Sophia’s and Maya’s accidental trip to the blonde’s old world was going strong. The incognito cat-girl was way too curious about everything for very obvious reasons, and the equally incognito tiger was doing a lot of explaining. After a while, once Sophia discovered that the other world's gold coins were actual gold, they found a place to exchange them for usable money without any questions being asked. Now, as they were loaded, it was time for a shopping spree.
“How did you learn to speak like that…?” The couple was on the way back to the shopping district after having visited the cash-for-gold place when Maya was curious about the blonde's exchange with the store owner. “You sounded like a villain from a bad book or something like that…”
“Ahaha…” She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. “Remember the TV thingy? There are many, uhh… recordings we call shows and movies. They’re like a story in a book in one way or another, but you can actually watch and listen to it happening inside the TV. Shows about gangsters and the likes are extremely popular. I might’ve picked up a thing or two from that, and now that I'm outgoing and confident about myself, it's fun to use~."
“That does sound kinda fun. All the movement and loud sounds here in this city are irritating at best, but if it’s just a single of these small TV thingies, this could be interesting.”
“Hmm....” Sophia tilted her head. "A cinema might still be a bit too loud and flashy... We could get a TV, a ton of them with our money, actually... We have no electricity, though... A tablet or a laptop would be just as useless after their batteries run out...”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it’s not that important, okay?” Maya didn't know many of these words, but she understood that her blonde was trying to overthink something again. "If anything, I’m most interested in the food thing you mentioned earlier! I’m really hungry!”
“Right... Though, now I wonder if it’s alright for you to eat food from this world...? I mean, you might be incompatible with it...? I might be, too, now...?”
“I’ll rely on your trusty healing magic if my stomach disagrees with the plan!” The white-haired girl decided not to care about this possibility.
"He, I like that answer. We're in luck, as well. My favorite Chinese restaurant should be pretty close to us, judging by the landmarks I remember in this area."
“Chineese?” Maya looked confused. “Didn’t you mention something about, uhh... Asian food earlier?”
“Ahh... Asia is the region, and China is a country there."
“Oh, so it’s local cuisine from a certain area?"
“Something like that, yeah.”
“I look forward to it!”
“Though, it’s still quite early... I wonder if they’re already open...”
“E-Eh?!” She didn’t like the sound of that.
“Most restaurants here, that don’t serve breakfast, only open starting for lunch. Some even do dinner only... What time is it even...?” Saying so, the blonde looked around and quickly found a digital clock in the window of a store. "10:45, huh? That's actually not bad. If we take our time a bit, we should be good for their lunch menu.”
“You’ll get lost three times on the way there, anyway. We should be good, I guess?”
“H-Hey!” She got loud. “The truth hurts, you know?”
“Hehe. Well then, show me your exceptional navigation skills.”
“…”
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Roughly half an hour later, Sophia finally found the way to the ten-minute walk away restaurant. There, the two had a slightly early lunch together after the place had just opened.
"That was amazing!" Once they finished eating and exited the place, Maya's eyes were still sparkling while facing her girl. "So delicious! I never had anything like that. So many spices I never tasted…”
"Yeah, they know their seasoning game." She nodded a few times. "I love the food I'm eating lately, especially everything made by you, but the extreme variety of food you can get here definitely has its merits.”
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“I can see that!”
“I wonder if something similar is going on over there. Different food in different areas and or continents. It has to be, right?”
“Pretty sure about that.” Maya agreed with her. “The food in the capital and my home already differ. I’m sure it will be even more so the further we go. We must go hunting for ingredients when we’re back to traveling!” She was very motivated about it.
“Yeah, that makes sense. It’s probably harder for cultures to spread and mingle there, huh? Here, if we want to, we could be on the other side of the planet tomorrow. Nothing is really local anymore.”
“How can you be on the other side of the planet in a day?!”
“Uhh…” The blonde scratched her cheek. “There are more means of transportation than the cars you already saw… There’s something we call planes. We use them to fly in the sky and just go right to wherever we want in the world.”
“Come on, now you’re just messing with me because I have no idea what is and is not a thing here…” The incognito cat didn’t believe her.
“Hmm… There’s an airport relatively nearby, so…” While saying that, Sophia looked up at the sky. “There, look!” At the perfect time, a jumbo jet was flying above them.
“E-Eh…?” Her eyes grew wide when she saw the plan. "A-Are you serious?!”
“Yup.” She just nodded. “Depending on the type, a few hundred people fit in those.”
“This world is scary… Is this what happens when you don’t have magic…?”
“By the way, one of these planes flying around is even worse for the environment than a bunch of those cars from earlier."
“What is wrong with you people…?” Maya’s voice of admiration quickly changed into something else entirely.
“Ahaha…” The blonde could only awkwardly look away because there was nothing she could say.
"Well, it's probably hard to judge as an outsider, but it feels incredibly stupid what you all are doing here… No matter how amazing the results are. And they are amazing. Good thing it’s not my problem.”
“Well, it is kinda stupid, but we had to help ourselves somehow… We needed these things to develop to the point where we are right now. We had no magic, so we had to use alternatives. Those alternatives were far from optimal, but we didn't know about the downsides at first. Could you give up on magic just like that if it eventually turns out to be harmful in one way or another? That being said, we definitely went way too far in some areas, though…”
"Okay, I guess you have a point there... Yeah, letting go of magic would be near impossible... Anyway," Maya had no intention of wasting any more time on the issue. "Back to the food topic! Is it possible to get a few cookbooks somewhere? I bet I can find some amazing recipes even with the ingredients that are available for us! And if we get our hands on more while traveling, I can directly put them to use!”
“Oho!” Sophia was a big fan of the idea. “Yeah, there are many places that sell them. Let’s finally start the shopping, anyway!”
“Let’s!” The white-haired girl raised her arm high in the air in anticipation. “I can’t wait!”
“I really like you the best when you’re playful and highly motivated about something~.”
“Ehehe~.”
“Is there anything specific you want?”
“Well, obviously, we have to get things that only exist here! No reason to buy anything we could get whenever.”
“Mh-hmm…”
“It seems like fashion-wise, the places are kinda similar to each other. From what I’ve seen from people watching so far, it might be a little more eccentric, but it doesn’t feel like I’m missing out on anything…”
“What a nice way of saying how idiotic some people look.”
"They do, don't they?!" Maya felt happy that she wasn't alone in the feeling.
“It’s best to ignore that side of fashion here… There might be some interesting underwear to explore, though. Mostly lingerie, that is. I always say that the capital’s perverted in that regard, but it’s honestly nothing compared to what you can get here.”
"You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention!"
“Ahaha.” The blonde had to chuckle at her perverted girlfriend. “Hmm… A normal lingerie boutique might be on the same level as the capital, so… Go all out and head for a sex shop? I VASTLY prefer online shopping for that, but that's not really an option right now."
“I like the sound of that!” She didn’t care about the online part that she didn’t understand because the parts she did, were all she needed to get excited.
“They have some exciting things… TOYS!"
"I like the motivation, and I'm all for it, but don't we already have a wide selection of them at home?"
“Oh no, oh nonono, let’s ignore the magic extension one for now, but this world is on another level when it comes to those kinds of things. You have no idea what we’re missing out on…”
“Let’s go!” Maya didn’t care about anything else right now.
“Ah, but how can we charge them…? We could buy a thousand or more batteries and are set for a while when it comes to the chap ones, but… Also, all the good ones have a battery in them… They need working USB power…” She actually looked depressed about it for a moment. “Wait, there are those solar power banks! I wanted to get one a while back, but Steph told me they're all super bad because even the better ones with a large and foldable solar panel need like a full day to charge your phone even once. That doesn’t matter, though! I think they need a lot less energy, so it's okay if the power bank needs a day or two to get full!"
"What are you talking about…? I don't get any of the gibberish you're saying…" Naturally, the white-haired girl couldn't follow her.
“Don’t mind me… I just had to think about some organizational details so that we can have the most possible fun in that store! My idea should work, so we can go all out!”
“I don’t get it, but YAY!”
“YAY, indeed!”
Afterward, the couple finally started their search for the mentioned shop. As Sophia had done such shopping only online before, they had to run around for a bit to find it. In the end, they finally had some luck after wandering around on the less fancy side streets for a while.
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"T-THEY V-VIBRATE?!?!" Soon after they entered the place, Maya's surprised and excited-sounding voice could even be heard outside the store.