A small, frustrated frown persisted on Remi’s lips as he made his way through the aisles of the grocery store. Nate watched him from the back of the store, a curious tilt to his head as he did so. He’d given Remi a bit of money and a small list of things to get before “leaving" — or at least, he told the boy he left. It was on a whim, really, he was just curious to see how Remi interacted with others when he thought Nate wasn’t around.
He found that Remi was just as sweet as expected. He worked around others, always keeping his distance and pardoning himself when he thought he was being in the way. However, it was the actual shopping that seemed to be giving Remi trouble. He’d glance at the list, then to the item on the shelf, then to his basket again and again before putting something in. And a few times he went back around the store to revisit shelves of
After half an hour, Nate approached him with a worried look. “You haven’t finished yet?" he asked, making Remi cringe. He turned around, embarrassment clear on his face. “I’m sorry, I am, I’ll finish really quick." Nate shook his head and went to take the basket from Remi’s hand, glancing down at everything in it. “It’s fine, just… what was taking you so long?"
The boy looked down to his feet, his hands coming together in his old habit of tearing at the delicate skin around his fingernails. As a reflex, Nate reached out to swat at his wrist gently. Thankfully no one was around to see it. “I’m sorry, I probably should have told you before you left. I just usually take a pencil with me when I shop." Nate’s confused look told Remi to go on. “So that I can write down how much everything costs. I can’t keep track of it in my head, and I get really nervous that I won’t have enough money. So I kept double checking, to make sure…"
There were a lot of little quirks like that Remi was embarrassed about — how long it took him to read analog clocks, how he couldn’t estimate distance, and always had to remind himself that “I write with my right hand" when he was following directions. And at this rate, Nate would know a lot of them. The boy offered a shy glance upwards, expecting to see that “V disappoint in you Kitten" look on Nate’s face. Instead he saw a look of adoration. Apparently his little defect was cute to the professor. “You did fine, this is enough, let’s go," Nate said without room to question, turning and taking off at a quick pace to the checkout line. Eager to get home.