Shattered Relations | Aru Shah AU |

VIII

RUDY
"Can we get candy?" Rudy asked, holding up a bag of gummy bears and gummy worms. 

Mini, who was putting a carton of eggs in the basket, shot him a half-exasperated look. 

"The last thing anybody needs is all of us on a sugar rush, running around New York." she said, flicking a strand of her dark hair out her face.

"Alright, fine, we won't get any." He said, and put back both the bags, but then immediately regretted what he said, upon seeing Sour Straws. 

Noticing his covetous expression, she pinched the bridge of her nose, and said, "No candy. I have, like, 15 dollars." she said, bringing out a few crumpled notes from her jacket pocket. 

"But, this is the Dollar Store," he tried, "we can get 15 items!"

"And candy won't be one of them." she said firmly. 

He scowled, but his scowl faded when he caught sight of chicken nuggets. Mini followed his gaze, and groaned. "I really don't need a repeat of the Massacre," she grumbled. 

"You're making it out to be much worse than it was," he pointed out, a slight smile on his face, which faded when he heard a shrill, angry voice, above the easy-listening music of the store. 

The voice was unfortunately, very familiar, and as he turned around, he saw Leslie Grant, was arguing with a store clerk. 

Behind him, Mini swore--in Tagalog, the tell-tale sign that she was anxious--and grabbed his wrist, before hiding behind the aisle dedicated to chips. 

"What are you doing?" he hissed, turning around, to stare at her. 

"I don't want that gargoyle to see us," she whispered, as he snorted at the 'gargoyle' insult. 

"Speaking of 'that gargoyle'," he began, now seeing that the clerk was alone, "where did she disappear off to?" 

She shrugged, and seemed to deem it safe to get up, when a voice behind both of them made him jump, and grab onto Mini's hand in surprise. 

"Hello, Yamini. Rudra." Both of them turned around, to see the face of Leslie Grant. 

"What are you doing here?" she continued, her hawkish expression trained on them. 

"Buying stuff? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's what people do when they enter shops, Leslie." Mini said, standing taller. 

Leslie scowled, and said, "I meant, what are you doing, hiding behind the shelves, and glaring at the people?" 

"Normal stuff--buying nachos." Rudy said, before grabbing the XL Doritos packet. 

"And why are you holding hands? I never knew shelf-browsing was a couples' activity." she said, in a cool, hard voice, with a hint of a smirk behind her tone. 

Belatedly, they realized that Rudy hadn't left Mini's hand, and they broke apart--like the other was radioactive--with red faces.

"What do you want, Leslie?" Mini asked, cagily. She folded her hands over her chest, her eyes darker than usual. 

"An interview about Shakhuni." Leslie said, jumping at the opportunity. Rudy inwardly groaned. She could never stop, could she?

Mini raised her eyebrows, and said, "God, let it go, won't you? We've already told you, we aren't telling you anything."

Leslie smirked triumphantly. "Aha! So you do know something, don't you?" 

Mini rolled her eyes, and said, in a heroically patient voice, "No. I don't. And I doubt the others know too."