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Well.... this was getting rediculous! Elf wanted her out again, and so Mackerel went to the mall this time. She was tired of the outdoors - and now with the snow, it was just worse. Not that the mall was much better. So close to the Holidays, it was packed with people, noise, and (the worse) smells. Everything smelled of bodies, pine, cinnamon, and peppermint. Each store wanted to smell the most cheery; but because each one picked a different scent... well, the result was a chaotic olfactory mess. She may not have been a dog, but it irritated Mackerel to no end.

Thankfully, Elf had given her spending money. This allowed her to at least browse around with some sense of being. Mackerel was now sitting on a bench, her single purchase (for herself) right by her. She chewed on a sticky cinnamon roll and washed it down with hot chocolate. Sugar and sugar - though it didn't seem to affect her too much, her attitude was still rather sour as she glared at passerbies.

Her eyes twitched side to side, so it wasn't unheard of that she saw the man with the dark wings come near. He sat on HER bench, and so she set her unsettling blue gaze on him. He shifted a little away, causing the young child to smirk - yeah, he better!

But after a moment, she couldn't help but look further. He looked.... familiar. Her memory was hazy, but as she continued to stare at him, sipping her hot chocolate, things... well, remained hazy.

"Do I know you?" she asked, her voice strong and sure. "No, I do know you! You.... gave us candy one Halloween" was that only three months ago? "and...." Mackerel wracked her brain. Usually her memory was better than this. "Kemuri! You are Kemuri?" She may know him, but that didn't mean she had to like him... then again, he was a Herald, so chances were he had a better chance on being on her good side.

Mackerel snorted very unladylike. Typical for a guy not to remember her name. "I'm Mackerel." She finied with a pause as she finished off her cinnamon roll. And yet, the child still waited, licking off each finger one at a time. He could wait...

"She's at home," the child looked up at him, a somewhat dark sparkle in her eye. "And she TOLD me to leave, even gave me money, see?" Little Kerel took out the little 'purse' with bills and coins. And if he accused her of stealing there would be Hell to pay - she never stooped so low as to steal. "Besides, Elf doesn't have to worry about me - I can take care of myself, even if I am not even four feet tall," she sniffed 'toughly' to prove her point and her wings glowed just that much brighter.

Mackerel shifted in her seat to eye Kemuri. Her bright blue eyes watched his dark ones. It was obvious the question unsettled him and he was concerned about how she would take it. Not that she minded... it was nice to have yourself watched for (not watched over, she hated having to always check in).

"Well," Kerel started, "Elf thinks that I can be clumsy when I break stuff. Truth be told, I thought the vase was hideous.... and the plaster gnome was asking for it - he had it coming. Not that I mind, because of it, she sends me out. And that is something I prefer. Elf isn't the best of company... she's so.... forgetful and cheery."

Then again, if anyone else said anything bad about HER Elf, she would miracously be the greatest human (which was bad enough) the herald knew.

The girl smirked and snorted, "Why? Because I can. It doesn't hurt me, and Elf makes enough money to replace it without too many issues." There were those fish, once... and not all of them survived.... but that was hardly her fault, the fish shouldn't have jumped out!

Mackerel's head snapped to Kemuri with a bright glare, "Elf wouldn't DARE to scold me. Who is she to tell me what I can and cannot do... and what does she know? Hardly would she know what is right for a Herald and not." The deepness of her voice proved how much she believed those words. Elf scolding her....the thought itself was proposterous!

"And she is about as good as company as a doting hen," Mackerel still looked at Kemuri, only now her eyes narrowed.

Mackerel was not one to take his words quietly, nor was she about to be chastised. She truly didn't feel she did anything wrong. Breaking things were very interesting, to see them fall and then break apart. Their break patterns themselves were fascinating. But he didn't seem to be one to understand.

She listened, all the more to Kemuri's outburst. Her eyebrow arched, breaking that accusing glare she had just recently given him. "Excuse me, but just because I am a child doesn't mean I don't have the experience or even knowledge that makes adults so d**n great! Maybe even more so, as people tend to overlook the children." The girl stood on her bench. "You also seem to think that just because I am a child that I am useless and powerless!" Mackerel's fists clenched to her sides and aggitated wings glowing, the girl tried to use her height to whatever advantage she could manage. Her bag purchase was by her feet as well.

"She may having given me house and home, and -by the way- you forgot my second chance at like; but she truly doesn't do much more. All Echo does is work-work-work, not that I mind. I prefer that over her breathing down my neck and telling me what to do!"

Mackerel pursed her lips, he wasn't getting it - he wasn't listening. Just like any other adult; he wasn't going to take anything a mere child said seriously. The girl made an oath to herself, when she grew up she wouldn't take children for granted. And really, who did he think he was? She doubted he'd ever met Echo, and here he was talking as if he'd know her for years. "Well, when it comes to that, we'll just have to see how it goes," which made sense to her - how can youre really commit to a scenario without having experienced it?

"And I'm grateful. To. Her." The girl was trying not to smack this adult, who cares that he was bigger and stronger. "I don't have to like the person I was stuck with, fate is not so kind sometimes." Mackerel looked at him and leaned forward. "And why do YOU care so much? What is between me and Echo is just that; between us."