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 Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:54 am
Eliot rose his eyebrows again, looking at Anna as though she might be contagious, "Cats?" He asked slowly, looking around. "Are we talkin' bout them anthro people all the girls flip out over?" Obviously, his time on earth and then gaia had not properly educated him OR Soloman in ... outdated phrases, all they knew is she was beginning to talk weird.
Soloman smiled quickly to repair, "Uh, yeah, I'm sure she aint. Still, you won't hold it against us if we don't let our little dude play 'pirates' with your kid any time soon."
Harper rolled his eyes haughtily, glaring at Anna. "You just love bursting peoples fun, doncha? Couldn't shop for your baby alone, Oh nooo, not like baby clothes aren't basically one size fits all. Cause we know this little girl is a big fashionista and the other kids at potty training class are gonna judge her if she's not in brand names-"
"Harper."
"Yeah, I know, overdoing it. Bye, Casia. Your boring mom is takin' you away now."
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 5:13 pm
"Deal, but you have to agree to have a tea party with us. Y'dig?" Anna shook her head-- 60's slang kept leaking out of her mouth like gas out of a tailpipe, and at this rate, she'd be speaking in nothing but it. Perhaps they had better cut out soon.
Seeing that she would be swept away soon, Casia clung to Harper, wrapping her little arms tightly around her neck. "Haaap!" she said to him, before waving a sad little "Goodbye" to him as Anna scooped her up. The guardian shook her head, smiling at Harper. "Hang loose, jelly roll, we'll be back soon. Besides, I couldn't just leave her at home, and I certainly don't trust leaving her with the general public. Anyway, we better jam." She nodded to Eliot and Soloman, grinning. "It was nice meeting you all!"
As they strolled out of the shop, Casia peered over Anna's shoulder with big, watery eyes. She didn't want to go! Anna was so cruel, how COULD she!? That monster, that beast, tha-
"BWOOOOP! BWOOOOP! BWOOOP!" The sirens in the metal detectors had suddenly gone off, causing the girl to nearly jump 5 feet. She turned around, feeling a wave of both embarrassment and fear wash over her. She didn't take anything! Feeling around for anything that could have set it off, she only produced her wallet, an old pocketwatch, and a cellphone. "I-I d-didn't take anything! H-honest!" Oh dear, now Anna was looking teary-eyed.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 5:25 pm
Harper had grinned at the girls' scene, holding her back when she'd clung to him until it was futile and only a solemn wave produced from the boy as she left. He got to his feet and walked a bit after them until the alarms started going off, knowing exactly what had happened he couldn't help but smirk.
At the commotion, the boy shimmyed over to the broken bass that was still on the floor. People weren't concerned with him so it was relatively easy for him to grab off a peice of broken metal from the front.
"Eh, Solo, how come you always get the fugitive types. First that girl that got you busted in jail, then that other girl who convinced you to go to that NASA protest and ya'ended up handcuffed to a rocked about to launch in to space-" Eliot sighed.
Solo grinned. Good memories. They levitated over to Anna and Casia and smiled in amusement, "Calm down dudette!" Solo encouraged.
Harper, meanwhile, had stalked back over, and as the cashier continued to harass the woman and her daughter he cleared his throat and in alarmingly loud voice belted, "HEY! look what I found by the door! Baby must of dropped it when the alarms wen' off." He held up the piece of bass. There was no way that was going to work; but, unfortunately for general commerce, Harper'd been able to shop lift and get out of trouble with worse ploys in the past.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:32 pm
With a big sniff, Anna nodded, before trying to smile. She was a good girl at heart, it was just hard to act older than she really was. More importantly, though, she had to remain responsible, as well as set a good impression for Casia. After all, she was only a baby, and stealing was wrong.
The baby gave a giggle as she watched Harper sneakily grab the piece of metal and wave it around. He was sly like a fox, he was. "Haaaap!" she cooed, clapping her hands in a 1-2 pattern. Her guardian tilted her head, before giving a sigh of relief. "That must've been it, or else my watch, perhaps?" she suggested, watching as the store manager walked over to survey the scene. He had a few tattoos of snakes and flaming hearts and whatnot, but looked surprisingly kind and cheery. "Just make sure she doesn't take a whole guitar next time!" he joked, causing the crowd that had formed to laugh. Annabel managed a fake laugh, while her siren child was still fixed on Harper.
Once everything was back in order and no damage had been done (aside from the guitar), the two walked into the pastel-y store filled with soft, plush forest animals, a playpen for weary mothers to dump their children in, and loads and loads of baby clothes. As Anna set Casia down next to her and began looking at little white dresses, the baby looked at the exit of the store, hoping Harper would pop in and cause chaos like she'd witnessed earlier.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:31 pm
The incredibly smug look on Harper's face after Anna and Casia left told Eliot something was up. When they'd left the music store, Eliot'd pulled Harper aside, and after a brief explanation Eliot slapped his forehead.
"Great. We are accomplices in the corruption of a baby." He muttered, though he seemed a bit amused regardless.
Having watched Anna take Casia over in to the other store, Harper managed to run off a minute later. He wasn't sure why he was so interested in the little girl, but he was, besides, he wanted to gloat about his helping her. He'd walked in to the store and spotted her, walking over quickly. He didn't say anything, but was grinning impishly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:54 pm
While Anna was too busy looking at dresses and the like, Casia immediately spotted Harper and stumbled over to him. "HAH-" She paused, realizing if Anna heard her, she'd be dragged back over. "Ooh. Haaap!" she whispered, giggling softly. She tugged out the necklace from her pocket, and after showing it to him, she hugged the boy tightly, as if to 'Thank you'. "Haaap plahy?" the siren asked, standing up. They could play hide and seek! Not only could they hide from Anna, they could do what she'd seen the other children in the store do: hide in clothing racks!
The guardian of the tiny tot had already picked out a little white dress, a little sailor dress, and little cardigans and socks and such. She'd occasionally address Casia, despite the child's absence, which caused a few moms to stare at her oddly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:04 pm
Harper grinned. "No problem dudette, that whole innocent baby routine works for ya! For now anyway." He said, bending down again. "What?" He asked, looking a bit confused. "You wanna play? ... Alright. What do you wanna do?" He scratched his head, looking a bit put out again. What were they gonna do, play 'scary faces' or something moronic like that? Oh well. Nothing better to do for now.
He peeked through some clothes over at Anna and cringed, "Wow. She's really gonna have you dressed up like a joke in no time. Poor kid... When you're older and have more say in the matter, I'll show you how to dreww up cool and stuff, deal?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:15 pm
The siren grinned widely, and grabbed his hands, roughly slapping them over his eyes. "Haaap.. euh.." What was that word? Cool? Crank? Cat? .. Oh, to hell with it. "Haaap see...see..smee?.... seek! Haaap seek!" Casia glowed with pride, having correctly pronounced the word. Boy, if Anna could see her now!
But she couldn't, which was good. Even if Harper hadn't started counting, she immediately dashed off to a table where little pairs of shoes sat. She immediately scurried underneath it, only to find it was rather obvious. Casia sprung to her feet, and stumbled to a clothing rank, pushing aside little coats and shirts, and sat inside the ring. She giggled wildly; playing hide and seek was fun! The siren baby felt as though the rack was impenetrable, as though only she could enter!
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:50 pm
Harper shook his head, covering his eyes up and counting to ten. This could be more boring, he thought, oblivious to the obvious problems of loosing a baby in a store without her mother. When he opened his eyes again he made no games or pretending of being 'lenient for her age' and tore through clothing racks trying to find the girl. After about a dozen, he'd homed in on the one she was in, and instantly thrashed through some of the shorts. "Ah ha!"
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:19 pm
With a scream of delight (which caught Anna's ears), the baby jumped up and leapt out of the clothing rack, flapping her little wings. Even though they didn't help her fly, they somehow managed to lift her off the ground juuuust enough so that her foot got hooked on one of the legs of the crack. Before she knew it, Casia was hitting the ground rather roughly, her chin taking the brunt of the fall.
What just happened? The baby slowly pushed herself up, not really feeling anything but shell-shocked at first. Then, a painful stinging sensation filled her lower jaw, causing her to slowly sniffle, then get teary-eyed, then cry, then WAIL. Her crying was as loud as Harper's voice almost, causing the employees, the customers, and the children to cover their ears, yelling as well. Her jaw hurt a lot. A LOT. And Casia was not one to hold in her emotions, at least not as a baby. A very, very faint trickle of blood appeared at the top of her lower lip, beginning to dribble down slightly.
Anna almost instantly recognized the banshee screaming, and bolted over to the scene, as did a few employees. One of them held a first aid kit, as if this kind of thing happened often in the store. The girl nearly shrieked too, when she saw poor Casia with blood on her chin and tears streaming down.
"CASIA!! Harper!.... HARPERRRR..."
The only word that could describe Anna at that moment was homicidal. Or vengeful, one of the two. She glared daggers-- no, javelins at the poor boy, seeming to believe he was responsible for this. And in a way he was, but it wasn't as though he knocked the baby down. Her anger subsided for a moment, though, as the employees opened the kit, taking a bit of gauze-- which Anna took and gingerly dabbed the blood off--, and a little bag full of extra gauze.
"She might have knocked a tooth out," one of them suggested.
"What?!" Her baby would be scarred! Imagine her smiling in a photo, and she's missing a tooth! She'd look like a hick! Anna gently scooped up Casia, kissing her all over her face and stroking her head, reassuring her quietly.
And then she gave another death-glare Harper's way.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:23 pm
Harper blinked as innocently as he could. He'd at first moved over to comfort her, but when the bustle of adults happened he'd retreated toward the exit of the store. Anna's glares caught glares of indignant 'I did nothing wrong!' from the boy, and by the second time, he'd decided that meant it was time to live. "... Bye..." He muttered, sprinting out of the store.
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