nexus_crossings | Coney Island Summer Fun Event

Coney Island Summer Fun Event

Today visitors to the Nexus will find a large amusement park has appeared, replacing the normal Plaza that is usually there. There are huge rides, such as the Cyclone, Wonder Wheel, and Thunderbolt.

There is also a A Splashing Flume Ride, an Adventure Area, and a large beach area that looks out to the Ocean.

Most of the smaller attractions are of the spinning variety (affectionately referred to in the industry as whirl-and-hurl or spin-and-puke rides) and others that are off-the-shelf models. There is definitely enough rides to attract those who enjoy High Trill, Moderate Thrill, or want a more Mild Thrill. If there is a ride that you can imagine... it is here. For those who want an uplifting experience that leaves you floating in the clouds, and enjoy the entire sights and sounds of the amusement park, be sure to get on the Brooklyn Flyer.

There is also plenty of fair games. One can show off at the Extreme Strength booth, or try to win stuffed animals from the carnival games. There is a dunk tank booth, where a gullible person might be convinced to sit in the target seat, and taunt their friends to take their best shot. There is also a Kissing Booth, which has attractive hosts and hostesses (and yes, this is another place a person can sit to collect their own kisses).

The amusement shops are designed to convince visitors to purchase souvenirs of their stay, or special merchandise (that is only available here!).

What is your favorite summertime indulgence? Funnel cakes, icy cold lemonade, cotton candy or gourmet fries? How about all of them? Half Moon Food Court has all these summertime boardwalk favorites. Or check out Coney's Cones for 12 rotating flavors of artisanal gelato, handcrafted and using the most state-of-the-art techniques by world-renowned experts.

A few of the booths in Food Alley are designed as contests... a way for those who want to test their stomachs to determine if they can eat the most Hot Dogs, or Pies, or Cookies. There is a few drinking contest booths too, with shots lined up along the table tops.

There is live entertainment throughout the park, with musicians, 'Carnival Freaks', and other amusement park attendees who aim to gather attention. Where do you go first?

[OOC note: This is a Party-Style Summer Fun Event. Muses can enjoy the sights and sounds of the Coney Island Fair. Be sure to post around and interact with other characters. Please be respectful to other RPers and ask before muse dropping on any other character]

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Having whetted his appetite with funnel cake, Forrest is now considering the Carnival in a new light. His family isn't here (or at least he has yet to spot Cricket and Jack), and it's extremely rare for him to cut loose, and there is such a variety of foods both tempting and just bizarre. What is an oreo and how does one taste fried? How are curly fries different from regular fries?

The rides are for children, there's no livestock or farming equipment to look over, and he's not the type for games, so Forrest ambles along the avenue of food stands, considering his options carefully.

It's a nice day, who knows when he'll go to a fair again, and there is money in his pocket.

"....Ah, you'd be better off trying your luck the other direction."

The man who's quietly trying to get Forrest's attention is tall and lithe. Also very, very blue. Norn doesn't look nearly as professional as usual dressed down out of his uniform. His grey shirt and black slacks are pretty plain even and doing nothing to help how miserable the Andorian is out in this heat. Carnivals on paper should be the bane of his existence.

Lots of people, in the summer heat, and sprawling enough to get lost. But for the food. There's stalls everywhere and all sorts of treats to enjoy. Except he's empty handed walking back the way Forrest's come.

"There's a small army of children being led about at the moment and at least three of the stalls are temporarily down while they work on replenishing their stocks."

Okay, well that's kind of a damper. Forrest actually deals pretty well with kids, having raised his kid brother while he wasn't even quite an adult himself. They should have first dibs on the food, really.

But he still frowns a little at this news.

That it comes from somebody blue who looks like he came off the cover of a sci-fi pulp is less distressing to Forrest than it would have been a year ago, and besides the other man is being quite civil. Also he thinks he can read that look. The first noise he makes is a low incoherent grumble, then he sighs and jerks his head in a nod back the other direction. "Maybe we can get t'somethin' at the other end before them?"

Slightly perturbed may be this humanoid's default expression but the slight droop to his antennae is definitely only reinforcing his disappointment with the turn of events. Norn's got nothing against kids. But he's not good with them, nor experienced in any way. He does realize that kids belong at a place like this a lot more than he does though.

He's done his best to stay out of the way.

Norn doesn't answer aloud right away, though he does nod along with Forrest's suggestion before falling into step next to Forrest when the man turns back. It won't be for a couple of stalls before he works up the nerve to actually try his hand at conversation.

"...You know, for being this close to an ocean all of a sudden there's not a whole lot of seafood on offer that I've seen. It's a shame. Fried crustaceans would certainly fit in well with everything else on offer."

Forrest's own default expression is just a little grouchy at the best of times, a gruff shell that serves him well back home. They match well.

His pace is an easy amble, but children as a group are not fast, so there's not much reason to pick up the pace. It makes him an easy walking companion for some people, and tricky for others who have to slow their own pace to match. He seems content with the lack of conversation and with having a quiet companion, and when the alien does speak he grunts in response and takes a moment to actually reply, frowning a little.

"That ain't right. Never been out t'th'beach, but you'd think there'd be a payoff for't. Maybe th'ocean's fake?" He squints out in that direction warily, without changing his easy pace.

At the very least here is a couple walking down the stalls that people will think twice about interrupting. There are easier marks for people looking to push their wares or gimmick of choice for entertainment. Forrest walks slow enough that Norn would have a difficult time not outpacing him if he were in a hurry. But moving slowly through the throngs of people is about the only way to do so without unnecessary bumping and physical contact so he's more than alright with this.

It's something of a relief not to have an overeager conversation partner. Much less stressful. Makes it easier for him to find his words long after the human's turned his gaze out to the waterfront.

"...Fried clams or shrimp, even. It's one of the best thing humans have. Street food, I mean. My people took it and ran right off with it the second they were introduced."

Listening is something Forrest does very well, and while he is neither shy nor bad at speaking, he tends to use his words sparingly. A calm and slow conversation about mundane things is just his speed, and while he never expected to have that with a blue alien, he's relieved by it. "W'get crayfish, sometimes. Almost shrimp. I run a place... what's th'difference between street food 'n diner food?" This is not the setup for a joke or anything, he's genuinely curious what this man thinks makes the distinction.

There wouldn't be any conversation at all if food wasn't the factor here. Very few things will get the Andorian out willingly to socialize but he'll put up with an awful lot outside his comfort zone if there's good food and drink to be had. New things to try. His are simple desires but he'll go pretty far to satisfy them.

"Are those the freshwater variety? I've never tried them." But now he's damn well curious to. Hrm. Maybe he'll have to do some recon and see if anywhere around the Nexus serves them. He's brought out of his thoughts by Forrest's question. It's the kind of thing that sounds easy but when Norn goes to answer he finds he has to stop.

"I...I've never eaten at a diner before. So I'm not sure. But those little fry stations that you see in carts. For falafels or those fried squiggly cakes and the like...we do a lot of that. Our twist on fish and chips has gone full circle. It's a pretty popular dish back on Earth even with the humans, though I doubt they'd ever prefer it to their own seafood."

While Forrest would prefer not to invite blue-skinned aliens to his Waystation back home- it's nothing personal but the locals would be extremely alarmed- he does already know of quite a good alternative solution. "'s a place here'n th'Nexus. Kinner's kippers, he does seafood. Prob'ly gets crayfish sometimes." He can't be sure of that part, but it's clear to him that Kinner is from a world very much like his own, and has similar tastes.

"You got... dif'rent fish? Where... you're from?" He is attempting to be polite, but he is not going to pretend this guy is not an alien.

"The cart at the parks end of the Plaza? I've seen it before, actually. I'll have to stop in at some point." Recommendations for good food are always to be treated with the utmost respect and courtesy. When day in and day out all of ones meals are replicated real fresh food becomes a very welcome treat.

The Nexus is wonderful for getting to spoil himself that way. Usually.

"Ah...personally I'm from a subsistence colony that supplies a large Starfleet base in the same sector. Culturally, my people are one of the founding members of the Federation of Planets alongside Earth and its humans. We come from Andoria, a Moon orbiting a gas giant in the Alpha quadrant. I've...only been to our home world a few times."

Forrest has seen aliens around the Nexus, but he's never actually walked and talked with one. "Never even heard'f it. We ain't gone to outer space, where I'm from." This is not dismissal, he's actually a little awed by the idea. Possibly part of what makes it all so fantastic is that apart from being blue and having antennae, this guy seems sort of normal.

He also likes food. So they have that in common.

"You ever had any of this stuff?" He waves a scarred hand at the food stands, and it looks like there's some at the other end where the massive group of kids hasn't been yet.

Hanolan was a mixed colony that housed as many humans as it did Norn's own kind. He's been raised near enough with humans his entire life, even if he didn't really integrate into their society until he joined Starfleet. It helps to break down some of the cultural barriers.

Crucial for someone as introverted as Norn is.

"...The battered fried sausages were common during the summers in San Francisco." He's pointing to a corndog stand with a single blue finger. See, human gestures. Normal enough. "Even in a spacefaring age, most American cuisine still offers fries or chips as well. So I've had those." A beat.

"...Names sometimes elude me, I'm sorry. The beers I've seen seem similar to things I've had too. But that's about it." A sidelong glance then, dropped quickly so as to avoid unnecessary staring. "What about you? Is this common in your time?"

Edited 2019-08-16 13:37 (UTC)

"Beer's illegal. Hrm, was, until a few months back." He's still trying to get used to the repeal of Prohibition, and unclear what it means for his own business. "Th'rest seems pretty normal. Fair food, not stuff we eat ev'ryday. You had curly cheese fries?" Because those are terrible for you, and look extremely appealing, right now. Also the stand ahead seems to have not too long of a line, and still be in stock.

"Mostly do breakfasts, at my place. Eggs 'n bacon, hash browns and biscuits. Lotta ham." They keep pigs and chickens, so pork products and eggs are their basics.

"Illegal? Like, 'It's not good for you' so it's illegal or 'No Regulations to ensure Safety and Quality' so it's illegal?" It probably doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things but the only illegal alcohols Norn's aware of are the kind that will actually make humans and several other species go blind and suffer massive organ damage by drinking if it was made by the wrong backwater colony distiller. So he could see why maybe beer could possibly be illegal.

It's still strange to wrap his head around. Humans are pretty well known for trying just about anything.

"Curly...cheese..." There's a helpful little caricature of the dish drawn on a chalkboard propped up in front of the stand. The Starfleet officer has stopped in his tracks. He might be gaping a little bit. "No. But I really want to." Best to quickly slip in line before it gets any longer.

"I've had all of those things, I think. Eggs weren't always from chickens, depending on where I was living but they didn't taste much different." Norn trails off again, having caught sight of one of the stand workers peeling and unraveling a potato at the same time off of a little machine she's operating like it's a ball of yarn. This place is magical. (Kav knows an Actual Mage, so he should know better.)

"...When I'm not on the ship, I like to try evening meals, mostly. I like...to follow along with cooking lessons I find online."

"Illegal like some people decided alcohol is 'morally objectionable'." His tone drips with disgust for people imposing their moral standards on the rest of the country. "Lotta people started makin't themselves, after they outlawed it. Now th'law got repealed a few months back." He hasn't yet mentioned that his own family is among those illegal bootleggers, but Forrest has standards, and has always refused to cut their moonshine with anything that might risk people's health. Well, risk it any more than strong alcohol does already.

It's like they're on the same wavelength, as they both gravitate quickly to the line. In theory Forrest could make curly cheese fries at home, but that's a lot of work. He watches idly though, noting the tool for the curly fries isn't much different from a fancy apple peeler. "We got chickens. 'n pigs. Had eggs from ducks 'n geese before, but never anything else."

"....I think it's probably good a law like that was repealed." Opinions on the drink itself may be mixed, but it sets an uncomfortable weight in the Andorian's stomach to think of things outlawed purely because someone in power looks down on it, or an activity. It can cause more trouble than the law itself was meant to stop, too. Of course, he's thinking of his own home world rather than Earth History.

They can both let the subject drift quietly closed while they inch their ways forward in line watching the batches get made fresh one after the other. Unlike Forrest, Norn's got not the slightest idea of how these things could be made in one's home. At least, not without what appears to be rather specialized tools. He's not slouch to frying food in his own apartment, but the double boilers for the cheese sauce and everything else that's taking up real estate in the little food stand is a sight to behold.

"They're hardy animals." Norn agrees absently, though his eyes aren't leaving the stand. "Hanolan had both of those, as well as small food animals from other species. Things that do well on terraformed soil."

The girl working the till at the front of the line has gotten her routine down pat. Like most seasonal summer jobs she's somewhere between high school and early college age, though she's out of the sun and grinning to everyone that comes her way. Quick with her hands, and dutifully looking over a handy change conversion sheet that's been laminated before being taped to the post next to her station for her to squint at the tiny print if she needs a helpful reminder. Money's sometimes tricky here. Her smile to the two very different gentlemen is as sunny as the day outside and once they've placed their orders she beams a bit more and winks to them before calling up another two orders.

Kav's face doesn't change from mildly intimidated professionalism the entire time. He doesn't smile again until they're off to the other side of the stand waiting to get their order. Food is coming, and soon!

"I wasn't totally sure, until I smelled it. That." Antennae twitching back toward the station. "Is probably very unhealthy. It smells divine."

"Guesso. I ain't complainin', but it'd been th'law long enough to change some things, and now it's gonna take awhile for things t'change again." Bootlegging was a very profitable, if risky business. Now that profitable business has been rendered obsolete, and while he won't miss the trouble it caused, the loss in income irks at him. Not that he's hurting for money, by any means.

He's watching the people work, too. Even if they're not much more than kids, he was getting the waystation put together, when he was about the same age. He taught himself to be a short order cook, so he can respect their professional skills. And then the girl at the til doesn't charge him a small fortune, but a reasonable price for his own era, and this is a skill that he's extremely grateful for. Not everyone in the Nexus seems to have the same grasp of how shocking inflation is to a man from the 1930s.

"Fair food's not s'posed t'be good for you." He shrugs his broad shoulders, but also looks quietly pleased, anticipating his pile of cholesterol. "Tastes good, though. Could probably make't at the waystation, for a special occasion."

Money's an equally puzzling affair for a man who's life runs on Galactic Standard rates for pretty much everything. With living wages and most basic needs provided for him through his work for Starfleet it's taken Norn months to quietly work out how money and the Nexus economy functions at even a basic level.

"No, I'd imagine not." Special occasions call for a break from normal rules. Food that's good for you can taste great, but in practice Norn's well aware that it seldom does unless the cook knows what they're doing. Food like this on the other hand will put you n a shallow grave and smells to die for.

Once they're called back they're going to be handed generous portions. Enough that Norn's pretty sure he's going to have to find someone to share with. A worry for later. Right now he's taking a deep cheesy inhale and grinning huge.

"I've made fries before but they've never smelt this good."

In his own time, Forrest is quite good with money. Or at least, he knows how to stretch a little money a very long way, despite the fact that he has a small fortune secreted away. There have been times his brothers have painted him as just a little miserly, and it is true that he has run the family business with a keen eye to profits.

To find himself somewhere that he cannot gauge how much money is worth is a little distressing.

For just today though, he's willing to relax just a little. He is here to enjoy the day, and eat. Norn may already have somebody to share his food with. Forrest is used to large portions. He cooks huge meals, although the people eating them tend to then go work the fields all day and therefore legitimately need the calories.
"'Spartly th'oil, partly th'cheese. Smells better th'more you make, too. Up to a point." Fryer oil is enriched by the things cooked in it, up until it becomes sludgy and nasty.

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Coney Island Summer Fun Event

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