to find what none could sell you.

vi. (health foods + over protection)

Cleaning the store has to be up there on her list of least favorite things to do. At least she never gets assigned to clean the bathrooms, she supposes- as a cashier, she needs to stay near the registers, so whoever is her supervisor at the time gets that lovely duty. But, she's not excused from cleaning the windows and the freezer doors, vacuuming, wiping down the counters, dusting the shelves- it's all very chores at home, and she's not a huge fan. But, she does get paid for doing these ones. That's an upside.

She sidesteps to get out of the way of a customer brushing past her in the isle; he's on the phone and carrying a basket, but he offers her a polite nod and pardon as he slides past her down the grocery isle. Forever the nosy employee, Grace glances at his basket. A lot of healthy foods. She wrinkles her nose. Rice cakes? Styrofoam. He seems to be on a mission though. She leans into her task of dusting the end-caps on that side of the store, listening in on his side of the conversation.

"Right.... and you have the stuffing mix? I know. It's not my favorite thing either, but Josiah asked for it. And anything to keep him from offering to bring it himself, right?" Here he pauses to listen, chuckling at whatever response he got from that. "And I'll get the vegetables. I'm just at the drugstore right now. They have some pretty healthy snacks, I'm surprised. Buck would gag. Vin might too." He grins at the answer to that, moving down the isle, inspecting the salad dressings. "Yeah, I will. Okay. And Raine? I love you." There's another couple of beats, another couple of words exchanged, before he hangs up the phone call, shaking his head as he compares a vinaigrette to some kind of apple based dressing.

A moment later, his phone chimes, and he fishes it out of his pocket to squint at the screen. "Plates!" he whispers to himself, sliding the phone back into his pocket and rounding the corner. That next isle over has both alcohol and paper goods, as well as the first row of freezers. Accepting that she can no longer people watch instead of dust, she returns to her task, but abandons it yet again when she hears "Chris! What are you doing here?"

She gives up on all pretense of not listening in, moving over to a closer shelf where she has a clear line of sight down that isle. "Nathan," Chris acknowledges the tall, broad-shouldered, darker-skinned man who has stumbled upon him. "Just... grocery shopping." The last is sort of a wry comment, nodding to all the whiskey ahead of him with droll humor.

Nathan just shakes his head with a knowing smile. "We're gonna have champagne at the dinner in a couple of days. Why don't you just wait til then?"

Chris looks at him incredulously. "Do I look like somebody who drinks champagne?"

Nathan grins. "Didn't think so." He gestures further up the isle to a smaller wine section. "Look, if you're gonna buy something like that, get a big bottle of this. That way you can bring it to the dinner and you don't drink all of it."

Chris accepts the jug placed in his hands, but still looks at Nathan with sort of a challenge, looking for a way out. "Ezra isn't gonna like it."

Nathan rolls his eyes. "Ezra would find something to complain about if we were having Mary's birthday dinner at the royal dining hall."

Chris grins, nodding. "You're right."

Nathan slaps him on the shoulder, backing away. "Alright. You, that wine, and the rest of the gang, my house. Raine and I are expecting you to come and act respectable. And please don't bring food because we asked Josiah not to and we don't want him to feel like it's just him."

As if just for clarification, Chris hedges, "But it is just him, right?"

Nathan nods solemnly as he moves toward the cash register, and Grace skedaddles to get there first and seem unsuspicious. "It's just him."

This Nathan, she notes wisely, has a store card. Chris still refuses, though with minor hesitation.