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 Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:05 pm
Daffi Starlightner had been one of the most popular children's folk singers of his day, and he was on the road to making a comeback. At least twenty starry-eyed children sat clustered around his feet, swaying to the soft strumming of his newest song "Little People Do Big Things," but Sid wasn't one of them. He sat as close to the entrance of the mall bookstore as he could without actually exiting it, but that was mostly because his uncle had told him to wait for him in the store, not right outside of it. If he had been allowed, the Hiccup would have been much further away from the folk phenom than he was right now. Daffi Starlightner was boring and he smelled like peanuts.
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:21 pm
Phineas smiled cheerfully as he and his Mama entered the store. The boy utterly loooooooooved books and was more than interested in trying to find some more. Today there seemed to be a singer but that was okay, he could stand music so long as he could find his books.
However, on entering, he bumped into a rather long, skinny green boy who was skirting the edge of the store. He'd probably have missed Sid if it weren't for his tremendous antlers.
"Oh oh! Apologies! I didn't see you there. Are you all right?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:37 pm
When he felt the moose child run into him, Sid turned from where he'd been scowling over at the group of other children. They were singing along! Really!
"Oh, hi, I'm..." Antlers! Sid smiled hugely, then giggled for a few short seconds. "You. Are the coolest boy here." He nodded. "What're you doin' here. I'm comin'."
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:46 pm
"Oh? I am?" Phineas blinked a bit and straightened his little rounded glasses. "Why thank you. Mother and I just came to find some books. I like to read a lot. What do you like to do?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:21 pm
Sid looked as thoughtful as he could, but peaked somewhere around 'barely brainy.' "I can't read a lot yet. I got a book though, that I write in and draw pictures in. I like games. Tag and magic tricks and playin' with animals." He didn't like actually taking care of his pets, but his mom had done a good job seeing that the things he had gotten for Christmas hadn't died. "If I read lots can I get antlers like you?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:37 pm
Phineas grinned broadly, which was funny given his mouth and nose. "Ooh, drawing pictures is fun. And so are games, and magic tricks. I haven't played much tag or met many animals yet but it sounds neat. I like to do all sorts of things and books show me how to do that." the boy explained with a nod.
At the Fly-Trap's question, he laughed. "No, I don't think so. I have antlers cause I'm a moose, not cause I read. Just like you've got a long tongue because of whatever you are."
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:51 pm
"Oh, a moose! Yeah, I'ma plant." Sid didn't know what kind of plant, but he had heard Uncle 'Lexis and Mom talking about the day he had been born when they thought he wasn't listening. He imagined there had been lots of bombs and terrified people running around, but he couldn't be sure.
Speaking of Uncle 'Lexis...
"Uncle 'Lexis, look! It's a moose!" Sid said as Lex entered the bookstore, gesturing at Phineas like he was one of the women on The Price is Right and the other child was a stove.
Lex nodded at the boy and his mother. "Nice to meet you. Why don't you ask him what his name is, Sid?"
"Oh yeah," he said, turning back to the moose boy. "I'm Sid. What's your name?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:57 pm
"I'm Phineas. Phineas Mizerlou. And that's my Mother. She likes drawing too. She draws on people with needles and ink. It's called tatooing." the boy said in a friendly, matter-of-fact sense. After all, he was quite proud of his mother and her pretty pictures.
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:26 pm
Needles? Sid wondered how that worked. He had been poked with a needle at the doctor's, but he couldn't imagine drawing a whole picture with them. "Cool!" he said, because even if he didn't get it, it was. "Can I get drawd on sometime?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:29 pm
Ixxie snorted at that. "Not till you are way older. And it hurts A LOT." she replied with a shrug.
Phineas smiled broadly. "What does your Uncle do?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 6:27 pm
"Oh!" Sid said. "Yeah, I dun wanna be hurt. Uncle 'Lexis works for Mom. He watches me and buys things and answers phones and goes on trips!"
Lex chuckled, then busied himself by shuffling through some on-sale books about Gaian travel near the door.
"What kinda books did you come to get? I can help find 'em." Sid looked up at Lex. "We can."
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:37 pm
"Sounds fun. Trips have always sounded so fascinating. I see pictures of other places in books and magazines alllllllll the time." the child said. He was exaggerating a little, but what does one want from a toddler?
"I dunno yet. Something neat to read. Right now I'm looking more for ones with pictures. Maybe instructions on how to do something fun. Wanna just go look around and see what we can find?" Phineas offered with a huge moosey grin.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 2:22 pm
"Yeah!" Sid said. His favorite book was something about a tall dog and a short dog who both walked on two legs, which didn't seem to fit Phineas' description at all. "Which way?" he asked the other boy, nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 2:29 pm
Phineas stood up on his tip-toes to see over the concert group and spotted as section in the back with a few kinetic toys hanging over it. "Let's go look over there!"
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:43 pm
"Yeah!" Sid said, zipping off in that direction but quickly slowing when Lex called his name. He cast a sidelong glance at the children still listening to Daffi's hypnotic droning, but they didn't hold his attention for long. It lingered next on a book shaped like the first segment of a caterpillar and he reached out to touch it. The book was soft. Too bad it contained the alphabet, which with the exception of Q - a letter Sid hadn't quite gotten the hang of yet - he knew.
Overhead, a wooden plane caught his eye. It was probably a good thing it was too high for Sid to reach. "Planes are cool," he said.
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