Work Text:
“And… I think that’s everything we need to get? That’s listed, anyways.” Declan says, waving the rather thick notepad around in the air. Parker hums, squinting at the messy scrawl of a grocery list. It’s one windy afternoon, a salty scent carried on the breeze in Chesapeake Bay. Yusef hugs a small stack of flattened bags against its chest, Tiera lingering beside them.
Declan clicks his tongue and gestures her free hand down the streets. “It’s just a bit of a walk. The store isn’t too far out from the Crabitat.” Crowds of people stroll around, pigeons and seagulls gathering on the rooftops of buildings. After another block or two of silence, Tiera slows down to walk at Parker’s side.
“I haven’t seen you in a while,” Tiera whispers, their forearm crutches clicking against the sidewalk each step. Parker pauses his fidgeting with the dangly ear flap of his beanie. “You stopped roaming?”
Parker blinks. “All of it was erased. Or nullified, I guess.” Tiera nods, glancing at Yusef and Declan, who are conversing about what they’ll have for dinner. A crow yells overhead, gliding downwards to peck at spilled fries on the ground.
“Baltimore is way different from what I remember.”
“Used to be blue?”
Tiera snorts. “Yes, that. But also not just that.” Tiera sighs heavily.
“Tell me about it.” Parker says, Tiera letting out a small dry laugh. Yusef looks over its shoulder, metal joints creaking quietly.
“Do you two think onions with peanut butter taste good? Be honest,” Yusef asks, getting interjected by Declan swiftly.
“I don’t think they’re THAT good, c’mon now!” Declan tries to explain, lightly elbowing Yusef in the side. “I said that I’d eat it again if I HAD to.” Parker grimaces in disgust. Tiera shakes their head.
“How ‘bout you eat a blooming onion instead? With barbecue sauce, obviously.” Tiera suggests. “Would save you from putting yourself through unneeded torment.”
“Wait, I think we just passed by the store,” Parker exclaims, looking back down the street.
“See? This is why you don’t dip onions in peanut butter.” Tiera jokes, turning around as Yusef gently jabs Declan back.
“I don’t dip them.” Declan says, glancing at flyers posted up on the store’s windows.
“You don’t? Are you just spreading peanut butter on it and taking a bite like it’s toast?” Parker questions with a tilt of his head, confused.
“Well… wouldn’t you?”
“Ick. That’s even worse than I thought.” Yusef groans lightheartedly, doors automatically sliding open. Parker pulls a cart out of the neat rows of them, wheeling it over to Declan and Yusef, who rest the bags and notepad down in the baby seat.
“Why did you even do that? For a dare?” Tiera asks, the group striding towards the long aisles of food.
“I believe that forgetting this would vastly improve our morale,” Yusef comments, eyeing the labels of canned fruits and vegetables. “Merely for our sake.”
“Don’t we need eggs? We ran out, what, two days ago?” Parker points out, pointing towards the refrigerated goods up ahead.
“Yeah, we do.” Declan says, picking a can of peaches off the shelf. After about half an hour of wandering and chattering about whether they should get this specific brand or that variety pack, they make their way to the front.
“Hold on,” Tiera says, glancing around warily. “Don’t we pay for this?”
“Uh, about that… we kinda just… destroyed capitalism. Completely voided the concept of money in its entirety.” Declan answers, stopping the cart to bag the items.
“Oh, huh. Cool.” Yusef assists with bagging, carefully sliding the full bags down their arms. Declan passes a bag over to Parker, carrying the last few that Yusef couldn’t hold. “What about the cart?”
“Taking that back to the Crabitat is a disaster guaranteed to happen.” Yusef comments, “We had to take Ramirez to a clinic ‘cause he dislocated her elbow that one time.”
“Oh, ouch! Nevermind then.” The four exit, sidestepping over past flyers for events that were at least a month or two old by now. A fluffy mass of clouds dotted the sky, flocks of birds squawking on powerlines. Groups of crabs scuttled by every now and then on their way to the water. By the time they arrive, the sky has slowly shifted to an orange-yellow gradient.
Declan raises her hand and knocks on the door, grumbling silently about forgetting the keys again.
“Hello? Oh, hello!” Reese opens the door and holds it wide for them to get through. “Need a hand with those?” There’s loud shouting coming from the rec room, and thwacks of what must be a pingpong ball hitting the table.
“Yes, please.” Yusef replies, with Reese nodding and taking multiple bags off and away to the kitchen. Declan follows in their tracks, cupboard doors being opened and drawers being tugged out. Parker turns to Tiera, makes a quick motion of, “be right back” and goes to drop his grocery bag off.
Parker strides out of the kitchen, Tiera waving at him from a couch in the longue. Juke and Charlatan are seated in front of the TV, fussing with the tangled cables of a console they’re attempting to plug in. Parker sits down on the couch, resting his cane against its side.
“What games do we have?” Tiera leans forward on the cushion, Juke groaning in annoyance as she wrestled with a particularly tight knot in the wire. Charlatan shrugs and gestures to a banged up cardboard box on the carpet.
“Don’t know. We just found this in one of the old custodial closets. You can have a look, though.” Tiera stands up swiftly, lifts the box up by the only not missing handle, and plops back down on the couch unceremoniously. Instantly, they’re rifling through the cartridges.
“Oh, sweet!” Tiera exclaims, fishing out a game that caught their eye. “Parker, hold this for a sec.” They toss it over and he flails forward, surprisingly managing to catch it before it clatters to the floor. Parker hums, reading the worn-out colorful title.
“Finally!” Juke cheers as Charlatan boots up the console. The fans whirr to life, mechanical buzzing filling the lounge.