(Untitled)

[seatofreason]

Who: Wilson and [open]
What: Grocery shopping
When: Mid-afternoon
Where: The produce aisle of the local Safeway
Rating: Unspoiled (heh -- get it?)
Status: Open

Comments

[redheadprophet]

Laura hadn't grocery shopped in years. It used to be something that was cathartic for her back on Caprica. She loved going to the open air markets and listening to music playing while children ran around. Of course this was in no way, shape, or form like that at all, but after living on a Battlestar, eating nothing but algae, she'd take whatever grocery shopping she could take.

As she read boxes and labels, putting things into her basket, she moved to turn around and found herself knocking boxes of crackers off of a display. Fifteen or so tumbled to the ground, and she cursed a little as she bent down to pick them up.

[seatofreason]

Wilson heard the crash from the next aisle over and stepped around the endcap to investigate. He saw a petite redhead standing over a snack cracker pile of devastation and felt his instinct to help swoop in like a bird of prey. "Hey --" he handled his basket into the crook of his arm and started down the aisle "-- let me help you with that."

He shoveled a couple of boxes against the bend in his elbow and grinned. "Are you okay?" he asked, "it looks like Crackergeddon happened in here."

[redheadprophet]

Laura looked up and gave a smile a she stood with her arms full of boxes. "I'm mostly clumsy," she said with a little smile. "I'm just glad the whole thing didn't fall."

And as if on cue, a box from the middle teetered and it was like watching in slow motion as they all fell.

After a long, long pause, she swallowed. "Would it be really bad form to just leave?"

[seatofreason]

Wilson cracked a smile. "Nah," he said, stooping to grab a couple more boxes, "I think the International Stockboys Commission goes pretty light on first-time offenders." He started to organize the cracker boxes on the table, handling some out of her arms. "But I'd stay away from the eggs if I were you."

[redheadprophet]

Helping him, she laughed a little. "Good advice. I promise I'm not this clumsy on a regular basis. I'm Laura, by the way."

[seatofreason]

"James Wilson." He shook her hand around an awkward armful of boxes. "It's nice to meet you. Do you usually do this much damage when you go out, Laura?"

[redheadprophet]

Laura nodded slowly in thought. "Yep. Yeah, I mean this is just the beginning. Towards the middle of my shopping I like to go poke all of the meat. Then, just before I leave I squish all the bread. It's sick, but i can't help it."

[seatofreason]

Wilson laughed. "Well," he said, reaching into his basket for his loaf of bread, "this one's relatively unscathed. I think I went by the bread aisle before you began your reign of terror. You can have it, if you're interested."

[redheadprophet]

Laura couldn't help but laugh and she shook her head. "No, thank you. That one escaped fair and square. It deserves a good home."

Once the crackers were more or less back on the table, she smiled. "Thank you so much for your help Mr. Wilson, I appreciate it."

[seatofreason]

The loaf of bread went back into the basket, pardoned at the last second like a death row inmate. "No problem. I figure: I'm new around here, I might as well pull my weight. Just, promise me, for the sake of the milk-eggs-bread people who come in here, that you'll keep the WWF SmackDown stuff to a minimum."

Now he was teasing her.

[redheadprophet]

Laura shook her head with a smile. "Lucky for you I don't know what WWF is, but I'm a quick learner so I'm not sure that I can make any promises."

She liked the easiness of the conversation, and it made her forget for a while that she was supposed to be feeling guilty for being here.

"Oh, milk is still innocent. It's responsible for ice cream and cheese, and therefore saved itself," she nodded seriously.

[seatofreason]

Wilson caught himself about to explain the origin story of the World Wrestling Federation, but stopped himself before he could do himself further character damage. Besides, wrestling had always been House's thing. Wilson had never fully understood the sport's appeal. He had resisted being dragged to a match for fifteen years, despite House's appeals and caterwauling that it would be fun -- how could barbarism not be fun?

"Hey, ice cream," he lit up like a bulb, "that sounds pretty good. Thanks for reminding me. I mean, a guy can't live on tomatoes and bread alone, right?" He showed her the contents of his basket. "I forget which manufacturers they have around here. Can you recommend something? Preferably without bringing about doomsday in the process?"

[redheadprophet]

Laura looked down into the basket and gave him her patented 'arched eyebrow' look. "You need a good meal." Oh yes, she was a mother hen.

She started walking towards the freezer section. "I'm not from around here either. Actually...I'm from really far away but there's this brand called...Ben and Jerry, I think?" She pulled a pint of 'Chunky Monkey' out and handed it to him. "My recommendation, Mr. Wilson," she smiled.

[seatofreason]

Wilson handled the carton on the tips of his fingers, brushing frost from the label. "Oh yeah," he said, "we had this stuff where I came from. These guys --" he tapped the carton with his fingernail "-- started their own ice cream company back in the Seventies or Eighties. The only good thing to come out of Vermont. Well, except for the maple syrup." He dropped the ice cream into his basket.

"If you're really intrepid," he said, opening the freezer door again and grabbing a pint of Godiva "-- you should get this. I had a friend who swore by it." He brushed his thumb across the label, almost wistful. A moment later he offered it to her. "You look like you could use an indulgence or two, if you don't mind me saying."

[redheadprophet]

Laura took the Godiva ice cream and stuck it in her basket. Things he was saying definitely weren't familiar, and with his last statement, she gave him a small smile.

"I've never heard of the time your talking about. Or the place. I'm not actually from...this planet." She said, trying it out. She always felt crazy. "Or from this century."

There, she figured she might as well lay all the crazy out there for him.

[seatofreason]

Wilson thought he had misheard. "Excuse me?"