Chapter 6: Shopping and other Pains

After a relatively safe arrival (only missing one stop sign) Joshua pulled into a parking space in front of the mall and sang out "Weee're heeeeeeeeere!"

Chrno stared out the window to look at the enormous building before him. "So this is the marketplace?"

Joshua chuckled. "Well, I guess you could call it that. They're referred to as malls nowadays."

"Mauls? as in...disembowelment and decapitation?"

Rosette crinkled her nose and squealed "ew!" and Joshua laughed out loud. "No, M-A-L-L-S. Malls as in overpriced merchandise marketed towards the masses."

"Well, only if you shop at Abercrombie or Hollisters." Rosette countered.

Joshua snorted "Like your precious Hot Topic is any cheaper."

"At least they have more creative looking stuff."

Chrno just sighed to himself. "Can we get on with this instead of arguing about it?"

Both siblings had momentarily forgotten he was even there apparently.

"Sorry Chrno...of course we can go in..."said Rosette. "Let's go!"

The trio approached the building and the automatic doors opened with a WHOOSH! that made Chrno jump.
Despite being so old Chrno found himself staring slack jawed. The place was HUGE and a complete assault to the senses. There were waves of people milling about, tons of differant smells wafting from one corner and various loud pounding sounds which Chrno guessed passed for music nowadays.

"C'mon Chrno! Let's get you some clothes!" Rosette grabbed his hand and started dragging him in one direction.

Joshua clapped Chrno on the shoulder. "Good luck man. I'm going to Game Stop."

Chrnos eyes widened a bit. "You're leaving me alone with her?"

Rosette glared. "Hey! What's wrong with me?!"

"N-nothing! I just..."

"Hmpf! Let's just get going!" Rosette dropped his hand and instead began shoving Chrno in the direction of the clothing stores as Joshua cheerfully waved good bye.

A-Seemingly-Eternity-Later:

"Are we done YET?" Chrno complained as he followed Rosette dragging several shopping bags behind him. "I'm tiiiiired."

Rosette cocked an eyebrow. "You know, for a demon you're awfully whiney. Even Joshua doesn't get this grumpy."

Chrno glared. "I told you...I'm not as powerful in this form. I can't help it!"

Rosette began heading in the direction of the food court. "Oh all right...let's get something to eat and we can sit down for a while then."

They found an empty table and Chrno gratefully sat down the heavy shopping bags and plopped in a chair. "Ugh...so tired.."

Rosette started feeling a bit bad. She didn't mean to have worn him out. She just wanted him to experiance some of the things he'd missed out on since the last time he'd been topside. "Wait here...I'll get us something to eat okay?"

Chrno nodded. "all right...I'll be here."

Rosette headed over to the food stands and finally decided on just getting pizza slices and sodas. As she waited in line she turned and stared at Chrno.
Aside from the hair and eye color he looked like any other teenager at the mall. It was hard for her to even think of him as a demon. He tried to talk tough but Rosette could tell his heart wasn't really in it. From everything she'd ever read she'd always imagined demons to be brash and awe inspiring. Chrno seemed...quiet and introverted. Rosette found herself really wanting to know more about him. Picking up her order and putting it on a tray she headed back.

Chrno meanwhile was sitting and taking in the scenery. Truth be told, he wasn't having that bad of a time. It was nice of Rosette to buy him a couple of outfits to wear. He was actually starting to feel bad about complaining so much. It had been a while since he'd had human interaction and he felt a bit awkward sometimes which usually caused him to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Rosette finally came back and sat down the try with the slices of pizza and sodas. "Your lunch sir."

Chrno smiled faintly. "Thanks...um, look..I'm sorry for being a pain. I don't mean to come off as ungrateful or anything..because I am. You know,
grateful and all."

Rosette waved her hand in dismissal. "No, it's okay. And I'm sorry for dragging you along and making you tired. Of all people I should know better."

Chrno nodded. "It's all right. We'll just say that each of us learned something today then. Sound fair?"

"That works for me."

"Good, then it's settled. Now...what did you bring back?"

Rosette put his plate in front of him. "Pizza! The dietary staple of teenagers everywhere. I wasn't sure what you'd like so I just got you a plain cheese."

Chrno leaned in and smelled it. "Smells good. I haven't had this before.." He peered into the cup. "Or whatever this is."

Rosette smiled. "Just try it. If you don't like it I'll finish it off."

Chrno picked up the pizza and took a bite and was relieved to find out that it was good. "This is great! and it comes with other stuff on it?"

Rosette nodded. "Yup! You can get almost anything on a pizza nowadays."

He picked up the cup and took a small sip and looked surprised. "It fizzes!"

"heh..yeah..it's soda. It's carbonated to make little bubbles"

Chrno took a bigger drink. "It's pretty interesting..."

"It comes in all kinds of flavors too."

"Neat!"

Rosette sat and smiled a little to herself. It was fun watching him. The amazement and wonder on his face combined with his youthful appearance made him downright cute.
Chrno looked up to see her staring at him with a little smile on her face. "What"
Rosette chuckled. "Nothing. It's just kinda nice to see someone get so excited over small things." She cupped her chin in her hands. "People always take the little things for granted you know? It's nice to see someone that seems to appreciate them." She shook her head a little. "Sorry..that sounded kinda silly..."

Chrno gave a small smile. "No...it didn't. I used to know someone that used to say something similar. Only it went more like "Life isn't measured by the breaths we take but the moments that take our breath away"
"Wow" said Rosette softly. "That's really beautiful...your friend must have been really smart"
Chrno smiled sadly. "Yeah..."

They both sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Rosette cleared her throat a little. "I'm going to go to the restroom. Be right back"
Chrno nodded. "I'll just be right here."

Rosette got up and headed off to the restroom. "He looked so sad..." she thought to herself. "I wonder what happened to his friend..." She knew it would be impolite to ask. Maybe he'd tell her when they got to know each other a little better.

Chrno watched Rosette go. Up until this point he'd been ready to dismiss her as just a regular silly girl but that moment of profound thought from her struck him like an arrow. The last time he'd been topside he'd had precious little time to spend but the time he did... He sighed. "I'm not going to think about that." he thought to himself. "That's done and over with...time to move on and not dwell on the past. I have a wish to help come true."

He stirred the soda with the straw and stared absently into space wondering just how to do said wish.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for not writing any sooner! I feel bad leaving people hanging especially after I thought I'd be able to write more. My apologies!

0ExTwenty was the first to guess right. It was Halo 3. So this chapter is for you! Sadly I share Rosette's disdain for First Person Shooters but all my friends were going nuts over it at the moment so the only thing I can do is wait it out I suppose!

Sorry if any of you guys are fans of Abercrombie/Hollisters. I just think they're overpriced for the quality of goods they are. (I sew so I can tell these things!) And the music is always way too loud and I find the stores dark and smelly. -- Hot Topic is no better price-wise but their t-shirts make me giggle. And no, Rosette is NOT a punk/goth in this story. She's more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. Joshua is pretty much the same way, though I can totally see him wearing a button up once in a while.

Responses to previous notes:
Way to go to everyone who guessed right on Halo 3!
0ExTwenty: Yes, accidents ARE expensive! I recently got in one and had a nice little 110 fine to pay. (no worries, I'm okay though)
MisoGirl: Well, physically no, he's not big. "big bad demon" was just an expression not to be taken literally. fornwalt: Glad I'm succeeding at making you laugh! JC: good guess and the Silent Hill series is a favorite of mine! I love survival horror and puzzle games!