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 Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:12 pm
Nikita clutched a box of tea to his chest as he stared wide-eyed at the people. Why had he thought this was a good idea? Why hadn't he just waited until he could find another employee who would pick up some things for him?
He had enough trouble leaving the compound when there weren't lots of people around - it was downright terrifying when people were like this. But no, he had to decide that it was about time he got off the compound and actually did his own shopping for once.
Unfortunately for him, he had no idea it was the week before thanksgiving.
Forcing himself to drop the box into his basket, he debated whether he should simply pay for what he already had and leave (despite the fact that he only had a few of the items he'd come for), drop it and leave, or actually try and finish this.
He was leaning towards the second option.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:22 pm
Thanksgiving week was always a crazy time, and this year was no different. The Saint Family thanksgiving dinner was always hectic, but incredibly fun. Somehow, though, this year, Christian had been seen as the proper authority and was told he had to cook dinner for the Saint family. It wasn't like it was a lot of food, not really, but...
Christian didn't like cooking very much. And he hated grocery shopping, he always got so distracted.
Spinning his cart, where Dorian was sitting in the larger part holding a turkey, he turned down an aisle with teas and other pleasantries of the like. His mother liked a nice cup of tea after dinner, and he thought it wasn't all that hard to make. Besides, he wanted to turn Dorian onto tea, too. Maybe it'd calm him down and make him sleepy.
Worth a shot, anyway.
Dorian was looking around avidly, having never actually been in a grocery store in his life, and he was amazed at all the people! Through the haze of food-scents and people-scents, a scent stuck out to him. It wasn't like Nicodemus the Sewer, and it certainly wasn't Christian's scent. It was familiar though.
Lifting his head so his nose was up in the air, he sniffed a couple times, frowning. Then he looked straight ahead, and lit up. "Nikita!"
Christian had followed his gaze when he'd exclaimed the name, and lit up. "Hello, Nikita." He greeted, wheeling the cart towards him and absently picking up a box that looked like the purple one his mother always had on stock. If it wasn't... well. She could always try something new.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:33 pm
Seeing Christian and Dorian was a relief - people were completely insane out here, but there were people he knew! Familiar faces averted at least some of the panicked tension that had been building up, since he'd entered the store.
"C-Christian, Dorian."
He managed a smile for them, before his eyes fell on teht ea Christian was holding.
"Do you like t-tea?"
Huh. Did Christian drink tea? He hadn't struck him as the tea-drinking sort...
"That b-brand's flavor is a bit weak...you might like th-this one better."
Nikita pointed to another box - the same color, and apparently the same flavor, but the name of the brand was different.
The blonde man was still clutching at his basket tightly, and anyone - even those who didn't know him - would be able to tell he was ill at ease in the store. He'd been about to just leave, but seeing people he knew was at least helping him relax a tiny bit; maybe he'd even be able to get another item or two before he left.
It would help if grocery stores were less confusing here. How were you supposed to find anything?
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:40 pm
Christian wheeled the cart over to the man, and grinned at him, amused by his uneasiness in the store. "How're you doin', Nikita?" He asked, grinning. Dorian put the turkey down, and stood up in the cart, reaching out and full on hugging Nikita.
"Hi, Nikita!" He beamed at him. "What're you doin'?"
Christian blinked at the question, and then grinned when Nikita pointed out the different brand. "If you say so." He said, sheepishly. He put the box back he'd grabbed in favor of the more flavorful one. "I don't drink it much, but my mother loves it." He grinned sheepishly at him. "I'm doin' the Saint Family Thanksgivin' this year."
Lucky him. He snorted a little, then grinned. "What're you doin' here? ... Well... aside from the obvious." He looked sheepish again. "You need help?" Christian had been here more than enough times to know where everything was. He didn't mind shopping, it was pretty easy to do. And usually he got roped into helping Momma Saint out when he was a littler kid, so it came natural for him.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:54 pm
"Shopping..."
Nikita was as confused at Dorian wanting a hug, as he'd been by Dorian wanting to shake hands at the pick up. But, like before, he conceeded, and gave the little boy a hug. At least hugs were more familiar to him then handshakes, what with the children on the compound.
"Or t-trying to, anyway."
And raising Sariael, although she hadn't been much of a hugger.
"Thanksgiving?"
Nikita floundered for a moment - but he didn't ask the question hovering on the tip of his tongue, and moved on. He was a bit disconnected from reality, but that could only explain so much.
So he just moved on.
"H-help? Yes!" Relief was once again evident on his face; maybe he would actually be able to complete this shopping trip. Unfolding a list he took out of his pocket, he showed it to Christian; only a few items had been crossed out on it, although it wasn't a huge list.
"I thought it would b-be easy, but...I c-can't even find noodles."
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:06 pm
Christian nodded a little, amused at him. "Yea, Thanksgiving." He said, shrugging a little. Dorian had sat back down in the car, holding the turkey in his lap again. He held the big bird up, grinning.
"We're gonna have turkey." He beamed.
"Yeah, we are." Christian laughed a little, and ruffled Dorian's hair. He grinned at the relief on Nikita's face when he'd offered help, and reached out, taking the list and looking over it.
"Eh, it's pretty easy if you know where everything is. Problem is, there's no set way about where the foods all get put. So all the stores're all mixed up." He grinned at him. "C'mon, I'll help you." He gave him the list back, and started to steer them out of that aisle, to the aisle with the noodles.
"So how's life been, Nikita?" He asked, looking over at him and grinning.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:16 pm
"Turkey's are b-big."
Nikita made this observation with surprise, blinking at it; it was even bigger then a chicken. And they were going to eat the whole thing? Huh...well, he did mention family. Maybe it was a large group.
Hm. He wondered if turkey tasted good?
Following Christian, he offered a half smile and a shrug, "Life is...life. I've been p-pretty busy."
You'd think that, what with the relative lull in the creation of Sylphs, he would have more free time; but no, it seemed like all the higher ups had suddenly decided they were too important for paperwork. And he, as the PR and paperwork grunt of Divinity, was stuck with it all.
"Lots of p-paperwork."
Nikita made sure to stay close to Christian and Dorian - not that he was afraid of getting lost or anything, but...well...there were just so many people! It'd be easy to lose someone, so it was perfectly reasonable to keep a close eye on them. Right.
"How about you t-two?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:05 am
"Yeah, they've gotta be. Our family's not way big, but... it's large enough." He snorted sheepishly. "After you count in Nicodemus--"
"The sewer." Dorian grumbled.
"... Dorian." Christian snorted at him, instead of reprimanding, and went on. "And my sister's husband and her kid, and my other sister's boyfriend... Well." He grinned, shrugging. "It adds up."
Christian listened to Nikita's explanation about that, and nodded a little, amused. "And you're the only one doin' paperwork, I'm assuming?" It either meant Nikita was incredibly easy to bully (which Chris would pick, just so you know.) or he was that ambitious. ... Probably the former rather than latter.
"We're doing just fine." Christian grinned, shrugging as he turned his cart down the aisle with noodles there. "I'm teaching Dori how to write, so he can write in his journal..."
"And we had a sleepover!" Dorian exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. "With Mr. Malen and Gil." He nodded sagely. "It was awesome. And then we went to Christian's bookstore and I got a book and he got me a journal and--"
"He's gotten to that point in life. The one where you ramble a lot." He smirked at Dorian, who blushed and scoffed at him.
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:30 pm
"Well...n-not the only one.."
Nikita was sure there had to be people still doing there own paperwork; there were some things that people just had to do themselves. It was just all the general stuff that got thrown at him. He couldn't deny that part, at least...
He smiled at Dorian, amused by the rambling. The little boy seemed to have lots of energy.
"Just m-means your voice is healthy," he grabbed a packet of noodles off of the shelf, slipping it into his basket. "And that you have l-lots of energy. I hope your father d-doesn't let you have too much sugar..."
That last bit was said in a teasing voice, as he imagined what the boy - already energetic as it was - would be liked hyped up on sugar.
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:23 pm
Dorian grinned at Nikita, and before he could answer (or launch into a new rambling sentence), Christian covered his mouth. "Nope." He said, snorting a little and grinning anyway. "He's like this all on his own. I've got nooothin' to do with it."
"Sewer does!" He said around his hand, sheepishly. Then Dorian stopped and looked around, sniffing. He seemed deterred for now, sniffing about as if something had just grabbed his nose and yanked his whole head that way.
Christian blinked at him. "Dori?"
"I smell something." This was said with the utmost seriousness, as if their very lives depended on what he smelled.
"..." Christian looked at Nikita, amused. "That's distinct." He said dryly, looking at Dorian. Dorian just rubbed his nose and shrugged, grinning as he flopped back.
"It's gone now." He said, nodding sagely. Then he looked at Nikita, and hopped up. "What's next on the list?" He asked, and if he had a little tail, it would've been wagging like a dog's.
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:12 pm
Nikita wrinkled his nose at the 'sewer' comment...must be someone with really bad hygiene, if Dorian was calling him a sewer. He hoped he didn't meet him.
Nikita laughed quietly at Dorian's 'smelling', wondering why Sariael couldn't have acted like this. Her sense of smell was enhanced, but she'd never acted that adorably, when she was a child. She was always too...adult-like. A perfectly fine child, but - well, there had never been much that was 'child-like' about her.
"N-next?" Checking his list once more, "...I need some sp-spices."
He wondered if they were going to help him with his whole list...it was seeming that way. If they did, he'd really need to find a way to thank them - this really was a great help. And they had their own shopping to worry about, for that matter...
"If y-you have a lot left on your shopping, you really d-don't have to help..."
He didn't want to waste their time - especially if they had a lot of shopping left to do. Even if he wouldn't be able to finish his list without help, he didn't want to steal all of their time.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:50 pm
Christian blinked, and scoffed at him, waving at him with a grin. "Oh please, it's no trouble at all. 'Sides, we don't have a list." He grinned sheepishly, shrugging. "We're just grabbin' what we think's necessary. And, y'know, spices would probably be necessary. Right, Dori?"
"Yep!" Dorian's face split into a wide grin.
Christian grinned, and nodded at his Sylph, then looked up at Nikita. "This'a way, Nikita." He said, friendly and a little smug at his little not-quite-victory. "The biggest thing," Christian said as he wheeled down the aisle and towards the one where the spices were kept. "is finding the turkey. And we got that. The rest is just extra."
Dorian nodded, and spun to face them. "'Cause Gramma Saint has loads of stuff. Her food closet's really really big." He grinned. "It's got stuff like... like mashed potatoes and cereals and cans of stuff and--"
"Pantry, Dorian." Christian said belatedly. Dorian blinked at him, then remembered what he'd said, and snorted.
"That's what I meant." He said, sitting back and grinning. "And she's got bowls of candy sitting out everywhere, it's really cool."
"And I wondered where he got all the sugar from." Christian said ruefully, making a mental note to talk to his mother about all the sweets. No wonder Dorian was so hyper, his mother either came to visit or they had dinner at his mother's house a couple times a week.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 8:36 pm
Nikita felt a grin tug at his own face in response to the two, and he relaxed at the information that he wasn't keeping them from their own shopping. These two had such cheerful presences that is was rather infectious.
"C-cans of stuff?" a mischievous tone entered his voice, "Is that a-anything like cans of food?"
It was always fun to tease children.
And then there was the comment about candy...hm. No wonder Dorian was so energetic - he had his 'gramma' and 'sewer' giving him candy all the time. Well, there were suggestions for that...
Directing his comment at Christian this time, he chuckled out a statement, "Perhaps tell her to b-buy sugar free c-candy?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 10:14 am
"That's what I meant, Nikita." Dorian rolled his eyes dramatically, giggling. "She's got weird stuff though. Like... fish eggs!"
"Caviar." Christian corrected.
"And tentacles." Dorian wiggled his fingers for emphasis.
"String peas." Christian rolled his eyes a little, grinning.
"And baby heads!" He said, holding his own head with both arms.
"... Potatoes." Christian sighed a little, grinning, and looked at Nikita. "Incredible imagination, huh." He snorted, then nodded at his suggestion. "I'm going to. Or ask her to cut back on the candy all together." He snorted a bit. "The last thing he needs is more sugar."
"Not true!" Dorian scoffed. "I need sugar to fuel my jeans."
"Genes."
"That's what I said!"
Christian snorted, grinning, and turned down the aisle with spices. Without really looking, he grabbed the spices he'd need for the turkey, and stuffing of course. "..." He grabbed another one. "Maybe for the potatoes..."
"Baby heads!"
"Dorian." Christian snorted.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 2:52 pm
"C-caviar?"
Fish eggs. Nikita really hoped that that description was just a child's interpretation of what it looked like, like he had said with string peas and potatoes. He recognized the other names, but he had no clue what 'caviar' was.
It didn't exactly sound appealing, though.
Picking out his own spices, Nikita dropped them in the basket.
"Aren't little p-pumpkins more like b-baby heads then potatoes?" Afterall, you carved faces onto pumpkins. Although the little whirls that potatoes occasionally had might look like a face under the right circumstances.
Glancing down at his list, he spoke the next item on his list, before shifting his attention back to the other two.
"Do you like potatoes, D-Dorian? Because it'd be k-kinda silly to like b-baby heads..."
If Dorian liked them, then surely 'baby heads' wasn't a good thing to call them. Or at least it would be amusing, if he said he enjoyed eating 'baby heads'.
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