Lost in the Supermarket
Notes: I was listening to The Clash and somehow ended up writing whatever this is lol.
Yevgeny Milkovich was lost.
The previous night, his mother, Svetlana, dropped him off at his dad's apartment for the weekend. His dad said they were running low on food, so they would pay a visit to the grocery store in the morning.
When Yev first began learning how to walk, he didn't like being put in the seat of a shopping cart anymore. He was notorious for climbing out of it as soon as one of his parents turned away, even if it was only for a matter of seconds. And it's not like he really had the thought to run away, he just wanted to climb out of the seat to prove that he could.
Now, Yev was four, and climbing out of shopping carts wasn't a skill, it was an art.
Mickey was preoccupied with talking, or rather arguing, with the lady of the bakery department. Something about how he knew they couldn't be out of that mocha cake he and Yev like so much because they always baked several cakes at the end of the month, which is when Mickey was sure to head to the store.
As it turned out, the baker who made the mocha cake was sick. But when Mickey was informed of this and turned back to the shopping cart, Yev was already zig-zagging through the store. Yevgeny just remembered his dad forgot to get their favorite cereal, and he wanted to now prove he could find the cereal and get back to Mickey all on his own. Thing is, the store looked a lot different to Yev from the ground as opposed to being pushed around in the cart.
Yev tried remembering where the cereal aisle was, but somehow he ended up in the frozen foods section. Last he checked, cereal wasn't kept in the freezer. He was looking around the aisle anxiously, thinking he should never have left his dad, when a tall man with bright red hair approached him.
"Hey, are you lost?" the man asked.
"No!" Yev denied, earning him a smile from the tall stranger. "I was just looking for some Cheerios."
"Ah, ok then." the man replied simply. He turned from Yev, seemingly about to leave the boy alone again. When the man walked past him, though, Yev caught sight of a box with a familiar cartoon bee in the man's small cart.
"Hey! Where did you get those?" Yev blurted.
"What? These?" Ian asked, feigning ignorance and pointing to the cereal box.
Yev nodded emphatically.
The man shrugged. "Oh, you know, just the cereal aisle."
Yevgeny frowned. Who was this guy? His parents had always told him not to talk to strangers, and he couldn't help but feel like he was being tricked into asking more questions. He crossed his arms defiantly and raised his eyebrow suspiciously.
The man laughed with amusement. "My name is Ian. How about we get you your cereal and then track down your parents, huh?"
"I came here with my dad."
"Ok, so we'll look for your dad."
Yev mulled it over for a moment. Ian did seem concerned for him for some reason. And if it came down to it, Yev could always kick him in the shin and run for help, like his dad taught him to, if anyone tried to kidnap him or something.
"Yevgeny."
"Hm?"
"My name is Yevgeny. Or Yev."
"Interesting. Russian?" Ian speculated.
"Yup, my mom named me," Yev answered. "Can we go get my cereal now?"
Ian grinned. "Sure, Yev." Ian took Yev to the cereal aisle just like he promised, and handed the toddler a family sized box of Honey Nut Cheerios. "You know, Cheerios are my favorite too."
"My dad likes Cap'N Crunch."
Ian took a box of Cap'N Crunch from the shelf. Yev tried to reach out for Ian to hand him the second box but the box of Cheerios was almost as big as Yev was. Ian chuckled at the sight.
"How about we just leave the boxes in my cart until we find your dad?" Ian suggested.
"Ok," Yev said, handing him the Cheerios.
"What's you dad's name?"
"Mickey."
As if summoned, Mickey came barreling down the cereal aisle and scooped his son up into his arms.
Ian nearly did a double take. Yev had an incredibly hot dad. Mickey wasn't wearing anything special, just jeans and a t-shirt. What caught Ian's attention, though, was Mickey's face. Particularly his perfect pink lips and piercing blue eyes. He then noticed Mickey's knuckle tattoos and couldn't help but smirk at that. God, how he hoped Mickey was anything but straight, and that he'd agree to go out on a date with Ian.
"Daddy!" Yevgeny exclaimed.
"Yev, where the hell were you?" Mickey asked, placing his son back on the ground.
"You forgot my Cheerios, and I… I…"
"He kinda got lost," Ian answered. "I'm Ian," he said, holding out his hand for Mickey.
Mickey didn't shake Ian's hand. Instead, he gave him a once over and arched an eyebrow. Ian laughed heartily, unable to control it as if he was in on some secret joke. Where Yevgeny's eyebrow game was adorable, Mickey's eyebrow game was sending Ian's stomach into somersaults.
"What?" Mickey barked.
"Nothing," Ian managed. "It's just, you both do this thing with your eyebrows." Ian realized that actually sounded a lot less weirder in his head. "Uh, Mickey, right? We were just about to come find you, right Yev?"
"Uh-huh."
"Yeah, well, thanks," Mickey said, and then turned to Yev. "Don't tell your mom I lost you when you go back to her place."
"But Mama and Nika can always tell when I lie," Yev groaned.
"Yev…" Mickey warned. He didn't want his son talking about how queer his parents are in front of a complete stranger.
"Nika is Mama's girlfriend," Yev clarified, looking up at Ian with doe eyes.
"Yev."
"It's fine, really," Ian reassured. "Sorry about that, though."
"That's ok," Yev chimed in, "my Daddy doesn't like girls. He likes guys."
"Yevgeny!"
"What?" the toddler asked innocently.
Mickey shook his head apologetically at Ian. "Sorry, he likes to blab."
"I don't mind," Ian said cooly, "that you like guys, I mean." No, Ian didn't mind at all. He could have sworn he'd just won the lottery.
Mickey caught the shift in Ian's tone of voice, and the playful smirk dancing on his face. His cheeks reddened immediately. "Oh… ok."
"So, what kind of guys do you like, Mickey?"
Mickey scoffed as he picked Yev up again and placed him in the seat of the shopping cart. "Wouldn't you like to know."
"I would," Ian answered, handing Mickey the boxes of cereal. "How about you tell me over dinner?"
"I don't do dinner."
"Daddy, did you get the cake?" Yev interrupted.
"Nah, kid. No baker, no cake."
"The mocha cake?" Ian asked. "My sister Debbie is actually the one who makes it."
Mickey's eyes roamed Ian's face. He could see the resemblance now. Red hair, freckles, pale skin. Fucking alien looking.
"I know how to make it too," Ian informed. "In fact, I was gonna make myself some tonight. But I could come over and make it for the two of you if you'd let me?"
"Please, Daddy!" Yev pleaded.
"Yeah, please, Daddy," Ian mimicked.
The nerve. Mickey couldn't even look at Ian without smiling from ear to ear right now. He huffed out a laugh. "That's low, man."
"But it's working, isn't it?"
"We're gonna check out now," Mickey said, avoiding Ian's question. He bit his bottom lip nervously before he continued. "I'll give you my address outside. I'll cook, you bake."
The smile Ian beamed at Mickey then could have caused temporary blindness. "Great. I can come over around six."
"Yeah, ok."
"It's a date."
Despite his excitement over his forthcoming date with the hot redhead, Mickey rolled his eyes.
Once they both checked out and exited the grocery store, Ian and Mickey exchanged phone numbers, and Mickey wrote down his address on the back of Ian's receipt.
Yev waved merrily to Ian as they parted. "Bye, Ian!"
Ian chuckled. "Bye, Yev. I'll see you later" he said, waving back. He then looked to Mickey and winked. "You too, Mick."
Mickey tried to suppress his smile as best as he could, but when he and Yevgeny returned to their car, he gave in. Mickey never thought he'd be so happy he lost Yev at the supermarket.