[ the way his eyes light up at this nugget of ramen broth wisdom is maybe a little silly, but his enthusiasm is entirely genuine when he squeezes junpei's hand and declares, ] Aces, then you can help so I don't muck it all up. I was told it's a whole process, but... [ but, well, he doesn't really have too many things to do, so he might as well spend some of his time perfecting specific japanese dishes.

and then he glances at the basket he almost upended in the middle of the store and winces. ] No, it's fine. Just pick whatever you want, yeah? And then we can go.

[ they've made it to the last aisle before the cash register, the one with the snacks, and the cashier is ignoring them with an attitude best described as frigid, and, well. when junpei has picked what he wants, and after charles doubles back to grab a few treats for gab, he will hold his smile steadily in place through paying for the groceries, and only lets out a sigh when they finally make it outside again. ]

Jesus. If this is how it's gonna be from now on...

[ he falls silent for a moment as they start walking back to junpei's house. ] You think my landlord's gonna be like this, too?

[ because if so... well. he can handle people he doesn't know disliking him for no reason, but people he's sort of got along with before this? wow, he hates that. ]