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Despite swearing to himself to never be seen out in the open with the blue haired child, barely a few hours had passed and Gareth was already out in the streets with the young infant strapped securely in its carrier. It couldn’t be help. There was no milk to be had in the house and the infant had started to fret and shift about restlessly. Fearing that the crying of the infant would attract the attention of the neighbours (as well as his grandparents who live across the street), Gareth had set out with Kaito in search of a shop that might cater to the needs of the young child.

Kaito on the other hand had stopped fretting and was curiously observing the busy streets as people (and animals) made their way about the town; occasionally grabbing onto Gareth’s shirt and pointing at some random object that happened to capture the infant’s attention.

“Yes, yes, Kaito that monkey has been trained to dance in that manner,” Gareth said as they watched a street performer perform with a dancing monkey. Kaito had gurgled excitedly at this spectacle and Gareth had paused a moment to allow the infant a better view.

However, the gurgling soon turned into cries of fear as the monkey, sensing a potential contributor, hopped over to the duo and grabbed the infant’s arm. The action might have only lasted only a second as the monkey’s owner reacted quickly enough and got the monkey away from the blue haired baby but the shock of having a furry little face and cold long fingers grabbing him had scared Kaito greatly and the infant was now crying uncontrollably much to Gareth’s distress. People were now starting to eye the duo; some with bemused expressions while other were frowning at the noise that the infant was making.

"Oh, do be quiet! Please?" begged Gareth but his pleas were ignored as the baby continued to cry his lungs out.

The blue haired kid certainly had good lungs on him as Gareth found out. The crying and wailing had now reached a whole new noise level and what was worse, the cry was not lessening into sobs over time. In fact, Kaito seemed to be doing just fine in maintaining the noise level; eventhough his face was now burried into the shirt of his "parent".

What have I done to deserve this? thought Gareth as he tried in vain to soothe the terrified infant. Feeling lost and embarassed, Gareth was just about to dash off and hide himself from the rest of the world for the rest of his life when...

"Hullo there. Need a little help?"

Those words. They were like MAGIC to Gareth's ears and as the teenage boy turned gratefully around to get a better view of the person who had spoken it, Gareth wasn't overly awed by the angel before him. True, they were rare enough; but in Gaia, one got used to such things over time. What was more important was that the angel seemed to have a child of roughly the same age as Kaito and she was offering HELP.

"Uh, yes please...ma'am," said Gareth not reall sure if he should lift the crying infant out of the carrier or allow the stranger to approach the crying child.

The words the angel spoke seemed to have had an effect in calming the crying infant as his cries were gradually decreasing in volume. Turning his head slightly to face the stranger, Kaito eyed the angel and her baby through tear stained eyes. "Naa?" said Kaito as he tentatively reached out towards the angel before withdrawing his arm once again and staring at Gareth as if to enquire if it was safe to do so.

"Oh, he's stopped crying. Thank you ma'am!" said Gareth with relief as he watched the angel soothe the infant. Ruffling the infant's hair slightly as the infant stared at him, Gareth lifted Kaito out of the carrier so that the infant might have a better view of the angel as well as her child. "See? She has a kid just like you,"

"Ouu," repeated Kaito as he nodded solemnly. The large stranger seemed nice and the child in her carrier had been eyeing him curiously. Feeling shy all of a sudden, Kaito clung to his guardian and peeped out at the strangers through his long fringe.

She liked children. That was good. Perhaps she might be able to help me just once more thought Gareth as he watched the red furred child try to interact with Kaito. "Umm...I have just one more question to ask if you don't mind ma'am," said Gareth as he straightened up to look at the angel. "Would you know of any store around here that sells baby supplies like milk, diapers...and perhaps some baby clothes would be nice too,"
If it had been anyone else, Gareth would have thought twice about asking such a question as the job of buying baby items would usually fall into the hands of the parent and not a fifteen year old teenage kid. Perhaps the angel might find it odd, perhaps she mightn't. Gareth didn't know but she had been very helpful so far.

"Mmmm," aid Kaito as he watched the other reach out its hands. It looked different from Kaito's hand and the blue haired boy was curious. Pushing himself over a little Kaito then stretched out his own hands. They didn't quite reach the other and Kaito was disapointed. With a series out soft gurgles and tugging onto the sleeve of his guardian, Kaito indicated that he would like to be brought closer to the other child.

"Oh, you'd like to have a closer look at your new friend?" asked Gareth as he obligingly brought the blue haired baby over. Then remembering that he hadn't introduced himself or the baby yet, Gareth gave the angel a smile and extended his free hand. "This might be a little late but...I'm Gareth and the little one's Kaito,"

Ah, now he was close enough to touch the other! Kaito smiled and extended his fingers once again; this time, his fingertips had managed to brush against the padded tips of the other and Kaito was suprised to feel its texture. They were different from his and his guardian. "Ah?" asked Kaito in an enquiring manner to the other.

Perhaps it was just a hunch but Gareth had a feeling that the angel had not been to a baby-specific store for quite some time judging by the thoughtful look the angel gave before answering his questions. No matter, he would be able to find these stores easily enough in time. For now, Gareth was just happy that Kaito had something to occupy himself with.

"It's alright," smiled Gareth as he withdrew his hands. "I'm pleased to meet you... Madam Nikomas; if you wouldn't mind me adressing you as such,"

Kaito laughed and stretched himself even further. The other seemed to be doing the same as well. "Nanana...,"giggled Kaito trying to mimick the angel's words. It was fun to pronounce those words and Kaito began repeating them endlessly. "NANA!!"

A sudden peal of laughter made Kaito shift his attention from the other baby to the source of the laughter. There seemed to be some sort of funfair in the nearby park and there was music coming from it. Kaito tapped the other baby excitedly with his hands and pointed in the general direction of the funfair. "Nana!"

Gareth gave a glance towards the funfair before turning towards the excited children and finally looking at the time on his watch. It was getting a little late but he had the whole evening to himself. His grandparents had thought that he was going over to a friend's house for a study session while his friends had thought that he was sick at home. How long he could keep this up Gareth didn't know but decided to worry about it later. Tonight, he was going to spend some time enjoying himself.
"Sure," Gareth replied as he place Kaito into the carrier once again. "But I'd to leave before the shops are closed,"

Kaito was horrified to find that he was being placed into the carrier. Were they separating already? But he had only just met the other!

Stretching his fingers out, Kaito gave a small wail. "Nana!"

"Oh, stop it you silly little thing," said Gareth in a worried tone as he adjusted the straps of the carrier. "We are all going to the fair so please don't cry,"

Gareth grinned back. It felt odd to be called 'Sir' at such a young age as Gareth had the notion that it was mostly old men who seemed to have the word 'Sir' before their names. "Just Gareth will do um...Nikomas,"

The two 'old' people seemed to be reassuring him that they were not going to be parted just yet and it pleased the blue haired child. Following Nanaki's lead, Kaito then began chanting "Gogogo!" as well and clapped his hands in excitement.

They had arrived at the entrance to the funfair and were duly greeted by the ticket seller. " Good day folks! I see you have good tastes! Finest fair in all of Durem! If I do say so myself!" said the ticket seller proudly. "We provide fun to gaians of all ages! Perfect for any family to spend some quality time together! So, what will it be Madam? Three children and one adult? Though you do seem a little young for that one over there " said the ticket seller pointing to Gareth. "But I suppposed that you angels age at a different rate than we do,"

"Yeah, well you look fabulous for a fourty-six year old," replied the ticket seller as he counted the money. Having confirmed that if was of the right amount, he tipped his hat in the direction of the angel. "Hope you have a fun time!"

Gareth stared open mouthed at the angel who was leading the way into the fair. She had paid the ticket seller for his and Kaito's ticket before he had time to stop her! "H-Hey, wait," said Gareth as he jogged after the other. Finally catching up with the angel, Gareth gave Nikomas an exasperated look. " You needn't have done that you know. Here...," said Gareth as he fished out his wallet and counted out the money needed to pay the entrance fee. " For Kaito and me,"

Kaito clung to the carrier tightly as his 'parent' jogged after the other adult and 'Nana'. For some reason or the other, the blue haired boy had taken a liking to the friendly red furred child and wanted to play with him. Kaito certainly hoped that somewhere within this loud and brightly lit area he would have the chance to do so as if would be a shame to part ways without having played together at least once.

The act of Gareth fishing out a wallet full of money and the fact that the young teenager had a baby with him did not go unnoticed. Huddling in the folds of his coat, the stranger eyed the duo with a kind of hungry longing. He would follow them and strike when the time was right. "Young children should not go about with that much cash," mummured the stranger as he lit a cigarette. There might possibly be a little trouble from the winged woman but she too was tied down with a child. The man estimated that if he struck fast, he'd be able to pull it off...