#also shapesmith is walking nikki hime because i do not trust that boy behind the wheel

[spellbook-gayboy]

prompt 24? :^)

24.

The cart squeaked along the aisle, Ky shivering from the cooled store air as they pushed it, a sharp contrast to the simmering summer air outside. The telekinetic's eyes scanned the shelves, searching for a certain item hidden among hundreds identical to it. Eventually they found it, a small bottle of paprika almost at the very back. Reaching for it proved to be its own endeavour, their short arm easily swallowed by the dark gap. Luckily for them, they were joined by someone much better suited to reaching over long distances.

"Okay, so I found the water you asked me to get, but I also found this cool bubbling water next to it. What do you think?" Shapesmith opened, running up in the weird combination of crocs and suspenders only they could pull off, hands holding large bottles of both still and sparkling water. "Uh, you good there, Ky?"

"Just... tryna... no, can't do it!" Ky relented, withdrawing their arm before turning and looking at the water their partner had brought. "The water... both are fine, Rus. Could you get that bottle, please?" they asked, tilting their head in the direction of the stuck spices. Shapesmith seemed to understand, dropping the water into the cart before approaching the almost empty shelf, rolling up his sleeves. Taking a quick look around to make sure they were alone, he slipped his arm into the gap, stretching and stretching until their fingers bumped into the small jar. After a moment or two of blindly fumbling for the paprika, Rus retrieved the spice bottle, dropping it on top of the water bottles with a dull thud.

Ky checked the shopping list sitting on top of some other groceries. "Okay, I think that's everything!"

---

If actually getting all of the groceries was tedious, then putting all of it away was easily ten times worse. The two of them managed to enjoy it however, Ky humming a show tune from their childhood as they busied themself with placing the cereal in the cupboard. They grabbed the last box, the Froot Loops that Nikki loved so much, and went to put it with the others. Maybe they extended themself just a little too far, or stood at a slightly awkward angle, but the result was the same: a sudden stab of pain rocketing up their back, the box falling to the floor as they doubled over from the fresh sting of an old wound.

Shapesmith, who had been busy trying to refill their cookie jar, noticed his partner hunched over, and had already manoeuvred over the kitchen aisle to their side before they had managed to fall down, a careful hand supporting Ky's back. "Are you alright?" he asked, hesitating for a moment before following up with "Is it the scar again?"

Ky nodded through the pain. Much of the damage that Robot managed to inflict all those years ago was thankfully superficial, easily treated and stitched back up by the surgeons, but some of the wounds a little deeper. Some days could go by without so much as a single ache, but others would be nothing but spiking pain, like hot needles stuck into their joints. "It's fine, Rus. I'm already better, actually!" they waved away, standing back up slowly. True, the worst of the pain had already died down, but it would be at least a few hours before the smaller aches and pains went away. Luckily for them, the telekinetic had a partner who was more than happy to pick up after them.

“Go on, sit! I can do the rest, Ky.” the Martian urged, almost having to push his partner down onto the sofa cushions, before going back to finish off the unpacking. “Y’know, I can still picture you going ham against those drones sometimes. I’ve never seen anyone be that brave!” he continued, picking up the dropped Froot Loops. 

Ky chuckled. “You would’ve done the same thing, Rus!”

“Yeah. I guess I would. Hmm?”. Ky heard a ringing from nearby, before their partner called over “I gotta pick Nikki up from school. Meanwhile, you, my bestest friend...”, a mug of water being placed in front of them, “are going to stay right where you are, okay? Love you!”, and he disappeared with the closing of the apartment door. 

“Love you too.” Ky did as he asked, leaning back into the sofa with a quiet groan. Their gaze settled on the wood planks of their ceiling, and they began to reflect, like they always did at a time like this. They reflected on the past: every event and choice that had woven the path that had led to where they were now. They reflected on their pain: from the horrendous torture they had suffered at the hands of their ‘colleagues’ to the deep wounds they had gotten for saving their love. But most of all, they reflected on love: the alien that had fallen for them just as hard as they had, the family they had somehow managed to build comprised of people just as different and broken as them, and the life they had ended up living, mundane but peaceful. It had been a struggle to reach this point, but it was a struggle they’d redo a thousand times over, if for nothing more than the promise of many more boring shopping runs.