Grocery Store Musical [Matthew]

[jo]

Grocery stores were overwhelming. Not in a scary way of course but in the way that left a person stranded in one spot for half an hour trying decide between one colorful box and a dozen others like it. This meant that shopping was always something of an expedition for Antonio-setting out in the morning or late afternoon every few weeks, armed only with a list of things to buy and making a triumphant return hours later with bags full of any number of things.

This weeks quest found him in the produce section of the little grocery store near his apartment complex. The Spanish man scowled at the particularly pitiful looking bell-pepper in his hand, debating whether or not he needed to add a new kind of plant to the garden of tomatoes fighting for space on his small patio. The idea was quickly abandoned and he rooted through the stack of vegetables until he found one that was slightly more suitable, tossing it into the cart with the rest of the groceries.

[Matthew Williams]

"Can we get this one, Matt?"

A little brunette, no older than seven, tugged on the Canadian's pants; holding the box of animal crackers in front of her face in a sort of embarrassed display.

Matthew placed the bag of barley into the shopping cart, tearing his eyes away from the shelf and items that had previously caught his eye. When he looked down, he offered the girl a small smile, bending down to eye level with her. "Will you share with the others when we get back?" he asked quietly.

Rita nodded in response, clinging a bit tighter to the box, "Promise."

The blond man could only smile in return, patting her on the head once and standing upright. He held out his hand and the girl was all too happy to give him the box decorated with various wild animals. She was a good kid, it was the least that he could do for her. Matthew mused while depositing the box inside the cart, continuing to walk forward for the next section as he went over his mental shopping list.

Soup was generally the easiest thing to make for a large group of people. Aside from pasta, that is. However, Matthew had often had more than his share of the dish thanks to a certain Italian boss. Not that he minded it, but it was nice to eat something else every once in awhile.

"
So, next we need vegetables." he droned to no one in particular. The young boy who was in the cart, however, stuck his tongue out at the revealation. Like it or not, he was going to have vegetables in his soup and Matthew began to push his cart towards that section. The boy's blond hair flashed briefly as he stood up in the cart, "I want ice-cream!

[/color]" Matthew could only frown, trying to make the boy calm down. He was being loud, which was something that the Canadian was hard pressed against in a public area.

Bringing kids to the grocery store was nothing new to Matthew. Every now and again, he thought it would be nice to get them out of the stuffy area that they were in and take them some place fun. Though, he remembered that shopping was one of his least favorite activities as a kid; somewhat thinking that this excursion may have been an idea.

"
H-hey, sit down before you fall." he instructed, although a bit more timid and soft than he would have liked.

"Make me!"

"...W-well, I guess you can stand if you want." defeated by a six year-old.[/size][/blockquote]

[jo]

The next item on his list-carrots- wasn't all that hard to find, though that was likely because the store only sold one brand. The next thing that needed to be retrieved was frosting, a forgotten addition to several dozen cup cakes made for one of the childrens birthdays.

He heard the people before he saw them, catching right of a man and a child who looked like he was being particularly difficult. By the time he was close enough to hear what was being said he'd missed most of the conversation. What he had heard, however, caused a disapproving look to quickly cross his face.

The man didn't seem old enough to be the child's parent-the other child with him for that matter either. He'd been wrong before, but it still seemed unlikely. The Spaniard eventually concluded that he had to be a nanny or baby sitter of sorts...or a kidnapper, but a kidnapper wouldn't put up with that kind of behavior. Eh, he was already questing the grocery store, why not safe a few helpless nannies while he was at it?

"Mhmmm, and that means you don't have to patch him up when he falls right?" Antonio questioned, raising an eyebrow and grinning conspiratorially at the blonde man.

"All kinds of terrible things happen to people falling out of shopping carts every year, but you did try to warn him I guess" he continued, pointedly ignoring the "him" in question.

"I should probably go inform the people at the front that they'll have some cleaning up to do soon~"

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew sighed to himself, letting the boy do as he wanted for the time being. There was nothing that he could do anyway, so he might as well just let things go as they were. He wasn't very authoritive and most certainly not one for punishing someone. He didn't have the right to punish the kid for bad behaviour anyway, it wasn't technically his kid. Then again, he never met his parents, so Matthew wouldn't have known.

He began to walk away when a voice pulled him back, turning around and sputtering a bit. "N-no, not at all! O-of course I would have to!" Matthew quickly defended, but upon examining the others face, he didn't look like he said it with any malicious sort of intent. So, he was a bit confused by the words at first.

Though, by the look of horror that grace the younger boy's face in the cart. It looked like it was being effective. Quickly the boy sat down and looked away from both of them, crossing his arms in a form of both defeat and fear.

Matthew could only blink at the sight, clearly impressed by how quickly the other listened.

"T-thank you." he offered the other male, turning to him fully and smiling a bit shyly. "I-I didn't think he'd act up if I brought him out with me." the girl by Matthew's side grabbed the side of his pants lightly, looking up at the other gentleman with a bit of interest.

[/blockquote]

[jo]

'So much for playing along then...'Antonio had to resist the urge to laugh at the young mans seeming surprise. The poor guy was probably convinced he'd just met an axe murder or something equally as terrible....though in retrospect it probably had sounded a little bad...

Thankfully it seemed to have the same affect on the little boy, who'd apparently thought better of his decision to stand and was now firmly planted in his seat. "See," The comment was directed at the little boy this time,"that's much more comfortable anyway, isn't it?~"Reasoning wasn't always more effective than intimidation in stopping repeats of bad behavior, but it never hurt to use it anyway.

The other adult in the group seemed to have gotten over his shock and Antonio was debating whether or not he was still obligated to apologize when he spoke up again.

He shook his head at the blonde males thanks, laughing it off with a shrug of his shoulders. "Not a problem~" The smile on his face grew slightly larger. "I don't think he was really trying to cause any trouble-just seeing what you'd let him get away with"

"Excuse me..."He dropped down on to one of his knees, offering a hand out to the little girl."Hi, my names Antonio, what's yours?"

[Matthew Williams]

"See, that's much more comfortable anway, isn't it?~"

The little boy in the cart stuck his tongue out at Antonio in a slight protest, turning his face now and completely avoiding both the adults within his range. Matthew muttered something along the lines of 'That's rude, apologise.' But, there seemed to be no reasoning with the boy at the moment.

A sigh escaped the blond as he was about to offer an apology to the other man, but was stopped when the other began talking. "I guess so. I-I'm sorry, though." Matthew rubbed the back of his neck, more so out of the embarrassment. He must have seemed like an awful caretaker by this point. Unable to even control a single kid.

When Antonio kneeld down, Rita took a cautious and small step behind Matthew, still holding on to the man's pant leg as a saftey device. But, when Antonio offered a hand and his name, the girl stepped out a little more, offering a hand in return. "I'm Rita." came the shy answer. Matthew could only smile just slightly, watching her.

Why couldn't all the kids be this well behaved?

[/blockquote]