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Of course, Xi had warned her and of course Rhona had thought he was exaggerating. It was a grocery store. Target never got that bad, why should this be any different. If anything, she expected it to be less busy than other chain grocery stores because of how niche it seemed to be.

She was wrong.

She'd only ever seen this many people in a supermarket during black friday, and even then it was on those youtube video compilations. Someone bumped into her and then shouted something in a language that she didn't understand, but she took to be very rude by the cadence of the voice. She would have shot something equally scathing back, but the offender melted into the crowd and vanished. And then in her search for the offender, Rhona had lost track of where she was and sidestepped into some old lady's cart. She also shouted angrily at her, and in her surprise, all Rhona could do was apologize and skitter away, back to Xi, where she wrapped her slender fingers around his bicep to ensure that she wouldn't get lost in the crowd.

"Try something," she parrotted stupidly, blinking down at the fruit before her. Half of it she recognized -- apples, oranges, pears -- but the other half almost seemed alien. She palmed one fruit which was colored like a kiwi, but looked a bit like a brillo pad. She raised it to her nose to see if she couldn't detect was it was from the scent, but she smelled nothing.

"Hey Xi, what's this," she asked, pressing herself against the fruit stands to keep out of the way.

At the warning of the smell, Rhona placed the fruit back down gently, as though disturbing the fruit too much might set it off.

"I feel like if the smell is that bad, maybe I should stay away from it. Fruit should be sweet and smell good."

She nodded with finality and did as she was directed, placing a hand on the cart so that she would at the very least be out of the way.

"I do remember you letting me try this, though," she said, reaching for the Asian pears. "You had boiled it right? No... poached it! There were these red berries in the middle -- It was when you got promoted! Remember?" She remembered. Of course, she did. She remembered every single one of his milestones, and probably would forever. Just like she remembered Chione's and Crocus', and would remember Melpomene's now. Just like she hoped to remember Kibirevs.

"I remember liking it. Could you teach me how to make them? Other than those... I mean I don't know... what should a beginner have for fruit? Like... what are staples?"

The fact that Xi's mother ever did anything kind for him astonished Rhona. But at least now she knew what to make for him should he ever come to her feeling poorly. Physically or otherwise. If nothing else, she could steam a pear, right? And she already knew how to make rice, even if it was in a cooker. That was two things down already! How hard could the rest really be?

Very, Rhona soon realized the strange fruits Xi was currently piling into his cart. Strange red fruits that looked more like sea creatures than fruit, what looked like elongated apples, and something that was shaped like a cherry tomato but had the skin and coloring of a citrus fruit. Rhona's mouth hung open as she watched the cart fill up, and they were only at the fruit stands.

"I guess I won't need to go grocery shopping myself for a few weeks," she offered weakly, somewhat amazed at the amount of fruit that existed outside her understanding.

"Okay," she finally laughed as Xi asked about the amount of fruit they were getting. "Honey, a plentiful fruit bowl is more than okay! There's nothing better for a centerpiece in my mind. You have my complete trust, Xi. Whatever you say, I'll go along with. She could do a fruit plate for breakfast tomorrow and taste them all with Liam. That would be nice with a cup of tea...

"I can't imagine what it's going to be like if the rest of the store is like this though! There are so many options!"

Someone stepped on her foot, but by now Rhona knew better than the call out or give dirty looks. Instead, all she did was wince quietly and shift her weight, wondering if maybe the aggression she was experiencing wasn't actually just confirming that it wasn't just that she felt out of place here. Looking around, she was the only person who looked... well like her. She drew closer to Xi as though he might protect her from the laughter that definitely wasn't directed at her but how did she know that for sure?

"Sauces, right... do I need something to put the sauces on? Like noodles of some kind? I'd offer to get them myself at the supermarket, but something tells me those packs of dried udon are no good, huh?" She laughed despite herself, and perhaps a little too forcefully as she tried not to think about how she stuck out in the crowd. How was she ever going to come here alone?

"But I mean rice... how different can rice be from one place to the next, right?"

Right?

Rhona blinked as Xi comforted her, once again taken aback by how much he'd grown. After a moment, she smiled and squeezed his elbow. He was right, she had no reason to be nervous. It was probably Micah sneaking back into her mind and fraying her nerves. How she managed to sneak back in when Rhona had worked so hard to bury her would always be beyond Rhona's ability to understand. But she anchored herself to the feeling of Xi's elbow in her hand and smiled after a moment.

"Yeah, it's just... Micah."

Another moment as Rhona put herself back together before she took a deep breath and pushed all of the sounds to the back of her mind. Rice. Right.

"I thought rice was like other dried foods, like pasta. There wasn't really a 'fresh'... but I guess dried herbs expire, so..." Really, the more she thought about it, and the more Xi explained, the more it felt... familiar. The fruits really weren't that different, rice expired like herbs, and there were different sauces just like condiments. She wouldn't put ketchup on spaghetti, so she assumed it was the same thing.

"Thanks, Xi. for bringing me here and... being you." She bumped into her shoulder and smiled up at him warmly.

Rhona nodded when she was asked after and leaned into Xi's cheek against her head. She mirrored his sentiment, the only difference is that she knew exactly where she would be were it not for the court. And she wagered that, for all she had told Xi about what she used to be, he knew too.

Dead.

Rhona took a deep breath, sighing back out, "I don't know who I'd be without you. It's a good thing we'll never have to know." In truth, Rhona wondered if she would be as nurturing had Xi not opened up that part of herself. She couldn't remember feeling this way about anyone before... and she couldn't imagine herself without that part of herself.

Xi changed the subject, thankfully, just in time.

"Yeah, two types sounds great! Do I need to prepare them a certian way or just like I normally do in the rice cooker?"

At least rice was something she could handle. Rice was old hat. She understood rice.

To some extent.

"I dunno, Xi," Rhona sighed, doing as she was told and grabbing two bags of rice. "I wasn't... like this... before you. I mean like... maternal. I was still trying really hard to find out who I was. I was drinking a lot, just kind of... surviving. Meeting you uncovered a part of me that I didn't know existed. It -- and you -- gave me a purpose again."

She had said it very casually, but the weight of her words settled in her gut like a stone. She'd never really thought about it before, but now that she was, Rhona was certain what she had said was true.

"I might not have ever powered up again had I not met you. Might not have seen the point."

She shrugged as she plopped the rice into the cart like it didn't matter but it did. It mattered a lot. She tried to keep it from her face, and in so doing latched on to Xi talking about how to cook rice. Good, then she was doing the rice cooker right too. Rhona did, however, leave out the use of milk and sugar to make a poor facsimile of rice pudding. She knew Xi wouldn't look down on her for it, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him either.

"Anyway, what else?"