introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Sampremi Celebration
when: March 8th - March 15th
where: In several different locations in the downtown area of the Inhabited City.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

sampremi celebration

In the days leading up to March 8th, new residents may notice advertising around the city, everywhere from digital screens to paper flyers pasted on blank walls, featuring the name of the spring holiday in celebration of new beginnings, new love, and lust: Sampremi. The advertising mentions that there will be street festivals set up at various locations throughout the week and lists where the market will be set up on each day.

street market

The main draw of the holiday is a roaming street market that features special treats and street food that can only be found during Sampremi, a bustling bargain market with any kind of goods you can think of, and fair games that allow a person to win a prize for that special someone.

i. street food

One of the major draws of the festival is the special street food that can only be obtained this time of year. Almost everything you can buy at the Sampremi Festival is meant to be shared - whether it's one piece of meat on two sticks or desserts baked with a narrow part in the middle for convenient tearing, everything is built in twos. The stalls sell everything from cups of soup, sandwiches, roasted or fried meat, deep-fried vegetables and cakes, dumplings, donuts, bagels, turnovers, and anything else you can think of.

Many of the savory dishes are based on the meat of a particular fowl native to the moon Riverview is situated on that has a taste and texture halfway between chicken and duck, cooked to be spicy (ranging from very mild to throat-burning). Many of the desserts are based around a fruit native to the moon that is spherical, red-orange, and has a light sweet taste that is similar to a combination of mango, pineapple, and strawberry. Both ingredients are considered to be aphrodisiacs. Of course, the foods aren't actually aphrodisiacs and any effect is purely placebo.

ii. fair games

The festival features an entire row of fair games ranging from very high-tech games featuring virtual reality and neon holograms to extremely old-fashioned games with darts and balloons or balls and glasses. The games all have prizes in various shapes and sizes, with the standard stuffed animals, but also with goods and special items donated by any business in the city; ranging from tiny prizes to huge and expensive ones.

Due to the nature of the holiday, many of the stalls are set up to cater to winning a prize for your partner, and due to the nature of the Quarantine, a lot of them involve aiming or other aspects of pretending to fight.

iii. shopping

Originally, the part of the street festival that involved an actual market, with stalls and booths set up with goods, was aimed primarily at romantic trinkets like flowers or jewelry, gifts intended to be purchased for a loved one. As time has gone by, however, this aspect of the market has increased, with many businesses participating, though the emphasis is still on small businesses and anything relating to local culture rather than booths for any of the larger more corporate businesses.

There is still plenty of jewelry to be found, for sure, mostly handmade and artisan, but the scope of the Market has widened immeasurably. The Sampremi Market is an excellent place to find specialty foods, clothing, jewelry, art, or other goods that were originally native to cultures on other planets in this reality, or other realities altogether. Many residents in the city use the market to share their unique cultural goods and traditional dress with others.

iv. adult

In a side alley of the Sampremi Market on any day, one can find an area roped off with a red silken cord, attended by members of the Perimeter Guard in casual dress who will ID anyone entering to make sure they are 18+. Once characters are permitted entry, they will find all of the adult offerings that the market has to offer.

Since Sampremi is, historically, a celebration of lust and physical love, the adult offerings are all set up to cater to two or more people of any sex or gender configuration. One can find an adult or sexualized version of almost anything that's featured in the main market, from fair games to adult goods to street food laced with actual aphrodisiacs (there are always warnings for food spiked in this way to avoid accidental consumption).

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to set up headers for a communal floor, or threads open to roommates for the purpose of getting to know each other. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set at the Sampremi Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit (left to right): Theo Prins, andreasrocha @ tumblr, hrormir @ deviantart, nkabuto @ deviantart

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Comments

Caitlin Snow | The Flash

[naz]

street food

This place really goes all out, Caitlin finds herself thinking. There is food everywhere, not to mention games and other activities. It honestly puts Flash Day to complete and total shame — a secret she will take to her grave, probably, to spare her friend's feelings — and it's almost a little overwhelming. Unsure of where exactly to start, Caitlin decides to check out some of the local food. That's the best way, in her opinion, to soak up a new culture, after all. And maybe some of this isn't necessarily local — or healthy, by any stretch — and in fact, some of it appears fairly familiar, but all the same, there's a ton of things Caitlin's never even heard of, so why not go into it open minded and see if there's anything she likes?

She's standing in line and appreciating the moment she's got to look over the perhaps limited menu and she worries at her bottom lip with her teeth, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Gosh, I don't even know what sounds good..." she murmurs to herself, because really, she's never heard of any of these things. Maybe the vendor or someone in line with a little more experience in this arena can guide her a little by offering some suggestions. Here's hoping.

fair games

While she'd always seen games like these at carnivals in the movies, she's never actually played one. She can remember going to a carnival-esque sort of event exactly twice in her life: once when she was maybe six or seven and her mother insisted that all the games were rigged and it was a waste of money, so she couldn't play. And once when she was in high school and the seniors put together a carnival out on the track field on graduation night. She hadn't played, instead watching as her classmates won their girlfriends giant teddy bears or cussed out workers when they lost, like it was the poor volunteer's fault.

It's tempting, she thinks, to try it now. They probably really are rigged, she supposes, because her mother sort of drilled the idea into her head that afternoon as a child, but so what? What's wrong with playing anyway? They're games, after all. They're just for fun.

Caitlin smiles and thanks the worker when they hand her three darts to throw at a board full of small balloons. Just for the sake of knowing, she presses her finger to the tip of one of the darts, and sure enough, it's sharp. Not super sharp, but sharp enough that it should easily pop a balloon. And yet, she has seen darts bouncing off the balloons, anyway. It's sort of like a little puzzle she has to figure out before she can succeed and maybe that's sort of a rite of passage she missed. Sure enough, when she tries, her first dart hits a balloon, but the stupid thing doesn't pop. "Oh come on...I hit it, though!" she complains, frowning slightly.

shopping

Easily, Caitlin's favorite thing so far about Sampremi that she's found is the shopping. All the little trinkets and jewelry, never mind the art at all the different vendors reminds her of local crafts shows that used to stop in town for a weekend in the summer. She wonders if they stopped doing those or if she just stopped remembering to go to them, but she remembers that, once upon a time, she used to love to window shop.

She stops at a jewelry counter and is looking at the bracelets thoughtfully, trying to decide if she'd like to buy one. After spending all that time in the power-dampening cuffs, she'd sort of grown accustomed to the sensation of something around her wrists and now that she's got the power-dampening necklace to replace them, she almost kind of misses the weight there.

adult

It's mostly curiosity that has Caitlin's feet carrying her into the sectioned off area. She isn't a prude or anything, but it's been...a while for Caitlin — since before Ronnie died, really — and she's inquisitive by nature. She likes to know things. While she's undecided about whether she actually wants to participate, it can't hurt to see what the adult culture is like in this place, can it? It's probably at least a little different here than home, after all.

It doesn't look too terribly unlike the rest of the celebration, if one doesn't know what they're actually looking at, she thinks. There's still food and games, they're just...more mature. It doesn't actually occur to her that this probably isn't exactly a spectator sport and she doesn't exactly mean to treat it like one, but how can she not just look around and see when it's right there?

[whattingawhat]

Buffy's funds are definitely limited, and after her time in the Complex, food had been her first priority. However, she is still quite girly and she likes pretty things. It's fun to look at things, to try on bracelets and rings even if she can't really afford them. She's slipped on a bracelet, something silver and delicate with tiny bells on it. It's pretty, but Buffy isn't sure it's really her. This calls for another opinion.

And conveniently, there happens to be another woman next to her looking at bracelets as well. Buffy holds her arm out, displaying her wrist. "What do you think? I'm afraid it's too jangley."

[naz]

Not expecting to be addressed at the moment, except perhaps by the vendor in front of her, Caitlin startles just slightly when she hears the voice off to her side. When she looks up, she notices the other woman holding her arm out, a pretty bracelet already adorning her wrist.

With a little facial shrug to match the movement of her shoulders, Caitlin pauses to consider. "I don't know," she admits. "It's definitely cute." Which it is. "What if you wiggle your wrist a little? Does it make a lot of noise? If it makes too much noise, cute or not, it'll drive you nuts, I bet," she replies with a smile. Then, she holds out her hand. "I'm Caitlin," she offers. "I, too, am indecisive when it comes to wrist wear," she adds with a little smile.

[whattingawhat]

Normally, Buffy goes shopping with Willow or Dawn; she's used to having someone else's opinion other than her own. She'd noticed Caitlin was looking at the bracelets as well and figured why not?

At Caitlin's suggestion, Buffy does wiggle her wrist. She makes a face because it does jingle a little. I'm torn. It could be great for date night, not that I'm thinking about dating anyone. I just got here, but it's definitely not a work bracelet." She doesn't immediately take the bracelet off, opting to leave it on a moment to test the jangleyness. "I'm Buffy. Maybe we can help each other with the indecisiveness," she adds.

Adult (I'm not actually sorry but I'll pretend to be.)

[firelogic]

Chandra hasn't really, well, ever... trying to stick around a place long enough to make that sort of connection. But she is curious about what a sexy street fair is like. She's not being obnoxious with questions, but she is trying to figure out what everything is here. She isn't eating anything, she knows better. But there are toys that just... she has no idea how they work.

But none of that matters when she spots a familiar face. "Hey roomie! What are you looking for in here?"

[naz]

The jury is still out on whether or not Caitlin and her roommate are going to get along. They haven't had that long together for Caitlin to decide. They're certainly not terribly compatible as living partners, so far as Caitlin can tell, but that's something entirely different. Cohabitation and civility go hand in hand, but they aren't the same thing. Just because she probably wouldn't choose someone with Chandra's living habits as a roommate, doesn't mean they can't get along and Caitlin, for one, intends to give it the old college try, because she hasn't yet found a reason not to. Chandra seems all right so far. Messy, but all right.

"Hey, uh...not really anything," Caitlin admits with a little shrug. "Mostly, I was just curious if the things I'd find out here are the kinds of things I would've seen in an adult store back home or if everything is totally different in Riverview," she finishes, looking over at the other woman. "What about you?" she wonders aloud.

[firelogic]

Chandra was doing her best to not, you know, screw this up. She may have been bitter about having to share a room. And not being with the Gatewatch. And not being able to see her mom. And not being able to Planeswalk. So she was having a lot of feelings, she does that! The point is she was trying not to take it out on Caitlin. So she was keeping her level of mess to just around her bed, and she only set a little bit of the room on fire once!

Still, from what she could tell about Caitlin, she wasn't expecting the woman here, in this stuff. She seemed, well, prudish and standoffish and someone Jace would like.

"I've never really been to anything so out in the open. Every plane I've been to has all sorts of rules about who you like, and what you're allowed to do in public with them." Chandra, for as much as she's an adult, is woefully underinformed about this. Staying in one place long enough to meet someone never really happened for her, too many blowhards with rules trying to kill her for her pyromancy. So even if she did fancy someone, the town she was hiding out in usually got leveled for hiding her. This happened twice after that she learned not to get too attached.

"Plus I was curious what sort of games they'd have that were less kid friendly."

Fair games

[ragnarsson]

"Try putting a little spin on it," Ivar says, his voice with a curious accent to it. He's sitting nearby in a rather ostentatiously leopard print wheelchair that he only just bought today. His legs are tied together and he's got a pair of leather arm braces on.

Judging by the amount of rather large stuffed animals he's got with him, and that he keeps giving away to passers-by, he's definitely gotten the hang of these games. What can he say? Good eyesight plus a lot of upper body strength makes for some very accurate target practice.

[naz]

Looking around for the source of the advice, Caitlin kind of can't miss him, between the wheelchair's loud decor and the surrounding large stuffed animals. Her eyebrows lift a little with interest. Clearly, he's figured something out, whether it's this game, another, or all of them, for all she knows.

"How exactly do you put a spin on a dart, though...?" she asks, sounding a little confused. A football, sure; bowling ball, she could manage. But a dart is small and is thrown with the fingers, rather than followed through with one's whole arm. The idea of trying to put a spin on something so small with an unfamiliar sort of hold — she's only played darts a few times, usually when she's intoxicated and isn't playing to win, anyway — is a little confusing. Which isn't to say she doesn't think it's probably good advice; she imagines that it is. She just isn't...really sure how to follow it.

[ragnarsson]

He figured out how to throw objects with tremendous force and skill a long time ago. Combine that with a competitive spirit and he'd demolished most of the less complicated games. He rolls forward, nearly squashing Caitlin's toes before he comes to a stop. He's still working out the finer details of how to manuever around in his wheelchair.

"You flick your wrist, the same way you do like you're throwing a knife." Realizing that perhaps she's not thrown one of those either in her life, he demonstrates with an overhand motion, sort of the same motion he'd use if he was tossing a ball.

street food

[signifies]

The first thing Clark did when he smelled the food was to go through every stall in this market, trying almost every item on the menu. He's writing an article on it in the back of his mind already, just for the practice. Really though, it's to take his tastebuds on an adventure. He's not really about celebrations when they aren't small and intimate, but there's never any harm in trying someone's food.

He's standing behind Caitlin in the queue, coming to this stall for the third time. 'I've tried those already.' He points to the two leftmost pictures on the menu. 'They're good.' They're almost sold out, another point in their favour.

[naz]

The statement from behind her grabs Caitlin's attention and she turns toward the source. "Oh..." escapes her softly when she finds that the voice is coming from someone who looks built like a wall. Her glance moves up to his eyes and she offers him a smile before following his pointing finger and arching her eyebrows with an interested nod as she looks at the menu. She'd considered those, in spite of the fact that she has no idea what they are.

Caitlin looks back at the man. "I'll give them a shot, then," she agrees and holds out her hand to shake. "I'm Caitlin. Thanks for the help," she replies warmly. She hadn't actually expected anyone to answer her musing and had assumed she would have to ask the vendor for some advice on her choice, but it's nice to get the suggestion from another patron. It means that it's likely an unbiased opinion and, bonus, she doesn't have to be That Guy who holds up the line trying to decide even though she's had plenty of time while in line trying to make her choice.

[signifies]

He shakes her hand warmly and firmly. Clark withdraws into his personal space immediately after: he knows that look, and it makes him conscious of his size. He chose his usual plaid shirts that do a lot to hide the outline of his body. If only he could physically shrink.

'Clark. No problem.'

Food!

[greatcleavage]

Overhearing the muttered comment, Roy turned slightly to face the woman. "These." He lifted an oversized break loaf thing that practically oozed cheese from a split in its center. "Assuming you like bread and cheese, of course, but there's some spice in the cheese -- I don't know what it is, but it's definitely the right spice for the job."

[naz]

Caitlin lifts her eyebrows in question at the vague statement and a look of understanding is right on the heels of it when he holds up the "this" to which he's referring. "I think bread and cheese are a pretty safe bet for most people. How spicy are we talking, though?"

[greatcleavage]

"Oh, not heat spices. Maybe I should have said 'herbs', but I have no idea what the proper term is." He shrugged, cheerfully copping to a total lack of any functional knowledge for cooking and food preparation. "I mean it's got an added flavor to it that really ties it all together."

fair games;

[usandthedead]

Rick isn't ready to really immerse himself in the festivities. Everything is still too new and Rick has only survived as long as he has by being skeptical of everything and everyone. He's on the periphery of the occasion, watching people, trying to figure them out, assessing, learning. He doesn't really do much more than stand back and watch in a way that would almost make him blend into the background unless someone was really paying attention. He likes it that way. And so far, he hasn't been approached.

He pauses to rest his back against a light post and watches one of the events. He's watching the darts hit the balloons and the balloons remaining in tact. Yeah, he's always known that fair or carnival games are rigged here and there. He has no clue how this one is rigged, but clearly it is.

"Yeah..." The word is long and drawn out in a Southern way that might even give it two syllables. "Gotta just count your losses and move on to one that's more on the up and up." He says to the girl.

[naz]

Wrinkling her nose with distaste, Caitlin turns to look at the man, the source of the voice. She's always liked the Southern drawl on people. Some would argue that it sounds unintelligent, but Caitlin thinks it's a soothing sort of sound; a friendly one. He doesn't look super friendly, whoever he is, but maybe he's just having kind of a bad day. Everybody has those.

"Yeah, I know. I still have two shots, but I'm willing to bet they won't be any better than the first," she sighs in response. "I'm guessing the balloons are under-inflated so they're going to be harder to pop anyway, come to think of it," she goes on before muttering, more to herself than to the man even though it's still loud enough for him to hear her, "probably should've thought of that before paying to play, Caitlin."

She turns her attention from the man to throw another shot, trying to hit one of the larger balloons just in case. Again, the dart bounces off and Caitlin frowns. Then, she turns back to the man. "You want my last shot? Maybe you can do better?" she offers with a little laugh and a warm smile, holding up the last dart to indicate that she still has one left.

[usandthedead]

Before his world fell apart, he'd taken Carl and Lori to the fair now and then and is well aware of the tricks they play to make money. Which, to be fair, they have to make money somehow. But you play anyway just for the experience of it. And sometimes you're pleasantly surprised when it turns out that things are on the level. It's always a fifty/fifty chance, in Rick's opinion.

He finds Caitlin's muttering amusing and understandable because there's always that chance that it's gonna be more frustrating than not if you aren't prepared to be ripped off when playing one of these games. "It's all about the mindset of it. Play it for fun or not at all." He comments. How many times had he said that to Carl?

She offers him her last dart and Rick hesitates, then shrugs and nods, shifting forward and taking the dart from her. It feels strange in his hand and comes with the memory of grabbing a beer with Shane after their shift ended and playing darts or pool. That was before... before a lot of things.

Rick takes up stance and bounces and rolls the dart in his palm a few times to feel the weight of it. Then he aims and shoots the dart off, fully expecting the same result as Caitlin's these past few times. The balloon it hits pops with a loud pop. He smirks and shakes his head. "See now? You could've done that one. You're right. It's all about the balloon. But now that you've figured that trick out, you know which one's to aim for."

↪ fair games

[mrterrific]

[ Curtis has been doing his best to keep his head done since he arrived in Riverview. No need to make trouble when he's in a strange place, surrounded by people who know more about this settlement and its customs than he does. But, well, fair games aren't exactly a complex cultural ritual, are they? They should be simple, and (relatively) fair. So when he stops to look at the dart-throwing game and sees the woman throw the dart that is clearly deflected by the balloon, he frowns. Her exclamation might not have the tone of an accusation, but his voice does when he adds: ]

Yeah, she did hit it. Pretty hard, too.

[ He takes a couple steps closer, looking between the man running the game, to the woman who'd thrown the dart, to the board of balloons. Curtis folds his arms over his chest, expression suspicious. ]

What are those balloons made of, anyway?

[naz]

[ Hearing the words in her defense, Caitlin spins toward the source and lifts her eyebrows with incredulity. ]

Right? I threw it really hard. At least, it felt like I threw it really hard.

[ Her attention moves back to the man running the game and she's awaiting some sort of answer even though she hardly expects to receive one. Of course he's probably not at liberty to share the secret. The stranger seems to think it's something about the composition of the balloons. Caitlin wonders if it might be a combination of things, perhaps his theory in addition to under-inflation or maybe the darts are more dull than she realizes, she just hasn't noticed because she's got such a small frame of reference.

The man running the game, predictably doesn't cop to anything, but just gives a generic sort of "I'm just doing my job" sort of response and Caitlin sighs. ]

Well, at least I'm not crazy. You saw it, too. I have a witness.

[ A small smirk tugs at her lips and she holds her hand out to shake after transferring the remaining darts for her turn to the other. ]

I'm Caitlin. Thanks for backing me up.

[mrterrific]

It looked like you threw it hard enough.

[ Curtis is unsurprised when the guy running the booth responds with a mixture of indifference and mild hostility. That's fine. Curtis is more than happy to leave his arms folded, to give the guy serious side-eye and declare, loud enough that plenty of people around the booth will hear it: ]

But I guess you don't care about having a game that's totally rigged, right? I mean, I'm new here so maybe I'm wrong but I thought this whole Sampremi thing was supposed to be about love and having a good time, but I guess some people are only interested in cheating and making a profit. I feel sad for you, man. Where's the love?

[ A few of the people walking past and milling in the area are looking over, interest and suspicion in their faces, and Curtis decides that's probably enough. No one expects these games to be completely fair, but if one is rigged to be impossible... well, maybe he's gotten a rumor going that'll dissuade future customers. He reaches out to take Caitlin's hand. ]

Curtis. My pleasure. Sorry you spent your money thinking you'd be given a fair shot. [ Okay okay, one last little-too-late comment, now he's done for real. Curtis smiles down at Caitlin and says: ] What were you trying to win?

I combined some of your prompts. For continuity's sake. But also this came out too adorable.

[keepitup]

It's ridiculously impressive, the massive spread that exists here, and Ray promises himself that every day he's going to be eating street food for all three meals, because there's too much good food to try and not enough days in the celebration to get to it all.

Still, some days though, he still relies on old comforts. Not many people know this about him, but Ray's always had a sweet tooth — not for candy but for sugar-smothered baked goods. Strawberry icing on a cupcake? To die for.

Which is why, when he spots what he thinks is this world's equivalent of deep-fried oreos, he gets ... well, he gets too many. And they already come in pairs, which means he suddenly finds himself with a paper carton full of eight deep fried cookies, and no one to share them with.

Until of course, he looks up.

And it feels a little like fate, the way that someone seems to move aside and suddenly, Ray can see Caitlin through the stalls of vendors and the street full of people. She's trying on jewelry or something in the distance, given the way she keeps looking down — but people always seem to have a sixth sense for when someone else is looking at them, because within a few seconds, she catches sight of him too, and Ray breaks into a smile.

From a distance, he lifts up the little carton in his hand — as if she could see what's inside when she obviously can't — and mouths "THESE ARE REALLY GOOD."

lol aww, he's so freaking precious

[naz]

There really is something to be said about the uncanny ability to sort of feel when one is being watched and Caitlin does get that feeling as she's fiddling with the bracelet. Setting it gingerly down so that she neither drops it nor becomes distracted enough to walk off with it unpaid for and still in her hands, she looks over her shoulder and, meeting the eyes of Dr. Ray Palmer, laughs a little to match his bright smile.

He's easily one of the most energetic and happy people she knows. Honestly, it's a little worth looking up to him for that, because sometimes she thinks she's not strong enough to keep up the facade that everything is okay when things get especially bad, but she suspects Ray still manages it. She doesn't know that, of course, but it's just a feeling she gets.

The exaggerated way that he mouths the compliment to the food at her has Caitlin laughing and shaking her head a little, holding up a finger to let him know she'll be right there. Then, she turns back to the vendor and picks up the bracelet again, paying for it and finally heading back over to meet up with Ray.

She hasn't had a chance to spend a whole lot of time with him since the storm activities. Between the two of them settling into their new jobs, she imagines it's more lack of time than lack of interest. It's nice to have a familiar face here, after all, and she's glad that the kiss they shared was a cover charge and not a cause for awkward discomfort around one another. They'd had more fun than Caitlin can remember having in years that night and it really had been completely platonic after that. So she's glad to see him in person again and have a chance to spend some more time with him.

"Hey stranger!" she chirps. "What's so good in there, hmm?" she asks, lifting herself up on tiptoe and craning her neck slightly in an attempt to see what's in the carton.

[keepitup]

Even from this far away, seeing Caitlin laugh has Ray laughing too. She holds up a finger, and he's guessing that she's trying to decide whether or not to buy something, so Ray starts making his way closer to her as well. He's a little distracted as he walks, mostly because he's decided to put one of the cookies in his mouth, and for a moment, he kind of dies and goes to heaven right there on the street — and has to kick his body back into gear when all the soft deep-fried goodness has been swallowed into his stomach.

Caitlin's right. The main reason they haven't seen each other much since the storm is because they'd been settling into their jobs. Perimeter defense was something Ray could get behind, and he actually felt like it was a sincerely good use of his skills, so he's impressed by whoever runs this place and his or her ability to utilize talent. That's how you build a good company, after all. But the day after their fake date night, Ray had gone to investigate the center of the storm out beyond the wall. It had been dangerous, and he's still certain that he would've died if he hadn't met Rick out there, but yeah — he's been ... occupied.

He does however, think about that night a lot. Ray's happy that the kiss hadn't changed things. After the dancing, he'd brought it up again later in the evening, just to make sure Caitlin knows that hadn't been trying something, because he's not that kinda guy. But god, that entire evening had been so fun and relaxing that Ray had forgotten that this wasn't even his world.

By the time they're finally face-to-face, Ray rushes to finish chewing the second small cookie he's eaten before he responds.

"Mmmmm ennn-" A swallow. "-Okay. Deep fried cookies," he says, beaming at the thought still, as he lowers his hand to show her what's inside. "But! Before you take one, have you ever had a deep-fried oreo, or any kind of deep-fried candy bar before? Snickers, anything?"