"I could help you find it," Nova offered. After he did, he'd leave Andrei alone. He didn't want to make Andrei nervous by suddenly leaving, but he also didn't want to stay for too long. "What kind of pasta are you looking for?"
"At this point, I'd go for any kind of... traditional-looking pasta. I like penne noodles," Bo said, finding himself glad for the topic change. "I kind of got lost in the proverbial sauce. So many labels."
As Bo glanced back at the wall of pastas, by some sense of sheer luck, he miraculously found it within two seconds. It was practically right in front of him.
"Ah-ha!" he said, yanking it off the shelf in victory, almost forgetting the vice-admiral was watching.
But before he noticed the admiral again, he saw his mom approaching out of the corner of his eye. With her cart beside her, she walked over, but he could tell she was eyeing the admiral with... something of a mother hen's protective kind of look.
"Ah. The Vice Admiral. Who would've thought we'd bump into you in a grocery store," she said with a voice that was more cheery than her expression displayed.
Nova opened his mouth to congratulate Andrei on his find, but fell silent when he saw a woman who could be Andrei's mom approach.
"I was thinking the same thing," he said, giving an awkward smile.
He turned back to Andrei.
"Well, I probably should be going now," he said. "I have, er, government business I need to do."
His smile become genuine for the briefest of moments, and then he slipped off down the next alley.
Government business? What kind of excuse was that? He should have thought of something a little better, but he had panicked when he had seen Andrei's mom. He was prepared for whatever a teenager would do, but had never once thought about what the wife of the man he had helped lock up would do.
He let out a sigh.
Well, he had done what he had wanted to do for seven years. Now he could focus on what he wanted to do right now: buying his unhealthy snack.
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