"If you three had wanted to go into town, why didn't you just say something?" Ruby griped at them as they walked along the crowded street as she looked around. For an alien race on the verge of extinction, Ruby sure was seeing a lot of people walking about.

"We wanted our outing to be a surprise for you." Modo said gently as something on one of the many booths lining the streets caught his attention and reached out and automatically grasped Ruby's arm just above the elbow to keep her from walking any further as she started to brush by him.

It simply wouldn't do for her to be kidnapped or become lost in the small city that they had decided to go to.

They had a lot of stuff that they needed to get for the ceremony. And they needed their shal-la with them so that they could make sure that she got what she needed too.

"I understand that-" Ruby said in a tired tone as she pulled on her arm a little bit, trying to free it from Modo's grasp. "But I still wish that you three had at least warned me of what you intended." Ruby said as Throttle and Vinny walked over to where they were and peeked over Modo's shoulders at the item that he was looking at when Vinny asked,

"Are you upset with us for not warning you shal-la?" Vinny rasped his ears drooping a little bit.

Ruby blinked and tipped her head back to look at the white furred mouse and flushed a little bit. She wasn't upset. She wasn't even angry at being surprised by the sudden trip off base. In fact as far as surprises went, this one was rather nice. The only thing that truly, truly bothered her was the fact that there were so many people on the streets.

She felt like she was trapped in a sardine can. The feeling was almost suffocating.

And of course it didn't help things much that many of the males walking about kept staring at her and some of them had even groped her while Throttle, Vinny and Modo weren't paying attention. It was horrible and she didn't like the feeling that she got when someone ran a hand along the curve of her ass.

It was embarrassing.

"No. No. I'm not upset." Ruby said as she reached out with her free hand and rubbed Vinny's arm to assure him that she wasn't mad or upset. Vinny looked down at her delicate hand stroking his arm and felt the need to grasp her hand and stop it's movements before things got a little out of hand since he had noticed that he was starting to feel some very sexual impulses towards her.

Something that he was surprised about, all things considered.

Yet instead of forcing her to stop, he simply moved back and traded places with Throttle. Arranging it so that the tan furred man was standing exactly where he had been a second before, and their shal-la was stroking Throttle's arm instead.

Throttle looked down at his arm and frowned a little bit then shook his head and looked at Modo who had just straightened his spine and was holding a piece of intricately made lace that had a lovely floral design on it.

Modo unfolded the material carefully and held it up so that both Throttle and Vinny could see it while Ruby's attention was on something else. The three men took their time trying to see if the lace would suit their shal-la and in the end decided against it and found another piece of lace that they felt suited her better.

They bought the lace and put the folded piece of fabric in a special carrier box to keep it from being damaged and then moved on.

Leaving Modo to grasp Ruby's arm again to make sure that she kept up as they left the booth. "Where are we going now?" Ruby asked curiously as she pressed herself against Modo's side and gave several of the people brushing by them a suspicious look.

"We're going to go see if we can find you a new dress." Throttle said as he looked back at her and frowned when he noticed one of the males walking by her reached out his hand and groped her.

Throttle came to an abrupt stop and flattened his ears back against his head and yelled something in a tone that sent shivers down Ruby's spine and caused both Modo and Vinny to suddenly grab her and wedge her smaller body between theirs, and look around as Throttle went after the male that had touched her and disappeared into the crowd.

"Shal-la? Are you okay?" Vinny asked as he stepped away so that she could move away from Modo who had both of his arms wrapped around her slender body so tightly that it felt as if he were trying to crush her.

"I-I'm fine. I just didn't expect to be squished like a little bug." Ruby said half jokingly and immidiately had the smile wiped off of her face when she looked at the two. Modo and Vinny both had a slightly pained/abashed looks on their faces.

"Forgive us shal-la, we did not intend to cause discomfort." Modo said seriously. Ruby blinked at him and then sighed and looked away. God she felt like such a bitch for saying that. Even if it had only been her half hearted attempt at trying to hide her discomfort at being wedged between them so suddenly that she'd not been able to breathe.

"Look guys, I'm sorry that I made you think you did something wrong. But you didn't. I was only joking-" Ruby said in an effort to coax back their earlier mood. But the two mice were far too perceptive and knew that she was trying to make them feel better. And while they appreciated her efforts.

They needed her to be totally honest with them and stop trying so damn hard to spare their feelings.

They were the ones meant to protect her. Not the other way around.

"Shal-la please... Do not lie to us. Even if your trying to spare our feelings. We know that being wedged between two people isn't exactly comfortable considering how strong we are- " Vinny said while mentally adding. Or how small and fragile you are in comparison. "It's not pleasant to feel trapped. Or crushed." Ruby was about to say something else to them to assure them that she really was fine. That she hadn't been lying to them when both Vinny and Modo got funny looks on their faces and seemed to stop paying attention.

Ruby frowned and started to turn around to see what it was that held their interest now, but before she could see anything Modo reached out and grasped her arm and jerked her off balance causing her to stagger towards him, where Vinny grabbed her and promptly shoved her behind them both and then hissed.

"Maybe she didn't see her, Modo-"

"Maybe..." Modo said in a hushed tone as second before an loud ear splitting shriek filled the market causing all three to jump as an unfamiliar voice boomed.

"Modo-cub!"

Modo groaned and hung his head a little bit. "Oh god, why me?"