They both freeze, and then, very slowly and carefully, the currently un-masked woman — whom Mainbrace knows better, helmeted, as Nocebo — puts the packet of red bean paste in her hand into her basket.
"Listen," the villain says, quietly and distinctly. "I don't want to bust up an Asian supermarket at nine in the morning. You don't want to bust up an Asian supermarket at nine in the morning — you look like you need a coffee and another few hours of sleep."
"Justice never sleeps," Mainbrace says hoarsely.
"You don't sound great," Nocebo says. "Is it that cold going round? God, fuck, look, I'm not...I'm not handing myself over. But we don't have to do this. What if. What if somebody gave you a tip-off that the dastardly Nocebo will be downtown at Bering Plaza at 2:15 this afternoon?"
Mainbrace looks at her, fingers twitching.
"Look around you," Nocebo says, not quite pleading. "Is this the kind of small business you consider acceptable collateral damage?"
"You're asking me to trust you."
"God, don't say it like that," Nocebo says, visibly wincing, "that's horrifying. Here's what we'll do, okay? We go round together, shop, pay, toss a coin outside for who heads left and who heads right down the street, and at 2:15 we do the usual may the best one win. Yeah?"
"Do you shop here a lot?"
"No further questions," Nocebo says firmly, and looks in Mainbrace's basket. "And for god's sake, that's not food, how do you expect to feel better living off Pocky? Do I have to give you a chicken soup recipe?"
"Oh god, please don't," Mainbrace says helplessly.
