Shopping Stress [Halimeda]

Berwald had noticed a lack of food in his kitchen. And a lack of food called for a trip to the supermarket. Berwald liked to minimise the number of visits to the supermarket, because it seemed like every time he went, he ended up buying twice as much as he had originally intended. But here he was, wondering through the isles of Lidl to find everything on his list and carefully stacking it in his trolley. He was trying to go as quickly as possible, and rushed down the isles. This was most likely the reason why he lost control of his trolley, and had to grab it before it hit somebody. That movement made it swing around and crash into a shelf of tins- thank god none of them were glass, and only a few toppled off the shelf. He turned to the person he'd nearly crashed into, worriedly. "'M sorry!"

Berwald nodded, feeling oddly shaky. He nearly rammed a lady! That was something he shouldn't do, and should prevent at all costs! "Hn. If y' sure." He bent down to pick up all of the fallen tins, stacking them two-by-two on their shelves, hoping that they weren't too disorganised. One of the last ones he picked up had a large dent in it, and he guiltily put it in his shopping cart, never mind that it was a tin of cherries, and Berwald wasn't fond of cherries. He turned back to the lady and gave a short bow. "'M sorry," He repeated, before adjusting his glasses and squinting at her. "Do I know y'?" She looked vaguelly familiar, like somebody he passed on the street every day at the same time. Or something.

Berwald shook her hand, trying to work out how firmly he should hold it (It was just so small in comparison to his!) in the microseconds it took to bring his hand up to hers, and he was pretty sure he ended up squeezing it too tightly, so he whipped it away quickly after one hard shake. "'S a pleas're, Ms Cosm'tos," He replied politely before thinking. He'd heard that name before, he was sure. Or had he read it somewhere? He paused, looked her up and down again, before a light-bulb went off in his head. "Oh!" Now he knew, now he knew! "D'y' live in Gr'cefield house? B'cause 'm sure th't I saw y'r name on th' lett'r box, on th' ground floor." Yes, it was on the third row up, he'd seen it when he dropped his letters one day and had to bend down to pick them up. "Y' live on th' third floor, am I right?"

Berwald was pleased with himself, for correctly remembering her name and letter box. He, of course, completely missed any implications of being a stalker. Hali's question made him pause, though. Of course he'd forgotten his name, how had he managed that? He could kick himself for his lack of manners! "Hn? M' name! Ox'nstierna." No, no, this was not a formal intoduction, heshpuld have given his first name! "Er- B'rwald, th't is. B'rwald Ox'nstierna." Then he made a vague hand gesture. "I live at th' top o' th' buildin'." Now that introductions were over, Berwald awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Ah- 'M nearly done shopp'ng." And indeed he was. He just needed a new bottle of milk or two and then he could go pay. Thank goodness.  

Berwald hesitated. He would have liked to spend more time with his new... Friend-like-thing? But she seemed happy to say goodbye, so he nodded and shuffled on his way. He found everything he was looking for and headed towards the check-out. He shuffled, glancing around to see if he would cross Halimeda at any point. He took his time putting the items in his trolley onto the conveyer-belt-thing, and took his time putting the items in their bags. He then took out his wallet and took his time counting out all of the necessary money. Once he'd paid and collected his reciept and bags, he took one last look around the check-out, just in case. Perhaps other people knew better than him how to carry on a conversation, and he wished he could have improvised.

Berwald had just picked up his bags of shopping and turned to leave, when Halimeda was suddenly there, talking to him. Berwald, despite all his glances around, hadn't noticed her anywhere, yet she (Seemingly) popped out from nowhere in front of him, a smile on her face, and asking if they could walk home together. Berwald managed to compose himself quickly. "'Course!" He nodded. Looks like he hadn't messed up, that was an invitation to be friends, or something, right? Berwald took it gratefully. "Y c'n carry y'r bags just fine, y's?" He hoped she wouldn't take that the wrong way. By no means did he think she was weak. If anything, it implied that he thought she was strong and could handle herself. He mentally crossed his fingers and started to walk along side her, slowly.

Halimeda's reply made him sigh internally in relief. She wasn't upset, that was a good thing. And then she was teasing him! Berwald... Berwald wasn't often teased. It put a smile on his face, if a small, barely noticable one. it was there. "These? Th're like feath'rs t' me." Slight exaggeration, but it was true that they weren't all that heavy. Shopping for one person didn't require too much food. Hali's smile made Berwald's stretch a little further. "Th' cherries?" Oh yes, he'd forgotten about those! "The... Hn." He bought the cherries, and that was as far as he'd gotten in his plan. "I... Don't know. Pie?" He didn't eat pie that much either. Not fruit pies, at any rate.

Berwald didn't like to brag, but yes, he was a bit of a "Muscle man". He nodded, flexing his arm muscles, obviously proud of them. "I s'ppose so." Did this mean they were friends now? They should exchange phone numbers when they got back. Berwald was already reciting his in his head so that he would be able to give it to her correctly when the time came. Or did they not need each others' numbers because they could just visit them directly? Hali stopped his thoughts with what she said next. Yummy? "N't really. I d'n't oft'n make pie... Don't know how t' do it." Then he paused and looked at her questioningly. "C'n you make pie?" Or better yet, "Do y' like pie? P'rhaps I should make it f'r other people."

Berwald’s mouth twitched in thought as he thought it over in his head. He got Halimeda to make pie, he gave pie out to other residents, he got to make more friends. Or maybe, he would give it all to her, and they could sit down for some coffee and a chat like friends would do. Then he glanced at her and nodded (to what exactly, he wasn’t sure. Perhaps everything they’d been talking about). “Food would be good. Pie. Will y’ make pie?” If they were going to make pie, they might need to return to the supermarket, because Berwald doubted that he’d have the ingredients for the pie crust. “Pie at my place. Wh't goes in pie, other th'n cherries?”

(( Either they do a full turn and go back to the supermarket, or this thread needs to be continued somewhere else ))

He talked like a caveman at times. And his accent was horribly thick - it was awkward to listen to. But his voice itself was deep and rich, making her actually want to stick around him for a while. She would just have to help him with the caveman thing because really, a grown man shouldn't be talking like that - it was decidedly unattractive. And she was sure Berwald would eventually want a partner of some kind. Pushing that out of her mind for now, Halimeda gave him a smile and a nod. "I can make a pie. I have the ingredients in my apartment, don't worry. I'll make a copy of my recipe and teach you how to make a pie from scratch." That was bound to be entertaining. One could say that Halimeda was a bit cruel, finding amusement in watching other people fail at a given task. She would call it human nature. Hali patted his arm lightly and beamed.

(( Make a new thread then, in Berwald's apartment. ))

(( Here! :D ))