Shopping Cart Consort - Closed Tag

[Riley Adams]

Riley was finding himself buying more and more groceries these days and he liked to attribute that to the fact that he was cooking for more people. At least that was what he wanted to think. He of course was getting a little too worried about his relationship status with Stephen Gage. Riley didn't like to worry. Especially not with a relationship. Why was it so easy with Michael?

Pushing his cart down the cereal aisle, he distractedly grabbed two boxes of something Janice would definitely disapprove and chastise him for being a hypocrite but the man was a bit more concerned about other things than his sister calling him a cereal hypocrite.

As he moved down to the kitchen supply aisle, Riley did a double take when he saw a small goat beside a man, trying her best to chew through a pack of toilet rolls. "Um, sir...your goat is eating the plastic." Riley gently patted the man's shoulder to call attention to his pet.

Riley didn't even know they were allowed to bring pets in grocery stores.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff had been happily walking around the grocery store to get himself aquainted to the products. What an earth were these horrid bright yellow cheese slices all about? Why did they have 17 brands of bread? What was this weird looking pastry called? All such mysteries were doomed to be googled later on, after the larder was well stocked. Gladys was riding in the cart. Yes. A goat was in the cart.

He'd just finished deliberating what toilet roll to buy, and was headed to the cereal aisle himself, for childhood cereals with smiley faces and silly characters on the box, when he felt the tap of a hand on his shoulder. "Huh what?" Griff said suddenly, looking all round till his eyes fell on his beloved goat, who was, indeed, nibbling at the plastic, and had now gotten some of the paper in her mouth.

"Oh. Oh Gladys, that's not dinner." He sighed, pushing the plastic bag from her and popping the second loo roll into the cart. "Thank you." He added cheerily, wheeling round to smile benignly at the kind stranger. Oh! The stranger wasn't so strange after all.

"Riley, isn't it?" He said brightly, smile creasing his eyes.

[Riley Adams]

Gladys the goat stopped eating the toilet roll as its owner pulled it out of her mouth. As her owner turned around, a smile lifted the corners of Riley's mouth to find that he actually knew the goat's owner. They had bumped into each other the other day but didn't get a chance to speak too much. He definitely didn't know Dr. Jones actually had a goat.

"Dr. Jones! Yes, Riley." He extended his hand for a shake, his smile widening. "I didn't know you had a pet. Does she bite? Do goats bite?" Riley looked at Gladys who was sniffing at Riley's jean jacket. He patted the top of her head and smiled. "She's adorable.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

"Please, call me Griff." Griff laughed, looking down at Gladys fondly and shaking his head. The little goat bleated cheerfully at the pet and wagged her tiny goaty tail. "She definitely doesn't bite, unless you're paper, or clothes." He admitted, shaking Riley's hand and then looking a little embarrassed.

"I don't suppose you have much of an idea of what's good to stock cupboards with here?" He asked, looking around. "This is my first proper shop since I moved and I'm slightly disturbed by the bright yellow cheese slices." He glanced round, then glared at Gladys' moves towards Riley's jacket. "No you don't, little one." Griff scolded, tapping the goat on her backside.

[Riley Adams]

"Griff it is." Riley nodded with a smile, laughing a little at Gladys' response to his petting. "Oh no, I've got too much clothes on." Riley laughed, pulling his jacket out of Gladys' mouth and moving away a little so she won't attempt it again. Not that he minded but he hardly thought jean jacket was good dietary fibre.

"Oh, you don't want cheese slices. The deli is over on the other side of here." Riley steered his cart around and moved towards the deli. "What exactly do you like to eat? This place usually stocks up with what I always make but you might be different. Not everyone likes meat." Riley pointed out as they arrived at the deli where the more flavorful cheeses were.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff considered what he wanted, then offered a shrug. "I'm not the best cook, but I like some good mature cheese, some nice crusty bread, good meat for steaks." He thought out loud. "I guess now summer's here, some nice fresh fruits and veggies, some meats for sandwiches." At that point, Griff looked incredibly proud. "I make excellent sandwiches."

Moving over to the deli and politely asking for testers of some of the cheeses, he nibbled at a few thoughtfully. "Mmm. You're right, this is lovely." He sampled a few more before deciding on half a kilo of two different ones. "I generally eat a lot of pasta. Pasta and bread. And potatoes. Creamy mash..." The man went a little glazed of eye, only to snap out of it when he noticed Gladys going for the cheese. "No! Little Madam!"

[Riley Adams]

He nodded at Griff's requests. He figured everything Griff wanted was all here. Or at least the ones Riley thought were pretty good anyway. He seemed like an easy shopper, Griff was.

Riley smiled happily to see that Griff looked pleased with his recommendation. "So the meat section is just there. Fresh produce is just opposite there and dried stuff is in aisle five which is just two aisles down from here." Riley pointed every here and there to indicate where Griff could go.

"Oh dear. I think Gladys is hungry." Riley laughed smoothed his hand over the goat's head.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

"This is great, you're a real godsend, Riley." Griff said cheerfully, moving along with Riley, and keeping an eye on Gladys. "Gladys is ALWAYS hungry." He said simply, shaking his head at his pet fondly.

Moving to look at the meat, he lifted up a tray of sliced turkey and smiled. This was much easier now he had a guide. "Thank you." He added suddenly, turning to look at Riley with a lopsided grin. "If you're ever near where I am, you should drop in for a cuppa and a sandwich." Griff added, moving his hand to ruffle Gladys' chest. "Actually, that's a point."

He raised his finger to tap his lip. "I think you said you were a gardener last time we met, yes?" He inquired. "I have a garden that has seen better days."

[Riley Adams]

Riley's smile widened, a slight tinge of red colouring his cheeks at Griff's choice of words. He hardly thought he deserved that kind of praise and then remembered that not everything someone said should be taken too seriously anyway. Griff was probably just trying to be polite.

He continued listening as Griff spoke and chuckled. "Yeah, gardener." After twenty odd years of working as a landscape artist but being mistaken for a gardener, Riley had taken to not correcting people anymore. Wasn't that important anyway. He was a glorified gardener anyhow.

"Ah, I could come over to your place...see what can be done and give you the estimate? This weekend maybe?"

He pushed the cart over to the fresh produce and picked out a few good vegetables and fruits and helped with Griff's. He gave Gladys a little pet once more. Who could resist really?

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff nodded to himself. "That'd be really good. Just like... a peek. It's got some nice trees in it, but really... it's not special at all." He wrinkled his nose, then popped a few more things in the cart, careful to make sure Gladys wasn't too cramped.

Looking at the fruit and veg, Griff couldn't help but grin at Riley's help. "Like Gladys, hm?" He asked cheerily, checking out an Apple, only to have the goat snatch and eat it. "... She's a pest but she's a good little girl really." The man cooed, leaning over to make a kissy face at Gladys.

"So, how long have you been in Pilot Ridge, Riley? I'm just a complete newbie, I got lost on my way to the park the other day." He let out a chuckle of embarrassment.

[Riley Adams]

"I'm also going to want your input in what you want it to look like too. I mean if you want. I could bring a company portfolio, see if you like something in there maybe?" Riley offered.

Blinking up in surprise, Riley looked like he was caught doing something bad. "Uh..." he chuckled nervously, his hand immediately going to the back of his neck, rubbing it lightly out of habit. "She's cute." He commented, laughing when Gladys grabbed the apple in her mouth.

"Oh, I've been here awhile. Went to Hammel and...my family's here so." Riley didn't mention everything about his past and he thought he ought not to. Nobody actually knew about his past. Not even Cobalt and Josh. And he called them his close friends.

"I got lost too when I first got here." Riley laughed, remembering when he was just a little lost twelve year old boy. "What brought you here? Where were you from originally?"

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff paused, rubbing his beard to think about what he'd like his garden to look like. "Well, the plants'll have to be non poisonous since Gladys eats everything." He glanced down at the goat and shook his head. "I'd like lots of lawn, maybe a water feature? Some nice flowers." He shrugged his shoulders, not really knowing exactly what he wanted.

Gladys seemed to be enjoying Riley's attention and lightly butting the man for more. "She's a little madam. I love her." Griff's eyes lit up and he stroked the goat's head, then tickled under her chin.

"I'm Welsh." Griff explained, smiling. "I went to Kocher, then medical school. I then went back to Kocher to be the on call doctor." He paused, skipping the detail of his mother's illness. "I went back home for a few years, then because of my meta human experience, I applied to be a doctor here." He shrugged gently, chuckling.

"I'm still not used to being paid by people instead of the government." He admitted humbly.

[Riley Adams]

"That can definitely be arranged. Usually customers want flowers that don't need tending too much so I'm going to have to get you some plants and maybe come by a few times to help you take care of it. Until you get the swing of it yourself." Riley nodded, continuing to listen to what Griff wanted.

"Okay, I'll definitely have to see your garden to see what kind of water feature we can fix you up with." He smiled, nodding at Griff in reassurance. Another customer in less than a month. He needed to advertise more. If things kept at this pace, he can actually keep Danny on full-time and hire a few more people and expand his business. More work for him, less emo-ing at home.

As Griff explained his background, Riley listened, picking the things he needed as they went along. The fact that he was meta had Riley interested. He briefly wondered if the man had the same ability as he did. Riley smiled once more and didn't even realise Gladys was chewing happily on his sleeve. "Gladys!" he let out a laugh. "I suppose I should just give this jacket to her." Riley said, coaxing the goat to let it go. He took the jacket off and hung it over his shopping cart.

"Have you met anyone here yet? Made any friends?"

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

"That's really wonderful, thank you Riley." Griff said brightly, popping a few types of lettuce in the trolley, with a few other veggies and a punnet of strawberries. Gladys instantly took interest in the lettuce, but thankfully Riley's jacket was a good enough distraction for her to bleat eagerly at the healer.

Thinking to himself, he cheerily wheeled over to the cereals and picked up several childish ones. He knew he should be on bran flakes and things like that, but it was so much more cheerful to have a colourful delicious breakfast. As if reading Riley's mind, Griff looked over. "If you'd like I could ask reception to put an advert of your services up on the main board?"

Eventually, Griff got round to the frozen goods, and had to stop himself grabbing as much icecream as possible. "I do apologise for Gladys, she thinks everything is edible." The little goat was back to staring lustily at the lettuce. "I assume if you went to Hammel, you have a power? What do you have, if you don't mind me asking?" His voice was cheerful as he scooped Gladys out of the cart to trot alongside - keeping the lettuce safe.

"I've met a few people. One doesn't seem to like me much though." He said woefully.

[Riley Adams]

"My pleasure. Happy to have customers, really." Riley offered a smile, glad Griff was not a stuffy client. Then again, Riley had learned to have a keen sense of judgment. It had taken a lot of practice and guidance from so many people but he had gotten there fast enough that he could judge a client within the first meeting.

He was surprised when Griff suddenly offered to advertise his services. Wait...so was that his power? Not wanting to make a fool of himself, he shook his head with a polite smile. "No but thank you...I was...just thinking that though." He gave a small chuckle. They shouldn't be discussing powers here anyway. Maybe later.

"You don't have to!" Riley smiled widely. "I should think it's in a goat's nature to eat everything. I'd be surprised if she didn't nibble on everything in sight."

So much for discussing powers later, Riley thought in amusement. "I don't mind at all. I was just thinking about asking you the same thing." He grabbed two packets of lean chicken meat, already thinking of what to cook for Janice tonight. "I'm a healer." He replied, wondering if he should also include his other power but decided against it. It wasn't so important anyway. "And yourself? Something to do with the mind I bet?" He asked.

Riley frowned sympathetically when Griff mentioned someone disliked him. "Oh no, how come?"