Thunder echoed through the grocery store vibrating against the stacks of tin cans and catching the attention of customers throughout the aisles. It was an overall negative reaction. Torrential downpour had arrived early. The weatherman had promised early morning showers, not late afternoon ones.

A woman dropped a tomato onto the pile from where she had plucked it. It took its old spot briefly, hesitating as if it was considering whether out not it wanted to stay there, before it began to roll. As it sped down the stack of tomatoes, others joined it on its rampage downwards. Together they sped towards the white, tiled floor, where some hit the ground with a solid splatter, while others rolled onward. Our tomato, the one we’ve been watching, landed with a good clunk, bruising its entire left side and making a whole more angular, but it managed half a rotation before falling still.

She stared contemplatively down at the mess before briskly snatching up another undamaged tomato from the pile, setting it down in her basket of groceries, and turning sharply on a heel before walking off.

Seath, who was over by the oranges, raised his eyebrows at the display. Inconsiderate bitch. And no, he wasn’t being judgmental just because his mood had severely dropped. Oh no, he wasn’t upset at all at the prospect of being stuck in a forsaken grocery store. Next time he would chose safety and starvation over a quick run over to the store for supplies. Fucking weatherman. If he ever met a weatherman on the street…well, it would not be pretty. Most of his near-experiences with death had been due to those unpredictable bastards.

Even the oranges themselves were the recipients of a disgruntled look. How long did he have until the store closed? Probably only a couple of hours at most…and then they’d boot him out into the streets, raincoat or not. He’d always wanted to sacrifice his life for some oranges (among other things). And thus Seath stood by the fruits, pondering on how he could spend the night in the grocery store. Surely the workers wouldn’t think to check the frozen food aisle while closing up, no one wants a last minute chill.

Altan had found it vaguely amusing that the apples and oranges were next to each other. If she had ever vocalized this anyone within earshot would probably have just looked at her oddly. (Well.. more oddly than they already were looking at her due to her currently bright purple hair and various facial piercings.) Any attempts of trying to explain about how it was similar to that saying of comparing apples and oranges would most likely be met with a few more odd stares and poor little Altan would be left to shut up and slink away feeling like an idiot. That was not something that she wanted; Altan already felt bad enough that she was dressed in a tights under fishnets, a knee-lengthed skirt, and a worn out t-shirt.. Defiantly not clothing for the weather.

So instead of saying anything she let the right corner of her mouth flicker up into something that could pass for a smile before she began looking for food that wasn't bruised. Altan wasn't quite sure if it was the sound of a few people gasping or the splatter of the tomato that made her lift her head just in time to see the offending patron walking briskly off. She turned her head to the left and to the right to see if anyone else was going to say anything. Her eyes caught that of another person who had managed to notice the signs of the weather.

"I wouldn't be too worried." She began conversationally to the disgruntled looking man next to her as she picked up an apple that looked fairly decent.

"Grocery stores take into account stuff like that. Usually it's careless employees that end up doing it..." She shrugged.

Strangers chatting it up with strangers in the grocery store. Seath turned his gaze towards the woman, bothering a little to as least not give her the same glare the oranges had suffered under. Up with those eyebrows again as he made the assumption that she probably was the sort of person who would want to randomly strike up a conversation with someone she did not know. You couldn’t honestly call her prim or proper with that attire. The vibrant hair automatically lowered her age by quite a few years according to Seath’s perception.

“Hn, the tomatoes probably deserved it anyway. Lousy fruit.” At least, he was pretty positive that tomatoes were fruits. They did have seeds in them, despite how vegetable-like they appeared. Oh well, he didn’t care enough about them or for them to bother looking up the nitty-gritty details. If someone thought less of him for using the wrong term, well, who cared about them? Tomatoes all deserved to be pounded into ketchup. Yes, that’s how Seath liked his tomatoes. Squeezed out on a hamburger (truthfully, it was more like slathered).

He picked up an orange and absently dug his index fingernail into it. Would it really be awful if he decided to peel and eat the thing before purchasing it? It wasn’t like he’d scatter the mess everywhere or not pay when he left the store.

"I know" She began. "Talk about your identity crisis with those damn things." She raised her un-pierced eyebrow at him and attempted, quite unsuccessfully, to bite back a grin.

"I mean.. They just can not decide what to do with themselves..." She paused to brush some of her fallen bangs out of her playful green eyes and then went back to looking for some more food.

"Did you know the Supreme Court of the United States had an actual case on it? Nix vs. Hedden... I think it was right about the turn of the twentieth century and had something to do with tariffs, but come on.. The government paid people to argue over whether or not a food was a fruit or a vegetable." She didn't even bother to try to retain that giggle or smile that followed immediately after the outburst. It then occurred to her how awkward a fact that was to know and decided to elaborate a bit.

"I'm studying law. I actually read stuff like that for fun." She rolled her eyes and offered her free hand to the man. There was no harm in being polite to people.

"I'm Altan by the way."

Perhaps he could buy large cardboard boxes by the dozens and a couple rolls duct tape. Through their powers combined he could make a temporary, movable shelter and then he could safely head outside into the storm until he found another place to take refuge. Or maybe the cardboard would immediately become soggy in the rain and lightning could easily electrocute both him and the makeshift shelter. Seath was just a tad preoccupied.

It did not automatically click with him that the young woman was actually still speaking with him. She seemed to be continuing on the topic of tomatoes apparently. It seemed the other people cared about the whole whether it was a fruit or vegetable issue. Well, if the United State’s government wanted to waste their time debating that topic, great for them. He’d be happy with his carrots and bananas. Nice, simple foods that they were.

“Uh, …Seath, I guess.” He considered the extended hand briefly before switching the orange to his other hand and taking Altan’s hand. What could being friendly hurt?