Idle Waiting [Open to 2]

"Yeah, it really does make things more interesting. She's not super-duper famous, but she does make it to the tabloids every once in a while. She also has this really loyal group of fans back home. It's not all sunshine and rainbows though. When she goes on tour, I have to take care of myself during those days she's gone. When she does, I usually sit back, turn on the TV, and watch her performance from back home." Mae explained vividly. "I hope you get to see her live sometime. It's awesome!" You could hear the enthusiasm in her voice quite clearly.

"We usually stay there for like a week. As I said earlier, the festival only lasts a couple of days, so the remaining days we all spend together in Okinawa." She giggled slightly, tilting her head while looking at Julian with the brightest smile on her face. "So, what's it like being an American? Do you have any special traditions that you are especially fond of?" The only tradition Mae had heard about which was somewhat exclusively american was Thanksgiving. She didn't really know all that much about the holiday, except for the massive dinners held during the evening. She didn't know anything about the spirit of thanksgiving at all, which is why she was curious about it. And what better way to learn about thanksgiving than from an american?

"Aaw, I bet it was." Mae said, playing along. "It's quite adorable though. She seems really fond of you. Even though your opinion on her clothing doesn't seem to matter in the end, I think she highly values your presence. Otherwise, she wouldn't put you through all this, I'll have you know!" She laughed along with Julian for a while. There was just something about kids which made people soften up. Sure, Two to six hours of non-stop shopping might be a bit excessive, but Mae could see where Trinny was coming from. She really enjoyed her cousins company. Maybe she just wants to impress Julian? That would explain alot.

"Well yeah, I'm having fun. Our homeroom teacher is actually pretty nice. I have heard some pretty nasty rumors about Mr. Rhodes... Is he really as bad as people say he is?" She leaned forward, resting her head on the palm of her left hand, looking at Julian.

    "Hm..." Wrapping one arm around his waist and resting the other hand on his chin, Julian took a second to think of any traditions that were exclusively American. Well...There was the Fourth of July...Independence Day...Labor Day...Martin Luther King Day...wow, he never really realized how many odd holidays The U.S. had. That was of course only counting the well-known ones; after all, there were holidays like "National Pretzel Day" and "Sonnet day" too, but not that many people really knew of those. Except....his eyes lit up as a particular tradition struck him. "Well, actually, there's a bunch of holidays that revolve around food. National Donut Day, National Cake Day, National Salad day...it's a pretty long list. My mom used to like researching them all and then go on family outings and stuff when the date rolled around. I remember one time," he'd been relatively put-together up until this point, but now, he couldn't help but chuckle between his words, "she just called my school and told them I wasn't coming in, phoned my dad's work and said he was taking a sick day, then dragged us all around town to visit every single bakery and sample every single cookie she could get her hands on. All in the spirit of National Cookie Day, of course." Oh man, that was honestly the last time he could remember eating so much sugar and sweet things all in one day. Every single one of them had gotten sick on it all, but really, he doubted anyone really minded; they all had too much fun to care too much about the one negative part of that whole outing. "I don't know, my family's a little weird. We don't do too much of the conventional American holiday stuff, besides maybe Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas."

    Huh. He never thought about it like that. "Sooo if she hated me, she wouldn't torture me?" he cocked a brow. "I'll never understand women." He laughed slightly before folding his arms across his chest. "Yeah, I guess we're pretty close. Oddly enough, sometimes I think she likes me more than her brothers. Can you imagine?" A wry note clipped his words, hinting that the last bit had been playful sarcasm. He doubted a majority of girls Trinny's age had a good relationship with their older brothers, especially if they were only a few years apart; weren't they still caught up in cooties and focused on keeping to their own respective gender groups at that age? Heh, he almost couldn't wait to see how either of them would be react to being forced into a co-ed situation.

    Julian took a breath, frowning slightly in thought. There were definitely a lot of rumors going around about his teacher, considering the whole kidnapping fiasco that happened a while ago with his brother. Maybe what made Mr. Rhodes scary to some was how well he took it all. Sure, there'd been stress on his face on a couple of occasions, but he'd never lashed out at anyone or reacted negatively to any of the prying questions. It was almost prideful and aloof, his manner, fit for a gentleman. "He's not so bad. Just pretty strict." he finally replied after a moment. "If you're polite, he's polite, and vice versa. It's pretty much a give what you get situation with him." Offering Mae a light shrug and a bright smile, he tacked on, "Don't worry, I bet you'll do just fine in his class next year."

    A sudden squeak grabbed Julian's attention. Peering around MAe once more, his eyes widened as he spied Trinny walking over, precariously balancing two tall piles of clothes, one in each hand. Without another word he hopped up and carefully took one of the stacks from her, returning the little girl's thankful smile as she readjusted her grip on the remaining garments. "Thanks Psy."

    "No problem." His silver eyes looked over the stack in his hands warily. "This is...?"

    "The keep pile." Trinny responded shortly, walking over to the open-mouthed sales clerk and neatly depositing her stack into the return cart at the woman's side. After flashing her a sweet smile, she hurried back to Julian. "I believe I am finished here. May we checkout?"

    The teen shifted the clothes to one hand as he nodded. Looking back over to the teenage girl he'd been talking to moments ago, he gave her a grin. "Still want to check out that gift shop? It's not too far from here." As he spoke, Trinny grabbed onto his now free hand and looked around him, watching Mae. She seemed curious rather than annoyed this time, and even smied slightly at the pinkette should she glance in her direction.

"Wow, that must've been fun. I mean, going out one day, skipping school just to eat cookies all day with your family? Sounds like every kids dream." Mae looked at Julian in awe. "That must've been one hell of a tummy-ache you got the day after, right?" She chuckled slightly. Indeed, his family was a little strange, but in a good way, according to Mae. "Delightfully weird, if you want my honest opinion. I would love to see them someday!" She smiled happily at Julian. "But hey, I don't know them in person yet, so I guess it's too soon to judge, huh?"

"Just think about it for a second. Why does she always brings you to these sorts of things? She values your company, obviously!" Mae laughed heartfully. "I mean, come on! Why wouldn't she like you? Despite the fact that you hate doing this, you go help her regardless. That's why she likes you so much. You care about her. She might have a weird way of showing it, but she cares about you just as much." She gave Julian a wink. "You're a good cousin. Don't you ever forget that, ok?" It might be a weird thing to say, but that's what Mae truly believed.

"I sure hope so..." Mae said in a slightly worried tone when they were talking about Mr. Rhodes. She had seen him around school a couple of times, and almost every time, she noticed how the other students looked at him suspiciously... She really didn't get why... Perhaps the rumors going around the school about him were true...?

"Uuh... Want som help with that, Juli-kun?" Mae pointed at the large stack of clothes he was carrying. Not that it looked all that heavy... It was just that the sheer size of the pile looked a little difficult to balance on your own. "Lemme help ya." Mae grabbed the upper half of the pile, and followed the two over to Check-out.

"Hehe, sure, why not?" Mae bent over, looking at Trinny, smiling. "If that's okay with you, Trinny-chan?" Her head tilted slightly to the left.

    "Oh yeah." he laughed, "We all had to take legit sick days after that. Worth it though." He didn't think he'd ever overindulge in sweets after that, though. Too traumatizing for him. Maybe that had helped develop his overly cautious approach to food later in life? "Well, if you see mayhem and destruction on the news, I'll bet my other cousins might be behind it." A joke, of course. But those little knuckleheads could be pretty out of control most of the time. It was a wonder no one had complained about them yet, really. Must be an early Christmas miracle. "But yeah, you'll probably see them around. If I see you when we're out and about I'll introduce you." Hopefully she'd be meeting only his dad, though; the others might just be too crazy for her to handle.

    "You got those?" he'd ask out of politeness, gesturing with his head in the direction of the clothes she'd taken. Not that he didn't appreciate it of course, but Trinny was his responsibility, and by extension, so were her things. It didn't seem right to make her carry anything. If she showed any signs of struggling with the pile, he'd look at Trinny who would nod and release his hand, walking over instead to Mae and taking hold of her arm. Julian would then take the clothes from her with a grin, hurrying off to the register before she could protest. Of course, if she had the pile of dresses and such well under control, he'd let her be and simply walk with her to the register.

    Trinny blinked up at the pinkette before nodding slowly. I see no issue with it" This made Julian relax just a little. He'd have shown MAe to the store she wanted to go to regardless of what Trinny said, but it helped to know that she wouldn't make a fuss in the meantime. Cooperation was always welcome, in his book.

    Reaching the cashier, the clothes would be set down and rung up in a couple of minutes. From her pocket, Trinny pulled out a silver card and looked up at the card reader. She wouldn't say a word, just lift up her arms. Understanding her silent request, Julian picked the girl up by her waist and held her at the right height so she could swipe the card and sign her name on her own. Needless to say, the cashier seemed a little baffled, but she merely finished the transaction,  stowed away the clothes in a large bag that she handed to Julian, and wished them all a good day. Both Julian and Trinny reciprocated the goodbye to the sales attendant before leaving the store with Mae in tow.

    "It's just about a block this way. You wanted postcards, right?" Julian smiled, taking a left and starting to walk down the sidewalk.

    The little girl latched onto his arm again and glanced up at Mae. "Postcards? Whatever do you need those for? E-mail is faster."

    "Trinny-"

    "It's a reasonable question." She clipped back, before fixing the teenage girl with a curious stare. "Don't you have a computer?"

    "Some people like sending postcards, Trin. It's more personal, takes more time. More heartfelt?"

    Trinny scoffed and rolled her eyes. "That is what electronic signatures are for, is it not? Those are custom, aren't they?"

    "Not the same thing, Trinny."

Mae laughed at Julians joke about his other twins. "That would be great! What are those little devils called?" She asked, still giggling between words. Julian had a knack for making Mae laugh. "You're a really funny guy, you know that?" She smiled at him, with rosy cheeks. "To be perfectly honest, I don't think I've laughed this much in years. Whoo!" She took a deep breath to calm down a bit.

"Y-yeah... Don't worry about it." She poked out her head on the left side of the stack covering her face to look at Julian. "I got this." She said softly, before hiding her face behind the stack again and started following the two Remmings.

"Really, Trinny? Oh, you're such a sweet girl. Thanks." She would've crouched down and smiled at her, but considering the big stack of clothes she held in her hands, that proved to be an impossibility without dropping all of the clothes over the floor and over Trinny as well, so she resisted.

"Just like what Juli-kun said. It's more personal. I might send a photo or two over as well if I can take any good ones." Mae gave Trinny an understanding look. The kid was probably just too used to the modern society, where efficiency was everything. Mae still prefered postcards over email for this kind of stuff since it's way more personal, and besides, Mae liked to put at least some effort when it came to sending stuff to her friends back in Japan.

"I do have a laptop. I rarely send E-mails with it though. I prefer Skype over e-mail conversations if I wanna talk to someone. It's just that postcards are just something you send when you're on vacation, or in my case, moving abroad." Trinny was still a kid. Despite how mature she was when it came to clothing, she still was a seven-year old everywhere else, like she should be.

    "Evan and Tyler. But they also go by 'red twin' and 'green twin' if you get confused over which is which." If their mischievous personalities weren't enough, the two just had to be born as twins for double the misery fun. At least they'd taken pity on the rest of the family and gotten their hair dyed differently so they could be told apart at a glance. That was probably the last considerate thing they'd done, though. As the girl complimented him, a playfully smug grin twisted his lips upwards just a fraction more. "Finally, someone else agrees that I'm hilarious." He laughed along with the girl, dropping the expression in order to give her a sincere smile. "Heh, thanks. Glad I could make you smile." What fun was life if you couldn't have a little fun? Besides, she was being pretty entertaining for him; good to know it was going both ways.

    "Oh, so you Skype. That's acceptable." Trinny nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. "Of course, video chats are quite personal and time-consuming, so I still don't quite see your logic, but everyone is different and should be accepted all the same." She paused for a second before looking up at Julian. "How did I do?"

    The teen chuckled lightly and smiled. "Take out the snark and you got it."

    "Drat." She stomped the ground lightly and scrunched her lips together tightly. It was rather controlled, but it was a mild tantrum nonetheless. "I was certain I'd gotten it correct this time!"

    Shaking his head lightly, Julian looked at Mae and gave her a lopsided grin. "Sorry. One of these days she'll learn to be polite."

    SMACK.

    "Ow-!"

    A pair of red eyes glaring into his silver ones was all the justification Trinny offered to her actions before she focused her gaze ahead and puffed out her cheeks indignantly. For the time being she remained quiet, apparently pouting.

    Seeing as how his other hand was occupied, he couldn't exactly rub out the sting in his arm. Looks like Julian would be toughing out the (minimal) pain for now. He recovered quickly, shrugging off the little spat and looking at the pinkette again. "So do you think you'll be staying in Azores after graduation or you fixing to move back to Japan instead?"

"Well, at least they did something about it. I've seen twins who go out of their way to confuse people, because they think it's fun." Mae had two certain twin sisters in mind when she mentioned this. "Back in middle school, there was these two really obnoxious twins who did everything in their power to confuse people about who's who. It was funny at first, but it gets rather annoying relatively fast." She groaned. Those two were SO ANNOYING! And we're not even related in any way. I wonder if they are still at it? I haven't seen em since middle school..." Mae had a contemplative expression upon her face.

"Likewise, Juli-kun!" She smiled cheerfully in return.

"Yeah, I mostly just voice chat though. I'm not much for video calls, and neither are my friends back in Japan, so yeah." Mae smiled back at the little girl. "Yeah, just a little change in tone can make a statement sound a whole lot better, Trinny-Chan. Take the recipients feelings and interests into consideration, alright? You think you can do that for me? I might take you out for a shopping tour sometime if you improve!" She kneeled beside Trinny as she said this, looking her directly in the eyes, with a wide smile on her face.

Mae couldn't help but chuckle a bit when Trinny smacked Julian's arm. "She'll learn one day. I mean, she's only seven. She's got a long time to improve." Mae stood up again, and continued walking side by side with Julian.

"Not sure... I might actually stay here in Azores. Sure, It's gonna be rough moving all of my stuff from Japan all the way over here, but..." Mae blushed slightly. "W-with people like you around... I-I'll gladly move here..." Her gaze drifted down towards the street, avoiding Julians. "W-what about you?" She gave him a quick glance before running her gaze down to street level again.

    The two came to a stop as Mae knelt down, both sets of eyes locked on the pinkette as she spoke to the youngest Remming. Julian held his tongue throughout the talk; Mae seemed to know what she was doing. ...Or maybe not. Did she really just promise to go with Trinny on a shopping trip? // No, no, she said might. She might take her on a shopping trip if she's good. // Okay, that was better. For a second there, he thought Mae might not have believed his story about Trinny's love of clothes. Good to see she had some sense in her.





    Trinny's small mouth stretched upwards in a mischievous little grin before she let loose a dark giggle. "Very well. I accept." Looking up at Julian, the little girl smiled smugly. "Now that, Psy, is how you bribe a girl."

    "Bribe? Me?" The bag on his arm swung a little as he reached up with his hand and rested it on his chest, feigning disbelief. "Surely you don't mean that my natural charms aren't enough?"

    "They could use a polish." Glancing up at Mae for an instant, she tacked on, "But it seems they still work just fine."

    Julian smiled at the pinkette's words of encouragement. Time. Right. Sooner or later, Trinny would have to be a bit more tactful, right? Besides, Trinny should have a long time left to live yet. Plenty of time to improve. ...Well, he hoped, at least. Things were getting so strange around Azores; too many things he didn't know, too many problems to solve. Unconsciously his hand tightened around Trinny's, causing the girl to look back at him curiously before returning to her silent pouting. "Yeah. You're right. She's gotta grow up sooner or later."

    "Oh yeah?" Huh. He would've thought her immediate answer would be to return home to Japan. She seemed to love it there, after all. What could've made her consider moving? "Maybe I'll have at least one friend still around after my graduation, then." He expected the question to be turned back at him. His answer, however, might not be as clear. Offering her a light shrug, Julian responded with a simple, "Not sure. My dad will be staying here no matter what, so I might go to college here and stick with him. There are a few other jobs I was considering getting into in America, though. I guess I'll just have to wait and see." He hummed in thought for a minute before grinning. "Of course, I could always skip college and go straight to work. The club in Penecia would be a pretty great place to work, I bet."

"I'm sure I can deal with it, when that time comes, Trinny-chan." Mae gave the little girl smile. In all honesty, Mae didn't really know what she hd truly gotten herself into. // I'll deal with it when the time comes... // She thought to herself. Besides, it was a good way to bond with the little kid as well, which Mae saw as a big plus. And what was the worst that could possibly happen?

Mae looked away when Trinny gave her a quick glance, Mumbling to herself... "Oh... They are enough, alright..." She could feel her cheeks rosing up a bit... // What's up with me today? I don't think I've been blushing this often my entire life? // She was confunded by this. Did she really have feelings for this Julian she'd just met already? It was not like her at all. She had never been on any dates before, simply because there wasn't really any guys at her school which interested her. All they had wanted was simply bragging rights. "Hey, I just banged Kinaku's daughter! How awesome is that?!". That's all they had wanted. The rights to brag about something THAT stupid. Julian seemed very different from the guys back home, which Mae really had taken a liking to. Finally, she had found a guy she was interested in who didn't seem like a total jackass.

"I guess it's more or less the people I've met here." Mae said. "I've met so many nice people here during my first week, and I just love how this place looks." She wasn't lying, but she didn't tell Julian the biggest reason as to why she wanted to stay here. HIM. // When the time comes... I'll tell him. // She thought.

The possibility of Julian moving back to the states after graduation made Mae's heart sink like a rock in a pool of water. But she kept telling herself that 'it is just a possibility' in her head over and over. Yeah, there was no reason to worry yet. And if he didn't have a reason to stay in Azores, She'd give him one. That was one thing Mae was sure of. "It looks like you got a lot of options, which is good. I've never been to that club, honestly. What's it like?" Mae asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why the club anyway? You don't really strike me as someone who would work at a place like that. Then again, looks can be decieving.."

    Never been? Well, that wasn't too surprising. Most of the kids at school treated the place like it was either taboo or a place only the very daring or rebellious visited. In truth, it really wasn't either; it was just a building that people danced, listened to music, and generally had a good time in. Really, it was just an amped up version of a school dance. "It's a little overwhelming at first, I guess." he let out a light chuckle. "But it's got great music and a good atmosphere plus some great staff, so I definitely recommend it. I go there pretty often; maybe I'll see you there?" Mae's second question prompted a little smirk to appear on his face. True, he didn't exactly fit a bad boy or a clubbing image (what would the latter be anyways? A hipster? ...Thank god he didn't need glasses, then...), but he hardly fell under the choir-boy archetype, either. He was a comfortable median, in his opinion. "Oh? You think?" he teased lightly, before smiling. "Because I like the place. It's great to unwind at. Besides, the owner's pretty friendly...if not a little insane." He couldn't help but shake his head lightly at that thought. Jandice was...something else. After all, what kind of person swung from the freaking ceiling like it was no big deal? Or said half the things she did? Or spent time actively trying to throw ice down her employees' shirts? Working there would no doubt he hilarious and exciting every night; what kind of person would turn down a job like that?

    They walked for a few more minutes, taking a left at the next block before Trinny starting tugging Julian forwards a little faster. Before anyone could say anything to her, she extended an arm and pointed at a small shop at the end of the street. "There. That is the place that sells the postcards you so desperately want." She dropped her hand and muttered something before tacking on, "I mean, that you would oh so generously like to send to your friends." The teen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Well, at least Trinny was trying, right? Maybe one of these days she'd get it right the first time...

    Arriving at the shop, Julian pulled the door open, allowing both Trinny and Mae to walk in before he followed them himself. He glanced around, taking in some of the tackier stuffed animals with various local sayings plastered over their fur and equally gaudy travel mugs, then set his sights on a postcard stand at the center of the store. "Ah. Here we go." He moved to the rack and motioned Mae over, allowing Trinny to wander and examine the various things that caught her eye. "Need help finding anything specific or you good?"

"Oh? So you're a regular there? Well then, Yeah! I'd love to go there some-" Mae stopped herself briefly, fidgeting, while looking at Julian, with cheeks completely red. "-time w-with you... If t-that's alright...? eheheh..." She gave him an embarrased smile, and quickly averted her gaze down to the pavement below them. // Geez... What's up with me?! // Mae thought to herself. //The two of you just met! You need to slow down Mae! // She had never been in a situation like this before, so the sensation she was feeling was completely new to her, and as such, it was quite confusing for Mae.

"W-what do you mean, Insane?" Mae tilted her head slightly at Julian's comment about the clubs owner. A good kind of Insane, or the bad kind? All Mae knew was that she would eventually have to find out herself when she went to this club.

"You are improving, Trinny! I'm glad you're at least giving it a serious shot!" She gave the young girl an approving smile before returning her attention to the souvenir shop. It wasn't anything extravagant, but the place had it's own, undeniable charm to it. The interior was just as tacky as it's exterior, but at least it had all the necessary Souvenirs. Coffee Mugs, Towels, candles, and other Azorean merchandise. Julian directed her to the postcard stand, and she started looking for something appropriate. She finally settled on one which showed the San Malarus Skyline at sundown. "What do you think of this one?" Mae said and picked up the postcard to get a closer look. "I mean, it is the closest area in Azores to the dorms, so I guess it works right?"

    "Sure. It'd be nice to hang out with someone I know while I'm here." he returned her smile with one of his own. He was starting to get this sneaking suspicion that Mae was either nervous around boys. After all, she was just fine when talking to the sales clerk at the last store and Trinny, but around him, she was a little more anxious. Maybe talking to her a little more would cure her of that? Wasn't like he was an expert on the subject or had a similar, so he couldn't say for sure. Or maybe it was just part of her character. ...Well, in that case, he'd just keep it in mind but let it be for now. No sense in dragging up a subject that might make her uncomfortable.

    "I mean she'd do things that you'd find crazy. Fun, no doubt, but still crazy." He grinned even wider at a few examples that popped to mind. "If nothing else, at least she'll make you laugh."

    Judging by the way she dived right into perusing the postcards, his help wasn't really needed there. Just in case, however, he browsed through the selection himself, picking up a card that showed a bird's eye view of the Penecia theme park. They must've taken it from the ferris wheel top; the view on the card was the same one he could see from that exact spot. Smiling lightly, he poked through a few other ones before turning his attention back to Mae. "Hm, lemme see." She was holding the card a little too close to herself for him to get a clear look. Shifting so he stood behind her, he peered over her shoulder and studied the picture. "Yeah, I think it works. I don't think they'd have one of the dorms, anyways." He reached out to one stack near her shoulder that he hadn't perused yet, flipping through the cards for a second. "Hm...nope, no dorm cards." He took a step back and gave her a grin. "Need anything else?"

"Yeah... It's a bit of a bummer they don't have that, but hey... you can't have everything right?" Mae smiled back at Julian. "I... Don't think so...?" She ran all the errands she had to do today through her head three times in rapid succession before continuing. "No there's nothing else I need..."

Mae suddenly thought of something. "Y-you don't happen t-to be free next weekend, right?" Mae asked the teen infront of her. Her pink eyes made contact with his silvery gaze before she continued.




Mae's cheeks had taken on the same color as her hair. She would look nervously into the other teens eyes, not breaking eye contact this time around... Should Julian accept, Mae would answer: "R-Really!? Phew... I-I was so afraid you would say no..." With a relieved expression on her face, still blushing furiously. Should the other decline her invitation, she would answer with a dissapointed "Oh... T-that's okay..." and break eye contact in favor of focusing her gaze upon her own shoes...

After making her purchase, Mae said goodbye to Julian and Trinny, with hopes that she would meet the two again.

~Exit

    "Next weekend? Yeah, I think I'm free." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, the teen blinked at the girl, wondering where she was going with this. The way she was talking, it sounded suspiciously like a...

    Oh. Oh. So that's why. Now her stuttering from earlier made a lot more sense. Heh. He probably should've picked up on that earlier, in retrospect. At least now he got the message loud and clear. Giving Mae a smile, he responded cheekily, "Sure. It's a date, then." before chuckling. From the depths of his jean pockets Julian pulled out a pen, which he proceeded to uncap. He took Mae's arm and quickly scribbled his cell phone number on her palm before giving her another smile. "Text me with a time, alright?" He busied himself with putting the writing utensil away as the pinkette continued talking. Heh, he could imagine. Asking someone out wasn't exactly easy to do; after all, he'd done so himself on a few other occasions with varying results. He couldn't blame Mae for being a little apprehensive about it. But luckily, he was one to give someone a chance; they hadn't known each other for very long at all, and he was curious about her. It might not work out, but there was no harm in giving it a go, right?

    They didn't stick around long after that. Mae bought her postcard and left, leaving just him and Trinny. Said little girl came up behind her cousin, folding her arms across her chest as she stared at the door Mae had walked through not even a minute ago. "...Hmph."

    "What?" Julian wondered, raising an eyebrow at the child.

    "Nothing." Giving the older one a sickeningly sweet smile, she continued with, "I'm just surprised someone like that could ever be interested in you."

    "Thank you, Trinny. You always know just what to say to boosy my self esteem."

    "Glad to oblige. Now, before we were so...well, interrupted, I believe you were going to take me to a delightful little store that sold jewelry."

    With that, the little girl held up her arms and smiled, earning a laugh and smile in return as Julian picked her up. "Sure. Just don't spend too much time there, alright? Dinner's in two hours."

    "Honestly! How am I supposed to shop under these conditions?!"

    "You'll manage, Trin."

    "No thanks to you, obviously!"

    The two continued bickering in a good-natured manner as they exited the store and moved to the next, temporarily forgetting what had just happened at the souvenier shop for another day.