A/N: I do not own any of these characters
Keep Portland Weird
Jake liked this little supermarket. He'd been coming here since his move to Portland a few months ago. It wasn't too far from his place and he liked the selection. They had local produce, fresh bakery goods and a nice meat counter, even if the butcher never remembered his name correctly.
He grabbed a cart and rolled his way into the store, dropping his reusable sacks into the kiddie seat at the front. It was early on a Tuesday morning and he liked how quiet the store was. Sometimes he needed the quiet after a day spent with Cassandra and Jones.
He tugged the list out of his front pocket and got started.
He didn't think, much of it the first time the pretty blond passed him by. He just finished his selection of a jar of sauce and dropped it into his cart. That's when he noticed the package of double chocolate cookies. He glanced after the blond, the only one who'd been in the aisle but she was gone. He moved the cookies to the front of his cart so he could return them to their shelf when he passed it by and promptly forgot about the woman who misplaced her shopping cart.
Except she came back.
She returned twice more, each time darting off before Jake could say a word, leaving junk food in her wake. The third time she came back, this time with a box of Lucky Charms, Jake was in the middle of an aisle and saw her coming.
He was normally all for flirting with a cute woman at a store, but only when she actually stuck around long enough to speak to him. This was just strange. "Are you flirting with me? Is this some kind of bizarre conversation attempt?" He softened it with a small smile.
She paused, box outstretched, and looked at him. Some of his frustration must have been showing on his face anyway because her eyes widened. She jumped back clutching the cereal to her chest. Jake expected a stammering apology and instead his ears where ringing before he even registered she'd shouted, "Eliot!"
Baffled by the reaction, Jake put his palms out, trying to placate her before an employee came to kick him out. "Listen, I'm sorry," he began before the sound of pounding boots interrupted him. A man came flying around the corner putting himself between Jake and the woman, who had backed further away.
"Are you alright?" He asked her, long hair partially obscuring his face. She nodded. He rounded on Jake and froze. Jake did too. After all, he hadn't seen his twin brother since they were 18 and he'd left to join the army over their family's strenuous objections.
"Is he your clone? Do you have a clone Eliot?" She babbled excitedly before gasping, "Did the government make him?" She peered over Jake's brother's shoulder, still hugging the box, and eyed him suspiciously.
"No, Parker, this is Jake. My twin. Jake this is Parker." He moved to the side and swept his hand toward Jake while still keeping himself firmly between Jake and Parker.
Jake tried not to notice and flashed Parker a smile. It only made her eyes narrow. "He's using your 'charm the mark' smile, Eliot. Why is he smiling at me like that?" She hissed. Jake blinked.
"Who's Eliot?"