The next time Genos and Saitama go to the grocery store together the blonde feels as though he's lighting a firecracker with a long fuse, waiting for something explosive to happen. The whole walk there is like balancing on a tightrope or walking on pins and needles, but somehow he keeps up the conversation and manages to survive. Saitama seems normal anyways.

Genos doesn't really think about anything once they step through the doors of the store. He's too fixated on getting a cart to push around and going over the mental list he has in his head of things to buy. But he goes rigid when Saitama slips his arm around him lightly, pulling him close to his side as he begins to push the cart.

For a second, he pauses. The touch makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and has him stopping for a moment, almost bumping his cart into a stand of cookies in front of him. He looks down at his empty cart for a second, quietly boiling as Saitama stands there next to him. The heroes arm is comfortably hooked around him and Genos wonders if he can endure an entire trip to the supermarket like this.

"You alright babe?" Saitama asks, pulling him a bit closer to his side, nudging him. The android looks up to see him smiling comfortably and Genos feels like his heart strings are being ripped out. He takes a deep breath, looking down for a moment before looking back up at Saitama with some kind of renewed strength. He can do this. He's determined to do this, for Saitama's sake. For that stupid twenty percent off discount.

"... Yeah. Do you want pasta or something else tonight?" He asks Saitama in a soft voice, beginning to push the cart again, at what would be considered a leisurely place. The fingers on his waist tighten a little bit and Genos is mixed between wanting to stay in this supermarket forever and wanting to leave immediately.

"Mmm, nah that's fine." Saitama speaks easily enough, like they do this every day. Genos nods to himself and they continue like that through out the rest of the store. The blonde tries not to pay attention to how people stare, eying over the 'couple'. They never stare for long though and its not like Genos doesn't get enough stares on his own with mechanical arms.

Genos feels like the whole time Saitama is just making an excuse to touch him or something, or push him a little farther. Its like the hero is playing around in a minefield, purposefully trying to set something off - or at least that's what it feels like to Genos.

Every time Genos crouches down to pick something up Saitama's arm slinks back around him when he stands back up like it's suppose to be there. The feeling is similar to shocks running up and down the android's back and he's sure that he'll never get use to this feeling.

Its somewhat of an embarrassing thing when he has to tell Saitama that he has to get something from across the aisle under his breath, because otherwise he'd have to shake Saitama off of him and the whole idea of moving away from him or moving in this situation at all has Genos is knots already. His limbs feel awkward and he's unsure of how to move, how its okay to move in this situation. So Saitama moves away for second and then drops something in the cart that they need to buy and then returns back to his side. Everything about the trip is beginning to feel all to surreal and Genos wonders if he's dreaming.

The most unbearable moment for Genos is when he turns to pick something up off a high shelf that he can't exactly reach. His fingertips scrape it and Saitama thinks its completely acceptable to grab the stupid jar of sauce for for him. He comes up behind Genos and completely presses himself against the android's back, easily reaching for the jar and handing it to Genos, who mumbles a heated thank you before putting it in the cart.

By the time they go to check out Genos feels as though he's been stuck in an oven, left to bake for longer than necessary. He ends up feeling raw and embarrassed at the end of the trip, quickly putting things on the conveyor belt for the old woman to scan. Saitama has pushed his every button today, even the ones he didn't know about. He's struggling to hold together.

"Hey Genos, what's your favorite flavor of gum?" Saitama questions him suddenly, looking at all the candies and mints available in the checkout line. Its an odd question, one that Genos really isn't prepared for so the answer comes out slowly.

"Uhm... Probably peppermint. Why?" He responds to the hero and gently cocks his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. He watches Saitama smile slightly (it has Genos crumbling on the inside), picking up a pack of peppermint gum and placing it on the conveyor belt as he speaks in a hushed sort of way.

"I wanted to know what you'd like me to taste like." Saitama says it so innocently. The words trigger a feeling in Genos, one mixed between humiliation and excitement as he pushes the cart forwards and mumbles profanities under his breath, hastily bagging his bundle of groceries.
By now he's far pushed over his limit, mentally thinking of how warm Saitama's lips would be, if they would be chapped or soft, if it would be just a peck or something deep, how Saitama would touch him -

Genos is surprised he isn't sparking, because he feels as though he should be as he walks out of the store hand in hand with Saitama, pressing his other hand to his pink face. The rest of the checkout is a blur and Genos feels awkward and too riled up to say anything to Saitama. He can't even stand to look at him.

They walk in silence and as they turn the corner of the street Saitama finally lets go of his hand; Genos shoves his now free hand in his pocket and tries to focus on anything but what just happened, trying to make the scenario as normal as possible for himself instead of thinking about how much he wants to kiss Saitama. He reminds himself in his head that Saitama's just messing around, that it's not a big deal.

"How much did we save with that discount?" Genos chokes out when they're two thirds of the way home, breaking the silence and trying to get his mind off of things. Saitama replies so smoothly that Genos literally stops in the street for a second.

"There wasn't one."

What the fuck.

Genos can't handle this.

He catches up to Saitama who doesn't stop walking and drags a hand through his blonde hair, trying to think of something to say. But his mouth is filled with cotton and he's almost dizzy with the confession. Its like his tongue is stuck to a huge chunk of dry ice and he can't spit it out and he's stuck rolling it around in his mouth until it melts. He can't fit the whole idea around his head, the idea that Saitama actually just wanted to touch him, that Saitama wanted to - wanted him to taste his mouth - -

"Does it bother you that there wasn't a discount?" Saitama voice comes from out of the blue sounding leveled and calm making Genos snap to attention, his vocal chords miraculously finding the words that his brain has been hopelessly trying to conjure.

"Well, no. I mean I like it when..." Genos's voice trails off towards the end of the sentence and he becomes all too aware of Saitama suddenly looking at him. He decides that maybe this isn't the best way to start off. He grows quiet for a second and then speaks again.
"But does this mean you are... infatuated with me?" Saitama wastes no time at all in replying to him. He holds the door open to their apartment building and responds while Genos walks in, mumbling a thank you.

"Hmm, yeah. It took me awhile to figure it out but, yeah I am. Are you?" The hero's answer seems calm, thought out. It's a lot like they're talking about the weather. Sure is nice today.

"Am I what?"

"Do you like me too?"

By now they're standing in the elevator again and Saitama is pushing the button on the elevator as usual for their floor and their about to go up, until the woman at the desk is sqwuaking for them to hold on, interrupting their conversation. Saitama gives a quiet sigh seemingly aggravated as Genos holds the door open politely; she rushes in on her little heels and chirps a pleasant little 'thank you!' to Genos. She's an odd plump little woman and the blonde has never particularly cared for her, but right now he's overwhelmingly thankful for her interruption. Though Saitama doesn't seem to be, not in the slightest.

She takes place right between them, pushing herself in place practically. The air is quiet for a second and she stands there waiting. Saitama clears his voice.

"Oh, floor five please."

Saitama presses in the number with vigor. It's probably the most awkward elevator ride that Genos has ever had the chance of experiencing. Especially with Saitama's eyes blatantly drilling into him. The cyborg focuses on the elevator lights at the top of the door as the machine begins to move.

"You fellas won't believe the stuff I've gotta do - sorry about rushing in. It's just the lady on floor five is having this problem with her plumbing that I gotta check out. Apparently there's just feces all over the floor swamping the place and well, you know we can't have that! Problem with the plumbing I'm thinking, the toilet was just overflowing she said, positively bursting with the stuff." The woman babbles on cheerfully as the elevator slowly climbs up the building and both he and Saitama pause to look at her for a moment. She just keeps talking without pausing, as if she doesn't need to breathe. Saitama murmurs a yeah here and then and Genos looks at the ceiling, trying to think of what the hell he's going to say to Saitama. To put it bluntly, the atmosphere that they were building was completely demolished.

"Well, see you folks." The lady gives a little goodbye and the two hum in response as the elevator door clicks open and she steps out. When the doors close again, the tension in the air is almost suffocating. That really just happened.

"So?" Saitama asks, leaning against the silver railing behind him. Genos mirrors him and looks at their feet as the elevator starts back up again, sucking in a deep breath before replying.

"I think that I have been infatuated with you for awhile now according to some of my recent behavior so, yes. I think I like you. I mean, I definitely do." The blonde confesses, ears and cheeks growing pinker with every word. He rubs his hands together in what could be considered a nervous fashion and eventually looks up at Saitama, who's smiling sweetly at him.

"Sweet. So we're dating then." The elevator clicks open and Saitama walks out of it, his smile growing as he begins to fish in his pockets for his keys. Genos is scrambling for a coherent thought, eyes widening at the statement as he hurriedly follows after Saitama.

"Teacher wait! What does that entail exactly? I've never been in a relationship before; is there something I need to prepare for? What do I do?" The words fall from Genos messily as he panics, thinking of all the couples on the street that he's seen. It's always been girls and guys, kissing, holding hands, sharing an ice cream. He wonders if he's expected to act cute in some way, if there's some kind of secret in their body language that he doesn't know. It would be an easier task to disable a bomb than going out on a date, he decides.

"Okay calm down. It's not a big deal. You don't need to study or anything." Saitama laughs and rolls his eyes as they enter their apartment together and Genos is a mess of limbs and feelings as he walks in after him.

"But how will I know - " He begins to speak again as he shuts the door behind him, but his words die in his throat as he's suddenly pinned against the door of their apartment in a blur of movement. Saitama's hands are around his wrists, keeping them against the door in a soft grip and he's close, so close that Genos can see the soft coloring of his dark eyes.

"Genos. Shut up. You don't have to know. Just follow my lead, ok?" The words have no hostility in them, they're almost playful. Genos feels his chest buzzing with energy, a sloppy almost honey like feeling pouring through his veins.

"..Ok." The blonde murmurs, his voice a little breathy as Saitama leans in a little bit more - Genos lets his eyes flutter shut naturally. The next couple of seconds that tick by feel like an infinity for the android as he feels one of Saitama's hands drop unexpectedly from his wrist. Instead it moves to his forehead, smoothing back his hair while his other hand intertwines their fingers together.

A soft kiss is pressed against Genos's forehead for a second or two before Saitama pulls back and lets go of him completely, leaving Genos embarrassed and quiet against the doorway of their apartment. He feels scandalized somehow or rather lead on, his hand going to touch the place where Saitama kissed him.