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As he got older, Velvet was starting to become more independent, taking time away from the bakery to explore the city on his own. He had inherited more of a desire to eat baked good then to make them, which proved problematic on occasion. Considering the mess he made last time he was alone in the kitchen, he was in a little bit of trouble now too. Sometimes it was just easier to stretch out his wings and fly down the streets. He was getting better about that now too!

"I be alright." He announced as he left the bake shop, and began flying as soon as he was out the door. Velvet's wings were stronger now as he flew in a different direction than he had gone out last time when he met his first friend. There were plenty of new sights and smells in this direction. The city was now his playground! (It kept him from making too many messes in the kitchen at the least.)

It wasn't long before Velvet started hearing the sound of children laughing, and his ears perked and he began to follow the sound. It wasn't long before he stumbled upon a city playground filled with young blood pae his age. "Woah... what idis?" He said out loud, his eyes growing wide. How had he not discovered this treasure before?!

Velvet was overwhelmed, his eyes darting every which way between the varied activities that the playground had to offer. His green eyes were as wide as they could get, there was so much to see! It took him a while before he even realized there was someone trying to get his attention. Look at those slides! And those bouncy things! And that climby thing! And kids soaring through the sky! He didn't know what to try first!

Finally, he snapped out of it, realizing the girl was talking to him. Velvet silently looked at her, and then looked at the other kids swinging. He had no idea how to make it go. The other kids weren't doing anything special... or so it seemed. Except all of their legs seemed to be moving in the same sort of timing... Velvet looked at her again and pointed at the other children. "Maybe do like dem?"

Velvet shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what else to tell her if she was doing what they were. There didn't seem to be a button. "You could try..." Velvet was about to suggest that she flap her wings, but she had already hopped off.

"Sure," the fae boy agreed as he looked at the different options. He still didn't know which he wanted to try first. "How about that?" He said, pointing at the slide. You had to climb up to get there, and it looked like so much fun to slide down on your bum.

Velvet had no idea what a swow-poke was, but he was fairly certain he didn't want to be one. The boy put on a determined face as he jumped up and let his little wings buzz him towards the slide. Oh no, she was going to beat him! He fluttered his wings harder, he couldn't get beat by a girl!! "Hey das no fair, you went first!" Velvet demanded.

Velvet... didn't know what to make of that statement, especially when he was still trying to catch up to the girl and couldn't give it much thought. "Yeah, you're fast alright." Velvet said in a way that suggested he didn't believe it. He wanted a rematch to see how fast she really was if he started at the same time as her. He was flying!

"Thanks!" Velvet responded happily, quickly cheering up when she let him go up on the slide first. The boy climbed up the steps and then looked down the slippery slide. He had never done it before, but the motion seemed as natural as breathing as he jumped down the slick ramp. "Wheee!" He giggled.

Velvet didn't even hear the girl announce that she was coming down. He was still sitting at the bottom of the slide coming down from the thrill of his first trip down a slide. Before he knew it, the air was getting knocked out of him as he tumbled into the sand at the bottom of the slide. "Oof." What was it with him and running into girls?!

Velvet sighed deeply, feeling ultimately defeated by the opposite gender. "Yeah, I'll be alright." He said, his pride hurt as he removed his face from the ground once she was off of him. Velvet stood up and brushed the sand off of him, too. "What now?" He had chosen the slide, so now it was her turn.

Velvet looked over at where she was pointing. "Alright," he agreed. His feelings were still slightly hurt over the incident, and it was clear from how less excitable he was now, but he wasn't completely miserable either. "Wings aren't cheating... we all have them." Velvet argued back. He had never met any pae that didn't have wings so it didn't make it an unfair advantage if anyone could do it. The boy moved on to the bars and climbed up the ladder to get to them.

Despite disagreeing with her, he still followed her rules, because as far as he knew they were the rules. No wings. He put his hand on the first bar, waiting for a moment before putting his other hand up. Waiting even longer before he finally stepped off the ladder so he was hanging there. He hung there for a while, glancing back at the girl and then looking at the ground... he really didn't want to fall again... Taking his first hand off the bar was just about the scariest thing he ever had to do, and the next bar seemed so far away. Really, no wings? If he could just flap them a little bit he could push himself closer. But the boy refrained, trying to swing his body without help from them. Finally, he reached the second bar and was able to get his second hand their much easily.

That wasn't so bad, Velvet repeated the process until he was at the end, getting quicker as he went along. "Your turn," he called back to her from the ladder on the other side.