Fashion Police [Sakume, Alti]

OoC: Lemme know if it's okay x3 Opening post is bleeeha.

IC:


Rain was stretching on that morning. It wasn’t very early; the warm mid morning sun was streaming through the windows as soft noises, very gentle and welcome talking and laughing floated throughout the household—or rather, this home, built with walls roof and a lot of love. Rain chuckled softly. It sounded slightly cheesy to him, but the only thing that mattered was that it was completely honest. It had been an extremely long time since he was able to feel this and have the confidence to go with it, to move forward, no matter what. It… wasn’t easy, settling down. In fact, he wasn’t quite settled yet; there was much to do… he had to find his sister soon, there was no leaving her alone. But for now, he put aside his occupation of ‘wanderer’ for this more than welcome position.

There was a smile across his lips as sweet scents wafted from the kitchen, along with sweet voices. Cadenza loved cooking; she was more than happy to make breakfast for her loves and even happier that she had all of them with her, in the kitchen, each helping with a certain small task so they could all sit and enjoy a lovely, lively breakfast together. It was over breakfast that they were discussing their plan for today. Jessica and Cadenza were going out. It would be just the two of them, so they could get to know each other a lot better. This left Rain and Kate alone to do what they wanted with the day; Jessica suggested to Kate, with a giggle, that she should show him around the mall—Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Rain thought, smiling. But it would be nice; they’d get to know each other well, too. He smiled more as he scooped Kate up in his arms, nuzzling her cheek with his nose. She let out a giggle. Today was going to be a good day, like the ones before and the ones to come. Rain smiled lovingly at Cadenza and Jessica, holding the little girl close to his heart.

Kate wasn't sure what to make of Jessi's suggestion. She liked the idea of showing him around the mall, but didn't exactly know if she should ask for things or only windowshop. After all, this man was Mommy's friend and Kate wanted to please her Mommy, so she decided she wouldn't attempt, at least not right away, to ask for anything. She'd do her best to be satisfied with just looking. This was easy for a six-year-old to say, but doing was an entirely different matter. Grown-ups had no clue how hard it was to sit so often in front of the T.V. and watch so many nice things go by but to have to ask. Asking was the hard part. You had to get the expression and the sadness just right, not to mention the timing. But when it all came together, and with a Mommy like Cadenza, it was easy for Kate to become just a little spoiled.

She giggled when he picked her up, trying to be polite. When he held her, she leaned against him, and when he put her down, she stayed close. "But Mommy, why can't you come with us?"

Cadenza didn't want to hurt her daughter's feelings, but she knew it would be a great plus if Kate would spend some time alone with Rain so the two could get more comfortable around each other. "I 'd love to, sweetie... but... you just need to spend some time alone with Mr. Rain... you'll have lots of fun..." She slipped him a small wad of bills as the two hugged and whispered something, to which Rain smiled a little wider. "And when you get home, we can all go out for ice cream. How does that sound?"

Kate paused in thought for a moment. "Well...okay." All systems were go for launch. With that, and a few parting little kisses, Kate and Rain were off to the mall. Boy, was it going to be hard to keep her promise.

"Where do you want to go first?" Rain asked, keeping a soft hold on the little girl's hand.

"Ummm..." Kate looked around. The pet store, the toy store, the jewelry store, the food court, clothes, everything seemed to be calling her name. "The pet store!" She would only look, of course. Nothing would distract her resolution to- "Puppies!"

"Puppies!"

Rain chuckled at her delight and smiled as she pressed up against the window, looking excitedly at the small display of puppies in the window of the pet store. They were all barking playfully, romping around, tumbling over each other in fluffs of brown and white, with some black here and there. There was a particularly furry one that waddled around on short legs--it hopped up and put its paws against the glass, its tongue hanging from its mouth, tail wagging swiftly from side to side. The little creature barked once at Kate, but it was barely audible over the noises of the mall, the continuous barking of the puppies and the animals' sounds from inside the pet store.

The Grim Angel leaned over, "I think he likes you, Katey." He smiled sincerely, gently patting her hair, "He IS a cute little guy, there. I'm gonna feel sorry when we leave this place..." Rain chuckled again, his hand gently holding on to Kate's. "I'd like to see more--let's go inside, Katey!"

"Okay!" She responded enthusiastically. Rain let out a small sigh of relief... things started off pretty well today. Honestly, he was still a little scared that Kate might not accept him. He knew that she was just doing it for Cadenza... That was very sweet, he thought.

As they moved inside, the noises from the animals got louder—parrots squawking, birds chirping, the dogs still barking. There was even a low hiss from a snake in one of the glass cases. Kate stayed away from those; quite understandable, really. Rain’s had a history with snakes, one in particular. He would’ve thought on it more, but there was a soft clucking nearby that got his attention. Rain looked over as a small, grey ferret pushed its head out of its playpen, looking at him. The Angel smiled at it, and the creature let out a playful chatter.

Wouldn’t it be cute if we got one of those? He smiled as he took his eyes off of it, looking toward Kate.

Kate was busy with testing out her fifth puppy when she happened to catch Rain looking at her. Uh oh. Time to put the puppies away before he got the wrong ideas. She exited the small play booths with a quick goodbye to the lady helping her and imagining a large Christmas bonus to come over to Rain, purposely avoiding the snakes on the way over to him. Some sort of gray creature had caught her guardian's attentions and she cautiously took a closer look. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the ferret.

"It's a ferret," came an answer, but not from Rain.

"Huh?" Kate turned towards the person, thinking them to be an employee, when she was greeted by a familiar sickly pale sight of a man wearing a large fur coat. The person was vaguely smiling. Instantly Kate hid behind Rain, only barely peeking out at Marcus. Her voice was a soft whisper. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting a new fur," he answered with a chuckle, bending down to show her a beautiful ferret-skin draped across his shoulders, limp as if it were snapped in half.

"Ah..." Kate's eyes widened in horror. "You killed it?" she squeaked, face contorting into pain.

"Chiiiirrrrr!" The ferret popped up, previously putting on airs as a faux fur and now quite alive, completely a creme white, apart from small black spots on his four paws and a tiny "mask" covering his eyes.

"Eeeee!" Kate squealed in a startled frenzy, nearly falling over herself, face burning red at the laughter Marcus erupted into at the sight. "It's not funny!"

"Bandit is his name," Marcus managed after wiping a tear from his eye. He offered his new pet a small sunflower seed, which the ferret gladly accepted. "Tell me, what brings you to the mall on this fine day?"

Rain remembered this man. Cadenza had told him about Marcus and his connections to little Kate. He had to be cautious--but that wasn't all. He gently rested is hand on Kate's hair to reassure her that he was close; she seemed startled that Marcus was here and startled further when his little ferret, Bandit, he called it, suddenly perked up. It was a cute little thing and seemed to like its master very much.

Rain looked from the little thing to Marcus's face with a smile, his hand gently moving to take Kate's again, hooking a finger on hers very carefully. Marcus was feeding Bandit; the curious little animal nibbling down the seed excitedly.

"Tell me, what brings you to the mall on this fine day?"

"Oh, we're just looking around, mostly." He chuckled as he responded, "I think Kate and I will get bit by the shopping bug soon enough." Yes, that was it, he had to be cautiously nice. Rain had no problem with that, aside from an inkling in the back of his mind that was nicely kept instead of shoved aside. As long as there was nothing bad happening, or about to happen, this was okay.

"We like cute little animals," he added, looking around especially at the dogs and the caged ferret, "they're fun, right Katey?" He smiled sincerely down at her, a caring smile, as if to say "You can hold on to me."

"...Soo... that leaves us."

And a silence hung in the air at those words as Cadenza realized she'd never really hung out with a teenaged girl before. At least, a girl with the appearance of a teenager, she corrected herself. Jessi far outdid her in years, and she wondered if that meant she would be bored by whatever she suggested. It wasn't like there was much to do in Rubato. Cadenza seriously doubted that Jessi was the kind that was into clubbing.

Gods, think, 'denza, think. You're dyin' here. You're supposed to be bonding with this girl... and she seems nice enough... gotta be something...

Her eyes trailed down to the newspaper lying on the counter, and she breathed a grateful sigh when she noticed it was open to the "Entertainment" section. Bingo. There would be her answer. She wasn't much into plays or ballet, but there was the movie section...

"Hey, look, this action movie doesn't look half-bad. Whatddaya think? You up for it? I'll even spring for popcorn and any other snacks you'd like. Sound good?" She treated the girl to her kindest smile.

During a movie, I won't have to try to make so much small talk either. It's perfeito.

There was a bit of silence as Rain and Kate had left; a little awkward thing. Jessica twiddled her fingers, her cheeks were pink, blushing from embarrassment. She wanted to say something, she needed to say something. Maybe she should do a magic trick? Oh, but her little kiddy tricks won't be so impressive to this lady; she had to bond with this lady, too. Jessi already liked her; all that was left was to get to know her better.

Why is this so hard? Come on... think. She's nice, she's beautiful... There's gotta be something I can say.. or do! Oh.. I know! I'll make some flowers! She's sweet, I'll bet she likes them! Oh... What colours, though?

She bit her lip during the silence. Occasionally her eyes lifted towards Cadenza's face and then swiftly looked away again. Jessi felt that she couldn't face Cadenza during this small silence. Rain had mentioned a ruby necklace... Maybe she likes red? I think I'll bet on that.

That moment, she closed her eyes, formulating the red flowers in her mind. Lots of roses and hibiscus flowers, chaconias, red peonies and numbers of tiny, red geraniums


"Hey, look," Cadenza spoke suddenly, and the silence shattered, startling her, "this action movie doesn't look half-bad. Whatddaya think? You up for it? I'll even spring for popcorn and any other snacks you'd like. Sound good?"

Jessica looked toward the woman's smiling face as her numerous flowers appeared all around them both, almost covering the room entirely before each burst like a tiny red firework. Thousands of soft, red sparks floated to the ground along with the petals, all of which seemed to disappear as soon as they touched the floor.

"An action movie...?" Jessi let out a slight, nervous giggle. She moved over, attempting to pretend her little illusion accident hadn't happened and she hadn't embarrassed herself. "Oh... It looks good! And... hey..." She smiled, a little teasingly and giggled a little more openly as she asked, "This is at the same mall, isn't it? Hoping to meet Rain and Kate while we're there, too? Hehehe."

"I'd love to go," she added with a smile. This wasn't a bad start at all, just a wee slow one.

"Mhm," To call the girl's murmur a reply would be generous. She hated strangers, and this man she knew both as a stranger and a mean, unstable one in particular who just happened to have given her a bad scare by pretending a cute animal had been dead.

"Chirrr?" the ferret chirped a little, skittering down from his Master's shoulder to brush against the little girl's ankle.

She giggled softly and bent down to pet the ferret, him rubbing his fur under her hand calmly, enjoying her petting. Maybe he wasn't so bad, at least he was cute and soft.

"Bandit!" Marcus snapped, the ferret immediately jerked to attention. "Come. We have things to do." The ferret seemed disappointed, but nodded sadly and skittered up to his Master's shoulder. "We'll see you around, you two... we have to visit a few stores ourselves." He smiled a particularly raw smile at Kate and took off with a swirl of his cape. "Have fun..."

"Oh come on! I totally shot him! Right in the-"

"Excuse me!" A flustered mother put her hands over her son's ears. "There are children in here!"

"So buy him some earmuffs!" Ruin shot back to the woman, pressing the petal on Time Crisis to duck before picking off a few more people, pants pocket jingling with quarters. "Yeah! Take that, suckers!" He picked them off easily; he had always been good at video games. Except racing games. For some reason, those just left him running off the track half the time and coming into latter places the other times. Ruin couldn't stand having to wait if he played RPGs of any sort either, but he was especially good at fighting games. He took a brief moment to glance out the arcade window. Nope, no sign of them yet. He was on a mission and soon he'd be able to follow the two women without any sign of detection. Or so he thought.

OoC: I'm supposed to be writing an essay, but I needed a break from that for a while. x3 So postie!

IC:
The was a burst of flaming red in her peripheral vision and she suddenly glanced up, biting back a few choice words of surprise. Normally at this point, after a spurt of red like that, there would have been a scream and she’d be leggin’ it away over some rooftops with a gun hurriedly stashed in her pocket and blood on her boots. But that sure wasn’t a splatter of blood. So what the hell had it been?

"An action movie...?" Jessi cut in then, with a giggle.

It was a very girlish giggle, Cadenza thought, steering away from her earlier wonder. And an uncomfortable giggle it had been, too. Maybe she wasn’t trying hard enough. The poor girl was trying as much as she was to fill these damned long silences, and it was putting her on edge, obviously. She was really going to have to be more sociable.

She could only hope maybe Jessi liked cars. Or shoes. Something she knew about--just please, anything at all.

There was another giggle—oh no, the gypsy thought, she’d missed something. A joke? Should she have laughed? Now Jessi was going to think she was humorless. Or rude. Not that this would be the first time someone did, but… this time mattered. "This is at the same mall, isn't it? Hoping to meet Rain and Kate while we're there, too? Hehehe."

Had she been? Now that she thought about it, she had been worrying since the other two had left… how they would get along, if they were having fun, if Rain would know to order Kate’s grilled cheese with the crusts cut off, or not to let strangers get too close to her. She really did want to be spending the day with them… but at least the bracelet hadn’t gone off yet. That meant at least something was going right. They were safe. What could happen at the mall, anyway, really? Rain wasn’t your average shopper who needed security guards for protection.

She realized Jessi was waiting for her to talk, and mustered up an answer as nicely as she could, “Oh… hah, I hadn’t even thought about that. But yeah, it would make things easier—we could just meet up for ice cream right there where the place is.”

The girl nodded her agreement with this, and finally the somewhat awkward conversation reached a natural end. Both women went to fetch their purses, and headed out into the garage, where Cadenza helped Jessi into her Lamborghini. Much to her disappointment, the girl never seemed to have even ridden in many cars before, if any at all. There went one potential conversation topic out the window.

They drove along to the mall in relative silence, with only the sound of the desert breezes and the rhythms of a samba CD in the background. Cadenza tried to remind herself to drive a reasonable speed, but it was like trying to tame a wild horse. It simply yearned to run free with the wind. She accelerated a bit and the engine purred at her deft touch when they came to the highway, the gypsy glancing over for a moment to see if Jessi was okay. She seemed to handle it all right. In almost no time at all, they were at the mall. Cadenza was grateful that they would soon be in the movie theater and would have an excuse not to have to chitchat. The woman knew she had never really been very good at it.

Together, they came through the glass double doors and the voice over the speaker welcomed them to the Blancwood Royal Mall. Cadenza wrinkled her nose a little at the synthesized voice, and muttered a bit to herself, “Only reason any of these suckers really come here is for their kids or the air-conditioning. Could get all this stuff for so much cheaper at the market, these highway robbers…”

She had smiled to herself when she realized that Cadenza was trying to keep her lead foot from being weighed down in the car. There were a few moments where she wanted to say "It's alright! Go faster!". She didn't know exactly how to say it--a few times, her mind told her to just blurt it out. But there was something else weighing on her mind, something that irked her about before. No, there was nothing wrong with Cadenza at all. Instead, she thought her mind to be playing tricks on her when she noticed a few of the petals from before had remained instead of disappeared like they were supposed to.

It wasn't an easy thing to brush aside; she knew that this relationship was important, now, she'd take a look at those petals later. Unfortunately, by the time she pushed it aside and was ready to say something, they were already getting out of the car. Jessica was even more embarrassed now, her cheeks showing a bright pink that felt even warmer as the air-conditioning inside the mall washed over them.

Jessica laughed softly at what Cadenza said about the kids and air-conditioning when they had entered. "Aren't we here for both?" She responded, smiling. She knew there were here for the movie and Rain and Kate, but just to break the ice even further between them, she had to try. Perhaps there would be something to talk about or mention during the movie--she hadn't even looked to see the name, either.

Oh... this is embarrassing... maybe I shouldn't have said anything... Oh, what will she think of me? She must think I'm mean...

On the other side, Rain watched as Marcus swirled his cape, walking off and giving them, or rather Kate, a disturbing smile. Maybe he was planning something, it was too hard to tell--maybe it would be even harder to tell if he was NOT planning something. The Grim Angel sighed softly, looking down at the little girl at his legs.

She looked up at him with her deep blue eyes. Rain smiled softly, "I like his ferret, too. It's pretty cute." He chuckled softly, dismissing the uneasiness in his mind just for now and hoping to get rid of the uneasy air around him. "Maybe we'll talk to Cadenza about getting one, that would be nice, right?" He smiled wider at her, "oh Katey, are you hungry? We could get something to eat if you like."

She hadn't really thought about it after the scare with the ferret, but now that it was mentioned, Kate realized she was not hungry. She was starving. "Yes, please!" she said, putting a hand on her growling stomach. When asked where she'd like to go, she replied with the first place she knew might have a taste of home. "Taco Bell!" she chirped, much like the ferret previously among them. "Please." Don't forget to add on the please. Mommy would have wanted you to be polite, right?

Ruin put the gun down after it started rubbing his hands raw. Not to mention beating it for the fifth time just wasn't as satisfying, regardless of the quarters Marcus had produced for him. Wait, was that? "Oh shiiiit! There they are!" He raced to the glass window as he watched them walk past. "Bout time, ladies..." He slowly slipped out, stealth the number one aspect in his mind, and followed them, blazer zipped and fedora tilted down on his head just slightly, keeping a well enough distance, but close enough to where he could smell the one's perfume. It was a good smell, he thought in the back of his mind. Not too tacky, not too strong like the overbearing hookers sometimes wore. Then it mingled with the smell of burgers cooking and became not so nice. This was mostly due to the fact Ruin was hungry. And when Ruin was hungry, he was hungry. In fact, a few particular chains, at least the ones he visited more often, had learned to close up shop if they weren't entirely stocked.

Cadenza paused at the entrance of the theater and stared up blankly at the marquee, her hands resting on her hips. Now just what the hell had that name been, again...? Fast and... fast and something. Fast and Fiery? Nah. Fast and... oh, there it is. Great, it starts pretty soon.

Without looking to make sure Jessi followed, she headed inside to grab a spot in the ticket line. It was looking pretty busy today. Never being one who liked to wait for long, Cadenza ducked under the cloth ropes and cut ahead of some tall people who wouldn't even notice a petite woman like herself slipping in. There were, she thought, some benefits to being short once in a while. She hoped Jessi would follow her lead.

When the line finally moved and she glanced back, she could see the girl smiling and waving to her from the back. Damn, too polite to cut? Not like anyone was gonna notice... ah, well. I was gonna buy both tickets anyway. Now we won't have that troubling little debate over who pays. She shrugged the matter off and stepped forward when the cashier called her over, asking for the two tickets and forking over a wad of zecca. Everything was getting more expensive these days. She could remember when a movie was half that price. But again, this was an important outing. Bonding. That was the goal. It sounds like it should be so easy, but...

The gypsy looked back towards the line and mentally sighed. Jessi hadn't noticed where she was. And she really hated drawing more attention to herself than her appearance already tended to--but for the girl's sake, she gave a quiet whistle and waved once. Luckily, Jessi took the hint and hurried right over.

"...So, what are you in the mood for? Popcorn, Raisinets, nachos? I'm a fan of that Buncha Crunch stuff myself. And... drinks, we'll need drinks, si? What'll you have?"

There ya go, 'denza--food talk. Heh, you're reeeally connecting with her here. But I guess it's a start...

"What'll you have?"

Jessica considered her options, biting her lip. She looked at 'denza, reconsidering them. Popcorn... everyone had popcorn at shows. Nachos was a good choice. Crunch crunch crunch! Raisinets... chocolate coated raisins, weren't they? Those were delicious, too. And Buncha Crunch... She never tried that before; Cadenza said she liked it, so maybe this would be good if she chose that. Even if she didn't like it so much, it'd still be a small something they could talk about... Sort of. Tiny little food talk. It was something, though.

"I'll take the Buncha Crunch, too, please." She responded, smiling and nodding, "As for a drink... What are you having...? I'll take whatever you're having, too."

Oh man, I think I blew it with that line. "I'll take whatever you're having?".... confidence! I need confidence!

"Alright!" Rain exclaimed, scooping Kate up and putting her to sit up high on his shoulders; no doubt she was surprised by this, but Rain simply kept going. "Alright, orders from the cap'n up above thar--next stop, Taco Bell!"

Rain stretched his long legs way out as he walked, bobbing up and down slowly like a ship, gracefully weaving around people towards the Taco Bell. "Aye Captain! Land ho!" He pointed at the store as he approached.

Kate was giggling more at the silliness of Rain than the act itself, though she had to admit she liked being so tall. "I wonder if Mommy will come here with Jessi," she said outloud, though she meant it more for herself, simply asking for a taco and some of the mild sauce, which of course meant ten packets. She could practically drink the stuff down, the same case as ketchup. When they got their food and the Captain was all settled with her grub, she took a big bite. Anyone could see she was having a good time and enjoying herself with this new friend.

"Fast and the Furious?" Ruin groaned. "Seen it. Oh well. Orders were to follow, follow I shall." Easier to plot on them from the dark, he noted. Not as if he expected to see anything interesting in the film, nothing he hadn't already experienced a thousand times over, anyway. "Man F*** this ♥♥♥♥♥. I'm not going through the bore- hey, they have warheads." He paused as he watched them walk through the hallway towards the movie, drinks in hand. His stomach rumbled. "Well... I guess if I'm ever playing trivial pursuit it might come in handy."

...This movie is a shame to drag-racing. A crying, bloody predictable, horribly written shame.

Harsh? Maybe. Cadenza really was trying to enjoy it for Jessi's sake, but half an hour into the movie and she was already dying to get out of there. The acting was horrendous. Vin Diesel (was that even his real name? she wondered) was nothing but a bald, talentless gorilla they paid to do these flicks, she thought, and everything on the soundtrack so far had been cheesy or sounded just like the song before. She couldn't take it. And the thing that irked her the most was how easily all the other characters were duped into thinking the cop was a legit racer. You never trust the new guy! Didn't they know anything about underground crime rings!? Part of her wanted to shout at the screen, but instead she just sighed and settled back in her chair. Probably wouldn't make a good impression on Jessi if she'd yelled.

Just a hour or so more... keep your cool... it's tempting to pull the bathroom trick, but you really shouldn't ditch her... it's not her fault anyway. You picked this stupid movie. Not that you even knew what the hell you were choosing.

She held back a groan and glanced around, taking a long sip of her soda. What did they call it? It was supposed to be Dr. Pepper, but the theater didn't have the funds for the real stuff. It was "Signor Pimienta" or some ♥♥♥♥♥ like that. Knock-off brand. Tastes a little funny. The woman shrugged and shook her Buncha Crunch box, digging in for the last few morsels. Up into the air she tossed one, catching it almost absent-mindedly in her mouth with ease when it fell back down. Munch munch. Not like anyone was really listening to the flat dialogue in the movie. After a while, she started to wonder how Buncha Crunch tasted dunked in soda. Was worth a shot--anything to last out a few more minutes of this snoozefest.

She spent some time fishing the chocolately bites out of the sugary soda, and watched as the usher made his rounds in the dark with his little flashlight. What were they looking for, anyway? Was anyone gonna stow away in a B movie like this? Doubtful. She was surprised none of the ushers ever tripped in the dark with the little light they had--they never really did much of anything. Maybe it was simply out of boredom, or maybe she was just mean, but as the man came up the last set of stairs, Cadenza decided to give the shadow on her armrest a little tap, and the portly man came tumbling down.

Oh gosh... Jessica sunk into her seat a little further as the movie went on. The movie wasn't THAT bad, but she was still pining for a little thing to help the two girls open up a little more to each other. Cadenza was really quiet during the thing and Jessica wondered if she should've said something when that car crashed, or when that horrible actor was shown. She couldn't concentrate on the movie at all, she was a little nervous.

Maybe the Buncha Crunch would help; her teeth munched down on one and she tasted it. It was good, rice crispies and chocolate, or something like that. Hey, it was still good, anyway. She took a sip of the soda Cadenza bought for her. It tasted a little weird, like Dr. Pepper, but... not like it at the same time. Hard to describe food wouldn't make a good topic at all.

Maybe they could talk about that horrible actor after the movie? The girl glanced at Cadenza. She seemed restless, dunking the Buncha Crunch in the soda and trying to fish it out. She wasn't paying attention to the movie. Jessica smiled, realizing that she was just as restless. A flashlight swooped over as an usher made his rounds and then, suddenly, the man tumbled over with a grunt, some patrons expressing surprise, one or two helping him up. He was alright; just a trip.

"I've never seen that happen before," Jessi said softly, but loud enough for the woman next to her to hear, "they never trip at all." And with a giggle, she added, "I always thought they were nocturnal." And soon the cinema was quiet again, the excitement gone. To be honest, Jessica wanted to leave, go back to the mall, she just didn't know how to say it.

To alleviate the feeling, right after she had spoken, she pointed a finger at the screen and a small red dot appeared as if being emitted from a laser. Slowly, she moved it around and then found amusement in zipping it over to land on Diesel's nose any time he was on.


"That's a lot of sauce," Rain chuckled as Kate bit into her taco. That moment, he wondered how it would look to others if she were riding on his shoulders like before, and eating at the same time. Hey, he could be eating too. Might've been nice to walk around the mall, munching down some tacos.

"Do you want to go look at some clothes after?" He smiled at her, "I'm sure there are some clothes for a princess like you. Maybe you can pick out something for me, too!" Rain laughed. He was enjoying himself, Kate seemed to be pleased, even happy with him. He hoped it would continue like this. Things seemed to be going well for them, so far.

It was then that his mind wandered over to Jessica and Cadenza. He wondered... how were they doing? Part of him reassured him, they'd be doing okay. Even if it's slow, it's still something, right? They were both different, and yet sweet in their own ways. Yes, they'll be alright.

Ruin was one of the few, if not the only one he noticed that burst into laughter at the usher tripping. Of course he knew it hadn't been of his own accord; someone had forced him to fall over himself, but all the same whoever it was had great taste in humor. He received quite a few negative glares he could feel the anger coming off of, even in the pitch dark of the theatre. This didn't bother him in the least. He simply smirked, leaned back, and popped another Warhead into his mouth. Had he been paying attenton to the movie, he would have noticed the peculiar pimple on the star's nose.

Kate approached the trash can, glee in the back of her mind about the opportunity she had been offered- clothes shopping. And yet at the same time she dreaded it, because she knew, as well as her Mommy would if she were here, she would want a lot of clothes. And she wouldn't ask for anything. She'd made a promise and she was going to keep it. She stood on her tiptoes to dump the wrappers and empty soda bottle in the trash, and that's when it caught her eye. A shiny, small piece of plastic, was just under the trash can. She bent down to pick it up and examine it more closely. She found with glee it was covered in bunnies. The numbers on it didn't seem to be in any particular order, and it said a word, but Kate wasn't very good at reading yet. "Mas...ter...card..." She pronounced with a little bit of difficulty. She was a little puzzled. She decided to ask someone. She walked up to the Taco Bell counter. "Excuse me, but-" Her attention was distracted by a particularly yummy-looking churro. "Ooo, that looks good."

The employee eyed the card the little girl held and the pattern. How young would parents give their kids credit cards these days? "Did you want one?" he asked, watching Kate for a response.

"Well... ah... me? Yes, I... I'd like one..." Kate stammered, unsure of how she was going to pay for it. "Is it free?"

"With that, it is." He motioned towards the card. "It's yours, right?"

Kate nodded after a moment. She had found this card, and if it got you free churros, well, there was no sense in throwing it away like the person had obviously meant to by its position. "Yes!" She handed it to the man, who swiped it through a slot in the register. The next thing she knew she was given a warm soft churro, and returning to Rain's side, the card safely in her pocket. "That man gave me a churro for free!" she marveled to Rain, smiling joyfully. She finished up the treat. "Can we go clothes-shopping now?"

Sure, nearly everyone in the theatre was appalled, but she couldn't stop laughing for a good while (oh, hadn't the look on the usher's face just been sweet, hilarious icing on the cake?) and Cadenza was feeling it was totally worth every dirty look she got afterward. It had helped relieve her tension and it had been the only enjoyment she'd had so far during this whole movie. She figured it was all going to be downhill from here anyway, too, so damn, she was going to appreciate seeing that fat man's rolls quake, watching his pudgy arms flail, and hearing his goofy, surprised cry for every chuckle she could get out of it. And it sounded, much to her surprise, that somebody else had appreciated it too. Thank you...! At least somebody has the cohones to admit they found that land whale in uniform beaching himself on the stairs was funny. Everyone else practically has rods shoved up their arses, uptight little...

Jessi was saying something again. How did she keep missing it!? She had to quit letting her attention wander. The girl seemed to be particularly amused by something on the screen, although Cadenza could scarcely imagine what--for the girl's sake, she decided to glance up and have a look. And there, wavering on Vin Diesel's nose as he tried to look intense and like, yes, he did in fact have the brain cells to pass the police academy and unravel this crime (yeah, riiight, Cadenza thought), was a glaring red dot. Huh... The gypsy looked back over her shoulder at the projection window, wondering if there was just some problem with the film. Nope, it was all just the same bluish white light, as far as she could tell. She looked back and watched Jessi out of the corner of her eye. Sure enough, everytime the poor excuse for an actor came onto the screen, up came her finger to point--so it was her. The woman spared her small trick an equally small snicker--maybe it was just a leftover laugh from before, or just out of surprise, but either way, Jessi seemed pleased after the sound. Was she playing a prank because Cadenza had? What an influence she was going to be on this girl...

After this, the movie went on with silence in the theater for a while. Cadenza found herself repeatedly pulling out her cell phone to check the time, counting down the minutes until the boredom would end. Jessi seemed equally bored, now that she thought about it... she told herself she should really try saying something to the girl. Even if she could end up making a complete idiot of herself.

"You know..." she began in a quiet voice, just so the others around them wouldn't get uppity and try to shush her. That would not go well for them. "I'm going to be honest with you here, Jessi... before Kate, I never really came to see a movie in theaters unless it was on a date with a guy. So... this whole thing is kinda new to me... and well... oh man, well I guess I could tell you about the last time I came.

"I was with this guy, right, pretty hot too, I'm not going to lie... name was... ah ♥♥♥♥, name was Diego...? That sounds right. He had some nice arms, good biceps. But anyway, we went to the movies, and let me tell you, this guy pulled out every old move from the book--the yawn and reach, the letting me hold the popcorn so he could reach over and 'accidentally' brush his hand against me somewhere and try to cop a feel, you name it. Every tired cliche," she paused to laugh at the memory, "He must have been used to the ladies falling all over him no matter what he did, because he flirted like he was doing it off notes from a texbook. It was sad," she gave another laugh, falling silent for a moment before she looked over at Jessi, and tried to figure out just how much of that story she'd listened to. Part of her hoped she hadn't made herself out to sound too bad, but it wasn't like she could help it. She hadn't cared about any of those men she went on dates with in the past couple of years...

Having finally found something she knew she could talk about though, she didn't give up. She fixed Jessi with a bit of a teasing smirk, and nudged her gently with her elbow as she asked her in a still hushed voice, "Soo... how about you...? You date, right, you can relate? Got any boys chasing after you that Rain and me are gonna have to beat off with baseball bats?"

Jessica was listening to her, smiling when she laughed. It was a funny thing she talked about; and Jessica giggled once when Cadenza had looked over her at the end. She had twisted her body on the chair to face her and a few times during Cadenza's talking, Jessi's hand had unconsciously lifted with her palm facing toward the screen as if to shush the noises from interrupting. Then she felt the nudge from Cadenza's elbow, and spied her teasing smirk. Jessica smiled back, blushing slightly, she knew something teasing was coming just from Cadenza's expression; but she was happy. Very happy--they were finally talking to each other. And none of them seemed uncomfortable. Even when Cadenza's question came; Jessi was taken back, but she smiled when she responded, speaking in a similar hushed tone.

"No..." she shook her head, "I don't have anyone. I... never really did." At that moment, she realized that she wasn't going to be able to add much to the conversation unless she delved deep into her less memorable experiences. There was a pause for a moment as she thought about it, she felt that she had to do quickly or she'd lose the conversation. "Well.. there was this one guy, I remember... years ago. I was sitting at a bar, in an inn. And this guy came in--he was really nice looking too. Fair complexion, bright blue eyes, long raven hair, a little wavy, tied in a ponytail. His clothes looked as if they were stuck in the Victorian era," she giggled again, "he approached me and sat next to me. He didn't tell me a thing--but he he ordered a drink for me. Something I didn't even like."

Jessica giggled again, she felt less constricted now, she could talk freely. "Then he tried talking. I'll admit... he made an impression on me, but there was something so strange about him. Like I'd met him before. He was kind... and gentlemanly... and boring." She let out a laugh, but was quickly shushed by the nearby patrons. Her hand waved as if shooing them off. "All he did was talk. Mostly about himself... and he was still talking to himself by the time I was out of there. My powers come in handy for ditching!" She smiled at Cadenza; at least she had her own story to tell, it made her feel proud, in a weird way. She was able to communicate. "I'm thinking... that... I'll find someone here. And... you'll help me, right?" Jessica smiled, "they'd always have to meet the parents, you know? Hehe, they might be afraid of ...mom and... dad. Especially if they're wielding baseball bats."


"A free churro, huh?" Rain chuckled, "You're lucky, he must like you, Katey." He smiled and nodded, responding to Kate's clothes-shopping question. Rain held her hand as they made their way out of Taco Bell and back into the mall. If there was one thing about malls... they always had lots of clothes stores. Always overpriced. But sometimes they had stuff there that would be harder to find somewhere else. "...like that pretty pink dress they have on display."

Rain and her moved closer. Kate seemed to be delighted at the pretty pink dress, decorated with sequins and a ribbon on the back, but it was too big for her. Perhaps inside, there would be a smaller one. "Princess, let's get some clothes and dress up for mom and Jessica!"

Now counting down the minutes until the infamous credit line began to scroll, Ruin amused himself by tossing little pieces of popcorn up and catching them in his mouth or slurping particularly loudly. Anything was better than being stuck in this dark, boorish movie theater hell. Since everything was particularly quiet, he could hear someone talking, and when he leaned forward, he could hear enough to pick out little pieces.

"I'm going to be honest with you here, Jessi...never came unless it was on a date with a guy...this whole thing is kinda new..."

Ruin's eyes widened. Whoa. Did she mean what he thought she meant here? He found himself biting his lip, straining to hear better even though the woman that was talking was very quiet.

"I'm not going to lie...we went to the movies, and let me tell you, this guy pulled out...letting me hold...so he could reach over...brush his hand against me and try to..." She laughed, and Ruin smirked just a little. This conversation was getting racy, in fact it was sort of turning him on. "He must have been used to the ladies...he was doing it off..." Oh don't stop now... it was just getting good... Ruin hoped for more. This was far more interesting than the movie. "Soo... you date, right? And...beat off with baseball bats?" He choked on his popcorn.

Amidst the coughing and tears of both enjoyment and throat irritation, he managed to hear the response. "You'll help me, right?... Parents might be afraid... if we're wielding baseball bats." This was too much. Ruin got up, still half-choking amidst laughter (although the movie was centered on the rather dramatic scene) and stumbled down the aisle to the exit, wiping at the tears in his eyes. He was particularly careful when passing their seats not to suffer the same fate as the usher from earlier and tried his best to remain anonymous.

Kate browsed, letting Rain hold the third shopping bag. It was fun to shop, especially when it wasn't your money you were using. Not that she had any, but this card seemed to be not only for free churros, but free clothes as well, in fact free anything she wanted. Rain must have figured Kate had a small allowance of some kind. He didn't really pay attention to what she bought, but let her get things for her Mommy and Papa freely, along with Melody and the few others she held dear. He must have only just wondered how much allowance she was allowed at the addition of the third shopping bag. The fun part for Kate was how funny all the names of the things sounded. Gucci, Fendi, Prada, they were all really fun to say. Then there were the harder ones to pronounce like Valentino, Armani, and as the saleslady had corrected her when buying her Mommy shoes, "Jimmychew." Or something like that.

"Done!" She announced, her precious bunny card tucked in her little pink buckle purse safely. "Now what?" By this point the attendant had noticed the amount being racked up on the card and decided to check for herself on the status of the card. She picked up the phone and dialed.