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She was going to get better at this senshi thing. She was. Which was why she'd steadfastly decided to start getting more used to her senshi form. In theory, this was a good idea - take your everyday tasks and perform them as a senshi. It was an idea that'd gone well just about up to the point where she realized she needed to get some shopping done. Like, she really needed to get her shopping done. Which meant going out of the house.

But her hairdryer had died and, unfortunately, the local supermarket just didn't stock the brand of hairdryer she used. And as Vanadis had learned, All Hairdryers Were Not Created Equal, and she was not going to ruin her hair by using an inferior brand. Her hair was precious, OK.

So to a shopping street it was. Luckily it was still fairly early in the afternoon and the stores were still open. It hadn't taken long to find what she'd needed, although the stares (and occasional jeers) as she shopped were a bit disconcerting. The clerk had been almost too distracted to ring her item through, but finally she'd managed to get through to him long enough to make her purchase and get out of the store.

Which was how she came to be strolling around the streets of stores in DC with a shopping bag in her hand, attempting to ignore the other people around her.

Sailor Vanadis, Senshi of Wards stopped, blinked, and looked down at her feet. Was that.. was that the feeling of something furry rubbing against her ankles? Yes, she identified, yes it was.

"Who're you, little fella?" Kneeling down on the sidewalk, the red-head held out a hand for the little cat to sniff. So cute! So adorable! Those stubby little legs, whatchamacallit, a munchkin, right, that was it! Aww, it was so soft and irresistible. Right there on the middle of the sidewalk, with angry civilians passing her and muttering curse words, Vanadis melted.

Okay, that was not what she'd been expecting. At all. Whatsoever. Vanadis blinked again, this time more furiously and a lot more confused. Wha-- a guardian cat? Sure, she knew about guardian cats; she still remembered the terrifyingly grumpy one that had awakened her, but other than Astraea, she'd never met another talking cat.

Except now she obviously had. And he was adorable. The red-head melted again, entirely at the mercy of the little munchkin cat. "Aww, of c-course we can be friends!" She tentatively reached out to pat him on the head. How could she resist? He was so cute! "Shopping?" She paused, looking around as a tiny bell went off in her head. How could a talking cat shop? Probably with even more difficulty than a full-on senshi. She narrowed her eyes, looking down at him. "How're you gonna do that? Civilians are s-silly y'know, you could get hurt!"

She was flattered that he thought she was the best person around, but really, at the moment worry for his safety was prevailing. What if someone freaked out and attacked him when he tried to shop? Talking cats weren't the norm, after all.

"Oh, I guess that's true." He was really cute; if anyone could improve the civilians' view on senshi (and their shopping habits too, probably) Vanadis figured it'd be Pippin. He was so sweet! How could any of the people that were passing them by on the sidewalk resist stooping down to put their hands in his fur? He was... well, she'd never much been one for cats - and especially after the whole thing with Astraea - but if anyone could convince her to become a cat lady, this little munchkin was definitely it. And he was so nice! Not at all like the grumpy guardian cat that'd first taught her how to power up; no, Vanadis was sure that if Pippin was ever going to power anyone up, he'd be polite and loveable and utterly cute about it, and not grumpy and terrifying and slightly scolding like Astraea had been. "But, um, I'm not sure all of these shops allow pets in them. Not that you're a pet, I mean, you're o-obviously a guardian cat which is cool and awesome, but they don't know that."

And then she listened as the little munchkin asked her a question - he looked a bit confused, and really, she couldn't blame him because going out as a sailor scout had been one of her dumbest ideas yet, probably, only she couldn't quite regret it after meeting him. And she might still be learning something, yeah, you never knew!

Just as she was about to explain (possibly fib a tiny bit to make it sound less idiotic) all this to him, he started... he started crying. Vanadis gaped. Could cats even do that? Except obviously they could and he looked just miserable with fat tears rolling down his little kitty face and she just couldn't handle it OK, so with sympathy tears in her eyes, the red-haired senshi scooped up Pippin and gave him the best hug she could, burying her face - and her own tears, she was an easy crier, so what - in his fur and petting him while she held him close.

"I-it's OK! You don't need to be sorry, at all!" Her voice was slightly muffled by his fur, so she drew her head back and positioned him so he was facing her. "You should never, ever be sorry about having emotions because emotions are what make you hum-- er, well, cat, I guess. It's what makes you a person." She looked awfully determined while giving this little spiel; it had occurred to Vanadis that a whole lot of awesome people seemed to be sorry for crying, like it was something to be ashamed of. It wasn't, in her opinion, it was what showed who a person was and their strength.

That still didn't mean that she had any idea what he was crying about, though...

"It's OK." She patted him gently, stroking his fur and giving him an encouraging smile. It probably looked a bit weird, because her face was getting blotchy from the crying and she had to keep sniffing her nose lest the less attractive side-effects of crying escape her right there on the sidewalk.

"Um, I'm s-sure you can be! Like, I know this cat, like, Astraea? She was a cat like you when I first met her, but the second time I saw her she turned into a lady. She looked really human! Just, um, ears and tail stayed, if I remember correctly." She nodded determinedly, sure that Pippin could achieve the same one day. That was what talking cats did, right? Turning into human-like people. Honestly, she had no idea, Astraea was the only one she'd ever met and could compare situations to.

And then he went and suggested shopping again. Oh, what the heck. "Right, let's go shop! What k-kind of things are you interested in? 'cause I mean, we can go check out perfumes and stuff but I'm not sure your nose can take it." She looked worried again, petting him distractedly and trying to think of what else they could go shop for. What would a kitty even want to shop for, in the first place? Cat treats, toys?

"I, I don't really know." She thought for a few moments, trying as hard as she could to remember everything she knew about guardian cats. It was awfully little. "But, um, the first time I met her she wasn't a cat-lady, it was only later. Maybe.. maybe it's like, a coming of age thing? L-like, you hit five years, congratulations! Human-cat time?" It was the best she could think of, anyway, but even she had to admit it didn't sound very plausible. But honestly, she just didn't know enough about guardian cats to make a real, educated guess and this was the best she could do.

"Oh, okay!" She stood up, bringing Pippin with her. "Er, d'you want to w-walk yourself? Only, I'm not sure the store will let you in on, um, your own." She spied a jewelry store just down the street, so it wasn't like it'd be hard to find one. But they should probably decide their plan of action before going in, because she didn't think the employees and the other customers would miss her plotting with a talking cat. Quite probably someone would call the police and the whole thing would just end in a mess.

"Yeah, that's probably it then!" She beamed at him - at least until he went and suggested... shoplifting?? Vanadis' brow furrowed, and her expression turned slightly disappointed. "Y-you - you want to steal things from people?"

That was... really bad. She'd thought Pippin was such a good kitty and he'd seemed so nice, but stealing was just plain wrong! Maybe he didn't know that stealing was wrong or something? She guessed maybe things were a bit different in cat society than they were in human society, but that still didn't mean she thought stealing was right, under any circumstance but possibly life-and-death. And jewelry didn't really fall under that category.

Well. It still sounded quite fishy to Vanadis, but the look on his little kitty face made her iron resolve weaken a bit. "Well... I guess the store owners are insured. And if they're not, I guess they'll learn a lesson. Maybe." She still couldn't keep the frown off her face, though - but it wasn't directed at Pippin anymore. Instead she was frowning a bit absentmindedly at the jewelry shop she'd spotted earlier, contemplating whether or not 'they're really stupid then and it's their own fault' was a good enough excuse for stealing from un-insured storeowners.

"Alright, we c-can go get a shiny." She sighed, deflating and wiping the frown off her face in the process. "Just.. nothing that's really expensive, alright? Stuff like that is p-probably being watched more closely, and we don't want you to get caught. I don't think cats have any personal rights as criminals in the American justice system, so that'd be pretty bad."