Chocolate Pudding-chan: Yay, new chapter for you.
As three, they sat at the table. Pai, typing at something, "research" he called it. Kisshu, picking something out of his nails, and Tart, counting ceiling tiles. He usually got to about thirty or forty, saw something outside that distracted him, lost his place, and started over.
"He must have counted those same 33 tiles 33 times!" Kisshu thought, staring at his friend.
"I have an idea." Pai said offhandedly, his fingers still clacking away at the floating keyboard.
"An idea about what?" Kish asked.
Pai pointed a finger at Taruto, who had gotten to 27, saw a bird on the window, scolded himself for getting distracted, and, once again, started over.
"What kind of scheme would this be?" Kish asked sarcastically.
"I think we need to let him out."
"Out of where?"
"32, 33, 34—Oh, look at that cloud! DARN! 1, 2, 3…"
Pai sighed. "Out of HERE. You know, let him outside for some exercise, to blow off some—"
"15, 16, 17…. DARN! 1, 2, 3…"
Pai finished, "—some steam. Just burning a little energy OUTSIDE before he breaks anything else valuable INSIDE."
(He had still not forgiven Taruto for "accidentally" stepping on the remote, and somehow making the TV spontaneously combust.)
"You mean, like a dog or something?" Kish asked.
"I…suppose you could put it that way."
"I get to go outside?!" Tart asked excitedly. They usually NEVER let him leave, not even for battle, which rarely happened anyway.
"Sure you can. Kisshu, go take him out for a walk."
"What?! Me? WHYYY?" he whined.
Pai glared. And glared.
"Me then, Fine."
Kisshu got up from his chair, and grabbed his younger friend by the wrist. "Let's go burn off some steam, kiddo…" he muttered, dragging Taruto out the door.
Outside, Kisshu TRIED to commit to a normal "stroll" down the street. (Which, he thought the idea of "strolling" was ridiculous, why stroll when you can just fly wherever you want?)
Except, of course, Taruto, who normally ran as fast as he could go without stopping to breathe, decided today that he would take on the pace of a turtle and stop to look at EVERY SINGLE THING he saw on the street.
"Ooh, look at that snail! Oops, I stepped on it…. Ooh! Look at the squirrel! Oh, it's….foaming at the mouth….Ooh! Look at the –"
"Ooh! I DON'T CARE." Kish said, clearly exasperated.
"Man, now I got snail on my foot, gross…"
Tart then proceeded to wipe his foot on the sidewalk, and realized that rubbing bare feet on concrete isn't too much fun.
"OWIE! Oh, there's still some snail on there…"
"Tart! This wouldn't have happened if you, um, wore some shoes!"
"Shoes are overrated!" Tart said simply, using a leaf to get the rest of the snail off his foot.
Kisshu groaned. He wanted this walk to be over.
They continued their walk, and Kisshu could feel the hunger inside him, He figured that Tart couldn't destroy TOO much if he was only alone for a few minutes.
Just ONE box of crackers to settle his stomach was all he needed.
"Okay," he explained, "I want you to stay RIGHT HERE while I'm inside, and DON'T MOVE ONE INCH, 'til I get back, please?"
"Otay." Tart said simply, sitting on the bench outside of the small store.
When Kisshu came out 10 minutes later, he was surprised to see that Tart was actually still on the bench. However, he wasn't surprised to see what looked like a homeless man sitting next to him.
"Ugh, not ANOTHER one of Taruto's 'Hobo Buddies'…"
"Hi, Kisshu!" Tart waved happily.
"Hey man." The gruff-voiced man said.
Kish sighed and rubbed his forehead, and then suddenly had a thought that at that moment; he probably looked a lot like Pai.
"Tart, how many times to I have to tell you, STOP TALKIN' TO HOBOS!"
"But hobos are awesome! Especially this guy. His name is Al, and he is really cool!"
Tart smiled up at the man.
"My name's not Al." was his only reply.
Tart scowled, his mouth twisting into a shape that could only be described as "unhappy."
"Shut up, you." He said bitterly.
"Oi coloi…" Kish muttered.
Yes, all he wanted was for this walk to end.
Little did he know, this period in his life had only just begun.
Chocolate Pudding-chan: Rawr.