Hyde and Seek

Chapter Twenty

"Melina!" You call up the stairs, hanging onto the banister loosely as you lean to the side, "I'm going into town, do you want anything?"

"We are out of tea bags," She eventually responds, and you perk up because you thought maybe she wouldn't answer at all for a moment there, but you hesitate, thinking she isn't finished – and since you've known her for a bit now, you'd be right, "Also salt...and chocolate candies you're so fond of."

"I'm the one who's 'fond' of them?" You scoff, your tone teasing, "You ate a party sized bag in one sitting when we watched The Truman Show last week!"

She peeks around the corner so you can see her face as she leans towards the staircase entryway, "I like that Jim Carrey, but he's..." She pauses to think of the word, "Like fish."

You freeze, not having expected that, but then, with a Flo Frown™ you nod a few times, not being able to argue with her logic on that one.

"He does kind of flounder around a bit." You agree with a shit eating grin, raising your eyebrows a couple of times, and she narrows her eyes before sighing.

"Is that fish joke? Really?" She deadpans back exasperatedly.

"Sorry, sorry," You're trying to hide your smile as you shake your head, looking up at her again as seriously as you can, "Cod you use anything else at the store?"

Her face falls to a displeased and very done with you expression, but you know she loves you – well, you're...you're pretty sure.

"Pancake ingredients. Syrup. Pasta and cheese sauce."

You furrow your eyebrows with a confused frown and then your voice goes high, "Lena stopping by today?"

"Tomorrow," She disappears from your sight, so you figure that's a dismissal and you turn to leave before she shouts, "It's getting late, be quick, no lingering!"

You make a salute towards the steps without even glancing over, grabbing her keys and your wallet before leaving.

Not an hour later, you're browsing the chocolate candies section of the shelf, wondering if you should rock her world in a way you hadn't thought of yet and bring back an extra bag of a different flavor. There's like twelve options, when did they start getting freaky with all these flavors. You grab the peanut butter one because it's a classic and you don't want to shock the woman into a heart attack, just open her horizons to something new. Heh.

You then linger – dammit, she's good – by the chips for a little while, wondering if you guys could use a few bags – always, honestly, so you grab your favorites and hers. But you've already loaded up on the frozen foods you like after getting her requests, so you should really wrap this trip up. You turn the corner to the aisle that leads closer to the registers, and you freeze before backing up behind the end so they can't see you.

It's two of the guys from the market and you know you're being paranoid – perks of living with probably thee most paranoid assassin when it comes to identity, she literally made you set your electronics on fire and gave you new ones when you moved in – but something does feel off here. You just can't place your finger on why you would react this way immediately.

You chance a peek, resisting the temptation to active your dormant powers when you don't need them to hear better, and barely make out a few scattered words.

"...upstate they have...leave her...dead end."

So, it's not the most informative tidbits to the naked ear, but you think anyone would agree it's sus – and there's no telling what else they're saying in between. They could be burying a body. Or trying to get Eras tour tickets. (Philly show changed me.) Point is, you're definitely going down the other aisle to self-checkout because it's empty and you want to get the hell out of here. Also because men suck and you haven't eaten in over fifteen minutes. The peckishness be real.