Grocery shopping was generally agreed to be a necessary chore, but was also generally agreed to be an frightfully mundane one, which was probably why Geronimo had had been so eager to volunteer for it in the first place. He hadn't been morbid enough to count the weeks he had been trapped on the Dolphin, but he knew it had been more then enough for him to want to be reminded that there had once been a time before scarves and guns and a battle that never seemed to end. He had figured that what he needed was to do something that could distract him from what his life had become, if only temporarily.
It... wasn't working very well. Maybe because he had never had the fortune to shop with a beautiful French woman before.
As if she had known what he had been thinking, Francoise smiled at him over her shoulder, pushing back a lock of blonde hair. "Sorry about making you my beast of burden." She paused, waiting for him to say something. He was distracted by the way the sun glinted off her hair. Looking a little disappointed, she continued, "But we're almost done for the day. We just need to pick up some baby food and diapers for Ivan, and... oh my goodness." Francoise's voice trailed off, staring wistfully at a well-tailored dress in the front window they had been walking past.
Geronimo held the paper bags a little closer to his chest. "It's pretty."
"Yes. It most certainly is." Francoise was still looking at the dress.
He felt like he should say something, so he decided to add, "Although I'm certain that when you were young, you had a closet full of outfits like that."
Francoise glanced at him, and then she laughed. It was a very pleasant sound, but for some reason, it sounded strange to his ears. He then realized it was because he had never heard her laugh before. "No, my brother and I were lucky if we had enough money for food." She slung her purse over her shoulder, and seemed cheerful enough as they headed back to the ship. "I think that might've been the reason I fell in love with dancing so quickly when I was a little girl. When you're busy spinning on stage, you don't have time to worry about the fact that there are a pile of bills on the table where dinner should be." She smiled at him bittersweetly. "You know, I haven't danced since I was captured by the Black Ghost."
He knew he was going to regret it, but she looked so incredibly sad, the words came out of his mouth of their accord. "Well, if you want... I could take you dancing someday."
Geronimo waited for her to laugh again, but she just looked at him, understandably confused. "You're serious?"
"Yes. I am."
This time, she did laugh again. "No, that's all right," she said, patting him on his arm. "I'm starting to think that this is just as good."