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The other day, Saffron had sat down to figure out what all she wanted to make and bring to Mike and Neil's Thanksgiving-slash-housewarming party and realized she was going to have to get a hell of a lot of groceries. That's fine with her, as is the fact that she's probably making far more than she needs to between the various dishes and desserts she's got planned, but the problem with having to buy so many groceries is that she has to rely on public transportation and only has the two arms.

She supposes she could get a cart of some kind, maybe, but what she'd rather have is a pair of strong arms to help. Saffron remembers a conversation she'd had recently with Church, about getting the hang of grocery shopping, so she recruits him to give her a hand. He's definitely got the requisite strong arms, and if she can help him figure out how to navigate the store, even better.

He's coming down from his apartment to get her on their way out, and Saffron slips on her boots before checking her overall appearance in the mirror, giving her hair one last fluff.

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A pretty woman asks me for help and I say yes without thinking about it. I can't help it, she's pretty and she makes me feel things I haven't felt in a long time. Or, you know, since I shut down Tex. Let her go. Whatever. I like it and I hate it because... well, other mes have a history of handling this kind of thing very badly and I'm trying to change that.

But Jesus, I can't get that Halloween costume out of my head. I'm getting as bad as Tucker.

I'm bundled up for the weather, coat, gloves, hat, boots, armor of a different kind, I guess. I still don't know exactly what we're shopping for. I get that it's food for Thanksgiving, but she said something about kids and all I know about Thanksgiving and kids is that they get banished to the kid's table so I'm a little hazy on the details. I knock on the door and wait for her to answer.

Saffron's slipping into her coat when there's a knock on the door, and she goes to answer it, smiling before she even gets it open. "Hi, honey," she says, her smile getting even brighter when she sees him, and she steps aside to let him in. "Come on in. I just need to get my gloves and my purse."

I get that she probably calls everyone "honey," but it still makes me feel weird. I'm not used to women who are so sweet and kind and... not hating me with every fiber of their being. I mean, there's still time, she doesn't really know me all that well yet, but I'm hopeful. Maybe I can manage not to completely fuck this up.

Maybe.

"So, you do this Thanksgiving thing every year? I mean, cooking for a bunch of people. Not that I'm complaining, but it's just such a nice gesture."

"Well, I cook for folks pretty much all the time," Saffron replies as she pulls on her gloves. "It's just something I really enjoy doing. Thanksgiving in particular, well. We didn't have Thanksgiving where I'm from, so I only just learned about it a few years ago. To me it's just a nice opportunity to get together with friends and loved ones. And to cook more."

"I can't say I'm against any excuse you have for cooking. And if you ever want to throw any of that cooking my way, I won't say no. I think I'm on a first-name basis with the all the take-out joints in the area." They don't teach cooking in the military. They don't teach much more than new and improves ways to kill the other guys. Makes sense, but it hasn't exactly prepared me for normal living.

Is it possible to miss MRE's? I didn't think so, but apparently you can. It's fucking insane, but it happens.

"Oh, I was planning to cook for you whether you wanted me to or not, but now I definitely am." Saffron slings her purse over her shoulder and leads Church back out the door, closing and locking it behind them. "You are eating far too much takeout."

"I was in the military, they don't exactly teach culinary excellence. Pretty much the opposite. And I haven't really needed to eat for awhile so... I'm kind of starting at ground zero here." Reaching back I scratch at my head. It's probably nothing she needs to worry about, and it just make me sound crazy. Crazier. I mean, my sanity's been kind of debatable for awhile, I guess.

"Do you, I dunno, teach cooking at all. I mean, I hate to have you doing all the work."

She takes his arm with a casual ease as they head to the elevator. "Sure. If you want to learn, I can absolutely teach you," Saffron replies. "The basics, at least. And then, depending on how well you pick it up, we can go from there."

I manage not to stumble, she's very friendly and forward and I... yeah, sooner or later, I'm going to do something stupid. But I'm enjoying this until I do because I don't really have anything else. No army, no Reds, no Blues, no Freelancers. I've never not had a purpose or orders. For now, I guess I'll take hers.

"We should get a fire extinguisher while we're out."

"A fire extinguisher?" Saffron pushes the button to call the elevator before looking up at Church with a good-natured roll of her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm sure you won't burn the building down. I'll be there helping you, won't I? I think we can avoid any major disasters."

"You say that like you know me, but I promise, it's a lot more possible than you think it is. I mean, if Caboose were here it'd be a sure thing." If Caboose were here, man, I don't even want to think about trying to explain this place to him. Getting him clear on nap-time and pants-time was hard enough. Cross-dimensional and cross-temporal pocket dimensions? Never happen.

"This Caboose sounds even more hopeless than you are," Saffron says, grinning at Church to show she's teasing him. The elevator spits them out on the ground floor and they head outside. "They were a friend of yours, back home?"

"You truly have no idea how much of an understatement that is. Caboose, well, Caboose is special. Very, very special." And yet, he's the one that put me back together when I was literally just a ball of memory. Didn't know who I was, or who I'd been, I was just this... blank slate. And Caboose... wrote on me? Wait, that can't be right.

"He was part of my team, my unit. He's... well, I guess you could say he's my best friend. Kind of."

"I wish I could meet him," replies Saffron. "Not that I'd want him stuck here with the rest of us, but - you know what I mean. If I had the chance to meet him, I'd like that." She's interested in meeting the kind of person Church calls a best friend.

"I think he might actually do well here. There's fewer people for him to accidentally shoot." Or blow up. I know Washington would agree, so would everyone else. Hell, just having Caboose unarmed for awhile would be a joy. But she's right, I wouldn't want anyone else trapped here with me.

"Oh dear," Saffron exclaims softly with a mock look of shock, though she's smiling. "He sounds like a handful. You said he was in your - unit? Were you in the military?" She hasn't heard much yet about his life back home, and she's curious to find out.

"Yeah, I was. I mean, most recently I was, and now I'm here and I'm not." And fuck if I know what to do with myself. I mean, it's not like I had anyone giving me orders in the canyon. Wait, technically I wasn't in the canyon, just the one I made up in the storage unit with Tex. Whatever. I've gone without before, but I still had the rest of my team.

No where's that all gone?

"Know anyone who needs an out of work soldier?"

"I don't suppose you'd want a job selling sex toys," she says with a teasing waggle of her eyebrows, though she really is thinking about something she might know of, a place he could find work. "Have you tried one of the clubs? Maybe someone could use you as a bouncer." She knows she would have hired him in a hot second in that capacity at her club on the island.

"I, um, uh..." Sex toys? Do I look like Tucker? Hell, no, but the bouncer thing. "Got any suggestions on who needs a bouncer?"

Saffron grins. "I'm just teasing you, honey. We're not actively hiring right now, anyway. As for bouncers, though..."

She thinks for a moment. "You could try Prohibition," she suggests. "That's a good club. Or Semele's. A friend of mine owns that one."

"What's the friend's name, maybe I'll stop by." It was an option anyway. bouncing couldn't be that hard, I mean, I've already spent years, decades, months? Whatever. I'm used to dealing with idiots. And I've spent my fair share time fighting.

I mean, this has to be a cakewalk, right?

"Rob Fellows," she replies, giving him the name Robin uses for his business. "You can tell him I sent you. I think he's got at least one opening for a bouncer."

"Done and done." That was... easy. Too easy? I guess I'll find out. But let's be honest, nothing's ever been easy about anything. For all I know, this guy's bar comes with a sentient robot bartender or something.

"If he's half as charmed by you as I am, I'll be a shoe-in." Hey, that didn't sound half-bad.

Saffron laughs softly, almost demurely, her gaze dropping for a moment. "I don't know how charmed he is by me," she replies. Maybe a little, she guesses; she thinks he considers her a fairly good friend, as she does him. "But that's sweet of you to say."

"That's me, always trying to say... you know. Nice things." The fact that I managed to say that without choking makes me kinda proud. Talking to Helen, it's a hell of a lot easier than most things I've done. I actually feel like an almost normal guy right now.

Which usually means shit's gonna go haywire any minute, right?

They've reached the store, and Saffron steers Church inside, going over to grab a cart. "Here we are," she says, whipping out her list, which is fairly long. "Do you have a list, honey, or are you playing it by ear?"

"I was supposed to bring a list?" I knew it. I feel like I'm having that nightmare where I show up at roll call naked and Doughnut's giving a quiz. Just... awkward.

"Should I be taking notes or something?"

Smiling fondly, Saffron brings the cart over to Church and places his hands on the handle in a completely unnecessary move that certainly has nothing to do with wanting an excuse to touch him again. "You didn't have to bring one, no," she assures him. "I just like to have one so I remember what all I need to get. You push the cart for me and we'll see what you need as we go."

"I don't really know anything about this. I've been living on military rations for..." Well, let's think about this. I mean, technically it was Alpha in a robot body in the canyon so he didn't exactly... eat. I was in storage until Washington and Caboose pulled me out. So, have I ever really eaten? Or do I have to go all the way back to being the Director to start remembering food. "Anyway, it's been all microwaving things since I've been here. I probably need... pots? Pans? Maybe we should just stick to your stuff."

"Wow, you really are starting at square one," Saffron says, grinning as she shakes her head. "They'll have a few things cookware-wise here at the supermarket, but you'll get better prices for that sort of thing over at the mall. We can go there next if you'd like."

"I'm supposed to be helping you, not making this harder. I can do my stuff later, like after the holiday." I feel like a heel, I mean, she's got all this stuff she's doing for other people and here I am making it harder for her.

"Don't be silly," Saffron says, leading him over to the produce department, where she starts picking out a few things, both items from her list and items she thinks Church should have on hand in his refrigerator. "You're not making anything harder. It's no trouble at all."

"You're an angel. Like, flying in and saving my ass kind of angel. You ever need someone shot or beat up, I'm your guy." Those kind of things I can do. Shooting, fighting, impossible odds, certain death, that's been my thing for so long I don't think I have any other things anymore.

Jesus, my life sucks.

The thing is, Saffron can do both of those things herself too. Her ability to kick ass and take names is very well honed. But she just smiles, not about to point that out to Church right now and deflate his ego. "I will definitely keep that in mind," she says, dropping a couple more produce bags into the cart before leading him over to the next aisle.

Edited 2014-02-17 04:08 (UTC)

"So aside from cooking, what do people do here? I mean, civilians." I can guess, but it's been so long since I've been a civilian in any form that I'm not really sure I know how to do it. I did it once, I can remember, but not remember and it's weird. My entire head is like that, my memories, not my memories but my memories.

"Most folks have some kind of job, of course. Aside from that, depends on what you're interested in," Saffron says, browsing the shelves as she talks and occasionally adding something to the cart. "There are bars and clubs, coffee shops, the mall, other places to shop. There's Petros Park and the beach. Or what little bit of countryside we can reach before we're somehow rerouted back into the city. I hear tell there's an abandoned amusement park out there, but I haven't been."

"So like normal stuff. I can do normal stuff." Of course I can. Just because all I really know is the military doesn't mean I can be normal. Ish. I almost miss Tucker and Caboose because if anyone could handle doing nothing it's them. Fuck, Griff excels at that shit. Is that my new goal, figure out what would Griff would do?

That just sounds... wrong on so many levels.

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