discomfort with socialization had been a factor in kiana’s life for almost as long as she could remember. left to her own devices, she would only interact with her small circle of chosen few for the rest of her life. venturing out to this food truck festival, having gone so far as to put sunscreen on herself for the short jaunt, kiana couldn’t quite explain how she managed to come to that decision. something had pulled her towards this circle of grease-filled trucks. what that was, she’d rather not know, frankly.
at times, she wondered if she’d made a bad decision. walking around the perimeter, ki attempted to avoid others, move her shoulders out of the way when need came, to peruse on her own, but every close call sent her heart hammering. she needed a break, one that was taken sitting on a bench and only watching the hustle and bustle.
a girl came near where she sat, a plate of food in hand. by the looks of her, she seemed to be an idol, though not one kiana knew. the food, if she was seeing it correctly, was something she’d wanted to try, but chickened out of asking the vendor about. slightly easier, maybe, was speaking to another idol, and so, it was a race to gathering up the courage to speak before, “excuse me,” she said, giving her full attention to the girl so she knew who kiana was speaking to. “if you don’t mind my asking, what’s in that dish?”
having only been to america twice in her entire lifetime, and those not being trips that were that long or to the sunny state of california, akira was quite excited to spend some time out there. with a few hours of free time ahead of her, she donned a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before she set out to find something to occupy her time. she wanted to use her time wisely, particularly glad that the fantasy festival had come about outside of the usually time frame of her monthly visitor. she would have been absolutely miserable if she had to spend the majority of the festival writhing in pain and staying locked in her room when she wasn’t being forced to perform.
the knowledge that there was a food truck festival going on her caught her attention. like a lot of other people, akira loved to eat. she loved to try new foods and what better opportunity to do that than the present? in a country she wasn’t all too familiar with? it didn’t take her long to find the food trucks, and once she did she immediately went to the one that smelled the most appealing to her. it was a good thing she ended up trusting her nose, because when she approached the truck, she had to admit that the food looked delicious.
after receiving her food, she went in search of a place to sit and enjoy, only to be called out to by an unfamiliar voice. she looked at her, finally recognizing her as a member of fuse. she smiled reflexively. “i don’t mind at all.” she glanced down at her plate. “this one?” she pointed to one of the dishes she had on her large plate. “i think this one just has chicken, onion, some seasonings and maybe some cheese? i think they called it a tamale.” she looked back up at her. “did you want to try a piece? i bought more than one.”