The Halls of "Fashion"

[T-Fox†]

((Continued from The End of a Torment))

((Just a note, this is open to all...))

The second floor of the mall.

Peter had finished off the rest of his school day without confrontation, and headed home to ask his mother to drop him off down at the mall, to pick up the new X-Men game at Gamestop. Gamestop was on the third floor, but the quickest way to get there from where he was dropped off was through the second floor, "Fashion Alley" as he so called it. All of the trendy stores that he couldn't give a shit about were in here, and every time he walked through here, there was someone that just had to try and show him just why he should care, and drag him into one of them.

He passed by an Abercrombe and Fitch, glancing into the store at all the teens wasting time in there. "Wow... All you need is a good pair of hiking boots and jeans." He shook his head. "What does everyone see in these stores? All it is is a sweatshirt or a T-Shirt with the company name on it. They turn into walking billboard when they wear that stuff." He sighed, walking up one of the small stairways in the hall, heading towards the escalator to the third floor.

[ifnotwinter†]

((Dominic Stratford continued from Evolution is a Tinkerer))

Dominic Stratford was not having a particularly good day.

First Chris had gotten beaten up by Monty, then he'd barely finished his biology work because he was too busy talking with Chris. Then he'd come home to discover that the car had broken down, meaning that his mother had been unable to do the shopping, meaning that their current litter of foster kittens were almost of their formula. Fortunately he had enough left for the afternoon feeding, but in the spirit of the whole universe having something against him, they'd promptly pee'd all over him. Which wasn't particularly surprising, the surprising part was when one of them, in the middle of sucking happily on the bottle while snuggled on Dominic's chest, decided to poop massively all over his shirt.

And then he was going to be late for the bus, so he'd only had time to change. And now he was in the mall with a bag full of kitten formula from the small pet store, while smelling of kitten pee and poo. While walking through the tween fashion district.

Consequently, this meant that he had his head down and was walking as hastily as possible, relying on other people to get out of his way. Not that that's always a good strategy in a crowded mall...

[T-Fox†]

Peter was paying more attention than Dominic, but... still not particularly all that much. All he could think about was getting the heck out of this dang level of the mall. Fate apparently did have it out for Dominic today, and as soon as Peter craned his neck to see what some kid was yelling about out infront of an Abercrombe and Fitch...

*THUD!* He ran smack into Dominic, who probably didn't even see Peter coming. With his small stature, he landed flat on his rear, bouncing back a few feet. "Ow! Hey, I'm sorry... I wasn't paying any attention." He started to push himself up off of the mall floor, shaking his head a little. Unfortunatley for him, during this act, he took a deep breath in. Something was utterly foul. He didn't want to assume it was the kid he just walked into... But he wasn't going to say anything either.

[ifnotwinter†]

Oh, come on. Dominic stood silently for a moment, eyes shut, mind a blank reel of God, what the hell did I do to piss you off this much?

Opening his eyes and shaking his head, he crouched slightly and offered a hand to the smaller boy, a blush already establishing itself on his cheeks. "Hey, um...I'm really sorry about that. Totally wasn't looking where I was going. You okay?"

And then, since judging by the expression on the guy - what was his name? Mark? John? Peter, that was it, Peter - on Peter's face, he probably owed him an explanation for the lovely waves of stink that were following him around.

"Uh. Sorry about the smell, it's. Kind of a long story." He gave a weak chuckle. "It probably won't kill you."

[T-Fox†]

He shook his head. "I have no idea what it is, but I didn't plan on bringing it up. But I am up for a story, what happened to you?" He sniffed the air a little bit and cringed. "Um... Land in a lake of urine or something?" He chuckled a little bit, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose, smiling at Dominic. The other kid looked familiar... He thought he had seen the kid at school before. "Hey, don't you go to school with me?" He racked his mind, but couldn't seem to come up with a name. While booksmart, his memory when it came to names was surprisingly limited. "I'm sorry, I just can't think of your name."

[ifnotwinter†]

"Lake of urine isn't actually that far-off." Dominic shrugged self-consciously. "I've, uh, got foster kittens at home right now, and that sounds a lot more cute than it actually is. They're basically like small furry incontinent alarm clocks that go off every twenty minutes regardless of what time it actually is. With claws. Very, very, very sharp claws."

He managed a faint grin, still decidedly embarrassed at smacking into the smaller boy. "And they needed food like, right then, so I had no time to shower, and really...um, just, basically, not a good day."

He offered a hand. "And it's Dominic. Stratford. My hands are clean, I promise."

[T-Fox†]

He nodded, taking the hand. "I can smell that they aren't as cute as they sound." He chuckled. "But I'm just wondering... if you smell like this, why didn't you take a shower before coming down to the mall?" He tilted his head curiously. "And it's nice to meet you a little more formally than "That dude from school", even if it is under pretty... piss poor circumstances." He smiled at Dominic, sticking his tongue out a little, as if trying to make his pun more obvious.

[ifnotwinter†]

((ooc: dude I am so so sorry for all the time this is taking me. there're some personal circumstances going on right now that tend to suck out my thread-replying-fu - I'm in that one with Erik for plot reasons and I'm afraid I just kept shelving this. NEVER AGAIN.))

Dom groaned, but tempered it with a wry smile. "Okay, I'll admit it, I was kind of asking for that pun. And I didn't have time to shower, they're fed on demand right now and it tends to be once every hour or so - I had enough for a small feeding, but they'll be pretty hungry when I get home."

He gestured with the bag he held in his hand. "So I get to bus home smelling like a homeless guy. The price we pay for small adorable fuzzy things, right?"

[T-Fox†]

He just laughed to himself. "Yeah, you do have a point. Granted, while I've never been peed on, I have had puppies. And I know exactly what you mean." He took a small step back. "By all means, don't let me stand in the way of your shower, if this conversation is the only thing keeping you from the bus."

[ifnotwinter†]

"Thanks." Dom smiled again, and scratched his neck, feeling awkwardly embarrassed. Making conversation while reeking of bodily fluids had never exactly been forefront in his mind, and the little ones would need their bottle soon.

"Yeah, I should take off. It was nice to see you, though." He waved over his shoulder as he headed off, hoping only one thing - that Peter wouldn't tell anyone about the unfortunately pungent meeting.

((Dominic Stratford continued in Decisions, Decisions))

[T-Fox†]

Peter had no plans to mention the meeting to anyone, much less ever bring it up again. He would, however, ask how the kittens were doing the next day at school. He took off, heading towards the third floor yet again, trying to think if he even had enough money to buy the game.

((Peter McCue continued at An After School Meeting.))