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There was a stack of models at home that were waiting for him to work on them; not a large stack, though - only two or three of them. Still, Owen knew he had to finish his current project before he could go onto another one, and if he was going to finish it he needed more glue.

His Mama had work later tonight, but for now she had time and had agreed to take him to the craft store. While she was looking at some small baskets, thinking about things that she could do with them - was there one cheap enough for them to buy? - Owen slipped away from her side, making a beeline for the model aisle.

Maybe he couldn't get a new one right away - the glue would have to do for now - but he could look and get an idea of what he might get next time! He didn't think to tell his mother where he was going; he saw no need to, since she knew what he was interested in. Maybe he'd get a building model this time? Or one of those creepy-cool ones that were all bones!

Where had that pink-haired whirlwind come from? Owen blinked and stared at the older child, peering at her with wide, surprised brown eyes. She had come from out of nowhere, and had almost run into him! Almost, thankfully, wasn't actually running into him, and for that he was thankful. He'd been about to pull a particularly interesting model - one of the Enterprise D - off of the shelf to get a closer look at it, and if the strange girl had actually run into him, it could have resulted in a small disaster with potentially-broken model parts.

"Hello," he said slowly, sliding the model back into its spot and backing up a step to place a little more room between himself and the strange, energetic girl. "Sorry, was I in your way?" Peering at her empty handbasket, he tilted his head and poked at it.

"Where were you going, anyway?"

Owen smiled shyly at the pink-haired girl and nodded. "Yeah," he answered her question, and moved to grab the Enterprise-D model again. "Like this one - I build them with Mama when she's home from work." Pulling it off the shelf, he held it in his arms, but didn't look at it.

Instead, he looked to the stranger. "What kind of crafts do... um, do you come here for?" Wait - wait this wasn't polite, this wasn't right it was wrong and he winced, shoving the model back onto the shelf and thrusting out his hand with an embarrassed blush on his face.

"S-sorry! I should've introduced myself. Sorry, sorry. I'm Owen, who are you?"

"A bird feeder," Owen echoed, expression curious. "Do you live in a real house, then? With a yard and stuff?" That sounded fascinating to him, since he had only ever known apartment life.

"Or did you have to put it in a park or something?" Some of the other crafts sounded kind of boring, but that one definitely caught his interest - not only was it detailed, something like that was useful! Birds needed homes, after all!

"A real house? That must be nice. Mama and me live in an apartment... It's lonely and kinda small sometimes, but I have a bunny. She's soft and makes it a little better."

His bunny was a nice bunny, and the best Christmas present ever. Maybe this Christmas would be even better? Nahhhh, couldn't be.

"Uh-huh! Cardinals are pretty, but I like bluebirds better. They're little and they look all round when they're cold."

"They are," Owen said quietly, then shrugged and offered a shy smile to the girl. "You like the colorful ones, don't you? um... I like chickadees a lot, too? They're not really bright, bu they're so round." And they had a nice song, too!

"Well, maybe if you spend time with your neighbors," Owen said with a shrug. "Mama works a lot, so when I'm home I usually try not t' talk to the neighbors, since I don't want anything bad to happen. I usually read or work on homework instead."

Well, maybe people needed people, but Owen wasn't particularly in the habit of meeting many to need.

"Oh, does your dad cook well?" Owen asked, tilting his head curiously. "I never met my dad - I don't think he even knows I was born." Despite the statement, he didn't really seem overly bothered by his lack of a father-figure in his life... he was, however, more affected by Bailey's question.

"N-no," he admitted slowly, shaking his head. "We can't really afford one? But I read my books and build models, so it's not like I'm bored or anything. And sometimes I walk down to the park, to read there!"

"My mom isn't a very good cook either," Owen admitted. "We don't really eat take-out though? Just simple things a lot." Which was also because how often money was tight, but the little boy didn't fully understand that.

"Oh, um.... now?" He asked, blinking and trying to understand what she meant. "'cause we can look at the science project crafts and stuff, if you want." That would be a good thing to do with this girl, right?