( @terrys-left-boot )
there’s always something calming about grocery shopping of all things. sure, one might argue that it was a woman’s job, but as it is, marcus was awfully lonely and single-- so there really wasn’t a woman to do it for him. not that he would want to let them do it in the first place-- because, to reiterate, it brought him a sense of calm. well-- as much calm as deciding over different types of soap could bring.
he’s heavily considering buying the rose petal scented ones, because girls dig this load tripe, don’t they? with a careless shrug, he tosses the soap into his basket, before briskly making his way to the food aisle. it isn’t until he’s debating the merits of beef stew for dinner when he notices someone staring at him. marcus places the beef package in his basket anyway, before gearing himself up to face the unwanted stranger.
he’s a little taken aback to see that it was a small human. a kid-- child? yeah. a child. of course it has to be something he’s not used to dealing with. he watches the child stare at him a little longer, and marcus just wants to back away and forget she ever existed. but what if she was lost? “hey kiddo,” he says, nervously, as he does nothing to move closer to the little girl.
“hey, haha, uh,” he wipes his palm on his jeans, trying to think of anything to say. “it’s rude to stare at strangers, yeah?” he sees her expression change to a moue of discontent, and he panics. marcus does not want this child to cry. “hey-- you have a dad? mom? parent? guardian? please-- are you, uh, lost? honestly, i don’t know what to do, please stop staring at me.”