Sofia 'Sonya' Petrova Balakina (red_sonya) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2020-10-20 19:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | nesryn rowan, sonya balakina |
From Russia With Hot Dogs
Who: Sonya/Nesryn.
Where: Las Vegas.
What: Russian tourist meets werewolf.
Rating: Graphic fast food ordering.
Sonya had seen tourists. Moscow, Saint Petersberg; they were a universal constant. Sometimes she and some friends had some fun with them, weaving exciting tales about the KGB, reassuring them they were the truth and things the authorities would never admit to.
Now she was one of those tourists. A Russian teenager who had been transplanted into the midst of the bright lights of Las Vegas. Up above, the early evening air was casting a welcoming cocoon of darkness. Something which had always caused the half-demoness to feel more energised in response to, compared to the lethargy experienced during daylight.
Somehow, mostly due to pointing, she had succeeded in the purchase of a foam hand with some variety of sports team written on it and, as night steadily encroached, so, too, had her mental awareness. The bustle of crowds, she did not mind in the least. Those were no different to back home. But the number of people did make it slightly difficult to figure out where she was in relation to where she wanted to get to. So, in a burst of confident enthusiasm, the redhead stepped up onto a lamppost, hanging out to the side of it, like a sailor trying to get their bearings over a sea of heads.
"Hey! Hey! American girl!" It was shouted with a wave of the foam extremity, trying to get the attention of someone chosen completely at random. "Where are be?! Is Bellagio? I am be want findings!"
Nesryn had not expected to see the outline of a foam finger bearing the Raider's emblem on it. She stifled a giggle with the back of a hand and made her way over to where the redhead was, eyebrows arched up. "The Bellagio?" Honestly, Nesryn had no clue. She had heard of it, but never actually been there.
As if one of the many neon signs would show her the way, the wolf began to glance around. "I have no idea! Let me Google it real quick!"
A finger would go up in a gesture to wait and the mobile device would be whipped out.
Nesryn didn't comment on the lilt of the woman's voice or the strange way she strung her words together. It sounded Russian, grating a bit on her sharp hearing.
"OK, OK, I think it's that way," Nesryn offered, pointing in a direction.
The redhead looked over and squinted into the distance. She was sure it hadn't been over there, but...
Jumping down, footwear hit the pavement and there was a casual scratching of an ear, while the girl activated her own telephone, flipping between options on the screen. Something was habitually spoken to Nesryn in Russian, but the teenager didn't seem to realise. She was already switching on the video function and proceeding to speak in the same language for the benefit of the viewers it would later be posted for, then turned to Nesryn and spoke in broken English.
"I, ehh... From be Russia? Sofia Balakina! Mmm... New? Las Vegas is be much brights! Much funs! You are... Uhhh... Lives here?" Then pointed at the telephone. "Have smile! Is camera! All Russia happy see you!"
Nesryn tipped her head but she went with it, her own phone dropping a bit though still held in her hand in case the girl needed to know which way to go to get to her destination. While this one screamed tourist, she wasn't going to start judging anyone solely on appearance.
"Welcome!" Nesryn chimed, her thoughts confirmed on the woman's origin. "I'm Nesryn Rowen, nice to meet you, Sofia."
The rest would be listened to and as the phone came up Nesryn lifted her free hand in a wave. "Hi!" She didn’t know how to say hello in Russian, so that would have to do.
"I don't live here, just visiting," she explained. "I live in Searchlight, it's a town about forty minutes or so away. We don't have a lot of shopping options or places to see, so a lot of us come here. And it is very bright," she added with a laugh.
"Yes-yes! Much with lights! Searchlight-town is, ehh... Is funs, too? Big American tax dollars and big American car? With the crushings of metal? So much doings here!"
Immediately translating in her native language for the camera, the viewers when she posted it up would be none the wiser, but there was a half-misunderstood tale she wove, where the other girl had apparently informed her of Searchlight being a crazy town of rock music, where the locals always ate cake and held regular dance contests.
"And you have Elvis? Is real Elvis?! I see Tube You video of this and they say, hey! Is livings! You have seen?"
Nesryn made a bit of a face, "I mean, I have fun there but it's nothing like this." Her hand twirled around in the air. "We don't have fancy lights or hotels and casinos like this. Our casinos are smaller, but we did get a bowling alley recently." Maybe that would make up for being tiny Vegas. Even Reno was more Vegas than Searchlight.
"The food in Searchlight is to die for, though." That was something she knew for a fact. And it wasn't breaking the bank to get it.
She listened to Sofia speak into the phone, the beautiful deep language, waiting patiently for her attention again.
And then Nesryn would motion to a few paces behind Sofia where an Elvis impersonator stood next to a pink Cadillac, singing to a few passers-by. "Oh, look, there he is!"
The redhead listened intently, though only actually understood a part of it. She looked a little alarmed when Nesryn mentioned the food was to die for. It was going to cause some interesting reactions if she went there.
The girl responded with a surprised, "Ohhh!" Immediately began to film the impersonating walking hairstyle with thrusting hips and seemed somewhat amused with the results. There was a smile and she spoke some more Russian to her audience, back home, then turned back to Nesryn.
"Da! Is Laaas Vaygas," she reminded them, making sure to pronounce it in the Western style. "Sonya in Americas!" Then made a little thumbs up gesture, posing with her new acquaintance, before deactivating the camera.
"Ah, goods! Mmm, thankings! Elvis very, mm... Age? Is ages like... Ehh... Like baby? Youngs? Too youngs for be truth, this Elvis! You have name?"
Nesryn felt a bit in awe of Sofia's reaction to everything - she seemed to be experiencing the world for the first time even though that was a far fetched idea. The way the other woman looked at the lights, the way her cadence and tone lifted with excitement in her native tongue. You didn't see that often anymore.
She then laughed softly at the realization that Elvis did look a bit on the young side. “They're impersonators. They pretend to be like Elvis to entertain people.” It was one of the gimmicks of Vegas, one of the many. "But it's kind of cool to see it. I mean, he is a legend and I get to see what he might have been like around that age."
Like everything else, the Elvises varied in timeline to keep things unique and fresh.
"Yes! I have seen, mm..." Sofia held up a finger, trying to politely signal to wait, before getting a translation application to show up. At which case she keyed in various singular words with a digit which operated at lightning speed. "We have... This thing. 'Imperrrrrsonatorrr'? Some of your Elvis, also! It is, ehh... 'Phenomenon'? Over planet? World? All over!"
The giant foam hand she had used for the thumbs up caught her nose, causing the Russian to react like a chipmunk suddenly in need of a sneeze, taking to blowing hair out of her face.
"Blah! So bigs! Like all American things! But this give Sonya pleasings," the girl smoothly nodded with a grin. "Oh... 'Sonya' is... In Russia? Is short way for say 'Sofia'. For friends, for family. I am tolds this not same for America?"
Nesryn waited patiently as that finger lingered in the air. She hated to pry, but the light illuminated Sofia's face enough that Nesryn caught a glimpse of the translation app gracing the whole of the woman's phone. She would nod, grinning, "That's exactly what he is! An impersonator. He just has the likeness of Elvis to make you believe that he really is, without actually being him." Of course Elvis was popular all over the world. Even today she caught notes of some of the more trendy and chart topping songs when she was out and around.
When the foam hand moved, Nesryn ducked a bit by moving herself backward reflexively even though it didn't seem she would've been affected by the finger's trajectory anyway.
"Oh, that's pretty," Nesryn added. "I think they sound almost the same, I'm not sure it’s short for one or the other. At least not here. If you wanted something short for Sofia, you'd be So or even Sophie. But I like Sonya."
Sonya tilted her head a little, softly blinking with alertness in receipt of this new information. "I keeps," she decided, smiling with a nod. Then she narrowed eyes, trying to gauge Nesryn's own name. It hadn't been given when asked, earlier, which made the curious redhead that much more set on discovering it.
"You are be... Roberta? No! Sashenka! Yes? I win?"
"Ro...?" Nesryn began, blinking. "Shashenka?" She didn't quite know what the last one was but it seemed to make Sonya happy so she shrugged and smiled. "Sure, I guess so." She didn't know quite what Sonya was after with consideration of the context of names.
Those narrowed eyes widened and Sonya made a little noise of jubilation. She had managed to guess this other girl's name correctly? A most unexpected surprise! Perhaps this was a good omen? She hoped it was!
"Tall-five, Sashenka!" The redhead offered, holding out a hand in high-fives gesture for her new American friend. "Hey, are you knows where find dog hots? For the eatings?"
Nesryn just went with it, unsure what she was truly getting herself into. Sonya seemed safe enough and seemed to mean well, and so Nesryn didn't let any of the oddity bother her too much. She couldn't pick up on anything deceitful or malicious from scent alone.
With a laugh, the wolf lifted her hand and slapped Sonya a hearty tall five.
At the request for the American tradition, Nesryn glanced around. She sniffed the air discreetly. "Oh, I think there's a hot dog vendor that way. Come on!"
"OK," Sonya beamed in the one phrase which was as universal as a thumbs up. She was looking forward to seeing if there was any difference between the fast food served here and that of her native-
BARK-BARK-BARK!
Stopping short, it was uncertain whether the dog being walked was shouting at Nesryn or the redhead. Truthfully, it could have been either one of them or both. Sonya went from wide-eyed alarm to awkward smile as the dog's walker convinced it to heel and put some distance between them, although the hound didn't want to. It wanted to keep what it sensed as a threat in line of sight.
Turning, Sonya made a small shrug, still feeling unsettled, though trying to make out it was no big deal. "Ehh, always happenings," she excused. "Animal... How say? No be likings Sonya."
Nesryn's sharp ears caught the sound of the canine tags clinking together. She could smell the dog before it registered in her sight line and then the barking started. An eyebrow arched pointedly and Nesryn emitted a soft, friendly sound that the dog would be able to pick up on in an effort to calm it down.
She watched the dog leave their presence as quickly as it had come, and then her attention went back to Sonya. She smiled, "That's OK. They don't always like me, either."
And then the wolf beckoned the other woman in the direction of the hot dog cart, "Come on, let's get a hot dog!"
Sonya began to trail into reminiscing about how animals tended to act around her. That was for naught, however, the moment she came into sniffing range of the street vendor. The redhead almost immediately became distracted and turned her head, tracking the scent of cooking meat, zeroing in on it until.
Ohh...
The Russian's immediate response wasn't like that of most people. She just stood there, not quite dumbfounded, but seemingly locked onto the sight to the exclusion of anything and all else. If Nesryn attempted to say or do something, the girl was completely oblivious. It was only when Sonya blinked herself to recovery that she realised where she was and immediately began to search herself for money.
"Hello, yes, um... Please be givings te..." No, not ten. That would be silly. "Fifteens."
"Did I hear you right, Miss? As in, one-five? Fifteen?"
"Da!"
Even Nesryn had to blink at that.
Her eyes travelled to the hot dog vendor, then to Sonya, then back again. "Me too. Fifteen." Because why not? Hot dogs were hot dogs and goodness knew her appetite was nearly insatiable because of her metabolism.
Now they were both being balked at.
"Mustard and relish, please," the wolf added. One by one she accepted her foil-wrapped fresh purchases, handing over the amount of cash required and then some for the trouble.
It took some back and forth before Sonya figured out what was being meant by the various toppings, but she seemed to prefer hers with nothing on. In fact, she would have preferred them without any bread, if the option had been available. Now the foam hand was being given a secondary purpose of serving as an improvised tray, with the vendor beyond happy at having two such sizeable requests in short order.
"Looks-looks-looks-looks-looks!"
It was like a battle cry, as Sonya delicately balanced her new feast, trying to tell the crowd to look out, but forgetful of precisely how to phrase it. The most obvious countertop proved to be a nearby vacant car and she immediately started to demolish through her 'dog hots' with surprisingly efficient speed.
"Zhere… Mmm... Givezh… Yom… Americamph goodzh!"
Nesryn laughed, balancing her multitude of hot dogs expertly. She followed Sonya, finding the eating place a bit interesting considering it was the hood of a parked and dark vehicle. Oh, well. When in Rome? Or Vegas.
She unwrapped a hot dog and began to eat. Mustard threatened to squirt out of the bun at one point, but the wolf didn't mind too much.
Some of the condiment did tumble to the sidewalk, nearly splashing onto Nesryn's sneaker. Thankfully she managed to make it through the hot dogs mess free.
"Oh my gosh," she groaned, delighted, hand going to her stomach. "I am so full."
There was a smattering of conversation from he Russian, every now and then, but it was mostly unintelligible, either due to mistranslation or simply because she was acting so famished.
And Nesryn's complaint about having had too many caused only a confused, "Eh...?" The Russian looked up, quizzically. "I am feels only... Is nothings! Is like before dinner-foods."
There was a subconscious wetting of lips with teeth and Sonya seemed, now, more alert than before. Looking around more quickly. Muttering something in foreign words and then glancing back to the American girl.
"Can, mm, board-surfs? Like, shhh!" She mimed riding on a surf board across waves. "On cars? Yes?" She ended it with an excited nod, seeming to want to make it a reality and pointed directly at the traffic to clarify it was what was meant: She wanted to literally go and ride on the roof of a passing car through Vegas.
"Come, Sashenka! Yes-yes! We do this!"
"What?" Nesryn blinked.
Did this woman want to 'Teen Wolf'-style car surf on the top of a moving vehicle? "I'm not sure if that's legal or safe," Nesryn replied. While the idea sounded fun, she didn't want anyone getting hurt or having to explain to Brian how she ended up in the Las Vegas jail.
"You go, I'll stay here and root for you, but I don't think it's a good idea." She didn't want to encroach on Sonya's fun time but she didn't want the woman to have a preventable fate befall her, either.
It was a hospital situation waiting to happen. "I can do," Sonya replied with a good deal more of a feral look at passing traffic. "I can do..." She was looking at every vehicle like they were lunch. Judging distances - probably not very accurately. Had gone from meandering around the streets of Vegas to wanting to literally cruise through it, in the wildest manner possible.
Something had definitely changed with that carnivorous intake. Her blood was up, as the old saying went. Wanted to try catching something. Was even tensing, swaying a little, back and forward, in preparation to take some sort of flying leap.
"OK, maybes true! Maybes true!"
Backing out of it at the last moment, Sonya whipped around, all smiles and grabbed the foam handle, waving it above the crowd and shouting, "Laaas Vegaaaaas...! Whewww!" Then, not caring about the commotion being caused, the redhead laughed and queried, "You are livings 'Searrrchliiight'? This close, you are say? Or be need car-drivings?"
The air shifted a bit. Nesryn picked up on the predatory addition, her own carnivore lurking beneath the surface of her skin. Nerves fired, had she ears they would've perked up during the moment that Sonya hunted for the perfect vehicle to claim. But she felt glad when the woman backed down. Trying to explain to the police that this crazy, lovely woman decided she could surf on a vehicle sounded stressful.
Sonya was not human. She could pick up on that much, though what the other woman was, Nesryn was uncertain about. Trouble didn't count as a species type.
At the near battle cry, Nesryn laughed. Enthusiasm was good and she felt honoured to be involved in the experience as if this were Sonya's first time in the City of Sin. The neon lights were certainly vibrant and welcoming. "Oh, Searchlight," Nesryn nodded, throwing a hand in the direction of her little town without breaking eye contact with Sonya. "I have a car, I drove. Do you need a ride somewhere? You were heading to the Bellagio earlier, right?"
"Yes, for look at... See! This thing!"
It was easier to just run a search for a video of the famous choreographed waterworks of the fountains, then hold up the resulting footage for 'Sashenka' to view. With that done, Sonya still acted out the water with her hand, adding a dramatic, "BVVVVVSHT!" It was worth a thousand words - especially when said words only retained a vague grasp of the English language.
"All waters! Like ballet dance! I want much see this! I make video, I send Russia. Then, mmm... Mayeem atsom... 'Fatherrr'? My father, he watch and he like!"
So, nodding, Sonya readily urged for the direction of new acquaintance's vehicle. "Go, Sashenka, we are findings your car!"
The display would be beheld with a measure of awe and amusement. Sonya certainly knew how to get her point across. The fountain at the Bellagio was beautiful. She could agree with that production wholly.
"Come on, this way! I'll take you there so you can get your video!"
With that, the wolf beckoned the strange, quirky woman to follow and led her off in the direction of where she parked her vehicle.