The Darkness that Falls

Arden waited patiently as she leaned up against the wall where the curtain closed. They were somewhat lucky this was a lesser popular store in the mall. The punk style was only appealing to a certain type of people, and the Kumiho realized how badly she was sticking out with her mundane clothes, but she didn't think too much of it and the other customers didn't seem to care beyond a small glance and some people pointed her out to their friends.

She stood at attention when Scout announced herself finished changing and opened the curtain, only to close it and re-open it again. Arden thought about telling the Inugami that it didn't matter because her feet would be seen underneath the drapes, but it was too funny and too cute, so she let it slide and instead smiled brightly at the little twirl the Inugami did on top of that to show off the clothes she found. Scout's tail got plenty of attention from the other customers, but Arden didn't have the heart to be the stick in the mud, and it was just the small store, so what did it matter if a few saw? They weren't like a hidden society, people knew of magic. Plus, Scout had promised that any problems would be taken care of, hopefully, without violence.

"You look great!" Arden smiled. "The choker super fits you!" The Kumiho commented as she grabbed Scout's hand and led her over to the mirror in the middle of the little hallway the changing rooms were in. "What do you think?" She asked and took another look at the clothes Scout wore, maybe they should get her a top in a smaller size, but then again, it did look comfy for there to be some room for Scout to move in. "You want a smaller top maybe? Or is it okay like this?" Arden asked as she saw some people peeking at them from behind and decided to show off her own silver tail and perky ears, just so Scout didn't stand out alone.
 
Scout stared at her reflection in silence, chewing her lip as he looked herself over. She tugged ever so slightly at the choker around her neck, pleased with the accessory. It was almost like a bit of a guard, and not too tight, either. The Inugami was more protective of her neck than most. "Nah, I think this is pretty good!" She turned to Arden, grinning from ear to ear. "Feels pretty nice, looks pretty nice." Heck, the new clothes smelled pretty nice, too! Anything new was nice to her.

"Oh snap, your ears!" She did a look around, taking notice of some of the people staring at them. They looked more intrigued than scared or worried, but she wasn't sure that was any better. "Oh wait, my tail!" She had totally forgotten to drape the coat around herself again, leaning her head back and groaning loudly. It was only a few people, so it didn't matter much, right? They might just think they were dressing up or something, anyway. "Lemme cover up again, sorry Arden!" She apologized to the Kumiho, backing up into the changing room to snag the coat once more.

"You don't have to cover up," A voice from behind Arden spoke up, "you're beautiful just the way you are, both of you." Palomo leaned against a clothed display dummy, a dumb smirk on his face. "If you're into cosplay, you're into cosplay. I think it makes you look distinguished." The officer was off duty and enjoying the day, taking the time to relax and nurse his many papercuts from the paper slips he had signed, stamped, and filed over the long night. He had only come to the mall because he figured it would be the perfect place to meet women. Case in point, the two before him.

"If anything, all anyone is going to do is ask for a picture, or where you bought those things because they are pretty darn realistic. And cute." He gave Arden finger guns, and in the process, toppled over the display dummy, nearly falling with it. He managed to catch himself, however, and let out a sigh of relief. Instead of picking up the dummy, he simply leaned on another one, giving Arden a nod as if that hadn't just happened. His stupid smirk never left his face. "So, what're you ladies doing here?"​
 
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"No, don't worry about it," Arden smiles. Sure, they did need to go a bit undercover, but this was a small shop so it wasn't like it was that big of a deal. Plus, it did help that Scout didn't stick out alone which was why she decided to show off her own animalistic features. However, keeping Scout's feet on the floor was probably for the better. It was a tad bit harder to explain someone levitating than just a fluffy tail and perky ears. She was about to speak up again that the Inugami didn't need to fetch the coat since what was done was done, but before she got the chance someone spoke up behind her.

The look on the Kumiho's face turned into something of true fear. Living her life on the run and then having someone unknown behind her, without her noticing, definitely brought back old memories of past mistakes that had cost her several days in a cold prison with constant interrogation and abuse. The blue markings that she usually hid lit up for just a split moment and her perky ears bend back as her tail swished in between her legs. Her hand lifted itself up and began to conjure up an ice spike that she had every intention of pushing through this unknown's man chest. In her current mindset, it didn't matter that there were people around, she was in flight or fight mode, and she wasn't about to run away with Scout still being in the changing room.

One deep breath later, she turned around just to see his fingers pointed at her and she was ready to attack until the man toppled over the mannequin but thankfully didn't crash it down on the floor. The clumsy display calmed the Kumiho enough where she dispelled her magic and her tail stopped tucking itself in between her legs as her ears slowly went back to their usual demeanor, though Arden was still hyper-alert about this stranger that had approached them.

She didn't feel for replying to his question, but she decided it would be rude and more noticeable if she didn't. Reserved, Arden put her arms around herself and gripped her elbows to keep herself from attacking again. Hopefully, this was just a bold man, but the Kumiho had met too many humans who looked innocent but held dangerous intentions.

"I'm just buying some clothes for my friends," she tried her best to smile but her lips hardly quirked up from her jump from earlier. "Though I think you shouldn't lean on those anymore."
 
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"Ah, it's fine." Palomo waved his free hand flippantly. "I'm cool with the owner. She's sweet on me. Thinks I'm some sort of prince charming." It mattered not if his words were true, it only mattered that he believed them. And boy, did he believe them to be. "Man, those ears are pretty realistic. They move on their own?" He had started to reach forward to flick them, but he stopped, realizing how rude that would be. That and Scout was giving him a look that might have killed any lesser, or smarter man. "So, that's your friend? Nice outfit!" He was becoming a bit more interested in the duo's looks now. He could have sworn that he saw her begin to light up a bit.

Scout narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before looking to Arden, concern on her face. Of course, he didn't understand just what her ears meant, but she did. Then again, this guy didn't seem capable of reading body language at all. She placed an arm around Arden's shoulders in both, a protective and comforting manner before looking at Palomo again. "Yeah, I'm her friend. What do you want?" It wasn't that she was being cold, lord knows she wanted to. She was just being rather blunt. He had to have some reason for approaching strangers.

"Well, I was just in the area, I like to poke my head in here from time to time to see if there's anything I like, and I saw your ears and tails, they looked really...well...real." He meant it as a compliment, his eyes flitting between them and the ears. "Especially how they move on their own. Whatya make em' out of? Must be electronic, eh?"​
 
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If Arden was to get anything from this stranger, expect the fact that he was a potential threat, was that he wasn't much of a smooth talker nor a charmer. Perhaps it was his dense head or how the Kumiho was trying to use her body language to show off how uncomfortable she is, but whatever it was, this guy could clearly not take a hint.

The moment his hand reached out towards Arden the girl stepped back and practically jolted into action as she looked to Scout to see if she was okay. In fact, the Inugami looked a lot better than Arden did. There was no doubt in her mind that she was both pale and trembling with the fear and adrenaline talking to a mere stranger had brought her. She had hoped the man would just go back to his own business and leave them alone, but he seemed insisted on keeping their conversation going.

Thankfully, the unknown man thought that their tail and ears were not real. Obviously, some part of the world knew of otherworldly creatures like herself and Scout, but either denied it or lived oblivious to it. It did not matter unless you were in the police force that dealt with those sort of things, what you believed and Arden was in far from in the mood to tell this stranger that her tail and ears were not just some high-tech accessories. Her ears were completely bent back and her tail in between her legs again from the earlier fright, the second one, this man had given her and the Kumiho was happy she had calmed herself enough to not suddenly attack him.

"It's--" Arden's voice shook for a moment and she cleared her throat to try and seem less terrified. "It's. . . a secret," she decided to answer as she had no intentions of giving any long or convoluted answers and she didn't want to keep talking so short replies had to do. The Kumiho stepped behind Scout, not wanting to use her as a meatshield, but she was too afraid not to have something in between herself and the stranger.

"Who are you, anyway?"
 
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"A secret, huh? I guess I understand." Palomo rubbed his chin, eyes drifting upwards as his mind wandered. "I guess you gotta keep your best stuff for yourself, eh?" Of course, he was starting to draw a few conclusions. Perhaps they weren't as fake as he believed. There was always a possibility. His boss was pretty similar, after all. If only he could give those ears a good rub-a-dub. Then he'd know if they were real or not for sure.

"Who am I, you ask?" A rather arrogant smirk spread across his face as he snorted, shaking his head. "I'll tell you who I am. I am a paragon of truth and justice. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am a protector of the innocent! I am an ally to truth! Nightmare to evil!" He threw a hand into the air, nodding his head to the inaudible theme music that was playing in his mind. "I AM...PALOMO. DETECTIVE PALOMO OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S SPECIAL FORCES!"

His rather loud introduction had turned heads. Most of the people were laughing at him, or at the very least stifling a giggle. Others rolled there eyes or looked disturbed, shaking their heads in shame. Still, he didn't seem phased by it one bit. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances." He told Arden and Scout, reaching out to grab a hand for a kiss.

Scout was rather quick to react, slapping his hand down. "Okay, weirdo...shouldn't you be out there chasing bad guys or something?" Admittedly, she thought he was goofy and ridiculous, in a semi-good way, but he made Arden uncomfortable, and that meant he had to go. Besides, if he was a cop, that didn't mean he was on their side necessarily.

"I'm off-duty. I only saw a couple of very pretty ladies and decided to say hi!" Palomo gave them a small bow. "I couldn't help myself, you see!" Okay, sure, neither of them were Shayna, but they were still pretty!​
 
Usually, Arden would feel relieved to know that the stranger they were talking to was of the police, especially of the special forces, because she had never encountered any trouble from them. In fact, they had helped the Kumiho on numerous occasions. Obviously, there were always the corrupt ones to look out for, but her paranoia hadn't reached the point where she suspected every single one of them. But the issue today, with meeting a loud and obnoxious police officer, was because of what had happened yesterday.

Yesterday, they murdered and destroyed an entire building which Arden didn't doubt for a second was illegal. Hopefully, there was no connection to them yet, but because Palomo was talking to them, the Kumiho became even more terrified that their cover had already been blown. The thought of explaining the situation to him did occur, to say it was self-defense and that Scout helped to break her out of a basement cell where she had been tortured for a stupid bead she didn't want in the first place, but she knew better than to do that when they had already attracted so much attention. Plus, she didn't like this guy. There was something about him that made her skin want to curl.

The moment he reached out his hand Arden jumped back and felt ready to defend herself, she didn't like it. This "Palomo" guy kept on reaching out towards her, something she viewed as aggression, and while she was happy Scout was so calm, Arden's senses were on hyper alert.

Arden grabbed Scout's sleeve, holding onto it tightly, as she still kept the braver Scout in between herself and the stranger. The Inugami undoubtedly helped her out of her shell yesterday, but that didn't mean she was completely out.

"Let's go," she whispered to Scout. "We can pay for this and then move to a different store, right?" All Arden wanted was to get away and somewhere safe. It wasn't a good idea to stay with him, not when they were trying to stay low. It was like being a thief with a louder speaker taped onto their backs, a horrible idea.

"Or just come back here later," Arden added. "I don't-- I don't like him," though she was sure that her bent back ears and her tail tucked between her legs were plenty to tell Scout how scared she was at the moment.
 
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"Yeah, we can go to a different store." Scout patted her shoulder comfortingly. She had no special love for the police, and this guy was starting to get on her nerves. The more scared Arden got, the more annoyed Scout found herself becoming. She gave Palomo an indignant look, staying quiet for awhile before she spoke. "Well it was nice to meet ya, but we're trying to have a good time and you're really making that tough. So we're just gonna go." It was the truth, phrased in a rather stinging way, and her words obviously had effect. The officer couldn't hide the look of hurt on his face.

"O-oh, my bad...I was just being polite was all." Well, he was being polite while searching for a smooch. What did he do or say? They were treating him like Shayna did, just without the threatening of violence, and unlike with Shay, he could tell they weren't trying to hide true feelings of love under annoyance and wrath. Palomo could tell he was starting to frighten one of them, even, which hurt him even more. Was he that scary?! "Well, you ladies have a good day, I guess. I'm just gonna mosey on down the mall." Well, that was fine! There were plenty of other women for him to speak to! But still...

"Uh-huh." Was Scout's reply as she began to lead Arden away from the officer. "What a weirdo." She muttered, shaking her head. She found him funny at first, in a pitiful way, but she found him becoming quickly grating. "He's out of our hair now, though." She gave one last glance back, catching him watching them go.

Palomo was mostly watching them go with a rather longing look on his face. But he also couldn't help but watch their tails. Now that the women of his attention were no longer within his vicinity, it seemed he could think like a normally functioning human being once more. He was starting to think that it wasn't just a cosplay anymore. From the way Arden's tail was tucked between her legs matching how scared she seemed to look. Either she was really, really into her cosplay, or it wasn't a cosplay. "Well, I'll be."

Okay, so it wasn't a real reason for him to call his superiors, but it was interesting enough to warrant an excuse to call them! Palomo pulled out his cellphone and immediately went to his contact list. It didn't take him long to find the three people he would be willing to call, especially since he only had five people in their anyway. "Who to call..."

Tucker? Nah. He would never tell anyone, especially since everyone at the force looked at him as the infallible, undefeatable hero, but he was a little scared of him. Who wouldn't be? He was really tall, really strong, and not even completely human. Pass.

Diaz? No way. She would probably kill him for ruining her day off. She liked to lay around and listen to dumb music all day while eating chocolates. She was a weird girl, that's for sure.

His mom and dad had nothing to do with the case. Plus, he had missed their anniversary and their respective birthdays, so he was avoiding that phone call for as long as possible. That left only one number for him to call, and oh boy did that realization make him nervous and sweaty.

"Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!" He was finally gonna do it! He was finally gonna call Shayna! "Come on Palomo, you can do it...!" His finger hovered over her name as he talked himself into tapping it. It took one more minute of pep talking, squealing and hopping around before he finally tapped it, dialing her number.​
 
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"Yeah, you're right," Arden smiled as she felt better the moment they were away from the store and from the man who had introduced himself as Palomo. She didn't dislike him, but it was her survival instincts that were screaming at her to be afraid. Fear was what had kept her alive for so long, and while running away wasn't an option with Scout at her side, she was still happy they handled that situation surprisingly well. No one got hurt, except that mannequin and maybe the stranger's pride, but no one walked away with any injuries nor missing a limb or something similar. It was an improvement from yesterday, though it was probably not a good example to use.

Her tail finally stopped brushing against her inner thighs and her ears perked back on top of her head now that Arden felt safe again. "Sorry, I guess it wasn't quite what you expected, but you handled it well," she smiled but was still worried about the stranger. She didn't even dare to glance back, but instead, she focused on Scout and their day of shopping that was waiting for the two of them.

"Well, let's just forget about it. You wanna do some more shopping? We only got you one outfit! Though it looks great," Arden said as she decided to move her thoughts away from the scary encounter and towards something fun. "We can always go back there later if you want to buy some other clothes," the Kumiho added as she looked around for similar stores now that she knew a bit more about Scout's preferred style.

--------------------------------------------------------------------​

Shayna, after having hung up on Palomo at least a hundred times, finally took a break from her training after beating the sandbag off the chains and proceeding to punch it through the wall. Nothing to worry about, Tucker did that all the time though he only needed to flick his finger, so the gym knew how to handle that pretty well.

She picked her phone up and saw "Chocolate Face" and the millions of missed calls on her phone. Shayna was an avenging angel, and she was about to act out on her duties if this was not a matter in between life and death. The one thing she hated the most was being interrupted during practice, that and paperwork.

"What?!" Shayna shouted into the phone that she finally picked up. "You better be dying or I will make sure that you will be soon!"
 
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"Forget about what?" Scout grinned rather cheekily at her joke. "I think I got what I wanted from there, anyway. I feel like I started at the top with this outfit, and anything else won't do it justice." She almost wished she had another mirror nearby to check herself out in. Blue and black were her favorite colors, at least to wear. And the choker just sealed the deal for her.

"We can hit up some of the other stores and find some better, different outfits! And this time, you pick!" Arden was already paying for everything, and she wasn't using her fancy transmutation powers to do it, either. It was actually hard earned money, so Scout was determined not to pick every destination. She had to pick at least one.

"Ah, by the way, Arden, don't worry too much about guys like that, or guys like the one's last night. I'll make sure you're safe." Scout assured the Kumiho, giving her a one-armed hug. She was her new friend, they both escaped captivity from the same people, and this was a chance for Scout to live a new life. There was no way she was going to let someone, especially some retarded cop, ruin this for her or for Arden.

"Well Shayna, my love, we're all dying," Palomo replied in a singsong voice, doing a bit of a twirl as he did. She picked up this time! He knew she couldn't stand to be away from him, he knew it! "But no, I'm actually calling because I ran into some new cutie- people today!" Nice save. He didn't need to deal with a jealous Shayna.

"I haven't seen em' before, and I'm pretty sure they were magical! They were here at the mall! One of em' was pretty scared of me, even after I mentioned I was a cop! Thought it was suspicious!" Who would ever be scared of a cop?! Much less him! He was both, adorable and friendly! "And since you guys told us to be on the lookout for stuff related to the other night, I thought I'd phone it in, ya know?"
 
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"Me?" Arden asked as she suddenly felt the pressure of having to pick out a store. The Kumiho gave Scout another quick glance, trying her best to look at what the Inugami had already picked and wanting to find something similar or at least black and blue clothes she said she liked so much.

Unfortunately, the stores that Arden would frequent were too mundane for what Scout was currently wearing. She liked colors that didn't really stick out, soft colors. In fact, now that she thought about it, she dressed like an animal's fur would change color with its environment to blend in. Survival instincts, and it just kept going like that. Therefore she steered clear away from the boring stores with matching boring clothes, though she did spot one sweater she kind of wanted, but today was all about being bold!

Speaking of which, it may not be the boldest of stores, but she did find one which had like a rainbow spewing out at them of color, and yet there seemed to be some darker variations that Scout would appreciate. It was like glam fashion, and the leather jacket sectioned seemed like something the Inugami would like.

"That one,"she pointed out quite pleased with herself that she managed to find something Scout would hopefully like. "I've never been to this store, but it looks cool," Arden smiled as she grabbed the Inugami's hand to guide them over there.

"Oh and about that. . ." Arden did feel very reassured that Scout said she would protect her, but also a bit guilty. She didn't want to be protected, she too, wanted to protect. However, there would be none of that if she kept acting this terrified around strangers.

"Um. . . Before we met. . . Strangers would come up to me and try to trick me to give away my bead. It will grant a wish, but when it does, I die. I guess. . . I guess I'm still scared because of that. . . I just remember being hunted down, I guess," Arden smiled as she tried her best not to sound like she was looking for pity or protection. She only wanted to be open and honest to Scout, even though her story was quite pitiful.

Honestly, Shayna would usually be pretty happy about a lead on a case they were working on this quickly, and even if it was Palomo who called her, she might have investigated or at the very least looked into it a little bit. However, the biggest problem here was that, to the avenging angel, it sounded like the flirty police officer had just attempted to get some "smooches" from some innocent girls doing their daily shopping and terrified them in the progress. In fact, it sounded more like Chocolate Face had harassed someone and wanted to report it to Shayna personally, as if to brag, while pretending it was a lead on a case.

It was pissing her off.

"Listen. . ." she grit her teeth together in an attempt to not crush her phone in her hand, it would be the third this week. ". . . We did give you an order to keep an eye out, but you can't just report every single magical being you see, and them being terrified of you, is not suspicious," Shayna growled into the phone. "Now, if you call me again, Tucker gets to use your head as a soccer ball!" And with that she hung up and huffed angrily.

"Tucker, can you believe this guy?!" She loudly complained to her partner. "Chocolate Face found some girls in the mall and thought they were suspicious because they avoided him! I swear! I'll murder him myself and do the whole female race a favor!"
 
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Scout couldn't help herself. She pulled the Kumiho closer with her arm, resting her head upon Arden's as they walked. A gesture that was two parts comforting and one part protective. "They didn't get your bead before, and they sure as hell ain't getting it now. I mean, you pretty much took care of everyone in that building yourself, and with me here on top of that...ain't no way they're ever gonna get to glimpse that bead." Arden's abilities were powerful, but no matter how powerful she was, she needed someone to watch her back. It was the same for Scout.

"Both of us came from somethin' nasty. I died once, and lemme' tell ya, it's no picnic. I wouldn't let it happen to myself again, so I definitely wouldn't let it happen to my family." Her new and only family. They'd only known each other for less than a complete day, but Arden had already treated Scout far better than anyone she'd met since dying. She couldn't help but feel loyalty to the Kumiho.

"Now, let's shop for some clothes! I'm seein' some colors that I really like!" The Inugami rubbed her hands together in fiendish anticipation as her eyes roamed the store's wares. "This time you gotta try stuff on first!"


"Wow..." Palomo was stunned by Shayna's words. He found himself unable to keep himself from trembling. "She...she really...she really loves me so much that she threatened me because she knew her heart would prevent her from finishing her work." He placed a hand on his heart, feeling the organ beat a thousand times a second. "Oh gosh...she's so cute. The only woman for me!" He sang aloud as he exited the store.

"Uh-huh..." Tucker drawled, hunched over his much too small desk. The Demigod/werewolf wasn't quite as a business first as his partner. Instead of doing paperwork he was playing Minecraft on his computer, his tongue pressed against the corner of his mouth as he mined away at large patches of iron and coal. "You know how he is, he's in love with you. Any excuse to call 'his lady'." He couldn't even bother to hide a chuckle.

"I mean, right now he's probably telling himself that you're just pretending to be mad to hide your budding feelings of romance for him." Tucker knew many things, and Palomo was one of them. He couldn't think of another person who could delude themselves the way that man did. It was impressive really. A true skill. "Don't kill him though, he's one of the good guys! The bad good guys, but a good guy still!"
 
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Arden couldn't keep herself from smiling brightly at Scout's protective and comforting gestures. How long had it been since the Kumiho had dared to make a friend? It wasn't that she believed all people to be evil and wanting her bead, she wasn't that self-centered, but undoubtedly paranoid enough to keep her distance just in case. Things like "friends" had been a distant thing so she hadn't imagined getting one so suddenly. Not to mention fast, but Scout had saved her life from certain death and in turn, Arden was doing her best to return the favor. Most people would turn to greed when they knew what she was, or for the few who didn't know, hear about her bead. The Inugami hadn't even blinked as she gave the nonchalant promise of protecting the Kumiho. It warmed her heart a little bit, and if they hadn't been out in public, she might have shed one touched tear. But instead, Arden sagged against Scout and even nuzzled into her head a bit before deciding to leave the thoughts of the past where they belong and have some proper fun with the Inugami. The day wasn't ruined, and she didn't want it to become mellow because of her!

She decided against commenting on Scout's confession of having died once. It wasn't the best conversation topics outside and there was just a hint of something in the air that told Arden it was better not to dig. While the Kumiho could only die once and was a bit curious about death and that experience, it could wait.

"Okay! I'll try on something first!" Arden laughed as her mood had already sprung back up alongside her ears and her tail untucking itself from in between her legs. Excitedly, she took a peek around at all the clothes. The colors were undoubtfully bright, though she leaned more towards the pastel-colored sweaters.

One of them was baby pink with a little dark bow by the shoulder. It looked cute, so Arden flung it over her shoulder and then looked for some shorts. It was hot, or about to be, so she could save the pants for later. The Kumiho didn't want to look boring or plain next to her punk-dressed friend, so she grabbed some shorts that had a few rips in them before finding a good pair of sneakers with some pink and yellow stars.

"Scout!" She called out looking for the Inugami in the store. "I found some stuff! Did you find anything?"

Shayna walked over to Tucker's desk and sat down on the other side of the werewolf's computer as she gave it a quick peek before sighing and resting her elbow on top of the screen, vary of her ponytail so her hair didn't block the "hard at work" Tucker. "If the Department boss catches you playing Minecraft again while you still got the paperwork to do, you might end up getting another ban from your computer and do all those papers by hand. He made you once," the avenging angel reminds her partner though she doesn't do much to try and stop him. The way he was concentrating, with his tongue out no less, was cute and she didn't have much more care for her own paperwork than Tucker did. It's why people like Diaz existed, they would do her paperwork in her stead. Highly useful, if only she could say the same for Chocolate Face.

"There's plenty of good guys out there," Shayna rolled her eyes. "There's nothing really stopping me from murdering him and helping the entire female race, except a pay cut," the angel pouted as she slouched down on top of the screen and decided against thinking of Palomo's unrequited love for her, and how she would never reject him enough times for him to get the point. It was a sad truth, but the truth nonetheless.

"So I'm guessing you agree then? Nothing out of the ordinary?" She couldn't keep herself from asking. Even if Chocolate Face was unreliable, it didn't mean he was completely useless. Despite it being two ladies because of course, it could still be something of a lead. Though, granted, what Chocolate Face had reported didn't really give them much to go on, nor anything to be suspicious of, it was always good to have a second opinion.
 
Scout hadn't wandered too far when Arden called for her, going through some shorts nearby. The girl had to admit, she had a thing for them, she couldn't remember the last time she had worn something other than them, at least by choice. Resting on her arms were a couple of shirts as well, varying in color and design. She hadn't picked out a whole lot, just a decent bit, and some of them were even good bargains. She was trying her best to strike a balance between 'Pretty clothes, and a good amount of them!' and 'Not breaking the bank!', and so far she felt she was doing a good thing.

"I'm comin'!" She called back to Arden half running, half skipping her way to the Kumiho. "I found some pretty damn good stuff! Check this out!" She raised a hanger she was carrying, showing off a black and orange shirt. "Reminds me of myself. Pretty dang cool, eh?" The shirt struck a chord with her.

"What about you? Find anything you really like?" She peered over at Arden and her clothes, reminiscent of a curious puppy as she looked through them. "These look pretty good!" She couldn't help the chirp that escaped her and reacted by quickly covering her mouth, a small snicker leaving her. "You're gonna look nice in those, though."

"They try to take my computer, then I'll take their arms," Tucker growled, though his tail swept side to side. "And then I'll barbecue em'!" He liked the action part of his job, and the being in charge part, but the paperwork? The calls? The beauracracy? Those aspects could go die in a fire for all he cared. Minecraft was the only thing that made this part more bearable. That and watching Palomo skirt close to death every time he tried to sneak a smooch on Shayna.

"Eh, I don't think there will be too much of a problem. It's likely nothing out of the ordinary, but it might not hurt to go check it out at least a little." There wasn't any reason for them to, but getting out of the office and to the mall? That sounded like fun. They could get some ice cream too!

"All I have to do is take a sniff, and we'll know for sure. Besides, I'm sure your number one secret admirer would love/i] to see you, maybe." He snickered, saving his game before closing out. "If he's still there. And we can get some ice cream! I could go for some soft serve, and I know you can too." ​
 
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Arden had to admit that going shopping with a friend was. . . refreshing, to say the least. The task of having to go outside and buying anything at all had been daunting before she met Scout. Outside was scary for someone constantly on the run, especially considering how she knew that "paranoia" would be a word to describe her behavior. However, it was amazing how fast that went away with just one friend by her side. Granted, Scout wasn't just any kind of friend. Oh no, the Inugami had proved herself ten times over yesterday of how things could go if they messed with her. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that, but it felt safer knowing someone had her back.

Having calmed down from the earlier surprise encounter, Arden finally managed to let out a proper giggle as she watched Scout skip over to her with her tail wagging madly behind her, in fact, it was enough for the wind that came from the force to knock some stuff off some shelves. They could pick that back up later. "Looks great!" Arden instantly complimented. Scout's style was so different from hers, and hopefully, Scout would add some colors to Arden's bland fashion sense.

"You think I'll look good?" The Kumiho parroted as she took another glance at her clothes. It wasn't something she would usually wear, but. . . If Scout said she would look nice, then she believed it! "Okay! Let's try it on!" Arden chirped excitedly as she grabbed Scout's free hand and dragged the Inugami over to the changing rooms. "I'll be right back!" She couldn't keep her excitement down. Her tail was no better than Scout's earlier, swishing the curtain back and forth as she changed.

"Ta da!" Arden said with a little less confidence than she wanted to. It was out of her comfort zone for clothes, but it honestly didn't look so bad. "Do I. . . look weird?"

Shayna shook her head and chuckled. "You just want an excuse to go out of the office," she said with a knowing look, but that didn't mean she disagreed. Plus, the mall wasn't so bad and maybe they could pick up a pickpocket or a petty thief stealing something worth less than five dollars. Either way, the mall offered a lot more to do than the boring paperwork and endless of people running in telling them all about their missing cat or annoying neighbor.

"But sure," the angel agreed. "It gives me a good excuse to stretch my wings too," she smiled and stopped leaning on top of Tucker's monitor and instead stretched her arms far up into the air. "But if I see Chocolate Face there, we'll have to report a murder," she growled underneath her breath before extending her hand to her werewolf partner to help him off his far too small office chair. "And you're totally treating me to soft-serve ice cream, I got the lead so you get to treat."
 
Scout observed Arden silently for a moment, walking in circles around her a few times with a neutral look on her face. The look was then replaced with a grin, and she gave the Kumiho a thumbs up. "You don't look the slightest bit weird, Arden! It looks great on you! You pull it off really well!" She reached over and gently tugged on the sweater's bow. "This is really cute too!"

"Shorts are the best, I'm tellin' ya! You wear them, and you're ready for everything but the cold!" The Inugami was really quite pleased to see the outfit she had picked out. It was a little different from what she had before, in so far as that it seemed to stand out a bit more. She could understand why dressing to avoid standing out might have been a thing if Arden had done that intentionally, but now she had nothing to fear or at least less of a reason to fear. It's always easier to be safe when there are two instead of one. "You should definitely get that outfit." Actually, her outfit reminded her to grab something too.

"Ah, I should get some shoes too, eh?" Considering her feet were always wolfish in appearance, wearing shoes was...weird, for her, but if she wanted to head out, it only made sense to have some shoes on. "Should only take a second, blue is the color I'mma go for!" And there had to be plenty of those.



"Aw, he's just a man chasing his dreams: a romance with an angel that doesn't like him," Tucker smirked and grabbed her hand, taking her assistance in getting out of his chair. "You know what they say, love makes a fool out of a man. Don't kill him, just beat him a little." Unfortunately for Palomo, Tucker wasn't into micromanaging, so as long as his paperwork-horse showed up every morning for work then he didn't care too much about what happened to the man.

"Yeah, I'll give you the treat...I guess that's fair. But...no judging how much I get, okay? Because I'm probably gonna' end up getting at least four cones for myself." He absolutely hated how small the cones were. Sure, for a normal person they were probably a good serving size, but he wasn't normal, now was he?

The Chief grabbed his wallet and phone from his desk and slid them into his pocket before making his way to the doors. "I'M GOING ON LUNCH BREAK!" He yelled, his voice filling the entire office, if not the entire station. "AGAIN! DON'T MESS UP WHILE I'M GONE!"

"Yes, sir!" The workers in the office responded in tandem.
 
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The compliments to the bolder outfit was unexpected but far from unpleasant. In truth, Arden was a little over the moon to know that going for something that wouldn't make her blend in anymore, looked good. It was yet another reason to get out of her little bubble and see just a little bit more of what the world had to offer, to peek and try things she had wanted to do before but never dared. Who knew that Scout's sudden rescue would have such an impact on her life?

"Okay!" Arden replied enthusiastically. "I'll get it then," she smiled and was about to go back into the changing room to get into her regular, now seemingly boring, clothes, until Scout mentioned she was missing shoes. The Kumiho's eyes traveled downwards to look at her wolfish hind paws and couldn't help herself from asking the other. "Doesn't wearing shoes feel a bit uncomfortable?" She looked back up to meet Scout's gaze. "They're made for human feet after all, I've never tried it on paws," she added before looking at the blue shoes regardless of her remark.

"Don't wear them if it's uncomfortable, but it might be good for you to have some protection in the off chance your paws do hit the ground," Arden half-joked, though she could already tell that Scout had not been grounded very often, if at all before today.

"Ahem, avenging angel, thank you very much," Shayna corrected her werewolf partner as she just nodded to dismiss the other detectives and police officers who were practically saluting them after Tucker's order to keep everything in order. If anything, there was a better likelihood of that happening with the giant over-sized puppers out of the office, but there wasn't a living being in the building that were dumb nor brave enough to tell that to the werewolf, not even the suicidal. "And I got a feeling that if I smack him. . . Chocolate Face would like it," her face scrunched up at the mere thought before she physically shook her head to get the disturbing mental image out of her head.

Shayna swiped her badge off her desk and placed an "out for lunch" sign on her desk before following Tucker out, opening the door for her partner, before they were headed for the mall. "You wanna take the cop car or the highway?" The "highway" wasn't traffic, because there were few things the angel hated more than traffic, but it was flying. Tucker was a big boy, but not too big for Shayna to carry with her in the air. It slowed her down a bit, but it was hardly noticeable.

"And get as many ice cones as you want, it's your money that's burning," she grinned a little bit playfully. "I might get at least ten myself, it tastes even better when I'm not the one paying," she teased with a playful elbow. There was no way she was getting ten ice cream cones, but there was no harm in making the little puppers suffer a tiny bit.
 
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