For Caleb

[takecourage]

Now that Darlington is in town (not in a pocket universe where she can't get to him, essentially lost to her), Alex finds herself more invested in making her apartment feel like home. She's never had this kind of disposable income and, after buying herself t-shirts and sweaters and underwear and jeans, a really good pair of boots and a good jacket, she turns her attention to nesting. Ground Zero had been a shithole, but this was her place, and she was going to do it right.

She hadn't wanted to subject Darlington to shopping, so she'd sent Caleb a text and arranged to meet him so that they could go browse together. Alex is dressed in a sweater that's too big for her (she hadn't been able to resist it in the store; it had been so soft), her leather jacket, the voluminous scarf that Darlington bought her for Christmas, soft navy wool studded with tiny silver stars.

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[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"Pillow?" he offers, hesitating by the display so he can put it back if she doesn't want it. Then he joins her again.

Up ahead, he sees a giant bin of round cushions. From here, they look velvety, and each one is probably the size of his torso. He takes a few jogging strides closer and pulls one out.

It's impossibly soft, and heavier than he'd thought, like there are little weighted packs underneath the thick fluff, but he can't feel anything no matter how he squeezes. And he squeezes it a lot.

"Oh my god, get these," he decides, tossing one at her. It's floppy and soft and amazing, and he grabs another one in a different color to hug on it. "I'm getting one. Two," he corrects when he sees they're only six dollars apiece.

[takecourage]

Alex is honestly grateful for the distraction and, when she picks up a cushion in navy blue, she hugs it against her chest. "Shit, these are amazing," she says. "I'm getting two of them too."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"We're gonna need a shopping cart," he decides. The pillows are soft and easily compress, but if he's going to carry four of them, then he's not going to be much help with anything else.

[takecourage]

"I'll hold the fort," she says, holding out her arms for the pillows with a little smile. "You go find one."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

He nods and starts out at a jog towards the front of the store, but halfway there he finds an empty cart abandoned in the middle of the main aisle. He grabs it and wheels it back over, leaning over the grip bar and bracing one foot against the bottom of the basket, sort of riding it down the aisle. It makes him look young, hair blowing back in the little breeze he's making. He parks the cart beside her and hops off it with a playful little flourish.

[takecourage]

Laughing a little, rolling her eyes, she drops the pillows into the cart and then adds the small stack of other things she's already picked up.

"I need... More towels," she says. "There's a lot of showering at my place."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"Are you particularly filthy?" he asks with a little laugh. It's a weird thing to say, he thinks, unless there's a specific reason, but he guides the guard towards the towels. This place isn't exactly like the stores he's used to — even the name of it is just wrong — but it's similar enough that he can find his way around.

[takecourage]

"I get a lot of glitter on me at work," she says, huffing out a laugh. "And Darlignton is staying over a lot, so..." She shrugs. "He runs. There's sweat. It's gross."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"I get it," he assures. "My mom used to flip out of I didn't shower after football practice. I finally had to tell her why I couldn't shower in the locker rooms, and that was awkward."

[takecourage]

"I bet it was," she says, lifting one eyebrow as she picks up a bale of acid green towels. "I never had that problem. I always cut gym when I was still bothering to go to school."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"I love gym class," he says, which, that probably isn't a surprise to anyone that's met him. He's picked back up going to the gym, too, which has been good.

He grabs another towel, just a single one, to round out the towels he has back at the apartment. The cart is still pretty empty, despite the pillows and towels, but Caleb has a feeling it's not going to stay that way for long.

[takecourage]

"I was always way more interested in other things," she says. And there had been the grays who are drawn to sweat and effort and all of the things that sport brings out. She shakes her head. "I need some good mugs. The ones that came with my apartment are really shitty and basic."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"Mugs, got it," he says, instead of focusing on the half-truth she says. He doesn't grab any for himself, because he doesn't usually drink coffee. But that leads them towards the plates and cutlery, and other household essentials that he'd never considered needing before.

[takecourage]

Alex picks up a mug glazed in shades of green and weighs it in her hand.

"So I met a guy at work," she says, glancing up at him. "We're dancing together. It's...sort of really fun."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"There are dude strippers?" he asks, even though he should probably already know the answer to that. It makes a blush spread on his face to even think about it.

[takecourage]

"There are dude strippers," says Alex, and it's so cute she can't help but grin. She pulls her phone out of the pocket of her jeans and flips to a selfie of her and Kavinsky smeared in glitter and flashing peace-signs at the camera. Screwing around while they were waiting for their turn on the stage. "Kavinsky."