Grocery Shopping

Slumped over the cart and dressed in purple striped sweatpants with his girlfriend's hero name running down one leg and a plain black t-shirt, Aizawa got many odd stares as they strolled through the store. Elly wasn't in disguise, for once, and people could instantly tell who she was. The fact that the bedraggled, unkempt man with her was wearing fan merchandise made for some interesting encounters.

"That's horrible. Look at that stalker following her around."

"Excuse me, Cheshire?" One clerk shoved himself between her and the bleary-eyed Aizawa. "Do you need any assistance?"

"No, thanks. My boyfriend's helping me." She pointed and his eyes widened.

"Uh... oh, excuse me. Just let me know if you need anything?"

"Uh huh." She dropped a can in the cart and mischievously kissed Aizawa's cheek.

"Hnf."

"I'm sorry, baby." She sighed. "I just really didn't want to wear my tail sleeve today."

He shrugged. "Doesn't bother me." He paused, then flashed her one of his creepy grins. "My pants probably aren't helping."

"Aw." Her ears drooped. "But they're so cute! I never thought you'd buy them." She checked her list. "Ummm. Oh yeah. Cereal."

They had a minor disagreement about what type to buy, which ended up in two smaller bags of different flavors. Elly tossed hers in the cart and gestured to the shelf for him to choose.

"How can you eat that crap?" He picked up a bag of some bland bran flakes. "It's got marshmallows in it, for god's sake."

"Yep. I like it."

"Ugh."

"To be honest, I like the plainer stuff we usually get, too. I just want these sometimes."

Several aisles later they had another encounter, although this time the people didn't interrupt them, they just started talking loudly.

"You think he's a relative?"

"Well he certainly isn't her boyfriend. I mean, he looks so, so... I dunno."

"Scruffy?"

"Shabby. Like, his clothes are okay - tacky, but okay, but he could at least shave. And his eyes..!"

That was the last straw.

Elly <i>loved</i> his eyes. She loved his stubble, even, but his eyes were the thing she had first noticed about him and had been attracted to. Her striped tail lashed behind her and her own eyes flashed angrily.

He passed a hand over his face, shaking his head. He knew that look. "Ah, shit."

"That's it," she hissed under her breath. Out loud, she raised her voice to several levels above normal. "Hey, sweetie - what type of <i>condoms</i> do you want?"

He snorted laughter behind one hand.

"Look, the ones <i>we used last time</i> are here. Those were good, right?"

He wiped an amused, sleepy tear from one bloodshot eye.

"Yeah, those are good." She grabbed a box and wandered over to him, curling her tail around his waist.

"Please, Ches, you're killing me here."

"Sorry. I got carried away," she murmured.

They turned to see a small crowd of stunned employees and customers frozen in place. One woman had her hands over the ears of her son, and another had their phone facing out towards them.

Aizawa's grin resurfaced. "Your agent is gonna love this."

She sniffed and hugged him again. "You're in these, too, mister."

"No one cares about me. You're the hot new hero."

"I hate to break it to you but after this, we're liable to be the hot new <i>couple</i>."