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“Grian, I swear to the end, don’t walk so fast! I can’t keep track of you.”
“Wow, now you’re calling me short. Am I too small? Can you not see me when you tower over everyone else here?”
“Dude, I’m not even that tall-”
“Have you not looked in the mirror? You’re literally six foot. At least.”
“...” Jimmy had a guilty look on his face. “I’m not
that
tall.”
“Fine. You know what?” G raised a brow. “You’re the tiny one. Barely even taller than a children's toy.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Grian laughed, he’d no doubt inform Martyn about this and then they’d bully Jimmy together! A perfect plan.
The little gremlin smiled for himself, crossed arms with his chin held high. Eyes scanned the market around him. He had a few stalls he wanted to visit, since he’d been here a couple of times he recognized some of the faces. Now he wanted to see the people said faces belonged to. As he locked eyes with a vendor he made a b-line for their setup. Behind him he heard Jimmy babbling about him being left again.
As he reached it he saw all the flavo- flowers, yes flowers and spices. While he talked to the seller he eyed all the options he had while Jimmy stood politely by his side. There was a mix of pre packaged spices and dried flowers as well as fresh flowers the seller would weigh for you. Grian looked past the prices as he finally found all the products he wanted.
“Alright my friend, I’d like a bouquet of lavender and elderflower, then the dried rose buds. Two bags each of your cinnamon, vanilla beans, chestnut and… peppermint.”
He watched as the woman behind the table began packing all the things he wanted into a larger paper bag. The flowers were bound together prettily with a white bow but Grian stopped himself as he was about to pay.
“Hey Jimmy, do you think I should get anything else? Any other flower you’d like me to have in stock? Maybe make a syrup out of…”
The man was caught off guard, stuttered as he quickly looked over the options. “I- uhm, I don’t know, I’m not sure what would taste good.”
Grian chuckled a little. “Don’t worry about that, pick one you think is pretty and then we can see how it tastes in a tea or syrup like I said.”
“Maybe…” Carefully he reached forward and pointed at a smaller flower with a vibrant red color. “This one?” He looked back at G.
“Ooo hibiscus, those ones are really pretty.” He couldn’t help but smile a little wider. “Can I have some of these? I think I’ll have to dry them…” G mumbled to himself a little. “Could you give me however much fits in that paper bag?” He pointed at a smaller bag.
“That I can, anything else you need sugar?” The seller beamed at him.
Grian put a hand to his face, covering his mouth as he pretended to think for a moment. He knew he had everything already. “No ma’am.”
The lady tapped in the price on her small card reader. “Lovely, you can put your card on the reader while I stuff these in the bag.”
G paid and after quick goodbyes the two were off to their next stop.
The larger paper bag she put everything in had her brand's logo on it and the fresh lavender as well as some elderflower stuck out of the top. It smelled a little odd with all the different flavor profiles but individually they were very nice.
Good thing Jimmy didn’t have a heightened sense of smell, otherwise the purchase would’ve given him a headache. Grian let the man carry it while he looked between the people to try and see where everything was. Ironic that his name is the watcher and yet he couldn’t see anything because he was too darn short. To be fair, he wasn't short-short, just a little shorter than average and all the people who decided to come here were at least a head taller than him. Just his luck.
He sighed in annoyance that he really couldn’t see anything while Jimmy loomed over most guys.
A high pitched scream of glee dug into his ears. He lifted his head to see what it was and walking past him he saw a dad with his child giggling as she sat on his shoulders. She was holding the man's hair like ratatouille. The pink clothed girl was delighted and the dad had a tired smile on his face.
It gave Grian ideas that wouldn’t end well for Jimmy.
It took a minute to convince Jimmy of the idea and another few to safely climb up on top of Jimmy without touching his wings. He really made sure not to since he knew how annoying it could be for people to touch them, even if it's friends. But now there was a Grian happily sitting upon the blond’s shoulder.
“Did you really have to sit on my shoulders?”
“Hush you, I’m finding our next stop.”
He held on tight to Jimmy’s hair, much like the girl he’d seen but tried not to think of how much he resembled a child right now. Instead he watched. A bit more on brand this time since he could see the entire street. There was a wide range of products to buy; vegetables, meats, animal produce, flowers, spices and plants. As he tried to find the specific sellers he wanted he couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched.
In the park this market was set up there were not a lot of places to hide. But because of the amount of people it became much harder to find this peeker. He ordered Jimmy to stand still and turn to the right, Jim was puzzled but obliged. There he saw a man clothed in black, staring at Jimmy from between two stalls.
After a moment he realized that Grian was staring and looked away from G’s harsh gaze. But instead of going back to shopping he kept staring. The man finally looked back again only to stumble backwards as Grian made a ‘cut your throat’ motion. Only then did he go away. G finally huffed before asking a confused Jimmy to continue down the street.
It went a lot like his usual shopping trips went, except he had a guy to hold everything for him. Very nice, 10/10 Grian would recommend.
Finally he reached the last seller he needed, their table was filled with candies, cookies and chocolates. Since Blocksmas was on the way he needed to buy candycanes, marshmallows and gingerbreadmen. He bought as much as he could knowing the price would rise as the holiday got closer. The seller certainly appreciated it, their eyes lit up as Grian cheekily decided that he’d need all the mini rainbow marshmallows they had. Which, how could he not? The ones they had were really vibrant compared to the store ones.
Jimmy was amused by him as well, saying Martyn would be surprised tomorrow when someone inevitably ordered hot coco. It had Grian and the seller chuckling as well. After paying it became time to say goodbye and Grian waved to the person as he walked away with Jimmy. Once again he was on the ground, not just because he was finally done shopping but because Jimmy couldn’t stand the power G had from his shoulders.
Their bickering continued as they walked down the street. Absent-mindedly Grian decided that it'd be the most convenient if they took the bus. Since it stopped very close to the cafe he could crash with all the things and then let Jimmy clock off while he sorted all the ingredients.
They continued down a less populated street.
Grian would’ve preferred to stay on the main street but the market had blocked it off almost completely and G didn’t want to navigate through that. They’d gotten away from the market chaos and only had a short walk to get to the bus. Walking along G realized it’d be faster to go through a few alleyways. He frowned but continued along the path keeping Jimmy close to him.
The conversation had died down as they both were more alert walking between the tall buildings. Trash piled by the walls and a few rats ran away as they got closer. But as they strode along G couldn’t help but feel it… again. He felt someone trailing them.
What a bother.
Suddenly he stopped, catching Jimmy off guard as he slowed to look back at G. First he was about to ask what was up but his face morphed into annoyance. It confirmed Grian’s suspicion so he turned around and saw that guy clothed in black again.
“Now, what do we have here?” Even though Grian was the one to ask he did not look forward to the answer. “It’s rather rude to follow strangers.”
“Yeah, yeah, but I can’t just let a gem let go once I finally find one.”
“What are you talking about, you're not mysterious or whatever you think this-” He gestured to the guy. “-is. You’re being weird at best and annoying at worst.”
The guy scoffed, looking just as annoyed Grian was. “Alright, I just want to offer a deal for you. I’ll make this quick if you hand over the golden trophy on that pretty thing’s back.”
Jimmy stod still. Wings pulled closer to his back. Breathing quickened out of panic. Ringing started tingling in his ears.
“No way.”
Jimmy breathed again. Suddenly feeling much better.
“That man is no thing. Who gave you the audacity to ask for such a thing.” This was aggravating Grian, not just for Tim's sake but for himself as well.
“Come on, I will pay you handsomely. No one has to know you’re involved.”
Grian can't help the absolutely disgusted look on his face upon hearing the ‘offer’.
While yes, he may or may not be much better than this man on a moral level… But at least he didn’t try to sell living people or their body parts. Certainly not his own worker.
“You disgust me and that’s rich coming from me.”
Jimmy couldn’t help but choke at the claim, knowing very well about Grian’s… eating habits.
“I didn’t want to do this the hard way but you leave me with no other choice little guy.”
The guy made a show of activating his power, creating sharp ice spikes to float just above his hands. While Grian didn't doubt Jimmy’s ability to fend for himself he couldn’t help how much he wanted to punch this guy in the face. Disgusting.
“Tims, do you want to handle this yourself? Or can I wipe that stupid expression off his face already?”
Grian voiced his question but before Jimmy could answer there were two ice spikes rushing towards him. With how upset the guy seemed he’d half expected him to attack but it was still rude to interrupt his conversation! While still holding his bags he moved out of the way, letting the ice pass him by. But behind him he didn’t hear the dagger-like-ice break, he glanced back just in time to see it changing direction. Once again he moved out of the way as it shot past him.
The ice guy didn’t expect to miss and barely got out of the way as his own weapons were aimed at himself. He yelled some vague threat at Grian and stumbled backwards. Taking the moment, G put his things to the side and grabbed a dirty wooden plank. Small splinters dig into his skin as he held it.
He could feel his wings claw at his back, itching to be let out in the action. Pushing the feeling down he held on tight to his new weapon and rushed forward. His makeshift baseball bat swung at the guy, knocking him down to the ground. It was clear he planned to scare G into compliance and had no real backup plan.
Eyes filled with fear looked back at Grian who didn’t feel a thing. He swung again, seeing the hurt he caused. Cuts caused by the wood started to leak crimson. The third time he swung so hard it broke in two. With the small piece he had left he stabbed the stranger’s arm. He watched wooden splinters break off as he dug it further inside the arm. A gargled scream echoed as Grian tried to get the thing in his hands to get through to the other side of the flesh. Blod poured as he worked.
Hands with nails too sharp for a human grabbed the stalker’s face, locking his jaw open by pushing down in the space before his teeth began. It surprisingly stopped the screaming and allowed him to hear Jimmy´s shock beside him.
“Dude!? Since when- what are you doing? We're in the middle of…” It was an empty alleyway hidden by tall houses. “You know someone could hear you!”
“It’s fine Jimmy.” He said as he watched the life drain from the corpse below him. While Tim stuttered, G took the moment to put the man in the fetal position, trying to make the grown man as small as he could. Then he reached into one of the bags his assistant was holding, he’d picked up the ones Grian dropped before… ending this stranger. In there he took out one of those big black garbage bags, opened it and tried to get the man in the bag. Grian struggled to get the body in it as Jimmy watched.
When he finally got the man in the thing he reached back into the bag Jimmy held. There he took out an IKEA bag, a large bright blue bag and proceeded to put the body in the bag. Jimmy made a fuss about it but continued to watch. Once Grian was done he looked at the flabbergasted Jim.
“Is there any blood on me?” Jimmy looked him over but the only spot was in his already red sweater, he pointed at it even though it looked like an ordinary stain. “Darn it, I liked this sweater.”
Grian proceeded by picking up the bright blue bag, slinging it over his shoulder with some visible trouble. He motioned for Jimmy to give one of the bags they got at the farmers market, which he did.
“Alright now, ready to go?”
“WHAT? You’re- you can't take it with you.”
“If anyone asks, it's barbeque ribs we bought at the farmers market.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”