Cinder frowned across the dining room table at Harry, who was nibbling on his toast. His clothes were far too big for him, they were filthy, and torn... It was official. He needed new clothes.
"Emerald! Mercury!" The two henchmen who happened to be walking by heard their names called, and approached.
"What's up, boss?" Mercury asked. Cinder glared, and Mercury rolled his eyes. "What can we do for you, Miss Cinder?" Cinder smirked.
"I'm going clothes shopping for Harry, and I need you two to come with me." Harry, Emerald and Mercury all looked at her in surprise.
"Uh...what do you need us for?" Emerald asked.
"Well, you don't honestly expect me to carry the bags myself, do you?" Cinder asked, still smirking.
"Of course that would be the reason..." Emerald groaned.
"HEY GUYS!"
"Ugh...Hello, Stevie." Cinder groaned.
"I wanna go shopping too! I'm super duper good at it"
"You're GOOD at shopping? Okay." Mercury scoffed.
"No, no, Stevie." Cinder said nervously, waving her hands side to side. "That won't be necesarry. I think you should stay here and do...whatever it is Stevies do."
"Okay!" Stevie waddled off. Cinder sighed in relief, then turned to Harry.
"Come along, Harry, we're going to get you some nice new clothes to wear."
"Wh-Why?" Harry asked softly.
"Because you need them." Cinder replied simply before walking over and picking him up. "Come along now..." After thoroughly inspecting for banana peels, Cinder carried the little boy out the door, with Emerald and Mercury following close behind her.
And so...
Cinder was irritated and Mercury and Emerald were highly amused. Stevie had chosen to follow them after all, and made some hilariously bad attempts at "stealth." Every time one of them turned around, he would attempt to hide. One time, he had hidden behind Emerald, who was much skinnier than him, as well as one of the people he was trying to hide FROM. Another, he had picked a pebble up off the street and held it in front of his face, giggling and snickering about how they'd never find him. And then he had decided to forget about hiding entirely, and opted to wear a disguise... A hilariously goofy fake moustache and a nametag that said "Hello! My name is NOT Stevie!" Cinder sighed and turned around.
"FINE! YOU CAN COME WITH US! JUST DON'T ANNOY US!"
"YAAAAAAY!" Stevie cheered before skipping ahead of them. Cinder saw the bananas he had packed in his pocket, and let out a slight whimper, tightening her hold on Harry as if he were her last lifeline.
And so...
The group of five arrived at the mall. Cinder, Emerald, Mercury and Harry got in without a hitch. Stevie moved to follow them, but was stopped by building security.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but pets aren't allowed in the building." Stevie grinned.
"I'm not a pet, silly! I'm-"
"Sorry,Stevie,youheardthemannopetsallowedbye!" Cinder ran away as fast as possible, and Emerald and Mercury followed with shrugs. Stevie sat down on the curb and pulled out a banana.
Later...
"All right, I think I got some good clothes for him to try on-" Emerald grabbed a t-shirt from the pile Mercury brought and wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"Seriously? That's so tacky!" Mercury rolled his eyes.
"He's a kid. It's a dinosaur shirt. Kids like dinosaurs. They don't have your picky sense of fashion." Emerald roughly elbowed him, then turned away with a huff.
"Well done, Mercury." Cinder said, nodding in approval. "Come on, let's get him changed."
They spent a good half an hour watching Harry try on new outfits. Jeans, t-shirts, sweat pants, pajamas, shoes, a panda costume-wait what?
Cinder and Mercury raised their brows in confusion when Harry walked out of the stall wearing a panda suit. They turned to Emerald, who had her hands over her mouth to muffle the squealing sounds that came out.
"Oh my god he's so cute, look at him!" She gushed quietly.
"So dinosaur t-shirts are too tacky for your tastes, but panda costumes are okay, is that what's happening here?" Mercury said, rolling his eyes. Emerald grinned sheepishly.
"Uh...It could make a good Halloween costume?" She said.
"Yes, well..." Cinder stood and walked to Harry's side. "As adorable as you look, Harry, I think it's time you put on some regular clothing." And so Harry changed to the dinosaur t-shirt that made Emerald groan and a pair of jeans. Cinder smiled. "Very good. There, aren't you glad you don't have to walk around in those old rags now?" Cinder's expression turned into one of surprise when Harry hugged her leg.
"Thank you..." He said softly.
"Uh...Y-Yes, you're welcome..." She said awkwardly, petting Harry's head. Harry stopped hugging her, then moved on to Mercury and hugged his leg as well.
"Whoa, hey, we got a hugger here!" Mercury chuckled. When Harry moved on to Emerald, she predictably picked him up and hugged him before he had even gotten close to her.
"You are SO welcome, Harry!" Cinder couldn't help but smile, which she hid by placing a hand over her mouth. He really was rather adorable... Scowling, the young woman shook her head. She couldn't... She needed to get her mind on something else, so she cleared her throat.
"Well, now that that's out of the way, how about we get something to eat?" And with that, she lead her little group to the food court.
Meanwhile...
Stevie finished peeling his banana, and tossed the peel over his shoulder so it landed just in front of the doors the second before they closed. A man entered the mall, opening the doors and causing the banana peel to go sliding across the floor. A group of people walked over the peel, miraculously managing to avoid slipping, and somehow carried it over to the escalators. The peel went up the escalator, and a janitor happened to come by and sweep it up. He placed it in the dust pan and dumped it in the trash can. Moments after he left, a couple of rowdy teens ran by, roughhousing, until one of them accidentally knocked the trash can over, causing it to fall over the side of the railing. The banana peel fell out. Cinder, who was leading Harry, Emerald and Mercury to the food court, stepped on it, staggered forward with a yelp in surprise, then fell into the fountain, splashing water on her companions. Everyone in the vicinity looked over to see Cinder's butt sticking out of the water of the fountain. It wiggled slightly as Cinder's upper body emerged with a gasp, her hair now matted to her face. Her face contorted in frustration, and she threw her hands into the air and screamed into the sky.
"STEEEEEEEEEEEEVIEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Sorry, boss, I can't come in! I'm not allowed!" Cinder vaguely heard Stevie call from the entrance. She growled. WHY did she hire that idiot?