Armin glanced at Dianne as she came over, then turned his exasperated look back onto Fleur.

'Alright, hurry up. We'd like to get away from you as quickly as possible.'

{Fleur walks with them to carry out the transaction. He was creepily eyeing them both as he processed the purchase.}

Fleur: "There you go. Have a nice day."

{As they walked out, he was very obviously staring at Dianne in a inappropriate manner. Dianne ignored him, however, or perhaps she just didn't see.}

Armin looked over his shoulder and flipped Fleur off as they walked out.

'Gods, what a weirdo,' he muttered. 'I almost wish I had killed him back in Sovereign.'

Dianne: "Yeah...Remind me, why didn't we?"

Armin looked pensive. 'Last time I saw him, he was creeping on Eliza, but he wasn't trying to /murder/ anyone... Killing him back then didn't feel right. So I let him go.' He shrugged slightly. 'Sometimes I can't bring myself to kill someone unless there's a good reason for it.'

Dianne: "Alright. He's a weirdo, but he seems to be a harmless weirdo for the most part. Let's not worry about him now."

'That's fine with me.' Armin gazed up at the sky for a moment as they walked. 'So, what do you want to do now?'

Dianne: "I'd like to explore the shopping district a bit more, maybe look for gifts for everyone. The holidays are just around the corner."

'Yeah, I guess so... I need to see if there's a stationary shop where I can pick up something for Fred. I don't know what to get everyone else yet.'

Dianne: "I'm sure they must have one. What are you going to get him?"

'A journal. Something with a nice cover, good paper... For him to write his stories in. Do you know what you're getting for anyone?'

Dianne: "I'm getting Pythia some books from her favorite series. She's been too busy to keep up, so I'm buying her the three volumes she missed. Jerry's getting a starter pack of a table top game where you command little fantasy soldiers. He loves those silly games. Still thinking about everyone else."

Armin paused to think, walking across the district in no particular direction. 'Rex has always been a difficult guy to buy presents for. But since I have enough money this year, I might get him a pool table. He always liked cue sports. Still unsure if I should bother getting Ivy anything.'

Dianne: "Oh, that would be nice. Would you play with him? As for Ivy...I wouldn't even know what to get her..."

'Let's just skip Ivy. And yeah, I might play with him. We used to play in bars from time to time.'

Spotting a small stationary shop, he began to head in that direction.

Dianne: "That's sweet of you. You'd have to teach me to play. I don't know how it works."

{Dianne looks up at the stationary shop. It was called Mud Dauber.}

'It's not too complicated. We'll all play together after Christmas.'

Glancing briefly at the name of the shop, Armin headed on inside.

'Fred's present might be the least expensive one of all... All I need is to find a nice book, and we're good to go.'

Dianne: "True. I'm sure he'll really appreciate it. He seems to really like reading and writing."

{Once inside, Dianne looked around curiously at all the colorful books and knick knacks.}

Armin didn't hang around too long. Finding a shelf with notebooks, he picked out one with an intricate leather cover and silver metal fastening. The paper was thick and sturdy, and there were a hundred pages.

'This looks nice. I think it'll be enough.'

Dianne: "It is nice. I think he'll like it too."

{Dianne looked to a shelf with little figurines. There was one of a dragon that looked suspiciously like Ana, witch hat and all.}

Dianne: "What the...?"

Armin looked over too.

'Hey, wait a minute.' He moved closer to the shelf, peering down at the figurine. 'Huh. Weird. It might be a coincidence, but... no, it's more funny to think that Ana merchandise exists.'

Dianne: "It might be from that accursed movie. Oh, crap, /I'm/ not a figurine, am I?"

Armin browsed the selection, wrinkling his nose. 'Eww, there's a Sargon one...' he said, deliberately knocking it over. 'And... I think that's me, except I look like the idiot from that movie... And yep, there's you.'

He pointed out a small figurine of Dianne a bit behind the Armin ones. It looked reasonably accurate.

{Dianne picks it up and looks at it, sighing heavily.}

Dianne: "Well...at least I look half decent..."

Armin looked at his own figures with distaste, then turned away and walked up to the checkout.

'Next thing you know, they'll be plushies of everyone,' he said. 'Imagine that. Sargon plushes...'

{Putting her figurine down, she follows him.}

Dianne: "Detestable. I can't believe anyone sees that movie as a...romantic film..."

'It does seem more popular than I thought. If they're making stuff like this for it. I can't imagine why...'

He handed over the eight squalls for his book, then headed for the exit.

Dianne: "They probably just don't know them like we do. We knew the real them. They only know the fictional Sargon and Ana."

{As they exited, Dianne looked around at the neighboring shops.}

Dianne: "Let me know if you see any toy stores."

Armin glanced around as they walked, quickly putting the figurines out of his mind. After a couple of minutes, he spotted something.

'Over there...' He pointed out a store to their left, called Adventure Quests. It seemed to be selling everything from childrens' toys to videogames to sports equipment.

Dianne: "Yes, that might just do it."

{She then walks right for it, hoisting Esme onto her shoulder.}

Armin took the lead, stepping into the store with a look of interest. It was relatively large, with sections for different types of toys and games. Armin pointed to a section for tabletop games.

'That might be where you want to look, if you're getting that game for Jerry,' he said. 'I want to see if they have a pool table in here.'

Dianne: "Alright. Go see if they have one. I'll meet up with you."

{With that, she heads for the table top games section.}

Like before, Armin split off from Dianne and headed off to search for what he needed, occasionally pausing to examine anything else that looked interesting.

The section for tabletop games had pretty much every game one might hope to find there. Esme gazed around at everything on display, sniffing curiously.

{Dianne walked along the isle, looking at all the little factions.}

Dianne: "Now, what side did he say he liked? The Mach Marines? Yes, I think this will do..."

Esme squeaked as if in agreement. Just then, she seemed to become restless, looking over her shoulder and sniffing even louder. If Dianne looked round, she'd see a green-haired man with glasses browsing board games on the other end of the aisle. It was Forde, from Esme's old pack.

Dianne: "Esme, what's wrong? What are you....Forde?!"

{She says, whipping around and catching sight of the dragon.}

Forde whipped around at the same time, looking rather startled.

'Oh! Calluna - I mean, Esme! Goodness, you've grown! And Dianne - you're both here?'

Dianne: "Yeah, we're, uh...we're on vacation. You're a long way from the Frozen Valley, Forde. What brings you down here?"

'Oh, well, to tell the truth, what's left of the old pack has broken up,' said Forde, still eyeing Esme with surprise. 'The old couple - they just wanted to be alone together, and tagging along with them was becoming a chore, so I split off. I decided to stay here for now, since I know I won't be hunted to death here.'

Dianne: "Oh, alright. This is a good place to lay low, collect your thoughts. How are you doing, anyway? You holding up alright?"

'I'm fine. It's nice being free,' said Forde dismissively. 'But, thank you for taking care of Esme. I can see she's doing well. And I should apologise for... thrusting her upon you. I don't know anything about your life, and I pretty much forced you to take her in,' he added, wincing a bit.

Dianne: "Don't apologize. I was happy to take her. I'm just happy that I can give her a good life, rather than leaving her with two grouchy old people."

{She says, smiling genuinely.}

'That's for the best. They weren't exactly maternal. Still, thanks for taking her.'

He reached over and briefly touched Esme's head; she chirped.

'Don't forget me, alright? Maybe we'll meet again when you've started talking.'

Dianne: "Well, we live in Sovereign. It's not that far from here. We may yet meet again.l

'Maybe I'll come visit one day. But, for now, I'll let you and Esme get on with your shopping. Look after yourselves.'

He picked up a board game from the shelf, ready to leave.

Dianne: "Of course. Take care of yourself, Forde."

{Waving goodbye, she walks to find Armin.}

While she was walking, she came upon Armin walking in the opposite direction. He'd come to find her as well.

'You done?' he asked, carrying a large rectangular box under his arm. 'I found a table.'

Dianne: "Yes. I got what I need. Also, I ran into Forde. Seems he's staying in the city for the time being."

'Who...?' Armin took a moment to recall the name. '...Oh, that guy from Esme's pack. Huh, we're running into a lot of unexpected people in this city.'

He started to head over to the checkouts.

Dianne: "Yeah, kind of crazy. Who knows who we'll run into next."

Armin quickly paid for his pool table, then headed for the exit to wait for Dianne. //Well, that's all the money I was carrying...//

{Dianne paid for her item, then quickly caught up.}

Dianne: "Let's take these back to the car, then find a book store. I still need my gift Pythia and to find something for Fred and Rex."

'Alright... I think I'm done, except for Jerry. Not sure what to get him. Also, I don't have any more money on me, so if I find him something, you'll have to pay for me...'

Dianne: "Not a problem, I have plenty. Jerry is a little hard to shop for. We'll just have to keep an eye out."

Once they got to the car, Armin unlocked it and deposited the pool table inside.

'I texted Fred and Rex to get gift ideas. Rex, very helpfully, said he doesn't know. Fred mentioned this horror series he's reading, and he's only got the first volume, so you could buy him the other volumes if you want.'

Dianne: "I think I will. What series?"

{She asks, putting her things in the car.}

'It's called The Endless Staircase. By Eduard Greyson. Weird psychological horror stuff. I guess we should go and find a bookstore.'

Dianne: "Yes, let's go find a bookstore."

{Closing up the back, she waits for Armin to lock it, then continues down the street.}

Dianne: "So, what does Rex usually like?"

'He's not a very material person,' said Armin as he fell into step beside her. 'Apart from the pool table, there aren't many things he wants that he doesn't already have. If we can't think of anything, we could always just say the table is from both of us.'

Dianne: "Fair enough. It is a rather large and expensive gift, so that would make sense. If we do decide to get Ivy something, I'll probably buy her the latest phone and say it's from both of us. It's literally the only thing I can think of."

'I wasn't going to get her anything at all, but she might give us grief if we leave her out. So, maybe we should...' Armin mused. 'We should also try to get something for Ryder, since he's helped us all out so much. I don't know what he likes, though.'

Dianne: "Ask Fred. The two seem very close, so he might know. And yeah, Ivy already dislikes us. Maybe we should start trying to mend that bridge."

'I guess there's no point in making her hate us. She is technically an ally, she might save us one day.'

Armin pulled out his phone to text Fred as they walked, letting Dianne look for a bookstore.

{After walking for a short while, Dianne spots a bookstore called The Reading Wagon.}

Dianne: "Alright, this looks promising."

Armin absentmindedly followed her into the store, still looking at his phone.

'So, we need books for Fred and Pythia...'

Dianne: "Yup. Let's start in the mysteries section..."

{Walking in, she surveys the store. it was two stories tall and had an appreciable number of people browsing.}

As Dianne browsed, Armin slipped his phone back in his pocket. He was looking vaguely amused.

'Well, apparently, Ryder collects dice,' he said. 'That's his 'hoard'. I don't know where we could buy any of those. Maybe the toy store.'

Dianne: "Yeah, the tabletop section had dice. They need it to play those games. I guess we could head back there once we finish here."

{Walking to the mystery section on the second floor, Dianne selects a few books from a series called Night Eye. Apparently, it was a series centered around a werewolf slueth who solved crimes and other mysteries.}

Dianne: "Yes, volumes 4 through 7...She will finally get to catch up."

'Mystery and crime novels?' said Armin, eyeing the books. 'Huh, not what I expected from Pythia, but... I guess I don't know /what/ I was expecting.'

Esme was breathing deeply, seeming to like the smell of books.

Dianne: "Yeah, I think I've spoken with her a lot more than you have, so I know a bit more about her."

{Taking the books, she heads for the horror section.}

The horror section was currently devoid of anyone browsing. However, it had a pretty good selection of books. Armin nodded towards two volumes on the top shelf, with dark covers and ominous, spiky title font.

'There. The Endless Staircase. It's a trilogy; he's already got the first one.'

Dianne: "Alright..."

{Picking up the volumes, she opens one and looks inside.}

Dianne: "I bet I could write some good horror, given my previous occupation..."

'I bet,' said Armin. 'You could always try. I'm not much of a horror enthusiast myself...'

The books seemed to revolve around a character who somehow got trapped in a time loop, with him being the only person who knew what was going on.

Dianne: "Maybe I'll give it a shot at some point...heh, time loops? That's precisely why you don't piss off Kronos...I wonder why Fred likes this stuff..."

Armin paused, looking momentarily worried, but decided he didn't want to ask what she meant by 'pissing off Kronos'. //If time loops can actually happen... yeah, I'm steering clear of that.//

'I don't know. I do know that he's currently writing a horror story of his own - maybe more than one. He definitely leans towards it... What do you normally read?'

Dianne: "Oh, just whatever strikes my fancy. Adventure, Mystery, Theory and Application in the fields of necromancy and conjuration. I'm not terribly picky."

{Closing the book, she begins to make her way to the registers.}

Dianne: "How about you, Armin? What do you like to read?"

'Eh, I'm not a huge reader...' he said. 'I do like a good adventure story. Those were my favourite as a kid, because I always wanted to go on adventures. And sometimes I read /really/ bad romance novels just to laugh at them.'

Dianne: "Heh, yeah, romance is a laughable genre in general. I take it most of them were Ana's that you stole?"

Armin chuckled. 'Some were. Others were from second-hand stores. I'd buy anything that sounded terrible, and sometimes Rex and I would read them together for a laugh.'

Dianne: "Sounds hilarious. Probably a bit like observing Ivy's relationships. Were they at least written well?"

'In terms of plot and character development? No, they were mostly awful. None of the 'relationships' were remotely believable, and the... less family-friendly scenes were horribly written. That's why they were funny.'

Dianne: "Heheheheh, that sounds horrible. At least you got a laugh out of it. I never bothered with romance novels really. They never appealed to me."

{Getting to the checkout, which was mostly deserted, Dianne walks up and pays for her things.}

Armin waited until she finished paying, then headed for the exit.

'How about one of us takes these back to the car, while the other runs back to the toy shop to get Ryder's present?' he suggested. 'It'll be faster than all of us going back.'

Dianne: "Ok. You can move a lot faster than I can, so give me the keys, and Esme and I will meet you at the car. Sound good?"

Armin fished the keys out of his pocket and handed them over. 'Give me some money,' he requested. 'I don't have any left on me.'

{Dianne takes the keys, then digs through her purse and hands him a wad of paper Squalls.}

Dianne: "There you go. We'll be back at the truck, ok?"

{Kissing him on the cheek, she departs with Esme.}

Armin smiled a little and headed off, at a brisk walk, towards Adventure Quest. Once inside, he made a beeline for the tabletop section, trying not to be distracted by anything along the way.

{Meanwhile, Dianne headed into the truck, putting her gifts in the back and sitting up front with Esme. Digging through her purse, Dianne produces a bag of dried mango and offers her pieces.}

Esme eagerly snapped up the offered fruit. They had been shopping for a long time, and she was getting hungry.

It took about ten minutes for Armin to return. He climbed into the driver's seat and showed them what he'd bought. It was a little drawstring bag containing five different-coloured dice, styled to resemble gems.

'I think this should be alright. We'll say it's from all of us.'

Dianne: "Ooh, pretty. Yes, let's do that. Esme's hungry, so we should probably think about food."

'Yeah, we've been out here for a long time. Maybe we should have dinner a little bit early. If you've got any money left, we could go to a restaurant on the way back, or something.'

Dianne: "Not to worry, I have that newfangled "debit card". It's like having my whole bank with me. Let's find a nice place to eat."

(posting new room)