[Open] Evening, Grocery Store

[windupgadget]

She didn't mean to cause trouble - honestly.

But that didn't faze the fact she was standing in the middle of a decimated aisle, boxes of pastas scattered and squashed across the floor, alongside a couple groaning, rising shoppers. Or a cart had toppled over behind her, blocking her way out. Not that she was trying to escape, but the victims of this mess didn't even look at her when she tried to help them up, and just stood there, looking as confused as ever. Better yet, she could hear the tell-tale sounds of crashes in other parts of the store, making her flinch and duck passed the pair, making a break for it around the corner.

All she wanted was to pick up a few things she usually missed!

Comments

[devil_in_details]

"Does it?" Bennu appears to contemplate this for a moment, receiving his completed sandwich with an absent nod for the part-timer. "I trust we have a good lawyer. I refuse to partner in crime with anyone who can't get away with her misdeeds."

On that witty note, he takes a bite and involuntarily pulls a face. Oh. So that's why he doesn't eat meat.

[windupgadget]

"If you weren't caught up in it as a likely suspect, I'd just ask you. You were pretty smooth operator with the staff."

Okay, fine, so she has no lawyer. And she might have seriously admitted it - joking in the first place or not - but instead she freezes in the middle of taking her own sandwich, seeing him make that face. You know, from the corner of her eye.

"-what's wrong? Under cooked or something?

[devil_in_details]

Ah, so she'd noticed! Bennu tries to look haughty on purpose, swallowing his lump of sandwich thickly, and grins.

"The joys of trying new things," he remarks. "It's fine. Yours?"

Courtesy would enable him to finish it. He wouldn't make her pay twice, that wouldn't fit the evening's flavor at all.

But how did anyone stand this texture?

[windupgadget]

"-pretty good, actually." But then, it was meat and cheese. What's not to like?

Though of course, not everyone had the same taste... And she might be slow about eating, when she's giving him a confused look for that answer. "If you don't get sandwiches a lot- what do you like to eat?"

[devil_in_details]

The word "salad" was halfway out of his mouth before he realized he was answering the wrong question. What did he like to eat? That was...

Bennu took another bite, chewing only on one side of his mouth and trying to avoid the meat with his tongue. "....I don't actually know," he finally replied, not sounding nearly puzzled enough about the fact. "Guess in that case, I should start finding out."

[windupgadget]

...that was strange. But then, who is she to talk? She's eaten the same thing every day as far back as she can remember, and she's not stopped buying it. Isn't that its own brand of weird?

The admission allows her to keep from staring - a little - and she nods around a full bite. "Yup. I guess you're marking that off right away?"

[devil_in_details]

"Did I say that?" Bennu asks: she'd paid for this, after all, and it wouldn't do to sound ungrateful. Still, he can tell he's being obvious, so he decides to deflect from that particular topic. (And he'll finish this sandwich, darn it. No point in making something at home if he's holding food here.)

If he'd wanted to avoid sounding self-centered, however, his next topic for their dinner discussion doesn't help much.

"But enough about me. You like the bike?"

[windupgadget]

Nice job on the evasion, Bennu. Yes, she gave an "Are you kidding?" glance for a second there, but if edging her on before speaking is what counts...

"Sure! It was a blast." And true enough, though she doesn't really have a proper way to describe how it felt, since it felt... strange, in more than just an unfamiliar way, so she rushes on with "Where'd you get it? I've never seen a bike shop in town."

[devil_in_details]

"No? How about that." Bennu frowns for a moment. Where'd he get...

....he can't remember ever not having it. Every day he gets up and bums around town on his bike, sometimes driving out to the city limits but never past. Every day he just zooms around in the same circle.

Wow, he's pathetic. That's actually hilarious.

"It was a long time ago. You remember everywhere the clocks came from?" he replies, in order to have something to say, but he's grinning as if the memory were a fond one. In reality, though, he's just blown his own mind. He doesn't even know where his bike came from.

It doesn't bother him so much as make him want to break out laughing.

[windupgadget]

That's not an answer. And moreover, he pinned her with a question of his own. Any surprise she freezes mid-bite, trying to think...

"-I have paperwork on most of them. Somewhere." Okay, so her office is a neglected space for papers where she digs in a panic if she actually needs a record, and she would be hard pressed to place the origins of any one piece. It's not like she gets a lot of stuff! Her grandpa left such an insane amount of clocks and pieces and supplies she had yet to reorder anything! Everything went out, or stayed in town.

But, in the spirit of the good cheer Bennu's managing, she gives a small grin. "Besides, my clocks aren't quite the same. I have the shop."

[devil_in_details]

He actually cracks up at that. "Touché."

Polishing off the rest of his sandwich as quickly as possible (swallowing is still a bit difficult, but he poker-faces it as best he can), he flips a few coins of his own into the tip jar and leans on the counter to watch her eat, grinning all the while. "If it's all the same to you, though," he points out, "I'd rather have the mystery bike. Adds a little bit of interest to life."

He's only just beginning to realize how starved for that he is. Which is in itself interesting. But how grim would life be if he couldn't at least amuse himself?

[windupgadget]

Ha, look at that. Who can blame her for grinning a bit too proud? Sure, the whole thing's a little surreal - even after the evening started by demolishing a grocery aisle - but she's still enjoying herself.

Still. Shiki blinks back to reality a bit at the motion and sound of the coins, staring at the cup a beat before looking down at a clock on auto-pilot. And she wish she hadn't, because she has to squash the urge to instantly bolt and get back. (She should have the counters wiped off by now.)

"-yeah. I mean! Ah, I'd think riding the bike counts as interesting. Around here."

[devil_in_details]

"You can't be saying you're bored," Bennu retorts with mock surprise, brows rising almost up to his hairline. "Here? Where there's scintillating activities every night, and such a rich cultural scene? A lady of standards, I see."

He lobs his trash (a spent napkin) at the wastebasket one-handed and smirks only slightly as it swishes on in. "We might have to mix that up a little more often, from now on."

[windupgadget]

Her shoulders twitch with a laugh, though she feels the need to defend with a "It's not so bad here," even if she's giving quite a curious, heaven forbid hopeful side stare.

Wiping her own hands, Shiki pushes her plate, crumbs and all, to the other end of the counter before looking Bennu's way again. She, should be heading back by now, but his words make her hesitate enough to try, "Do you want anything to drink, too?"

[devil_in_details]

Unlike her, Bennu doesn't have anything better to do; still, he contemplates the offer (and the lump in his throat, god, meat, never again) and then smirks at her.

"Maybe one for the road," he replies. Let her chew on that if she wants, since he's going to be driving the bike.

[windupgadget]

Shiki takes Bennu at face value, the first instant, but she's looking at the menu not two seconds before she's caught the problem and met his smirk, eyebrows raised.

"-are you going to need some help, to manage that?"

[devil_in_details]

Bennu's smile is full of mystery. At least, that's how he describes it to himself mentally, and the sheer cliché has him smiling all the harder.

"What," he asks, "you doubt me? Coffee for the road, please. Black."

That last bit is directed at the cashier. Coffee sometimes makes him antsy, but tonight he feels willing to risk it. There's an inventive spirit to be maintained here, after all.

[windupgadget]

Her grocery rescuer lives on the edge, doesn't he.

"-I just didn't spot a cup holder or anything, on the way over. How're you going to carry it?"

...oh right, she should probably grab something herself, huh? Eh, she'll throw a 'ramune, please' at the cashier's back, as he fetches the coffee.

[devil_in_details]

"Maybe you are," Bennu said, refusing to commit. He takes a sip of his coffee and watches her over the steam rising from the lid. Cute drink, girl. Fits your height....

Bennu tips the cup again, unable to drink too much at a time for the heat. Let her stew in anticipation. It gives him time to figure out how exactly he's going to pull this one off, himself.

[windupgadget]

-ah? He sounded like he was going somewhere with that, and then just left her staring at him, far longer than necessary. Teasing like that... That's much more "mysterious" than the Coffee Conundrum.

Shiki keeps her eyes on her bottle to pop it open, but. "Where are you staying?" Waiting until the fizz goes down again to talk, she sticks to a side glance for her offer. "If it's close to my shop, I can ride with you and hold the drinks, and walk back from there."

[devil_in_details]

"And deprive me the chance to finish being the knight on shining motorbike? Heaven forbid." Bennu blows on his coffee and heads for the door. "I'm walking you to the threshold, milady.

"Unless," he adds with a wink over his shoulder, "you don't want the dashing stranger to know where you live."

[windupgadget]

Shiki came up short of taking her own first drink, mouthing dumbstruck, more fazed than the joke likely warranted. But, the whole line of thought... It catches her in a way that didn't quite register right, and leaves her jittery in his trail out the door.

"You're just dead set on leaving me grateful to you, huh?" But there's no irritation there, just a purposeful focus on the marble bopping in her drink. "You really don't have to try for that."

[devil_in_details]

"I just finish what I start." He swings himself back onto the bike, still unsure how he's going to manage his drink - so he takes a long drag of it, just in case. "Besides, you make great faces about it. Don't take offense, that's a compliment."

Maybe he'd just started to dig his own grave. But he'd get more good expressions out of it, so he could always climb back up again if need be. He liked being with her. There was an artlessness there that almost seemed familiar.

And more importantly, it was fun.

[windupgadget]

-so he is throwing her for a loop on purpose! That's mighty close to taunting, you know... Except for the friendly charm he's putting into the mix. That's just confusing.

And maybe that's why she listens, to a point, and stops with the soaked cat expressions after a beat. "I guess I can't begrudge you that- But you know. Maybe I just want to be helpful." Which is why she gets back on the bike and curls her arms right around him- And holds her free hand up in offer.

She promises not to spill anything on you!

[devil_in_details]

Hah. Problem solved. Bennu grins and slips the coffee into his brand-new cup holder, fumbling for the ignition with his free hand.

"Fair enough," he agrees. "I'll finish it before you're home."

Which is going to be a feat, and might involve actually waiting at lights. He avoids that whenever he can, and fortunately hasn't been ticketed yet.