which was also annoying.

Maia nodded as she was returned the rice, grateful that it didn’t look damaged. She didn’t want to buy a damaged item. That would just be a waste of money and Maia didn’t waste money. She was quite frugal. Hence the coupons that she was carrying around. She was making sure they would be put to use.

Maia listened intently trying to translate the girl’s sentences as best as she could. There must have been a reason she was going so fast as to have knocked her down. “List?” Came the question. Maia wasn’t that familiar with making a list here in Ethea, she didn’t know where anything was. All of the stores were laid out differently than they were in Ikigai. It was the little things like that that bothered the girl. “Ah, lost track time.” It seemed the girl had such a heaping amount of food that they were rich. Her eyes scanned over the food and spotted a particular meat she had been looking for. As her eyes lit up she turned again to face this red headed girl. “What ingredients? I help.”

Besides, if Maia helped this stranger, this stranger might just help her. “Where find?” The grump would point to the meat that was in the red head’s cart. Hopefully she would understand.

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The other girl seemed to get the message, which was a good thing. Maia didn’t feel like over explaining herself and she didn’t feel like she should have to in the first place. The point went across and the other girl seemed to notice what Maia was trying to say.

If the red head was not aware that Maia was not from Ethea, then she was quite dense. She did appreciate that the woman didn’t do that infuriated thing that these foreigners did with baby talk. It really was annoying to the teen. Did they think she was stupid? Or just inferior? Either way the teenager hated it when people talked down to her. As Maia looked at the list that redhead showed her she nodded and turned to start fishing for the flyer. She had recognized one of the names, asiago cheese was it? She pulled out the flyer and showed the woman the coupon for it offering as a sign of peace. “Cheese sale.”

The store was in fact having a cheese sale and if Maia could get the price down of that woman’s huge cart of food? Then it was all the better. Maia appreciated coupons, as they helped her be frugal. At the mention of cooking Maia would nod. “Cook house meals too.” Maybe they had something in common? Maia would open the pouch she carried with the coupons she had. “Lots coupons, you need?” Maia didn’t need the ones that were in this envelope. In fact she had been planning on giving them to the next old granny she saw. The redhead wasn’t an old granny but from the amount of food she was buying she could have been. Apparently this was the next best thing.

Maia offered a sly smirk as the redhead nodded when she pointed to the meat in the cart. Good. It seemed she wasn’t stupid. It was so easy to manipulate stupid people. Instead Maia was dealt with someone that seemed to understand her way of the world. Favors for favors. Plus this would give the woman a chance to pay off the debt that she owed to Maia. Once done, it would be simple, as they would be on even playing ground again, and the girl had no intention of ever interacting with this overly cheery girl again. The thought brought a small sinister smile to her face.

Considering the proposition that was set before her Maia slowly nodded. Good. She could use the redhead, who seemed to know where everything was. The grumpy teenager was still getting used to her bearings in this country and she didn’t know where things were and to be honest that frustrated her. “Help each other.” There, she had established a sense of mutual respect, even if it wasn’t quite genuine it was as good as the redhead was going to get. At the topic of finding something from this aisle Maia would nod and fetch her own spice that she was missing. Good, it seemed that the store had it in stock. That was a small blessing in the least. “Meat, yes.”

If Maia was going to continue to deign to associate with the redheaded strongwoman she should probably introduce herself. Going into the formal bow of her country Maia would show respect to the redhead. Her hands would be clasped in the front of her, she would bend at the waist, and her legs would be together in the traditional formal posture. She would slowly rise, and lock eyes with the redhead and point to herself. “Maia Nomi.” That would have to suffice as an introduction for the teenager.

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Maia tilted her head. She had pulled out the right coupon right? That wasn’t a problem right? She sighed and appeared to be looking at it again. Damn Ethean language. It always seemed to muck everything up. Upon observing the coupon again. Maia was quite surprised! She had actually chosen the right one? Hrmm. She wondered where the tall lady’s hesitation lied then. Either way, the red head accepted the coupon and Maia nodded. Good. It seemed like the red head could use it. “I’m cheap.” were the words said with a smirk.

Maia was nothing if not frugal. Her grandfather could attest to that.

Maia would nod at the redhead. She knew that cooking could get expensive, even more so in her case given she was used to cooking Ikigian food, rather than Ethean food. She didn’t understand why this country used so much bread and pasta. It wasn’t the same thing, and greatly confused her. Who needed all of those calories? At the confusion Maia pulled out another envelope specifically for the coupons she needed. “These mine.” With a sneer Maia would nod as the redhead would take the other coupons. “You use these.”

It really was just taking them off her hands. Good.

Maia didn’t think the other girl was stupid, but she definitely was Ethean. In general Maia thought that Ethean’s were naturally more stupid than Ikigians. Especially given how she was raised, everyone else in her family was easily at the genius level, where Maia herself was merely average. So for Maia to think the girl wasn’t stupid, really was an achievement. She may be adept at micromanaging others and manipulating them, but she also could appreciate when people just naturally did what she wanted. Smirking she nodded towards the other girl, “Yes.”

Maia would raise her torso with a formal elegance that would echo her politeness and composure in the situation. The Ikigian knew that manners mattered when introductions happened, so she was putting effort into this one. For some reason the Ethean looked perturbed and it confused her. Why? Was she not formal enough? Did she not follow proper etiquette when being introduced? She had done exactly has her mother and grandfather had taught her. Surely that was enough for the tall redhead that stood before her looking baffled. “Alexandra… Alex.” The first name rolled off Maia’s tongue. The Ethean language was full of rolling sounds that the Ikigian didn’t quite understand. The shortened version of the name was much easier to pronounce and as a sign of her agreeing of the terms to call the red head by the shortened version of the name Maia echoed the name again, “Alex.”

Oh! So she was apologizing again. Guilt was an effective tool to use on this one. Smirking Maia would shrug. “It fine, no harm.” There, nice, simple easy words, which would then be accompanied by a wince as she accidently rolled her ankle while they started to walk. “Nice… meet… you…” were the drawn out words from the hurt she was experiencing.

She wasn’t exaggerating at alllll….. Right?

Maia would nod towards Alex, as she watched her scratch the item off her list. “Salmon, Nori, rice cooker.” Would they actually find a rice cooker in this Ethean store? She wasn’t sure. But she did know that it was essential if she wanted to make onigiri correctly. “Also cheese for octopus.” Hopefully this stuff wouldn’t be too hard to find.

“Also…” Maia would look around before leaning a little closer and whispering. Who knew if her dad had had her followed? “Strawberry Mochi.”