??? ???: ? ??????? ????????? | ????? ? ??????

---------------------

Date: 11th August, 2021

Warnings: None

Word count: 6,719

---------------------

(Y/n) moved the shopping cart foreword, leaning herself against the bar that pushed it as she trailed along the aisles, eyeing the assortment of different birthday decorations that there was seen to be. The trolley was almost already halfway full, being stacked with a variation of colourful decoration and celebration equipment, all shown to be in different shades of green, as well as a few black and white confetti. Alyssa, Callahan and (Y/n) were all trailing around the store, having their own carts to carry each of their own assigned groceries.

(Y/n) trailed steadily behind the two, her eyes glazing over the shelves as she thought about what she could possibly take. Callahan was a few feet ahead, lingering by the cake decorations and Alyssa was the furthest ahead, chatting into her phone to speak to somebody on the other line.

Grabbing a several tins of white and green frosting, Callahan stood on his tiptoes to swipe some ingredients from the top shelf before dropping them into his basket, which wielded several baking ingredients. He looked between the basket and the shelf, trying to decide which ingredients he should take.

"Go with the fondant." Alyssa held the phone away from her ear and pressed the screen onto her chest to call over to Callahan when she saw that he was struggling with his decision making.

Callahan reached for the fondant but was ceased to move by (Y/n)'s nonchalant words.

"His favourite kind of frosting is actually buttercream." (Y/n) uttered simply, gently setting down a box of invitation cards at the bottom of the shopping cart.

Callahan eagerly whipped his body back around to look at (Y/n), arching his brow in a confused fashion. (Y/n) had to draw her attention away from the trolley to stare at Callahan trying to catch every expression that he was making.

"...Uh..." She attempted translating his silence in her head. "He told me." She finally said, grasping her hands against the bar of the shopping cart, hoping that she had interpreted him correctly.

"How does that even come up in conversation?" Alyssa turned to her with a blank look.

(Y/n) shrugged. "Our conversations are kind of just random."

"And what kind of frosting is his favourite happened to come up?"

"After so many games of twenty questions, you tend to run out of things to ask." She let out a deep sigh.

Alyssa let out a scoff, paired with a short smile. She watched Callahan as he practically climbed the shelf to reach the buttercream frosting before knocking it into his basket, along with the rest of the ingredients. He proudly looked over at Alyssa, smiling behind the thick scarf he had warn beneath his onesie to cover his mouth so that the only clear facial features you were able to catch were his kind eyes.

"Did you get piping bags as well?" Alyssa asked, the phone still pressed against her chest.

Just as she did, his head swiftly turned down into the basket, his hands plunging in to roam around the things he had taken from the store's shelf. His palms laid against a box that had an assortment of different piping equipment in it. He nodded quickly, holding a thumbs-up.