This is the day... The big one. The final countdown. The day of Titans. The one day out of the month -even though it comes around twice a month- where the game goes down! And Vinyl Scratch NEVER LOSES THIS DAY! RAAAH! RAH! RAH! RAH!

...So, yeah. Maybe I should pay attention to what I'm doing. Alright, let's see... This time the limit is set at one-hundred bucks. God... I could buy a year supply of ramen with that... And I bet that's EXACTLY what Octavia's thinking right now! That cheater! Unless she's planning on using her lump of the cash to buy her fancy tuna or-or-or some brie! That brie-tuna eatin' mother-fucker... I wish I could just see what's buying so I could cheat! But, nooooo... "Rule number four: No shopping at the same place". Cheep. Well, forget that for now...

Hm? Gah! Forgot you were there. What'm I doing? Simple... Well, simple because I've been doing it for three years. It'll probably be a little harder for a new player to understand. I'll try and explain. See, every two weeks, Tavi and I go grocery shopping. BUT! We don't go together, and we don't tell the other what we're getting. Why? Well, because when we used to shop together, we'd always fight over this or that. After we were banned from the third store, we came up with another way for us to shop, get food, and still be satisfied with what we got in the end.

It works a little something like this... Say, I buy a piece of brie cheese. Now, I hate this crud. Smells bad, looks moldy, and it feels like chalk to me. But Octavia LOVES the stuff. So, I buy it for her. OH! But wait, when we get home, I find out Octavia didn't get any of her fancy-smelly-bird-crap cheese. Now, the fun starts... You see, our fridge and closety-thing-that-holds-food (panty or something) are split down the middle. One side for me, one side for Octavia... And we have a little middle shelf in both for when someone gives us something to share. We call that "the battleground", 'cause it's anyone's game to have. Anyway, whatever we buy at the store goes onto OUR side of the fridge and whatever-it's-called. Except, before anything gets put away, we can wager up whatever we have that the other person doesn't have.

But we don't wager other foods; that'd be corny and boring... Corning. Hm... That sounds like something sexual, but it's not really coming to me at the moment. I'll come back to that later... Where was I? Right, right. Wagers. You can bet any food the other person doesn't have in exchange for the truth. The bigger you wager, the bigger truth you can ask. So, let's say I wager the brie stuff. Octavia loves it, so that's a pretty big wager on her. With that, I could ask -I don't know- how often did she flick the bean at work. And, if she wants the brie, she's gotta talk! We just go on the honor system for lying... If you can't trust your food-trading buddy, who can you trust?

That's how the game works. Actually pretty simple when you get right down to it. Now, part of the game is buying for yourself as much as you're gonna buy for the other person. Like, I need to stock up on ramen, because Octavia knows that's an easy shot against me. But, if I buy too many of them, I'm not gonna have enough for something juicy to pull out on Octavia. So it gets kinda stressin'. Buuuuut... It's all in good fun, ya'know? No hard feelings, no digging up dirt, no telling lies. It's just for fun... And to get a little fun out of something as boring as shopping...

Now then... Cheese steak, or cheese whip? Choices...

It is rather refreshing, isn't it? The smell of the crisp vegetables; the hot, wafting air of the summer afternoon; and even the lively chatter of people doing business. This is why I enjoy grocery shopping on a Sunday. The farmers' market is in full swing. Nothing can really compare to a sun-kissed tomato or a glazed doughnut that had the chance to bake under the sun after being taken out of the oven. It simply makes me tingle from my nose to my toes, if I had to be honest. I'm positive that Vinyl is at this moment shopping in some processed, bleach-white convenience store. A place where you can buy a dog in the same aisle you'd buy a hot-dog.

Every time she tries to beat me at this game, and every week... Every week she strikes me to my knees. I admit, I do have my weaknesses. Weaknesses I try to avoid every shopping day for my own health and well-being. And every shopping day she exploits those weaknesses to her advantage... I do so love a person who can be so tactical at times. Mmmm... M-Moving on. Fortune may be on my side this time, however. It seems some farmers from the orient have come to peddle their exotic ingredients, recipes, and the sort. Which, I can very well use to my advantage...

Yes... There are a few things I'd like to pry out from Vinyl's secretive lips tonight. Things that she'd only relent with the allure of her beloved noodles and meat. I may have to strengthen my deals with promises that I'll cook for her... But, we'll cross that road when it comes to it. Let's see if I procured all that I need before I forget something...

Yes... Yes that should cover all of my primary necessities. And these should prove to be useful tools in the coming duel with Vinyl. Know your enemy as well as you know yourself... That is the code of war. And this is indeed war. Much like the mall during the holiday rush; only this war has far less bloodshed... And slightly more nudity and depravity. But that's usually calculated in when my Vinyl worms her way into any plans. Not that I mind.

After all... These shopping trips always end in the bedroom come the end of the night. It's tradition. And as Vinyl would remind anyone, I never break tradition... Particularly the traditions I so richly enjoy... Ehem. Off I go.

Tick-tock. The familiar cat that hung in the kitchen of the dark apartment clicked at each second passing by. Small cracks ran through the glass cover of the normality clock, each crack being mended over by an ample amount of clear tape in layers. One of the cat's eyes was now entirely missing, replaced by an eye-patch that had a skull and crossbones embroidered on it. Still, the clock ticked at each second, the three hands moving as they always did to tick away at the passing moments until the masters came home. The ticks and tocks were joined for one second by the sudden swing and bang of the front door being nearly knocked off its hinges to welcome in the two residents of the abode; both of which carried multiple bags in their labored arms. Though he was always smiling, the cat seemed to smile a little wider when the lights of the apartment clicked on and Vinyl threw her bags onto the counter.

Octavia soon joined in Vinyl's actions and gently let her bags fall against the kitchen counter. The cellist brushed off the cusps of her lapel, which had gathered a bit of dirt from the burlap farming bags she brought home while Vinyl messed with the several paper bags she had lugged all the way home. Octavia gave a small chuckle as she took a seat on one side of the counter, rolling her fingers against the cool surface of the ivory counter. "Paper bags?" She playfully quirked a brow at her lover, who only smirked back at her with a bright look in her eyes.

Vinyl flopped back onto a stool and swung herself to face Octavia on the other side of the counter, one hand on the bag and the other on the lid of the seat she herself sat on. "Happy Ration Day, baby!"

The two exchanged a quick but fiery glare before combat; fearless, energetic red eyes meeting for a momentary clash with cool, composed violet eyes. "Let's begin..."