Room 202, Wednesday Afternoon

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka was waiting!

She was actually really, really good at waiting, so it didn't bother her to do it. Besides, she had a very important task ahead of her to figure out before Ringo and Mabel showed up.

(She was mostly sure they were going to show up. Sure, they'd said they would, but her brother, Killua, said he would too and then she always had to wait forever… but eventually, she supposed, everyone would show up the way they were supposed to. Which… took a lot of wind out of that complaint, it really did.)

Today, she had her hair up in twin pigtails and was wearing one of the skirt and shirt combos that Kathy had bought her as she paced back and forth in front of her bed, deep in thought.

On the bed, three stuffed animals surveyed her deliberations with great seriousness. (Or, well, she pretended they did anyway.)

The first, and most difficult, question of the day was: which toy was coming with her on this very exciting trip into town?

Bunny, giraffe, or panda?

[Expecting two, but open, sure!]

Comments

[soniaroadsqueen]

It didn't take too long before Ringo, who had showered and changed after a quick ride through town, knocked on the door. "Knock, knock!" she called, grinning in excitement. Because today was going to be fun!

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka left off pacing in order to make a mad dash to the door eagerly.

"Ringo!" she chirped, throwing the door open. "You came! Hi!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I did!" Ringo stilled for a moment, hesitating. "I'm not early, am I? Or late?"

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka had no idea, actually.

So she beamed and bounced back from the door so that Ringo could come in. "You're right on time!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Awesome!" Ringo beamed as she stepped through the door. "Oh, I like your hair," she added, one hand coming up to almost touch one of Alluka's pigtails before falling back to her side.

Ringo was rather partial to pigtails.

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

Mabel's room wasn't terribly far from Alluka's. Actually, she was just down the hall, which meant she could take her time to make certain to pick a really good sweater for their excursion today. And, after a lot of deliberation? The winner was Meow Wow, because who could day no to a glittery pink cat?

Nobody, that's who.

"Did somebody say pigtails?" Mabel peered through the door. "Oh, those look adorable!"

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka definitely couldn't.

She laughed, one hand going up to touch her pigtails, a little self-consciously.

"I, I thought that my hair should be up, if I'm trying on clothes," she explained, feeling silly. Maybe no one else wore their hair up when they tried on clothes? "Hi, hi, hi! Mabel! Come on in!"

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

"Actually, that's a really good idea," Mabel decided as she stepped into the room. "It keeps it out of your eyes so you can see yourself in the mirror!"

Yes. That was what pigtails did.

"And also, they're super cute. I don't think you need an excuse to wear pigtails."

Mabel didn't wait for excuses to wear what she wanted, after all!

[that_oldsaying]

She giggled.

"Maybe you should wear them too," Alluka suggested, perching on the edge of her bed. "I have hair elastics!"

Kathy had gotten her those too, yup.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Pigtails for everyone!" Ringo declared with a giggle. Then she leaned over to speak softly to Alluka, "Since you know us both, I think it's your job to introduce us. Since we don't know each other." Or, she didn't think so, anyway.

Not that Ringo thought Mabel needed much help with introductions.

[that_oldsaying]

The reminder was probably a good idea, since Alluka wouldn't have thought of it. Her eyes went big.

"Oh!" she said, beaming at both of them. "Ringo, this is Mabel! She's funny and likes sweaters and has a pet pig named Waddles. He's really cute! And Mabel, this is Ringo! She's got super pretty hair and makes funny shoes that you skate with and she can almost fly and it's really neat!"

Also she adored the both of them, but she didn't say that.

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ringo," Mabel replied, offering Ringo a handshake. "Your hair is super pretty!"

Because today was 'saying nice things about people's hair' day, apparently.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Hi, Mabel," Ringo said, ducking her head slightly at the compliment. "Thank you."

She gently shook the other girl's hair and smiled. "I like your sweater."

Shopping!

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Swimsuits first!" Ringo declared once they made it to the actual shopping part of their outing. She was playfully dragging both Alluka and Mabel along behind her toward the appropriate section. "Gotta have priorities!"

RE: Shopping!

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka was still clutching her bunny in her free hand, and she was laughing again as they went straight for the swimsuits. "Do you know what you want?" she asked.

She, personally, had no idea. It just had to be cute.

RE: Shopping!

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Hmmm, I'm not entirely sure yet," Ringo admitted. "Probably a new two piece of some sort." Definitely something cute!

RE: Shopping!

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

"I want something with a cute picture on the front," Mabel declared, perhaps a touch predictably. "Maybe kittens!"

RE: Shopping!

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo snickered, sneaking an amused glance over at Mabel. "But kittens don't like water, do they?"

RE: Shopping!

[that_oldsaying]

"Maybe some do," Alluka said happily. "Why can't bathing suit kitties like water?"

RE: Shopping!

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

"Bathing suit kitties adore water," Mabel declared. "It's their whole thing!"

Because she'd said so, clearly.

"And if it's a happy kitten when I get it, it'll be happy even while I'm swimming. Bathing suit cats are great like that."

RE: Shopping!

[that_oldsaying]

So that was settled! Happy water kittens for all! Or, well, for Mabel at least.

... If the store had them.

"Do you think they'll have them?" she asks, peering around the section. "Maybe they're special and hard to get?"

RE: Shopping!

[soniaroadsqueen]

Well, Ringo couldn't argue with any of that. "Mabel seems pretty crafty. I bet that if they don't have a suit with a bathing suit cat on it, we can find a suit to put a cat on..."

RE: Shopping!

[that_oldsaying]

"Maybe a plainer one, then?" Alluka asked, though she wasn't super excited by that idea. "But Mabel deserves a super cute one!"

RE: Shopping!

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I don't see why she can't find a cute one and still have room for a cat." Ringo squinted thoughtfully. "I bet if we look, we can find something!"

RE: Shopping!

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

"I'm pretty crafty," Mabel bragged. "And besides, I already have a bathing suit. The important thing is that we get one for Alluka. After all, she's had to miss out on some pretty great classes already!"

See Mabel. See Mabel size Alluka up for a moment, and then go bounding to rifle through the swimsuit selection.