asphodelmeadows | [Open] Evening, Grocery Store

Well, wasn't this actually - interesting. How about that.

Casually pushing a falling box out of the way with one hand, Bennu rounded the corner and raised his eyebrows. How about that. What had we here.

The clock-shop girl, apparently - it'd taken him a moment to place her out of her usual locale, but once it'd occurred to him he couldn't doubt. Bennu chuckled and stooped to begin cleaning up the mess. Might as well, he figured. He didn't have anything better to do.

"Careful," he offered, handing her a box. "Somebody could get hurt in a mess like this."

Shiki twitched on impulse at the voice, expecting yet another body to knock into her and set off a chain to put dominoes to shame. Instead she staggered back as whoever it was pushed a box into her hands, and she blinked up to find- Well, she didn't know a name, but he was still not-a-stranger enough to mumble a frazzled "They already have" as she slid the box onto the shelf at her head.

Once her hands were free again and she could stand still for a breath, she registered what Bennu was actually doing, and that was... Well, why shouldn't it be a shock? Everyone else she'd met in the store had tried to get around her. Or over.
"-thanks," she said as she bent beside him to help. Or at least, did after glancing around them warily. "You better watch out, though. Everyone's acting- distracted tonight."

Or rather that's the most polite form of "not looking where they're going" she could think of.

"That so?" Bennu replaced a few more boxes, then tossed a dented one into a passing cart on impulse. The person pushing it didn't even blink. Bennu snorted. How about that.

Oh well.

"Fortunately for you," he replied, turning around, "I don't have anywhere in particular to be. Besides, it could be worse."

A crash came from farther down in the store; how many things had tipped over at this point? He grinned and whistled. "A few aisles over, and it could've been eggs."

"You don't?" Not quite convinced, but then, this guy did amble through her shop on a regular basis, the only apparent goal being to let down a shopkeeper. He might just have the time.

But she's not so sure they do, here. How many crashes was that? Weren't people getting the message to stay away? Entire sections of food and containers were rolling around now, where people came up short only to treat their carts like bumper cars.

"-it's going to be everything, at this rate." She shoots the mess a guilty look before honing it back on her unexpected, clearly concerned help. "I think I should just find management and apologize."

So concerned. Bennu replaced a few more boxes, glanced around, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Come this point, I've got a better idea," he offered, then jerked his head towards the door. "Want to run for it? I've got a bike."

And by "bike" he meant "motorcycle", and by "motorcycle" he meant "machine I shouldn't be driving in the dead of winter, without a helmet." But hey. Details. The girl needed to make a grand escape, and her predicament amused him just enough to win his support.

-what a thought! And in a number of ways - she stares at him equal parts aghast and amazed for the suggestion. Where did he come up with... There was a certain thrill to the thought, but.

"That wouldn't be right- I did set this off, on purpose or not."

And running off like that, she'd end up wondering if she'd stuck anyone in the hospital.

"You think they'd detain me or something?" The very idea has her hands clutching at the first locket her hand finds.

"That depends. How much money d'you have on you?" Bennu doesn't exactly feel sorry for the girl, per se, but he'd never expected to find someone who actually wanted to pay for damages. Yet from the looks of the shop she ran, the amount of business it did...

Yeah, if it were him, he'd be at least ten blocks away by now.

As things stand, he reaches out to pat her shoulder. "Course, if someone put in a good word for you, that might be different."

She couldn't afford to pay, yet she wanted to admit her fault. This situation definitely required a little intervention.

She moves her hand from the watch she never checked to pat her pockets instead- And the cornered grimace is really far too honest an answer.

"I left my checkbook in the shop." And she didn't want to think what it could cover, even if she had it. And the conundrum just made the contact that much more surprising, productively drawing Shiki's attention back to him just in time for the offer.

"-you'll come talk to them with me?" Sure, he didn't see the actual event and all, but. Doesn't stop the touched shock.

He glances away, looking for the customer service counter. "Someone has to. You'll talk yourself right into the red."

Patting that shoulder again, he lifts his hand and drops it back to his side. "Come on. Let's leave both your conscience and savings intact."

And with that, he turns to set off, trusting that she'll follow behind. Though a little smile over his shoulder can't hurt.

"Thanks! I mean- I think I'd have to pay, anyways, if they have cameras. It's not like I can skip town." But she follows willingly enough- even raising curious stares on her company instead of, say, bemoaning her life savings.

But there is a store about them, still echoing with the occasion run-in, though she does finally see one lady with a mop heading the way they came from. Why it's only one and she's moving like this is an ordinary day? No clue. But eventually they make it to the obvious information desk, and she rushes out a question before her nerves get the better of her.

"Excuse me- Can I talk to a manager?"

The guy behind the desk looks up and stares like "why would they be coming to ask him?" before nodding slowly. "Just a moment, please." He turns to pick up a phone and dial, and in the meantime Shiki fidgets on her feet, side-eying Bennu.

"So, you... Didn't you come here to pick something up, too?" She assumed, but she needed something to say, since it looked like the phone call wasn't ending anytime soon.

Bennu glances over, one food tapping idly while he waits. "Not especially," he admits, almost as if confused by the question. "It's cold. The store was bright. I'm sort of like an insect, really - wanders at random, easily lured into bright, warm places. Ah."

The man on the phone had seemed about to say something, but instead was just looking at them for a moment before returning to his call. Bennu smirks. "Bennu Tammuz, by the way," he remarks. "I'd give an occupation, but that'd require having one."

Edited (tenses) 2013-01-30 17:00 (UTC)

-she started out idly intrigued, but his explanation has her meeting his eye for a surprised second before pointedly looking forward to the desk. Trying quite valiantly not to grin. Too much.

She could buy that excuse, after all.

She doesn't glance directly back again until he's giving introductions, then she smiles, far more friendly than anything she'd manage in her shop. "I'm Fujiwara Shiki, and. Well you know where I work."

"You clock in quite a few hours, at that," Bennu deadpanned, encouraged by her reaction. She was kind of pretty when she smiled, but more importantly, if this was going to go off without a hitch he needed her cooperation.

The phone call showed no signs of ending. Bennu clicked his tongue against his teeth. It would've been so much simpler to just duck out and run. No wonder she always looked so frazzled.

"Here, it's for me," he offered, and reached for the phone. "I understand, he's busy. We won't take too much of his time."

The clerk at the counter simply blinked as the phone was lifted from his hands in mid-sentence. Bennu grinned. Sleepy little night, huh? On a day like this, you had to make your own fun.

And he still wasn't sorry about the pun he'd made.

But a few beats avoiding a glance, wondering at the unexpected help, and mentally checking off when and what she still needed to do later, she glanced up at Bennu's voice- Only to be caught looking at him from behind. Doing a double take, she shook herself into joining him in leaning over the counter. Hopefully there was no one on the other end yet to hear her mumbling to him.

"What are you going to say? Won't he have to see the damage or talk to the staff?"

Not that that anyone looked ready to rail against her, so far.

In response to her concern, Bennu simply held up his index finger and winked before turning his attention fully to the phone he'd just commandeered.

"Hello, is this the manager? Sorry to butt in, but really, there's no need...." Bennu frowned for a moment as the man on the other end mumbled something. "Just a spot of trouble. A friend wanted to apologize, though it could have happened to anyone...

"Here, sound repentant," he told Shiki, handing her the phone. "Points off if you whine, but you don't seem the type."

The less the man actually saw of the damage to his store until the two of them were gone, the better.

Oh, she's not the type to sound it. Just look like a miserable, water-logged cat, as she takes the phone. A quick breath in-take, though, and she just comes off guarded.

"Hello? Yes, I'm the one who- No, I think the others involved left." She looks back at the disaster area, listening to the other end of the call a moment before shaking her head. "No, I don't think anybody's hurt, but I'm still sorry. I should have heard the cart behind-"

She doesn't finish, face flinching clue enough that she was cut off. But her face quickly blanks out at whatever the guy is actually saying. A few, silent beats, and then she's stumbling in daze.

"Yes um, thanks. Sorry to take up your time." Shiki stares oddly into the receiver a beat before returning it to the clerk. Then Bennu's getting one confused glance. "He said he'd like to write up a report and all... But he has dinner in ten minutes."

"A man after my own heart." Bennu's a bit taken aback too, but the only emotion registering on his face is mild bemusement. "Shall we follow his example? The whole bike-and-running offer still stands - just won't be as grandiose now that you've confessed."

That had been freakishly easy, in retrospect, but Bennu wasn't one to question or second-guess good fortune. What would happen, happened, and he dealt with it then. No point in worrying over anything that didn't. That'd be enough to drive anybody crazy.

Or at least, enough to bother them, and Bennu detested feeling bothered. He made a point of avoiding it whenever possible, no matter what that involved.

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