02/12/2012

'Shaun, since you ate my yogurts, you've been volunteered for the food-run tonight.'

Shaun dropped the book he was reading. 'What?' he exclaimed. 'So cleaning duty for a week isn't punishment enough? No, Lucy can't get enough of my pain, it seems!' Lucy stuck her tongue out at him. He looked to Rebecca for support, she merely rolled her eyes. 'Sadist,' he added under his breath.

At that moment, Desmond arrived back from his evening jog. 'Desmond can go with you,' Lucy gestured towards him.

'Where am I going?' he asked.

'Food-run,' the girls replied simultaneously.

'With Shaun?'

Shaun shot him a dirty look. 'Thank you, Desmond,' he said sarcastically. 'I'll have you know that it's not exactly an ideal situation for me either.'

'They never have the right pasta!' Shaun growled, shoving the pack of Fettuccine back onto the shelf. Desmond held up a pack of Penne, 'What about this?'

Shaun glared at him. 'Penne? No.'

'What's wrong with Penne?'

'It's boring, Desmond! That's what's wrong with it!'

'It's just pasta.'

Shaun sighed dramatically. 'I prefer my pasta to be interesting; unique. Like Conchiglie or Fiori!'

Desmond shook his head slowly. 'Only you would care so much about the shape of your pasta, Shaun.'

'Well excuse me, Desmond! I'll take my leave, then. I know when I'm not wanted.'

'Drama Queen,' Desmond muttered.

'I heard that!'

When Shaun was out of sight, he added two packs of Penne to the basket.

Desmond found Shaun in the cold isle, examining the yogurt. He selected two tubs of strawberry yogurt and placed them beside the Penne. 'What flavour is that?' Shaun asked, narrowing his eyes.

'Strawberry.'

He made a disgusted face. 'I hate strawberry.'

'I know,' Desmond said, picking up a six-pack of mixed berry tubs. 'But you don't have to eat it.'

'I know, I know! But I still hate it.' He handed Desmond a tub of passionfruit yogurt and walked off towards the bread isle. Desmond hesitated, then raced after him.

There was a large variety of bread to choose from, but Desmond simply chose two loaves and began to move on. Shaun grabbed his hood and pulled him back. 'You're not seriously going to buy that, are you?'

Desmond looked down at the plain white bread, then up at Shaun. 'Yes I am.'

'You're so dull when it comes to food! Have you no taste?'

All he received in reply was a raised eyebrow. Shaun continued, 'I mean, really. You can't even pick some good-quality bread!' He pointed to a twisted loaf, topped with exotic herbs, spices and a generous amount of cheese. 'Now that's the kind of bread we need!'

Desmond peered at the price tag. 'It's too expensive.'

'So? It's good bread! And a lot more interesting than... that,' he said, gesturing to the bread Desmond had chosen.

'It's not practical.'

'Who cares about practicality?'

'I do!'

'I'm getting that bread, you can have your boring white loaves!'

'It's just bread, why does it matter if it's interesting or not?' Desmond yelled.

'It just does!' Shaun shouted back, shoving Desmond hard. He stumbled backwards into a woman, who in turn fell into a whole stack of canned foods. The tower came tumbling down, the cans spread across the floor, causing passersby to trip and drop their food. The store security grabbed Desmond and Shaun by their shirts and marched them outside. They were thrown onto the street none too gently and told not to return. There was a moment of silence, Desmond broke it by remarking, 'This is all your fault, you know.'

It was two disgruntled and bad tempered men that returned to the Sanctuary that night, both refusing to say a word to one another. Lucy took in their grumpy posture and expressions and shared an amused glance with Rebecca. Shaun crossed his arms and sat down at his desk, deliberately putting his back towards Desmond. Rebecca smirked and asked, 'So, where's the food?'