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 Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:00 pm
Prompt: Quote: No outdoor event is complete without a row of food trucks these days! You can find everything: Designer sushi for $24 a roll, vaguely horrifying “fried everything” truck, a Vegan Hot Dog with cucumber bun...Such possibilities! And it’s only like, a sea of people between you and lunch. Ezra was really at the fair for the food. And the happy atmosphere, but mostly the food. Funnel cakes, fried stuff that really should not be fried, combinations of things that sounded absurd but tasted amazing... he figured that festivals and the prospect of good times (and profit) brought out ingenuity in people. His goal was to try at least one "bizarre" item, though he had to pick his oddities carefully. One time, he had something that was so crunchy yet so mushy yet so flavorless yet so insidiously bad that he nearly threw up all over the booth he got it from. So, especially when picking items marketed as unusual, he was going to ask questions and read the fine print. There were craptons of people surrounding the food trucks, however, to the point that he couldn't tell where one line ended and another began. The wait would be annoying, but maybe the element of randomness (from not being sure where he'd end up) would make his food journey more interesting. He slid into line behind a black-haired fellow, grinned, and made small talk. "So, which line do you think you're in?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:08 pm
Erich supposed that he was better off spending his day here instead of camping out in the woods again. Though he couldn't really say why. He had been invited by a couple of friends, but had been abandoned as soon as they had gotten there. He would have left, but they had promised him lunch and he was going to get it! The main problem was, everyone else seemed to want food too, and Erich soon found himself stuck in the crowd, almost being trampled over and feeling like they were all baking inside of an oven from the heat and humidity. He really hoped however that he could at least find a food that he could identify. He hated mystery foods. Soon enough someone was behind him and the other seemed to want to make small talk. Erich turned and shrugged. "I'm hoping for the pasta truck. Some blackened chicken pasta sounds good right now, even if it's so hot." He only hoped that the lines split into the correct ones the closer they got to the truck. "What about you? What are you going for?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:34 pm
"Pasta truck, huh..." Slippery noodles were good, though Ezra wasn't sure that they were festival food, or even food truck food. People really did figure out how to make the most unexpected things work. Speaking of which, dang this guy had some nice blue eyes. Ezra doubted that his flirt game was up to par right now, but maybe he'd try if there was a decent opportunity. (Even if this guy didn't swing that way, but hey, there was only one way to find out, right?) He still hadn't answered the question. "Well, I started eyeballing the fried sweet stuff truck and then the fried everything truck, but I think I might be in line for the..." He looked up and ahead. "Fried squid truck? Well, that'll be interesting and probably not terrible. I'm on a quest to eat and survive one weird food item, but I guess a warmup is fine too."
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:56 pm
Erich hmphed a bit in response. "You're braver than me then. Unless I can identify the food, I tend not to eat it. Too many bad experiences." Experiences that had led to being on the toilet for hours at a time. Not fun. "Hoping I can find a table to eat at though. Nothing worse than having to balance a bowl full of pasta while eating it. "Fried truck sounds good though. Maybe I should get food from that then. Though I guess we have some time to decide before we actually get there. Though who knows, we might be forced to a truck we didn't even want to go to in the first place." Chuckling a little, though hoping that wouldn't be the case.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:27 pm
"That's normally how I operate, but I developed a tolerance for weird stuff from my college roommates' emergency hangover cures. They liked to throw the randomest crap together." Ezra didn't party to the point of needing those anymore, but he shelved that caveat for now. He nodded, mulling over the implications of portable pasta. "Knowing these enterprising folks, they've probably figured out a way to make the pasta easy to carry and eat, but in the most ridiculous way possible." "Yeah, we've probably got some time," Ezra said after trying to peer over the heads of some taller crowd members. "I just hope there's no pickles involved. For some reason, my roommates liked to throw those into the hangover cures a lot. It kind of made me hate them." He had a feeling there was a pickle truck around the corner just to spite him. Briney stuff, yuck.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:31 pm
"Pickles? That is weird. Those stay with you all day if your stomach doesn't care for them." Along with onions. But pickles mostly stayed on your tongue the next 24 hours even with brushing your teeth. The line moved a bit and Erich was able to take a few steps forward. He sighed, really wishing that the humidity would just go at least so they could bake without feeling like they were boiling. "I usually wouldn't go to a place like this, but my friends dragged me here, and then bailed on me. I have no idea where they are now." And he certainly wouldn't be doing something like this with them again, that's for sure! "What about you? You here for the rides or for the fair food? I have to admit, correctly-made funnel cakes are nice. You can never get the right ones just buying the frozen things at the store."
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:48 pm
"You're telling me," Ezra quipped, wincing at the memory of the strong briney flavor. One roommate insisted that you had to drink the pickle juice straight from the jar for "maximum effect," and all it was was friggin' disgusting. He tried his best to wipe the grimace off his face as he nodded along with Erich's statement. "Your friends bailed on you? Geez. I hope they got distracted and didn't plan to ditch you for laughs, or something like that. As for me, I'm mostly here for the food and the atmosphere. There's some things that just don't feel their best outside of a festival. Like funnel cakes." He was kind of relying on emotional contagion for his funsies, but it worked, so there wasn't much to complain about. After a moment, he offered his name. "I'm Ezra. How about you?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:47 pm
The sun was starting to get a bit too hot for Erich's taste, and he was glad that he had the bandana on to keep his head somewhat cool. "Well depends on what they do later, but I may just "ditch" them as friends." He had just met them at university so they were more acquaintances than friends, but he was trying to be a bit more social now that he was in graduate school. Unfortunately it seemed that those in his degree still seemed to want to behave as though they just turned 21 still. Or 12. One of those two. "I'm Erich. Interesting that both our names start with E. But I guess it is a common letter." The line seemed to be moving again though, and Erich was hoping that he would have something soon to soothe his empty stomach.
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:11 pm
"Sounds like a plan to me, if I may be honest. I mean, it's one thing to agree on splitting up and handling different things, but just ditching you? Yeesh." Oh, hey, now the line was actually moving, but Ezra still wasn't sure which truck he was gonna end up at. He was hoping for the fried squid truck, now that he thought of it. He chuckled at his companion having an E name too when he mentioned it. "Funny how that works out! I think E is the most common letter in the English language? Don't quote me on that. I think I'd have to double check." His phone was right in his pocket, sure, but data usage, man... "I think we're maybe two line movements to the squid truck."
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 4:22 pm
Erich shrugged. "I don't linger too much on the past, but it doesn't mean I'll allow them in my future. I'll be fine walking home at least." He replied. And it did look like they were both heading to the squid truck as Ezra said. Erich sighed. "Well, guess I'm having squid then, as long as I can identify it." He took the next two steps and finally got a look at the menu. It didn't look as though there was anything spicy on there... "Guess I'm having the fried squid on a stick then." He took a step to the side to let Ezra go to the front to order. "Your turn. Maybe we can find some place to eat this stuff."
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:28 pm
"Sounds squishy," Ezra quipped. "Squishy but good. Maybe I'll get the calamari rings. Those are fun to eat." He stepped past Erich, placed his order, and then turned around to face him while he waited. "That sounds like a great idea! I didn't come here with anyone, so I'd be willing to keep you company. And if your friends show up again, I'll yell at them a bit for you, if you'd like." After a few minutes of waiting, one of those paper bowls got served up, full of calamari rings. "Excellent," he said as he scooped the bowl up. "Let's go scope out a table or a bench or something. How 'bout that?" he asked Erich. SSBrosB Could fin/fade out on your post?
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:42 pm
"Squishy is okay as long as I can see what it is." And if it was in the shape of a fried squid on a stick, that was a-okay with him! Soon enough he had his fried squid on a stick and could tell that it was a squid on a stick. "Calamari rings? Are those like onion rings? If they are I would like to try one." He replied as he watched Ezra for the food. "You can have part of my squid stick." Erich said with a small smile at the side of his mouth. "Sounds fine to me." Erich said as soon as Ezra had gotten his food and had suggested finding a place. "I'll follow if you lead. I can help keep an eye out too." He said, hoping that his squid stick wouldn't have anything... unpleasant inside of it and followed Ezra on their quest for an empty bench. (insert heroic journey music here) Sami-Fire All right that's it for me then! Thanks so much!
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