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Why were they here? Ben thought in annoyance. Sure, Thali was pregnant, and there should be allowences made for mood swings and cravings for exotic foods. But shopping? Why did it have to be shopping? He would have rather gone any where else besides the mall. Though, as he saw the looks on his sons' faces, his expression softened. They would enjoy this-- at least.

Thali was sitting near the fountain in the middle of the mall, with, to Ben's great dislike and disaproval, Vate. The man didn't think he'd ever learn to like the now self-proclaimed uncle of his children. He silently wondered what Thali was waiting for. Was she looking for someone?

Ben's eyes scanned the hall--some unattended toddler was running towards a large group of people. Wait... was that Joshua? Ben took a closer look at the group. He recognized Stasia and her children. Who was the man? Or-- well, it looked like a man. Ben couldn't be sure.

It took a while for Ben to realize that he was alone-- both Thali and Vate were heading towards them as well. What was this? Why was he being ignored? He wasn't used to this. He watched as Thali walked over to Matthias. By her body language, Ben could tell she was slightly curious. He didn't get it. What was so amasing about a man that needed a haircut?

Thali was curious. "You're Matthias?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. "Are you really a fae? Have you ever been to Lynwood?"

Joshua almost flew to Zemel's side. "Hi Zemel!" He said happily. He spotted what his friend was looking at, and made a face. "Why are you looking at girly stuff?" The way the toddler said girly, you'd think it was a crime. He paused to smile at Ginger. "Wanna go to the Disney Store? I saw it! There's a giant Mickey Mouse with a cape on and a hat!" He looked up at Matthias and gave him a winning smile. "Hi! I'm Josh. What's your name?"

Vinny, on the other hand, was heading towards 'Zuba and Stasia. He didn't know Josh's friends very well, and didn't really want to invade on his older brother's well, you know. Stuff.

Vate was directing himself towards Stasia. "You look beautiful." Was his way of greeting her. "How are you?"

Thali nodded, looking at Matth. "Of course, you're probably too young to have lived there.. You have heard of it, though, right?" She asked, before adding, "I'm Thali," She said brightly. "I've been looking forward to meeting you. Stasia promised to introduce us." She smiled, pausing. She didn't want to overwhelm him and lose a potential friend. She set eyes on Aife and smiled gently. "What's her name?" She asked.

Josh tilted his head slightly. Poor Zemel! Did he have to look at dresses with Ginger too? The toddler hoped his sister wouldn't be like that. He decided to cheer his friend up. "Mommy's gonna have a baby and-- it's a girl. But you and me-- we can teach her to like cars!" He paused, "It's really cool! There's toys and clothes and lots and lots of stuff! Mommy took me there with Vinny and we gots movies!" He nodded at Ginger, "Kay," He said with a smile. "We go now?"

Vinny smiled at his friend. "Whatcha doing?" He asked. "Daddy gave me money for candy. Even though Mommy says no.." He paused, looking as if he didn't understand why she would say such a thing. Candy was good! "Wanna come?" He pointed left, in the direction of the sweets shop.

Ben smiled at Nattie. "Hi Nattie," He said as cheerfully as he could while trying to keep an eye on the boys. Thali certainly wasn't doing the job for him. "How are you?"

Thali smiled. "The pleasure's all mine." She paused, " Aife's an adorable name," She said cheerfully. She decided to avoid the subject of Lynwood for a while-- it wasn't a happy subject. "Stasia never said you liked children."

Josh took Ginger's hand, shaking his head. "We gotta tell someone big where we're going first." He told her. He walked over to Matth, and gently tugged on his pant leg to signal that he wanted attention. "We're gonna go to the Disney Store, kay?" He said, before looking up at his Mommy. "Mommy says she told Nattie's Mommy to tell you.. but I don't think she did." He paused. "So Imma tell you, kay?" He looked at Ginger and Zemel for a moment, reassuring them that he'd be with them in a second.

Vinny smiled, taking 'Zuba's hand. "I'll buy you a treat, kay?" He asked, looking at his friend. "Daddy gave me lots of gold.." This was true. His jean pockets were practically stuffed with money. The only reason Ben had given such amounts was to get the toddlers out of his hair.

Ben smiled, and said, "I'm doing pretty good." He paused, "Kind of hungry, though. Do you want something to eat? We could head to the food courts."

Thali was pleased with Matth's statement, and smiled. Though, as she caught sight of Joshua, it turned into a small frown. She had an idea of what the toddler was going to say. "Not here." She told him, almost looking stern. She looked up at Matth apologetically. "He's got a vivid imagination and loves to tell stories sometimes I think-- Whatever he says isn't true and--"

She was interrupted by an annoyed looking toddler. "Nuh-uh! I heard Mommy and Nattie's Mommy talking about it and she says..." He waited for Thali to turn away before finishing his sentence. "Mommy says... she's the Princess of Lyniewood." He whispered. "But she ran away and now she has me! It's why she dun like Unckle Vate." The toddler gave Matth his most winning smile before taking off. "We go now!" He called to Ginger and Zemel. "Follow me!" He led them down the hall, past the Buildabear Workshop, past Limited Too and Icing-- to a store with a large display of familar characters. "Here it is!" He said happily.

In her irritation with her son's blabbermouth, Thali had left Matth's side and gone to greet Stasia. Josh needed to learn to keep his mouth shut. There were things you just didn't say in public. It'd been a while since she'd seen her friend-- well, at least a few days. "How are you?" She asked, smiling. Her eyes veered to Vate, and she gave him a nod. Clearly she still wasn't on good terms with the dark elf-- unless she was teasing him.

Vate returned the nod, with his eyes focused on Stasia. Something was different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but she'd done something. Was it her posture? Her hair? He frowned in thought. "I'll come with you, if you like," He offered, adding, "Don't leave me with her.." He looked pointly towards Thali. "I don't want to be left with her when she's so moody and... argh.. shopping.." He figured he didn't have to explain himself.

Vinny smiled at his friend, and followed. She was almost a grown up, right? So she was the boss. Even if his parents had always told him to tell an adult before he went anywhere. Anyway, he didn't hear his parents telling him not to go.

Ben shook his head at Nattie. "It's my treat this time," He said smiling, "Next time, though.. I'll expect you to pay." He couldn't help teasing, and winked to let her know. "Nah. Just call it a late birthday present?"

Josh was already taking delight in the action figures from The Sword in the Stone. "Merlin!" He said. "Imma be as powerful as you someday." He told the figure. "When I'm big!" Okay, so maybe it was unlikely that he'd be as powerful as Merlin. But he'd be close to it, at least. He paused, seeing a room full of stuffed toys. "Look Zemel!" He said happily, "Simba's as big as me!"

Vinny nodded, taking the lead. They paused Spencer's, a cosmetic store, some weird hair salon place... Eventually he pointed to a large shop decorated with pictures of sweets. "Here!" He said cheerfully. "Daddy showed me earlier."

Ben smiled, "Sure," He said. He wasn't used to any female party pay for something, even children. It would have made him feel awkward. "So what kind do you want?" He asked, looking at the menu. Who knew there were so many different kinds of cinnamon roll?

Vate was happy, as long as he could get away from Thali. He smiled at Stasia, and took her hand. "I know just the place." He said, leading her down the hall towards several clothing stores grouped together. Gap, Nordstroms, Forever 21, and others.

Thali looked around. Oh no.. She was alone. With a fae. Who'd been told her secret. She sighed, and walked back to the fountain. "Sorry about Josh," She said. "He really loves telling stories. I think it comes from having writers as parents.."

Joshua frowned slightly. Dress up? Dress up was for girls! But Ginger was his friend, and he supposed he should try to make her happy. He reluctantly walked over to her. "Nice." He said dryly. "They're very pretty."

Vinny smiled. "Inside's the best," He said cheerfully. "It's yummy!" He led her inside. The toddler was right-- it did look better on the inside. There were shelves and shelves of candy. Large jars of licorice and peanut brittle, all sorts of sweets.

Ben smiled and ordered. "Two cinnamon rolls, some churros, and two coffees, please." The tender nodded, and went to prepare the order.

Vate smiled, "Okay," He said, "You lead. I've never been to any of those stores." Maybe this was because the only time he went shopping was when he was dragged along by Thali.

Thali frowned slightly. She had a feeling Matth didn't believe her, and she didn't like it. Of course, she had always been bad at lying. Maybe it was a given thing. "I suppose toddlers do, when they believe in something." She said. "Like Santa Claus."

Josh frowned, not only was Zemel acting weird, he even sounded girly! He had to get his friend out of here! "I don't like any of them." The toddler commented, being as blunt as his uncle Vate could be. "The blue one would look nice on you though," He pointed to a Cinderella dress.

Vinny was already looking at the chocolate covered cherries. "Yum!" He said, licking his lips. One of the shopkeepers smiled at him, and asked if he'd like to have a sample. "Yes please," Vinny said happily. The shopkeeper took one of the chocolates and placed it into the toddler's hand.

Ben smiled at Nattie, taking their food to a table. "It's a present, remember." He said, trying to look stern. It didn't work very well, because his eyes were sparkling with mischeif. "I won't have thank yous." He poked his cinnamon roll with a fork, and took a bite.

Vate nodded, though he doubted that he'd like any store. He disliked shopping in general, unless he was getting something to eat. He followed Stasia. He didn't like this store-- it was too dark in front, all of the black items making the shop look like... well, some kind of emo shop. Thali called them emos, Vate didn't know if that was the proper term for them. In the back of the shop, he thought he could be blinded by the bright colors. Pinks, yellows, neon greens. This was not a shop he planned on visiting again.

Thali was starting to feel guilty for lying to someone she had just met. But she didn't want to make a fae angry. She'd never seen one in foul temper, and she didn't want to see one now. She'd heard enough stories to make her a little nervous around them, even if she was fasinated by them. "Um. Look.." She started, "Uh. Have you heard of Almira?"