Quote:
Savannah Cats & Polar Bears
Reference: (PRP) So A Cat & A Bear Walk Into A Mall... (PM)
Who: Eirwyn & Orion
INCOMPLETE.
Brad was silently praying to whoever listened that Jahzara would never grow. She was so enthralled with everything she saw that her teenage years promised to be painful to his time and wallet. The cat-girl had insisted upon a visit to the mall (the little shops on the boulevard weren't as cool as the mall, she'd argued, even though she'd never been), and after bartering chores for the next month, the man relented. Now, he was wishing he hadn't.
Jahzara had her paws on damn near everything. This shirt, those shorts, and that dress (that she'd never wear, but that was besides the point); she had to have these toys, those books and this game; it was a never ending torrent of desires and demands. The cheetah was beside herself with glee, tugging her striken father by the hand, tangering eyes darting between each store they passed to see which would be her next prey.
Unless something terribly shiny distracted her, Brad was going to need to get a second job just to feed her material hunger.
There were very few things Orion hated more than shopping. One of those things, unfortunately, was having to shop at a place that was positively teeming with people. He'd brought Eirwyn to the mall in spite of this, however, as the boy was proving that children really did grow like weeds, dammit--and he was going to need some new clothes, otherwise he was going to be running around naked sometime in the very near future. It was a prospect that his rather cantankerous guardian didn't relish...which was how they'd ended up here. That said, as one might guess, he was hardly in the best of moods, glaring cooly at passers-by who looked like they wanted to ask him where on earth he'd gotten such an adorable little son.
With that in mind, he'd dragged Eirwyn, who seemed content to lollygag his way through the torturously crowded shopping center, into one of the many clothing stores that occupied this blight of a building, grabbing articles of clothing quickly--the faster they got finished, the faster they could get the hell out've here. He picked out a few pairs of unremarkable jeans, some khakis, a few short-sleeved, button-down shirts, and a couple of other things that happened to catch his eye, careful to keep one eye on Eirwyn, preferring to not have to hunt for him once he'd finished browsing, and paying. It was a scenario they'd played out multiple times, and it wasn't one that he was a fan of.
Eirwyn, on the other hand, was rather enjoying the bustle of the mall. He'd finally mastered talking, but still was not the most chatty of infants, preferring to reserve his vocalization for when Orion was being particularly ignorant of his wants. It had saved both himself and his guardian a great deal of frustration...sometimes, anyway.
However, he was not all that fond of the clothing Orion was picking out-it wasn't that it was overly formal, but by the same token, he was already far more interested in the ripped jeans, artfully torn shirts and fashionably edgy clothing he saw some of the older teens wearing than he was in the neat, tidy jeans and shirts that Orion seemed to think were more appropriate. (let it be pointed out that, at this age, it wasn't so much the clothing itself that appealed to the little polar bear, but rather, the attention it seemed to garner from others).
That said, he didn't care enough to create a fuss, choosing instead to wander a short distance off, his short, fluffy little ears perking forward as he made his way towards the store's entrance into the mall, debating as to whether he could make it out into the crowd before Orion caught up with him, and gave him holy hell.
Unfortunately, this was the store the cheetah decided to visit next, and being the impulsive and quick acting child that she was, Jahzara turned sharply into the store without a second thought. She was still quite young, she rarely considered that others might be caught up in Whirlwind Jahzara, and thus she nearly ran directly into the white-earred kid near the entrance. Despite her age, she was a quick learner, and this was not the first time she'd nearly made a collision; she bounded into the air, leaping neatly over the infant there, landing on her feet and looking positively puzzled as if her legs had moved of their own accord.
She turned around to regard the small ball of white, opening her mouth to reprimand, but it quickly turned into a joyous squeal of delight. "Ohmygosh," she squeaked, crouching down to regard the polar bear boy, "aren't you just the cutest darn thing EVER?"
"You can't have one," came Brad's dry reply, more than a little relieved his daughter had managed to not run someone over for a change. He shook his shaggy black hair, blue-indigo eyes lighting on the infant with concern. Well, he wasn't bleeding, that was a good start. "You okay there, kiddo?"
"'course he's fine, look how CUTE he is!" Jahzara exclaimed. Of course cuteness meant all was well with the world! There was no rationalizing with the exciteable girl, who was practically wrapping her arms around herself to keep from hugging the perfect stranger. "Hi, I'm Jahzara, can we be friends? You have super cute ears! Cuter than mine even!" The last statement came as something of a revelation, slitted eyes blinking thoughtfully before deciding it was okay that something was cuter than her. White ears were way cooler than spotted ones, right? She smiled admiringly at the young boy, entranced for at least the next thirty seconds.
Eirwyn grinned, eyes widening at Jahzara's antics--she'd managed to impress him right off the back with her neat leap, and equally neat landing. When she squealed, fussing over him, his usual, rather smug grin crept across his face, his ears tilting towards her with interest.
Sparing Brad a glance when he asked after him, Eirwyn nodded--after all, just because Orion was antisocial didn't mean that he'd allow for his charge to be overtly rude to others--that was -his- position, after all..it was a privilege one only earned with age. Turning back to Jahzara, Eirwyn wriggled his ears, thrilled at the attention they were getting. "I Eirwyn." he said a moment later, grinning more widely as he nodded in response to her question as to whether they could be friends. As if understanding that reciprocating the compliment was the proper thing to do, he looked up at her ears, studying them for a moment before speaking again. "Pretty color, your ears~"
Orion, almost knocking over an unfortunate saleswoman, finally arrived on the scene, barely bothering to disguise his irritable expression. "Eirwyn, you're not bothering these people, are you?" Furrowing his brows, he looked down at the white-haired toddler, expression clearly stating that, if he was, he'd better knock it off.
[My reply would have been with Orion's.]
