3932/The Quest for Sustenance

The Quest for Sustenance
Date of Scene:	22 March 2016
Location:	New York-199999
Synopsis:	Three BRATS walk into a grocery store...
Cast of Characters:	20, Ziggy Grover, 857

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Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Normally Malibu is actually really quiet and nice, and while Toph does miss having Tony and Pepper around for longer periods of time, she does also enjoy the peace and quiet that rules the house. It means getting up as early as she wants, making whatever breakfast she feels like at the break of dawn, bending out on the beach and making as much noise as she wants to. Her lessons are dealt with quickly, and she has fewer of them now with Tony not being home. Reading, writing and guqin lessons doesn't take much time for her nowadays.

    With Ranger Green, the Spaz Lord himself there however, Toph is sort of hoping that she won't get in too much trouble for whatever Ziggy might do while he says in Malibu. Sure, he had been shown to one of the guest rooms down the hallway that had been used at the sleepover the previous week, and Toph knew he could find his way to the kitchen in the morning if he woke up before she did. One thing was for certain though, that with another person in the house they would need to restock the fridge considering there is not much left now as Toph had nearly cleaned it out the other day. And now with yet another hungry mouth? Well, there's only one place to go.

    Malibu's shopping centres and grocery stores.

    Even after the long walk the blind earthbender doesn't seem tired, as she's used to the warm weather after living in Malibu for two years. And it's clear she knows the large shopping centre they have entered as well. The stores in this area are certainly not the cheap places, and the people who shop here are clearly not badly off when it comes to income. Music stores, fashion boutiques, jewellery stores, electronics, this mall has everything. Including a large grocery store that Toph is headed towards.

    "Okay," she begins, grabbing a shopping cart that she pushes over towards Ziggy. "Did you prepare your shopping list?" She knows what kinds of foods and supplies /she/ needs, but she's not entirely sure what Ziggy would need. And if he packed everything he needed from Corinth.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Oh I don't need a shopping list," Ziggy responds, easing his way through the grocery aisles, taking a loose strawberry and popping it in his mouth. "I mean, I know what we need, it's not really all that difficult. Breakfast's either eggs and bacon, or smoothies... I got the -best- breakfast smoothie recipe from Flynn, and it's got bananas and strawberries..."

While Ziggy is talking, he's picking up a few fruits. "We can also do spaghetti, but things are -so- much easier when you get these things from jars... this is a pretty fancy store, isn't it? There's a lot of exotic items here." Picking up what looks like a very long root, Ziggy eyes it, before waving it. "Ha! En garde...!"

Whatever innocent passerby may be near him? POKE.

Eve (857) has posed:
    Just what is Eve doing in a malibu grocery store? Well... she's certainly not going to say she's studying up on local ingredients in case there's a cooking contest in the near future! So whatever inexplicable thing it might be that brings her here at this place and time, she's probably not going to say it.

    Regardless of her reasons, what she's actually DOING here is getting poked by Ziggy with some sort of root vegetable. She turns to look up at him with a baleful gaze. Not quite 'if looks could kill' but more like 'if looks could maim'. She brings up her hand abruptly, sweeping it through the offending root vegetable with a chopping motion. Literally. Poor thing doesn't stand a chance against a chop like that, particularly when the girl edges her palm with tiny scalpel-thin blades. They're small enough, and out from her skin briefly enough, that there's only the barest flash of silver announcing their arrival in the sweeping chop.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Breakfast can be way more," Toph points out. "Like pancakes, waffles, sandwiches, porridge, cereal mixes... omelettes..." Man, she misses proper breakfasts. "Though feel free to make smoothies though." Spaghetti for breakfast though? That makes the blind girl look a bit uncertain. "Pasta is for dinner unless you're eating noodles or something. And well, I'm not really used to eating canned stuff..." Toph says as they head into the vegetable section. She too picks up some fruits that Ziggy might not be considering, and well... it looks like she is getting a lot of cabbage and beets for some reason. "And yeah, this is Malibu. It's not exactly a place where poor people live, why do you think Goldie moved here? There are celebrities here all the time, paparazzi and whatnot. Of course it's fancy if they can charge enough money for the stuff here." The quality of the food is incredibly good though. And the customers in general are quite well off.

    And not used to random teenagers challenging them to vegetable duels.

    A slight groan leaves Toph, and she reaches out to grab onto Ziggy's sleeve as she rolls her eyes. "Didn't your mom teach you no-" She cuts herself off the same moment the person getting assaulted by the vegetable cuts it. Her eyes widen, and then she lets out a brief laugh. "Spoopy Whispers...?" Yes, that nickname is staying, Eve. Lucky you. "What are /you/ doing here in Malibu? Stalking me and trying to actually scare me?" she inquires turning more towards her. "Also, they will want you guys to pay for that. You break it, you bought it!"

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Sorry... whoa!"

Bringing up the stump of this ... whatever root vegetable it -was-, Ziggy looks at the freshly-cut edge, touching it, and then bringing the sap to his lip. "Eghhhh," the erstwhile Green Ranger says, before putting it down. "'Spoopy? What? Uh, diapers aisle's probably down further there."

Hands up, as though yielding to the Awesome Menace of Eve, Ziggy kneels down, keeping an eye out on her hand, to pick up the other half of the root. "No harm no foul, it washes off, and she didn't exactly slice it into little thin slices... nothing's broken!"

"So um, you know the person with the, uh... need for metamucil or something?"

Eve (857) has posed:
    Whatever answer Eve might have given to Toph's inquiry is lost forever thanks to Ziggy. She glowers at his reaction to 'spoopy', not sure which person is mocking her more. "It's not like he could have returned it after POKING people with it." she claims in a miffed tone. She's not particularly good at maintaining near-lethal fury. Grudging expressions, however, are forever.

    Eve turns to glance at Toph, her expression going lofty. "We know each other. But Toph seems unable to remember my actual NAME." she claims. The irritation, of course, shows plainly.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Spoopy. As in not really spooky," Toph explains to Ziggy, then considers it for a moment. "I'm sure Cuddles and Nugget still would eat it, toss the pieces in a bag and add it to the cart." Those birds will eat lots of various stuff. Unlike Ziggy the blind earthbender is clearly not intimidated by Eve. "What? I don't think our mighty slayer of veggies here is so scary that you will need diapers, you big baby?" she teases the Green Ranger as he picks up the pieces of the root vegetable.

    Somehow Eve's reaction seems to amuse Toph greatly, and she grins. "Oh, I know your actual name. I know the names of all the people I deal with in the Union. I just prefer to refer to people by their nick names. Right, Spaz Lord? Now..." She rests one hand on the shopping cart. "Wanna tag along for shopping, or are you going to be unsocial and head off to read books again? The magazine section is over there, by the way," Toph points out the area towards the registers.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
Taking the second piece, picking up the first, Ziggy brings his hands together. "FORM BLAZING SWORD!" he exclaims. Miraculously, the root pieces stick together. "Huh," Ziggy says, waving it around experimentally to see if it comes flying off. "So this is Spoopy, Vegetable Slayer, eh?"

Putting the reformed root in the cart (why not?), Ziggy turns to offer a hand. "Name's Ziggy Grover. I do -not- answer to Spaz Lord."

Picking up a package of baby carrots this time, Ziggy tosses it into the cart. "Those are good for eyesight, my mama always said. Let's see... what else...? Hey, Spoppy, maybe some salad will do you good... let's get some lettuce and tomatoes and... gosh, those onions are too strong. Where are the mild ones? Fresno Bob always swears by these vidalia onions..."

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve just gets more and more annoyed as the nicknames are repeated, to the point where her eyes almost seem to blaze with the fires of hatred. Or at least pique. "My name is Eve." she states flatly. "Not ... not any of those other things. I do not answer to them." she insists. Which of course is wrong... she answers to them every time she glowers.

    Still, she's obviously not permanently angry, and not even all that annoyed. She wordlessly pads along with Ziggy and Toph upon invitation, not even looking twice at the magazines. She's not particularly used to being social, but she's not completely oblivious to such things.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Somehow Eve's reaction only makes Toph grin more. This day suddenly became way more amusing. And it seems like Eve has decided to tag along with them. Since both her companions are members of the Union, then it should be okay for them to hang out in Malibu with her as long as they stick to the ground floor of the house.

    "Yup. I totally need baby carrots then, Heartie Undies" Toph idly comments to Ziggy's observation about the little vegetables. If he doesn't answer to Spaz Lord, then she has more nicknames for Ziggy. "And yeah, she will need food so she can grow, she's smaller than me even!" Not that Toph is that small anymore, right? She's nearly 5'1!

    "Now, are you able to cook dinner better than you are at preparing soggy breakfast?" she asks Ziggy as she grabs onto the end of the shopping cart to steer it out of the vegetable section. They have enough veggies now!

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Eve, Vegetable Slayer," Ziggy responds ironically, as he carts through the aisle. "And you do need carrots for other things besides eyesight! Though it probably wouldn't hurt to have some extra, you know. And don't call me -that- either."

Picking up a melon, Ziggy calls out, "How about a watermelon? Hey, Eve... you want anything? I can't promise you -good- cooking, but spaghetti and meatballs are pretty easy. Just a can of sauce, a bit of Fresno Bob's secret recipes for meatballs... oh we need bread crumbs."

Eve (857) has posed:
    In truth Eve's glad for company. She can live with teasing, though she'd prefer not to have to. Her aversion to being made fun of comes mostly because often it points out her ignorance of basic social functions. Makes it clear, to Eve at least, that she's not like normal people at all. Perhaps if Toph knew that she'd ease up on the girl... but probably not. She'd most likely insist Eve grow a thicker skin or something, and stop worrying about her past so much.

    "Spaghetti is easy." Eve states neutrally. "I could make something better than that." she says, rather insistently. She does want to prove to Toph that she's learned how to cook... because even Eve has to admit that first time was terrible, even if she doesn't exactly want to admit it WAS her first time.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Not a big fan of carrots," Toph interjects. "I prefer other stuff. And you vetoed Spaz Lord, Spazzy. Same deal applies to you, if you want me to call you something else you have to earn it!" When Ziggy suggests grabbing a watermelon the blind girl does nod though, gesturing for the shopping cart. "Put it in. And hey, as long as you can make anything that doesn't taste horrible, then go ahead and make dinner, Heartie Undies, I'm kinda tired of ordering dinner everyday."

    Because there is no way that she will let Eve take charge in the kitchen, not after what happened for that breakfast. Eww. "You're /not/ cooking for me when I'm hungry, Spoopy," she decides, steering them into the meat section. "We want some stuff for sandwiches... and we could probably use the barbeque for dinner tomorrow. Depends on how long you're hiding from Scotty," Toph points out.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Can't we go with something more sensible? Like, you know, the Zigster. Or Zig-Zag. Or even ZIGGY," Ziggy responds, as he gregards Eve. "Well, then, what can you make that's better than spaghetti? Pizza?"

Speaking of which, hmmm... "Where do they keep the bread dough anyway?"

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve smirks for just a second when Ziggy is called Heartie Undies. The smirk is small, but definitely there for a moment before she returns to her default stoic expression. "Fine then." Eve says in an attempt to be reasonable. "I'll make food when you're not hungry. And then you can see how good it is. Or maybe you don't get any, and Ziggy can tell you how good it is." she snipes. Unreasonably.

    She looks up at the green Ranger. "I can make pizza, yes." she assures him solemnly. Though she's not entirely sure of this. There's some dexterity involved in making proper dough and tossing it and such, which she's not entirely sure she could do without practice. There's also pre-made pizza shells, but she's not sure if that would actually taste good. Sauce and cheese and toppings however, she's pretty sure she can handle just fine.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Zigmeister?" Toph muses for herself as she walks along the aisle, picking up various sliced meats that will work for sandwiches, as well as some meat they can fry the hell out of on the grill. "Pizza could work... and there's packaged pizza dough over in the freezer section over there, I think!"

    It's not like Pepper usually buys that much processed food, but hey, anything that can make the hard life of a teen being home alone with friends any easier...!

    "We should pick up some cheese too, and milk if you're going to buy more cereal too. And don't forget we need to replace the rest of Pepper's cereal!"

    When Eve claims that she can make pizza, Toph turns her head just slightly. "... /have/ you made pizza before? Because you don't sound too sure."

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Hm... okay, pizza dough," Ziggy says, pondering the options. "So, pre-shredded mozzarella, or fresh mozzarella? I got to be honest with you, I like pre-shredded, but that's because you can mix in other cheese for, you know..." He brings his fingers to his lips, then makes a smacking noise. "Mmmmm. Like, a bit of provolone, a bit garlic, and then the toppings. Though the sauce matters a -lot-, si? Certamente?"

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve looks a bit uncertain at that, both at Toph's question and at Ziggy's obvious experience. "I know how to make pizza." she insists however, drawing the line. "And what's the problem if someone wants to do something they've never done before? If you never do that, you can never grow." she scoffs.

    After a brief consideration, she looks up to Ziggy again. "You can make pizza then, if Toph's hungry. I'll make... a surprise. For later." she says. Because honestly, she has no idea what she could make. She'll probably have to check things out and hope inspiration strikes.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "You can mix them even if you don't buy it pre-shredded genius. I mean, we got a girl who slices and dices with us," Toph says and pats Eve on the shoulder, if not a bit roughly. Well, it looks like she's not going to deny Eve access to the kitchen at least. Especially not if they need stuff sliced. "As long as you don't mix the cutting board in with the cheese, that is."

    Though she does look doubtful when Eve talks of making surprises. "And what makes you think I will let you do it at my house? I'm responsible for it while Goldie and Pepper are away, and mister Italiano here is already a risk considering how clumsy he tends to be."

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"You think she'd want to use -her- weapons?" Ziggy responds. "I mean, doesn't that seem a little... cheesy to you?"

After a moment's thought, Ziggy goes with both fresh and aged mozzarella. "Now about toppings... I'll swear by anchovies. And mushrooms."

Tilting his head at Eve, Ziggy holds up a hand. "Wait, Toph, not -all- surprises are bad. I mean, we could,maybe, get a nice creme brulee. We just need a blowtorch."

Eve (857) has posed:
    "I'm not going to do anything that would damage the house!" Eve claims sulkily, sounding injured in a way she never did from the annoying nicknames. It does tread on one of her sensitive issues... about how she doesn't want to do bad things now that she has actual free will. Well, nothing irreversable at least.

    Eve sighs, and points a finger at Ziggy. Literally, points it. Shiny, metal, and at least twice as long as it should be. "NO blowtorches." she insists before retracting the weapon.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Ziggy better think fast, because he's getting a punch in the arm from Toph as he picks out the cheeses.

    "Mushrooms are fine, but I don't want anchovies on my part of the pizza." That's just one demand, and she makes her next demand even more seriously. "I know you wouldn't purposely inflict damage on the house. But if you're going to make something then you're gonna tell me what you plan on doing to make the surprise, okay? I mean, I'm supposed to be the responsible one while Goldie and Pepper are away."

    And at the same time as Eve points out at Ziggy, Toph is already doing the same. Her finger might not be shiny and long, but there's a firmness to her stance and authority to her tone as her voice speaks up in perfect synchronization with Eve. "NO blowtorches!"

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"... but... but... then we won't have creme brulee, all we'd have is, uh... flan," Ziggy protests, before sighing. "Fine, but creme brulee is perfectly safe as long as you know what you're doing. And I absolutely, positively, guarantee that with the Zigster, safety is 100 percent the priority."

... are you laughing there?

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve seems somewhat mollified by Toph's explanation, and she nods reluctantly. "Well, all right then." she compromises. "I will explain my intentions before doing anything. But I'll still try to make it a surprise." she insists. "I wouldn't want you getting in trouble." she adds after a moment's thought, and while she's a bit deadpan she doesn't seem to be entirely sarcastic in saying so.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "No offence, but after yesterday?" Toph begins with a snort. "There are other less hazardous desserts out there."

    And well, at least Eve is willing to work with her here, so Toph nods her head in agreement. "Good. Because trust me, you don't want to know how scary Pepper can be. Now come on, we need to buy some snacks and pop tarts!" Again Toph grabs the shopping cart, pulling it and Ziggy with her further into the grocery store.