Shop Till You Drop

“Did you have carrots at home already?” Adam called from across one of the filled produce pens that was stationed in the middle of the aisle in the fresh veggie section of the store, on the other side he could just see his bond partner grabbing a bag of potatoes as Adam was opposite him grabbing onions and saw the carrots looking rather good today. Fresh and brightly colored and very much caught his eyes, he was going to grab some for himself at the very least, even if he wasn’t fond of vegetables himself. His mother had a way of making the food taste more delicious, or maybe that was just a mother's charm.

“And what sort of sausage did you want to pick up? The meat counter isn’t far from the vegetables, so we could pick them up as we’re here.” Today, Adam was focused on his task of shopping. All the kids had gotten sick and were whining and groaning on the couch at home, being tended by the pretty finger cat shadow named Darkness, and Rai who was mostly keeping them warm and telling Darkness what to do as he lacked fingers and the dark dragon had an excess of them.

So there was much in the way of flirt, just staying on target as he put the onions in the cart that already had some peppers, chicken stock (that was on sale so more than needed was bought), celery, and a few spices that Rayden has apparently ran out of but with Adam buying anything was fine as long as it would be used.

"Yeah, a couple more wouldn't hurt though, they like 'em cooked." It wasn't exactly gooood that the kids were sick, however when Rayden mentioned that he couldn't come to school today because he had to take care of the little germ spreaders, for once he wasn't displeased to see Adam show up. Being helpful, buying everything they'd need for a huge pot of soup for everyone, and above all else being normal for a change. He hadn't even gotten one suspicious finger wiggle or a single eyebrow wag yet. It was great. Darkness even sent over a curious emotion now and then wondering why his rider was the one feeling pleased now while out with Adam, but he didn't know how to answer that except with the ginger being normal.

"Something spicy to help clear their noses. I like em red, hot, maybe with a dash of sass myself." Shrugging, he called it back over wish such nonchalance. If his dragon weren't at home, he doubt even they would have picked that one up. Tossing in a new wooden spoon, he was fairly certain he could convince Adam it was necessary for the soup too considering their old one was split. He'd certainly be making the kids say thank you to their fiery sponsor when they got over their sniffles.

“You sure you’re talking about the sausage over there? The type that can be cooked into soup now, not the one attached to male species.” Adam called back, catching that flirty remark but for once  didn’t shoot one back. The kids weren’t his in any way, but oh their gentle cries and whines had him focused. He couldn't even spoil them with usual treats, they were sick and all. Picking up another bag for Rayden as he looked over the list for soup, most of the list was the veggies with only a few more things to grab. They needed to grab rice, as they had the rest of that last night with the curry Rayden and Adam made, along with a small amount of cream, and the sausage of course. A easy rest of the list that Adam stuffed back into his pocket while wheeling the cart over to Rayden as he looked at new utensils.

“You should probably grab a new ladle, the dog chewed it up when you left it on the counter last night. Forgot to tell you that.” He did plan to just sneak in a new one and hope Rayden thought nothing of it, but he just wanted to be done so he could go home and cuddle the whiny brats he adored.

Blinking, Rayden did huff a bit at the new information, but he was still high in spirits. They were making better time with two of them there to collect the ingredients even if there was more in the cart than he would have gone out to get alone. "Yeah okay, you can go on ahead and get in line, I'll get it and find ya." The best thing about a second bond while grocery shopping together was that they wouldn't lose one another in the store and go walking back and forth five times.

Playfully bumping shoulders with Adam as he passed by, it wasn't that he didn't worry about the kids, but he knew they were fine. They were in good hands with Darkness even though it had taken them so long to get use to the bony hands. Despite all their complaints and snotty noses, they'd stay tucked under the covers on the couch too because they were secretly good kids. "I guess you're not a complete pain, even you've got your weaknesses." And the fact that that weakness was his little siblings just made the big brother that little bit more tolerant of Adam.