"That's a lot." Ciel noted as his husband put multiple boxes of biscuits into the basket. The Watchdog could feel the basket getting heavier with each one, but the other simply scoffed at him.
"What are you talking about? You could eat this many in under an hour." the menace reminded. "Besides, I need some to stash where you can't hide them."
"What can I do to earn your trust?"
"Not eat my damn biscuits, ya prick."
"Understandable." noted the bluenette before resigning himself to his fate as a cookie-carrier. Granted, one of the boxes was one he selected for himself, however.
After they bought sweets for Alois, socks for Luka, and sunglasses for Revy, they paid for their purchases before heading off to the car. There, they would put the bags away before discussing what came next. After shutting the door, Alois leaned against the car and looked to his spouse.
"Next, we gotta go to the pharmacy to get 'you-know-what'." he said, still teasing the other on the matter. "It's just down the street, so you can just get in the car and wait, if you want."
Ciel did try to respond. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out as he hesitated. His immediate response was to insist that he was capable of going in order to retain some of his pride, but the more the thought about it, the more at risk his pride appeared. He couldn't imagine even standing next to Alois as he paid, as he knew that as soon as he did, their sex life would be on display for all to see. That was an embarrassing prospect. He was surprised that Alois wasn't embarrassed, although perhaps the blonde was convinced that Ciel wouldn't go and thus wasn't in any danger.
"You're taking an awfully long time to decide." grinned the menace. "Considering it?"
"Well..." Clearing his throat, Ciel answered: "There are… implications that going with you entails."
"Such as?" Alois questioned with one brow raised.
"As… As soon as I walk in there with you and purchase… lubricant… Suggestive knowledge of us will be known to everyone who sees."
"Ciel, that information is open when we walk down the street together." the blonde stated. "That's one of the things about being in a same-sex relationship. The straights think vulgar thoughts about you. It's a weird thing they do. They're pervs. Besides, what do you think they see when I go in on my own and buy it?"
"They probably think you have a girlfriend, or if they see your ring, a wife."
"What am I doing with this hypothetical female significant other with lube?" the menace asked. "I'm obviously giving her one. How is that different? What are you afraid of, here, exactly?"
"I don't- I don't know..." Ciel sighed.
"You Victorian-era elites are so concerned with image." Alois shook his head. "You're married to a man. There's no need to be ashamed of it. I don't want you to be ashamed of me."
That caused the bluenette to raise his brows. He was taken aback by that phrasing, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to hold weight. Ciel loved Alois and wasn't able to admit it, but there were other things that he embarrassingly was bothered by. What he was more ashamed of than going into a pharmacy was the fact that what Alois said did have truth to it. If Ciel was embarrassed of their relationship, he was embarrassed of Alois. How on earth must that make the menace feel to see that? It was these thoughts that swirled around in Ciel's head before he made his decision.
"I'm going in with you." declared the Watchdog, folding his arms while puffing out his chest. This action caused a smile to grace the other's face.
"Okay." The blonde said. "Let's go then. Real quick. Then we can go get lunch."
"Sounds good." Ciel replied as he followed the other. The walk was a little further than from the supermarket, but felt shorter as Ciel braced himself. While he wanted to show Alois that he wasn't embarrassed of him, he was still a bit nervous. Granted, he was building this up in his head far worse than it actually was.
It was the first time Ciel had been to a pharmacy in ages, so he followed Alois the entire time inside as well. Bells on the door alerted the woman at the register of their presence, but she didn't do much about it. She was just waiting for them to come pay for whatever they bought, as that was the part she was actually concerned about. She did become more alert as they walked over to the aisle with the "sexual health items", as young men and teenage boys stealing condoms was a common occurance.
As the two men rounded the corner, Alois froze, sticking his arm out to stop the other from venturing forward as he backed them both up a few steps. Turning to Ciel, he put his fingers to his lips ans shushed him, telling him to stay quiet as he peeked into the aisle. Out of curiosity, Ciel did the same, only to witness a familiar face.
Now, Alois had told his husband about the time he came across Travis here. Alois had to. The story was too funny to him not to. The only thing was, neither of them ever expected the event to occur again, but with a different friend. Alois smirked as the two demons saw Kristopherson there, fussing over what to get. It was then that the menace did something mean.
"Be sure to get a magnum condom for your magnum dong." he teasingly called out, practically scaring poor Kristopherson right out of his skin. The wolfman jumped, causing the menace to snicker before stepping into the aisle followed by his spouse.
"What the fuck are you doing here!?" demanded Kristopherson. His posture was defensive and his face was red, embarrassed at being caught.
"Buying lube. What about you?" Alois bluntly answered, placing a hand on his hip. "Planning on ditching your v-card soon?"
"Logan and I are going out..." meekly replied the other. "I was gonna tell you, but you were busy with Ciel." Pausing, Kristopherson added: "By the way, it's nice to see you, Ciel."
"Nice to see you, too." politely nodded the Watchdog. "It's been a while."
Turning his attention back to Alois, the wolfman carried on. "Do you always go couples' lube shopping?"
"Nah. Ciel just came along to prove that he's not a wuss." the blonde Phantomhive stated.
"That's not the only reason." interjected Ciel while putting an arm around his husband's waist. His palm touched the Alois' hand at his hip, pulling him a little closer. "I didn't want you to feel like I'm embarrassed of you. I will gladly show you off with pride."
While his spouse giggled, being rather pleased with the gesture, Kristopherson stared blankly at him. The faux-blonde was lost in all of this. "I didn't know you were such a pervert, Ciel..."
Instantly, the Watchdog's face changed scarlet as Alois began howling with laughter. "No, no, we were talking outside." Alois said in an attempt to clarify. "When you're in a relationship with the same sex, straight people will often look at you and think your relationship is primarily sexual- like, that's all there is to it. Sure, it's important, but they don't seem to think that we love our partners like they do. That's the context behind that. He's not a pervert. He was just worried that that would be amplified or something if we were seen buying lube together."
"Oh, I get you. That's a thing that happens." Kristopherson nodding, accepting this. "It's hard to imagine someone with that face being such a worrier, but he is, I guess."
"Yup."
"What do you mean?" confusedly asked the bluenette.
"What? You seriously don't think I tell Kris stuff? I'm sure he's sick about hearing how cute you are by now."
"I know things I shouldn't know." Kristopherson monotonously said, feigning a shudder. "Anyway, can I ask you something?"
"What's that?" questioned the menace.
"Well, you know what Logan is, so you can imagine my situation. What I need to know is what all I need before then… And some tips, if you got them."
"Well, you definitely need lube and condoms are something you talk about whether you want to use them. You should probably get them as a courtesy, though. It's the gentlemanly thing to do." dutifully replied the menace. "Do you know how to find out your condom size?"
"Yeah. I looked it up online. Problem is, I don't know what kind to get."
"Now that, is trial and error. You might like ultra thin, you might like ribbed, or you might like something else entirely. You don't know until you try it and figure it out. What I don't recommend, though, is this one..." Alois said while pointing at a box.
"Why not?"
"It says it'll make you 'last longer', right?" the menace started, "Well, it does that, but by numbing your dick. There's this stuff on the inside that makes it so you literally cannot feel your dick or anything it touches. So, you last longer because you can't feel a thing."
"You seem to know a lot..."
"That night was weird and I don't want to talk about it."
Ciel smiled sympathetically, but remained silent until asked for "tips" by the faux-blonde. Most of Ciel's advice involved paying attention and asking one's partner. In fact, that was all of his advice. He wasn't embarrassed about this in the slightest, even being oblivious as a teenage boy lingered around the aisles, waiting for the men to leave.
In the end, Kristopherson was left to hang his head in defeat, despite having everything he needed. His stress levels became increasingly high as the two demons stood behind him in line while they waited with their own item. Alois grinned mischievously as Kristopherson fumbled with paying before escaping quickly. He only offered a swift "goodbye" before fleeing. Kristopherson was fast enough that he was able to escape before his friend could embarrass him further.
Even Ciel escaped with his dignity, having not felt nervous in the slightest as Alois bought what they came for. The bluenette was, however, rather impressed how Alois could go about this so casually. Truly, the blonde Phantomhive was the strongest of the pair. With that, the blonde waved at the cashier and wished her a good day before he and Ciel vacated the premises.
From there, they decided what to do about lunch and went to go eat. There was reaching across the table to grasp at hands and silly banter in a slightly larger amount than usual. That was simply the way it had been for a while. No one really knew when they would tone things down again or even if they ever would. They were having a wonderful time being together, laughing and joking around. When they were finished eating, they felt like it was too soon to go home.
Holding hands, they walked to their car before the bluenette pulled away to go around the other side and get in his seat. He was stopped, however, as the blonde held him back. Curiously, the bluenette looked to his spouse in order to see what was the matter. Pink dusted Alois' cheeks as he looked to his husband, hiding behind the mask of appearing "casual" as he spoke.
"Do we have to go home?" he asked. "I mean, we could end our 'date' in a different way, especially since we still haven't… Since the attack..."
Ciel's face abruptly shifted from surprise to a thinly veiled look of flirtation. Smiling, he drew closer, bringing a hand to his husband's cheek before stroking it with his thumb. As the Watchdog leaned forward, Alois thought that he was going to be kissed, but to his shock, it wasn't to be. Instead, sweet words were whispered in his ear, causing his face to burn and a shiver to run up his spine.
"Al-alright, home it is, then..." the menace said, opening the car door with a flushed face before stepping inside. With a rather pleased grin, Ciel did the same and thus, they ended their venture in pursuit of other things.
A/N: Nyello. I don't usually write chapters covering "suggestive" stuff, but I seem to be doing it more often, now. Personally, I just perceive them as normal conversations between adults, but that's just me.
There was oddly a very serious conversation in there, though. It's about a very real phenomenon that honestly more than "annoys" me.
Next chapter will be cleaner.
Maybe?
I don't really know what I'm gonna do lmao
just like the rest of this story
Until the next chapter, my duckies
CHARACTER SHET
Question: "Alois what's your current music playlist looking like?" by Tazmania
Alois: "I don't have a playlist anymore. I had to get a new phone, because apparently, jumping into the ocean is bad for electronic devices. I haven't figured out how to work my new one, yet. I've been into Sia lately, though. Also, is it weird that I think that Queen makes good fight music?"
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Question: "Have you ever wondered if you should stop using potions to make you look older?" by Novasix
Baldassare: "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to look like a fuckin' ten year old while being old enough to remember the fucking founding of the fucking United States?"
