Hey there, have you heard about my robot friend?

[neargenius]

Who: neargenius & xantheose
When: BACKDATED, bros, to SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH
Where: Toys R' Us, or, well, the Siren's Port equivalent.
Summary: OH MY GOD GUYS DID YOU KNOW THAT LEGO MAKES BOARD GAMES?! Ahem, I mean--some new toys have come out, and they have to be purchased. 100% innocent trickery has been used to get to the store.

Comments

[xantheose]

Surprisingly, it hadn't taken very much convincing to get Mello to leave the apartment with Near in tow, solely for the sake of trecking to Toys R' Us. There had been a bit of bitching on both parts, naturally, but that was to be expected. In the end it had come down to Near needed new toys or else he'd start chewing on the furniture like some rabid animal (at least, Mello was convinced of as much) and Mello needed something to do. Thus, even though it was a toy store of all places, at least he'd be accomplishing something.

At least, that's what he told himself.

There was the other part too, the natural curiosity he held for seeing Near react and act in public. Would he be like a kid in a candy shop? A strange, bundled kid with a default bland expression of disinterest who shuffled here and there?

Probably.

Near wasn't the only one who was wrapped in layers. Mello had a warm, fur lined black coat on, hood pulled up over his head, black scarf 'round his neck and shades over his eyes. Even if Kira hadn't been active lately, there was no reason not to cover up, even though he did admit they both looked particularily ridiculous.

The little ding to the sliding automatic doors made him raise an eyebrow, leather gloved hands stuffed in his pockets. "Of course I remember. I'm not a goldfish, Near."

A little snappy? Maybe. But then again, Mello was used to being productive, and in all honesty? He hadn't been very productive at all as of late.

[neargenius]

The interior of the toy store smelled like plastic. Near took a deep and appreciative breath, curling his toes in his boots. It was a good smell, a new-toys smell, and he could definitely appreciate that. The building was almost a warehouse, which was comforting, in its way. There would be plenty of ways to escape from it, should that become necessary.

Although it probably would not be necessary, he reasoned with himself, peering through his fringe at their surroundings.

"I've never had a goldfish," he said aloud. It was muffled by the scarves, but it didn't render him completely unintelligible. His face was warm, especially now that they were indoors, but he didn't loosen any of the layers. They were doing their job and covering his face. "This way."

And he shuffled ahead of Mello a few steps, toward the Lego aisle. It would either be here, or with the other, more traditional board games.

[xantheose]

Of course Near had never had a goldfish. No one at Wammy's House had had a pet. They simply weren't allowed. That wasn't to say goldfish weren't available - Mello had kept one for a project once, to study the effects of different levels of oxygen in water on a fish's gills. Needless to say, the poor fish hadn't lasted long, and that in turn had made Mello kind of pissed off, but for the time he'd spent with the little gold fish it had been at least somewhat calming to watch swim about mindlessly.

But now he was letting his mind get away from himself.

A scoff then. "Maybe you should get one. They're pretty boring, just like you." Childish. Even more so. But that's what happens when the mind becomes unmotivated, unchallenged. That's what happens when one's actually convinced to go to Toys R' Us with their lifelong rival on the sole condition they stop off at Laura Secord on the way back.

[neargenius]

"I already have a cat." Mello was usually very irritated by direct answers to his insults, but Near couldn't resist. Though they had achieved a strange sort of domesticity--which, even now, was very weird to Near, when he remembered to think about it (which, admittedly, wasn't as often as perhaps it should have been)--though they coexisted in relative peace, there would always be an element of-- Well, bratiness, Near thought, with a little huff of breath. That would be the word that Mello would use for it.

"I already have a cat," he said again, a little louder, in case Mello hadn't heard him. "Cats and fish don't get along. So it's probably a bad idea."

He slumped down the Lego aisle, dragging his feet against the floor. The games weren't there--but then, they might be on the tallest part of the shelf. It was difficult to tell. "Look up there for me."

[xantheose]

It was funny really, how Near could force him to revert back to such a child, but instead of giving into the urge to smack him upside the head, Mello wrung his hands together instead.

'Look up there for me.' Mello wanted to echo in a bratty voice, but he didn't, casting his gaze up instead to the uppermost shelf. "I don't see it. Why don't you just ask one of the clerks for help so we can get out of this place?" The plastic smell was already getting to his head.

[neargenius]

Near huffed another sigh, and stepped back to try to peer up onto the top shelf on his own. It was just a bit too high for him to see, however.

"I would rather find it myself," he told Mello, a little coolly. "I don't want to talk to someone else if I can do it myself."

He forced himself to shuffle off again, though his legs were already a little tired. Remaining indoors was preferable to any other activity, but it did cause him to grow tired more quickly than someone else might. Still, it would be worth it, he told himself. This toy was important to have.

[xantheose]

"You've five minutes to find it." An ultimatum, lest they be there all day. "If you can't find it in five, you're talking to a clerk." This was getting a little ridiculous after all.