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The note had been perfect, it had been slightly calculated, but it was still perfect and Belladonna was all prepared for the joint pet walk/ picnic she was about to embark on. Despite her heavy protesting, Binx absolutely refused to wear a leash (especially the bejeweled one Belladonna had bought at the pet shop in the maul and he definitely ignored her arguments that at least it wasn't pink) so instead she did the next best thing and that was to bring her newest and pinkest pet: Lethe, the kushi-kushi.
She would have to do, and since she was currently riding happily on the brim of Belladonna's hat, everyone seemed to be in agreement that all was well.

All that was left to do was wait!

A black wicker basket had been packed and was currently seated next to the witch as she waited on the steps of the Reaper Dorms entrance and it was packed full of one checkered blanket (black and red, thank you very much!), one full plastic tub of a vegetarian pasta dish, a small cake and a number of snacks, all of which happened to be lacking any meat whatsoever and Belladonna was only now starting to worry that maybe Daisuke actually ate meat... Or did he eat at all?! Kasumi ate food, so he should too... Right? RIGHT?!
"Stop that." Binx flatly told the witch, one kitty paw pushing at her hands that had been busy clicking her nails together in nervousness. A small look of wonder crossed the witch's face before she plucked him from the steps and hugged him close.
"I'm not nervous." She told him, squishing him against her face while Lethe made cooing noises from above.
"Liar." This came out slightly muffled as Binx was trying his best to keep his face away from Belladonna's. It was best not to reply to that. For at least a few seconds.
"Will you look over my note and make sure it doesn't sound weird?" Belladonna instead asked, setting down the black cat before he could give his assent to the task, and turned to rifle around in the basket. After half her arm disappeared into its depths, she returned with a small folded up note that she laid out flat on the steps before the cat who only rolled his eyes and placed one paw on it to hold it down. Kitty eyes looked over the letter before looking up at his witch, blinking once before asking:
"Did you make two copies?"
"Yes. Is that weird?"
"Very."
Belladonna scoffed at this and snatched the letter up before pressing it against her chest and looking back down to Binx.
"The note...Its not...Weird, is it?"
Binx rolled his eyes again, but jumped into her lap and purred softly: "Not one bit."

Sitting happily in a long black sundress decorated with skulls and white flowers, Belladonna didn't mind the wait she had prescribed to herself. Maybe the other reapers would think her strange for sitting on the steps a good half hour before her meeting time, but for the witch it was time well spent trying to calm her strangely frantic nerves and teaching Lethe a proper introduction. She had been so engrossed in trying to get the hamster to bow its head that she hadn't seen Daisuke approach and only realized he was there when he greeted her.
"Oh hi Daisuke!" Perfect! She was caught happily by surprise and could jump and rush down the stairs to see him. Before she could stop herself she grabbed him into a hug that she broke off as quickly as she started and immediately turned down to address the pet. "Hello Airi! Its so lovely to meet you! I've heard such lovely things about you." Which was true, thank goodness. But wasn't she just a cutie? "Can I pet her?" The witch asked, one hand reaching out one hand tentatively.

"Oh! Oh this is Binx--" The witch turned and signaled for the cat to come closer and he did, it just took him a little bit longer than most animals as he was trying to determine whether Airi was a dog or a cat... In the end he couldn't decide and kept his distance, nodding once to Daisuke and offering a small "Good day, sir" before turning his gaze back to the purple animal. "And this is Lethe!" Belladonna reached up to take the pet from her hat and hold her out to Daisuke, where upon she promptly bowed her head before falling all the way over in the most adorable fashion. "Isn't she cute?" The witch asked, depositing the creature back onto the brim of her hat where Lethe ran around its circumference once before happily sitting in view of the newcomers. "So! How was your week?"
Though her cheeks were a bit flushed from her impromptu hug, Belladonna was feeling excited and any sort of excitement was quickly turned into mindless chatter.

"Mine was good! I started music class and I have to decide what instrument I want to play. I could sing too, but I'm not sure how well I sing. Sometimes its good, but sometimes I can't hit the notes and its REALLY BAD and Binx gets mad at me. Hee hee!" Maybe mindless chatter wasn't always a good thing...

Doing her best to not stare openly at the wisp, Belladonna instead turned her full attention to the animal before her. Already it was rubbing against her outstretched palm in a way that only very friendly cats did and instantly the girl was smitten. "You darling dear you!" She cried, reaching forward with both hands to scratch Airi's back and between her ears. The smile and subsequent little bits of adoration that fell from Belladonna's mouth were meant for the pet, but could easily be meant as compliments to the owner's pet raising abilities. "Sometimes pets bite, so I wanted to ask first... Junko's got a little foxsquirrel and he is not friendly. Not one bit!" Thankfully she was currently training the creature, so hopefully it wouldn't be so mean in the future...

"Daisuke. Yes?" Binx asked, sufficiently pleased that Airi was not a dog (or at least not where it counted) as he trotted over to stand in front of the boy, not really wanting to admit he wanted to be petted too. "You are Belladonna's friend, yes? Wisp?" Oh dear, he sounded rather serious.
"BINX! Don't interrogate him!" Belladonna scolded, give Airi one final pet before standing and picking up the basket. "Shall we?" She asked, linking her opposite arm with Daisuke's and leading him away.

"You want to hear me sing? You're crazy. I sing very poorly, I assure you." But he had said he'd love to hear her sing! Whatever could that mean? Thankfully he disrupted those thoughts with telling her about his own week and mentioning of her good friends! "You met Lizzy? Isn't she just a doll? I adore her! We have such similar tastes and her mother owns a very respectable clothing store! And she's just so sweet." Maybe saying how wonderful Lizzy was wasn't such a good idea, especially considering... Considering what? Belladonna pushed the thought aside and smiled at the boil.

"Oh this thing? Thank you! But its just something my mother helped me make forever ago. I figured it would be good to wear for today! Its rather warm!" Which wasn't a bad thing, though Belladonna did like the cooler, more autumn weather than the this warm, almost spring-time feeling. "I like your hoodie! It looks really comfy." The witch finally did take a moment to inspect the boy though she had been trying hard not to (its looked not only desperate, but stalkerish as well) and paused in her inspection. "You look good without the glasses. You look good both ways!"

"What are your--" "BINX!" "I was going to say hobbies, goodness me."
The little tug of war verbal play was quickly dropped by the cat who filed quietly in line next to the scareon, though his little kitty eyebrows were quirked in the strangest fashion as though he were planning something.
"Picnic time! YES!" Belladonna nearly shouted with glee, wanting to clap her hands together but hampered by the basket and instead shrugging her shoulders in what she hoped looked happy to the boil.
"Its a rather unfortunate idea." Binx mentioned softly from behind them, his tail crooked in a way that suggested he wanted to head this expedition but not actually knowing where they would picnicking and instead leaving it up to his witch. Belladonna only shot the cat a very meaningful look before turning back to her dear wisp.
"I sing horribly, but maybe I will... Entertain you. Maybe." She'd have to seriously think on it. After that she went on a little ramble as to the various creations, politics and general well-keeping of the Baines Clothing company, somehow having quite a lot of knowledge she was more than willing to impart to the listening Daisuke. It was so good he was so kind and found whatever Belladonna happened to spew interesting! Most other people would have asked her to shut up forever ago!

"Well, I like them either way. Erm..." Huh, that wasn't quite it. "I like your eyes either way!" That wasn't it either and a very heavy blush was forming on the girl's face. "WE'RE HEADED BEHIND THE MONSTER DORMS." Had she shouted that? Oops. "I mean, there's a pretty lake behind the monster dorms. We're not headed to the lake, Binx doesn't like it."
"Not one bit." The cat added, taking a few steps away from Airi when she grabbed his ribbon and frowning at her before realizing something else. If she took it off then he wouldn't have to wear it! He wiggled against the ribbon behind them, one paw reaching up to tug at it.
"But we'll be near the lake. There's a nice little field there too and we can set up there and watch the clouds roll by!" For being a warm day, it was at least cloudy, which probably made it worse but Belladonna was hoping for rain.

In fact, she was hoping for it so much that she couldn't help but let her mind wander into a little daymare about what would happen if they were caught in the rain. Obviously Binx would screech loudly and fret everywhere, but would Daisuke protect the witch? A little sideways look was chanced by the witch, as she wondered idly to herself about various things. Today would probably end with rain and a few questions answered... Or at least she highly hoped for that...

"Have you met any monsters here on campus?" The silence had carried on too long and the witch quickly chanced upon a subject she hoped they could at least talk about for a moment and eventually go onto something else...

Today seemed to be going so well! Why did Belladonna have to say such strange things like "I like your eyes"?! What was she, some sort of desperate, sad, romance-novel obsessed creature who spewed random things like that?!
Well, no. She wasn't. So maybe she should stop acting so weird...
"Y-yeah! They're pretty!" The witch asserted, nodding her head proudly once. "Or, handsome? Whichever you like better, I guess." Now she couldn't help but giggle. Unintentionally she was making jokes, which was a start, she guessed...
While Belladonna was busy trying to calm herself, Binx was looking at Airi funnily, his own mouth opening in a tiny meow that he was only slightly unused to.
"Would you want some pink monstrosity at your throat?" He asked in his best cat-voice, making Belladonna crane her head back to him for a moment before leaning into Daisuke and whispering: "Wow! He hasn't spoken cat in a long time, he must like Airi!"
When the ribbon loosened around the cat's neck he shook his head before pausing to touch his now-free neck for a moment. But of course this was only short lived as the ribbon landed on his face and he angrily shook it away, not bothering to pick up, no matter how angry he knew Belladonna would be about it...

"Yeah! We won't have to go near the lake or anything, but its pretty." Ooh, he was touching her arm! A few little alarms of joy went off in the witch's head, but she kept her cool by nodding her thanks to the boy, not being able to help it when her head landed on his shoulder. "Thaaanks."
And then they were interrupting each other and Belladonna wasn't sure if she should cry or laugh hysterically, or just laugh normally, but she finally shrugged and let out a long sigh. "Junko is great, but I don't think I've met Tahki. I have met another gryphon! Ren! You know him?" Probably not, he didn't seem the most social person outside his little circle...

And when Belladonna's hip brushed against the wisp's she couldn't help but bite her bottom lip before looking up to him.
"I'm fine. Just... Nervous? I guess?" Was she really going to admit this? Right here? "Last time I came to the lake I was almost drowned... Well, not almost, but he wanted to drown me." Darn, her courage had failed her!! But there would be time, right? Since whatever she had been attempting to suppress these last few days was finally dawning on her. It was always best to admit to these sort of things... "Oh! Its just right over this little hill!" The witch proclaimed happily, picking up her pace without letting Daisuke go or even relenting her hold just a little.

While Belladonna was directing to Daisuke the finer points of Binx's deep and always calm attitude toward other pets, Binx was eying Airi. She had said the ribbon suited him? Hadn't Belladonna said the same thing?! Wasn't this all just a trap to get him to wear it instead of something more dignified like a cape or a normal collar or even a little kitty tie?! Why did her sister's cats get scarves to wear and he was forced into a ribbon?!
"If you like it so much, keep it. A gift from me to you." Binx meowed at her, his tail swishing once. He refused to get into another argument about what and what did not suit him. Already the corrvidiuses Belladonna owned would caw their assent at him, but no more!

"Oh, that's right I suppose..." The witch paused, looking up at Daisuke. "The blue-glow was pretty, but I much rather like you without it." Not that she had anything against blue-glow, of course! "Oooh, when you take your wisp form do you have a certain color? Like blue or green? I'd probably be pink!" And had the witch known Daisuke thought her last visit to the lake had been what he deemed 'traumatic' she probably would have hugged him from sheer gratitude to his kindness. "Oh its alright. Calder just kind of mistook me for something else, I'm sure." Um. Had she told Daisuke who Calder was? Probably not. "Calder is the kelpie! You've probably seen him, white hair, sometimes sullen, talks about the literature teacher a lot." Yup! That should do it!

"OF COURSE!" The witch told him with a laugh, dragging him along with a few cries of "C'mon!" and "Hurry up you slow poke!" before they finally crested the hill and Belladonna drew to a startling halt. The expanse of field below them descended in a gradual, slow descent until it leveled out into the lake on their left and a clearing of dead grass that eventually turned into woods on their right. "Do you want to sit near the trees? Or in the very middle?" Belladonna asked, once again resuming her drag of the boil. She was too excited to stand around on hilltops and if she did that long enough she'd probably start confessing things like they do in the novels she read so voraciously. And that wasn't good! She hadn't gauged this whole thing enough and now she was blushing, but they were getting closer and gee, this was fun but so weird. AHH.

The small shift of uncertainty on Daisuke's face made the witch jump, one hand wanting to touch him for reassurance but hindered by the basket so instead she only smiled and nudged him with her shoulder.
"He thought I was... Something worth drowning is all." Belladonna told him, looking up at him with eyes a touch closer to wide than she expected. "Its fine, he was really nice after that. I took him for a ride on my broom too! He's never flown before." For a moment she paused, looking back up at him. "You can fly, because you're kind-of a ghost, right? You can fly in your wisp form, can't you?" Asking questions was one way to keep him talking as well as keep the witch from doing nervous clickings with her nails. Or blushing. That one was bad.

"Blue suits you so well!" She chirruped, the hand around his arm touching the fabric of his hoodie. "Aww! I'd be the prettiest pink wisp ever!" Plus a little self-flattery helped from time to time as well. It was extremely tempting to twirl, but Belladonna instead only let out a tiny noise of surprise when he bumped into her, and another small giggle when he took her hand and led her down the small hill. It was always exciting to share one's favorite spot with another, but now that she was here... This was different from that and Belladonna just wasn't ready to examine that emotion yet. "A... A blanket?" Belladonna asked, completely unaware of the question being asked and only focused on the soft chill that passed from his touch. "YES!" She finally shouted, trying not to break the hold but having to as she set down the basket and flipped it open, bending over to pull out the red and black checkered blanket.

"Manly appeal!?" The startled 'merow' that Binx enacted startled the little pink kushi that had been busy hanging on so that it now scurried from the witch's hat to her shoulder.
"Oh! You alright?" Belladonna asked, one hand reaching up and taking the kushi so she could look at it. "Scared? Want to hide in the basket?" Lethe nodded fiercely so she settled it between two bins of food before holding the blanket out to Daisuke. "I don't know what's wrong! Maybe she thinks it'll rain..." Pink eyes found the darkening sky but thought nothing else of it. "Well! Let's spread out the blanket, why don't we?" She asked, darting forward so that they almost touched front-to-front before grabbing the opposite end of the blanket and darting back out.

Binx glared at Airi the whole way down, his tail swishing more with embarrassment than anger.
"Are you being honest? Or are you making a joke of me?" He asked, not able to hide the tiny note of joy he derived from someone being brave enough to take a stab at him. It wasn't everyday he encountered other pets ready to make jokes with him! It was actually rather refreshing!

Since his face had still not cleared of its confusion or concern, Belladonna mentally filed away the note to one day tell Daisuke about the time she met Calder, but for now it would have to wait as he was asking questions. Hecate bless the boil who asked questions!
"A little, but I'm getting better at it!" She told him with an untold amount of pride. "I don't want to brag," Well, maybe a little... "But I'm an excellent flier. One more person is just like gaining a lot of weight really quickly! It helps if they can keep the mental wave of flight going too." Maybe she'd take him flying one day? But if he could float, he could just soar through the air with her? Oh, wouldn't that be just oodles of fun?! And the idea of Daisuke floating through the air like a paper lantern made the witch go all soft. It was a rather romantic idea really.

Though it would have probably done her a bit more good to have watched the wisp, Belladonna was busy setting up the blanket, weighing it down with various books she had brought along so that if a strong wind picked up it wouldn't be blown away. Granted, she probably she had seen Daisuke's face when she got so close, it would certainly have cleared up a few things running through her mind! But she didn't, so she instead turned to the basket, sitting on her knees and looked up at the boil.
"Sit down! Its nice here." A little breeze picked up a few strands of hair and she smiled. "Are you hungry? I brought some food, but if you want to wait that's ok too!" As for the possibility of rain, they were a bit too far from the woods if a sudden downpour hit, but if it just began sprinkling they'd be ok. Goodness if it stormed they would be in quite a lot of trouble!

As for Binx, he took almost took a cue from Airi and laid down next to her, but the grass was too scratchy for him so he ceremoniously trotted over to the blanket before plopping down. Tch, smart enough to figure it out. Instead he ignored the comment in favor of one long meow that told Airi she was allowed on the blanket if she could behave herself. It was more of a joke than an actual decree, so the cat felt it unnecessary to open his eyes and watch her reply.