Work Text:
“There’s no way we can sneak out like that and not get caught!” Martin had his back towards his childhood...acquaintance? It didn’t matter, just the suggestion of sneaking out with so much going on seemed off the table to him.
Across the room, Clover had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall. It was hard being stranded on the moon and even harder when you have oh so good luck to ever be graced by exciting events. He was bored out of his damn mind so when Martin whined about missing ramen, how couldn’t he suggest going to the moon store: a store on the moon.
“C’mon, Mart’, it’ll be a quick run.”
“Look even if Carl doesn’t get us-which he will- West and Lee will be pissed.” Clover noticed how Martin’s grip on his gun tightened at that last part.
Clover shook his head simply.
“Eh, they’re old and sleeping, they wouldn’t notice-besides,” Clover closed in and swung an arm over his childhood friend’s shoulder. Maybe ‘friend’ was too generous. “You’ll be fine with luck by your side.”
Martin groaned and began to walk away.
“I’m serious! With your average luck, and my oh so impressively imposing good luck, and a bit of bait, it’ll be a flawless run and you’ll have your ramen!”
“Oh shut u- wait, bait?”
“Yeah you didn’t think I’d have a back up plan in case you were worried about being caught?” Clover actually doubted they would be seen let alone caught. Because. Why would they?
Martin studied him. “What’s the bait.”
“No, who’s the bait.”
“You guys want me to come to the moon store with you?” Bensons eyes practically gleamed through his helmet.
“Yup, just to pick up a couple of things, it’ll be a quick in and out,” Clover explained pretending to be uninterested in the situation. “Buuuut if you want to stay here alone and do whatever it is you were doing go right ahead.”
“No-no, it’s just, why now? Shouldn’t we ask West first?”
“What West doesn't know won’t kill him.”
“And we don’t answer to West, we actually only follow orders from Lee.” Martin added.
“Well...what about Carl? He’s still out there!” The intern pointed out.
“Ben’, you saw me hit a target five times a row yesterday, you’d be amazing at what my luck-“
Martin rolled his eyes in his helmet.
“-can do.”
Technically, that had nothing to do to help with the situation, but Benson didn't notice. Eventually, the three of them made their way to the moon store, which unlike most stores, didn’t have atuomatic sliding doors when they walked in. Fluorescent lights bounced off their visors as an lifeless store was before them. Of course no one else was here besides the robotic cashiers that greeted them. Out of instinct, Clover grabbed a cart as they searched for the Asian cuisine aisle. The task proved to be difficult for Martin and Benson who made multiple stops to pick up foods and trinkets that weren't sodium filled foam cups.
“Martin...what are you doing?”
His partner huffed, carefully placing a large boxed rice cooker into the cart. “Just grabbing some essentials while we’re here. Why?”
“Nope. No. No no, put that thing back,” Clover reached for the box, but Martin was too quick, placing his arms and upper body on top of it.
“What? Why?”
“Because the last time you tried to use one of those things you took down a whole ship,” Clover said, attempting to pull the box from underneath the red soldier.
Martin persisted, “Hey, that was in the past- and besides,” he leaned closer. “I have luck on my side now.”
God damnit.
Before Clover could retaliate, boxes of strawberry pop tarts were dropped into the cart.
He let out a sigh. “...What’s this?”
“Okay, I know these are the default but they’re so good,” Benson said. “They’re also one of the top items bought during disasters so I thought- hey that’s pretty fitting!”
“Bu- guys we’re only here for ramen- Martin's ramen, we haven’t even found the right aisle and our cart’s already filled,” Clover said.
The two were quiet for a moment, perhaps even guilty that-
“...Not it for getting a second cart?” Martin hesitantly proposed.
“No, that’s not what- also not it-“
“Not it-aw, ” Benson muttered in defeat.
“-I meant, let’s just find what we came here for.” Clover finished.
The three of them continued their mission at hand, Clover ignoring any pleas and attempts to add anything else to the cart.
“Hey Clover, are you getting anything?” Benson asked.
“What? No.”
“C’mon it’s a moon store, they have everything here.”
“Yeah! It’ll even be on Benson,” Martin added.
“Yeah...! Wait-what?”
Clover didn’t know whether to be touched or annoyed, but then before he can really think of anything he utters, “Aw fuck, get down!”
In unison the three of them get down behind one of the freezers in the store’s spacious hallway.
“What?” Martin asked.
“It’s Carl, he’s here.”
“What? At twelve in the morning?”
“Well, we’re here buying ramen at twelve in the morning also,” Benson pointed out.
“Yeah, but we know why we’re here, why’s he here at a moon market? At twelve AM?” Martin said.
Clover observes the Titan, almost as tall as an aisle column. Was he trying to buy guns? War weapons? Oh wait, Clover realizes what the cyborg was holding in his hands. “He’s buying... dish detergent...”
“...do cyborgs actually need that?”
“Maybe he’s part dishwasher,” Benson suggested.
“Clover what are you thinking?” Martin asked his blue companion who was studying Carl. “We should probably leave right? Kinda awkward seeing people you know at the Moon Market.”
Before Clover could reply, Benson whispered, “Guys look!”
Eyes panned over towards his pointed index finger to a shelf across the room containing a single ramen cup. All three of them looked in silence.
“It’s weird...staring at it within reach like this,” Martin said. “You know when you lose something, something special, people usually don’t know where it is…”
...What? Clover raised an eyebrow.
“But we do know where it is, it’s right there…”
The cup was five aisles away from Carl. If Clover were to hunter dodge to behind the next flat top freezer, he could easily make a left to grab the cup and make a run for it.
“Okay, new plan,” Clover said. “You guys head towards the entrance, and I’ll have that ramen cup in 5 minutes. Probably less than that to be honest.”
“But Carl-!” Benson was cut off.
“Is busy buying detergent, now’s the perfect time.”
“No, a perfect time would be when he isn’t here. Look, Clover, I kinda agree with Benson here, that guy’s part cyborg for crying out loud-” Martin said, but Clover had already begun sneaking to the next freezer.
He does this because he knows he can, because he has to. In fact, he’s already making his way towards the aisle. He crept back to his full height to reach for the cup. Without the sounds of the other two, he finally realizes how quiet and blank this store really was. He could even hear his own two set of heavy breaths.
Clover instinctively ducks and rolls, before he hears a slam of metal against metal. Carl had struck against the shelves where Clover’s head would’ve been a second ago. The blue soldier attempts to get back up, but is yanked back by the end of his cape. Carl pulls him up and across the aisle so hard that Clover’s in the air for a second and lands a few feet away on his back. For a moment it was hard to breath. Get up. Clover needed to get up right no-
A foot landed on his chest pinning him down.
“Oh hey Carl, didn’t see you there,” Clover wheezed out. “Me and the guys are actually in a hurry, they’re actually having a really great deal in the produce section-”
Carl pressed harder into his chest plates which were about to give out.
“Hey Carl!”
Clover was able to recognize Martin’s voice at the end of the aisle.
Carl withdrew for a second, focusing his attention to the red soldier, but a second was all the needed.
It happened fast. The aisle of columns start falling on queue, Clover barely escaping from it, and Carl succumbing underneath it.
A cart filled with items from earlier, rushed in beside Clover. He looked up to see Benson pushing it, his breaths heaving.
“You look like shit,” Clover said unprepared to hear his own voice, also sounding like shit from the pain he sustained earlier.
“The shelves were heavier than they looked, ”Benson managed to mumble.
“We gotta go right now, that rice cooker has two minutes left on it.” Martin said as he caught up to the two.
They heard a noise coming from behind.
Behind them, Carl was trying to lift the columns on top of him.
“Here-“
Before Clover realized what was happening he was already being picked up by Martin and placed into the cart.
Together the three of them raced out of there, still running as they left. An explosion came from behind them they made use of a moon crater as a ramp to get distance from it.
Eventually they slow down enough to catch their breaths. Benson was leaning on the cart clearly exhausted and Clover was still sitting on the abundance of food that they’ll definitely stash away later. Martin, however, had his hands on his hips.
“Before you say anything ,” Clover said. “Your welcome.”
The blue soldier perfectly tossed a foam up towards his red counterpart behind him. He didn’t need to see Martin's face to know that it said “eh whatever” but in actuality was relieved to have at least one of life's little pleasure back into the mix. Who was he kidding, it’s definitely two, everyone loves Clover, Clover had thought to himself.
By the time they finally make it back to the base and sneak in it was about 1:30am. Clover settled back to recover and Martin began to eat his ramen through a silly straw into his helmet. They tell Benson to return the cart.
“W-what?”
“It’s literally human decency, just put the cart back where it belongs,” Martin said.
“Yeah, don’t be an asshole,” Clover added.