I appreciated the honesty. It made me feel like I understood what he was doing instead of making it all about myself. And maybe, unlike with my family, the silence didn’t need to be filled while grocery shopping. Kael looked at the list again and pulled the pen out of the sewn-in holder on his ACU jacket. He marked off three items, using a dash next to each one instead of striking them out, the way I always did. I found the tiniest things about him fascinating, and my thoughts began to form themselves into a little cloud that turned into a daydream. I used the silence between us as we browsed the aisles to think about how different we were, why my brother hadn’t called me, and what I needed to do before I could leave for work.

The commissary was crowded as always, but I felt less stressed over the crowd and more at ease than I had been since we’d left the house. Kael still hadn’t spoken as he put three boxes of granola bars into his part of the cart.

“I have some—”

“Not anymore.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

“You ate my granola bars?”

He laughed. If I hadn’t turned around, I would have missed it. “Mostly,” he replied, smiling a little.

Kael stayed ‘in his own head’ for the rest of the grocery shopping, and he found everything on my list before we got in line behind three extra-stuffed carts. The low prices on groceries with zero tax were worth braving the crowd.

“So many people,” I said to him as we waited.

Kael nodded, looking over at me. His elbows were leaning on the cart. “So many people giving their money right back to the government,” he said, nodding at all the people in uniforms and their spouses.

“You’re always complaining.” I heard the voice before I saw her approach. It was a soft, feminine voice to match an equally beautiful face. “Martin, never thought I’d see you at the commissary. What the hell are you doing here?” She laughed, knocking his arm gently.

She was wearing ACUs that matched his. Turner was written on her name patch. She was below him in rank; I could tell by the difference in the patches on their chests.

“Just getting some actual food,” he responded to her.