Baby pop that lock, 8-30-12

Eli didn't spend that much time in his room. He didn't really spend that much time on campus either. He saw his roommate the minimal amount of time, only rolling in just in time not to be late for curfew. He wasn't sure what time Wes got up in the morning, but when Eli got up at six the other wasn't around. Eli took it all in a quiet happy stride.

He was a fan of the public library, another fan of the Lima Bean, sometimes he went to his aunt and uncles house but that place was filled with noise even worse than back home. Everything was in walking distance.

His uncle was still talking about a therapist and buying a bike, but Eli liked walking everywhere. Besides, the more he was away from Dalton the less he had to be in the uniform.

Today Eli was dressed casual, not wanting to spend any more time than he had to in his room. It was a weird day, no biggie. His backpack was slung over one shoulder. He didn't feel like going to the library or the Lima Bean or home.

Instead he had ended up in downtown, window shopping for no apparent reason other than the fact that Keegan's birthday was in a week and he hated the mall.

He needed to work on his homework eventually, but he didn't want to sit yet. He should probably join a team or something at Dalton.... Eli hummed softly to himself, hands shoved into his pockets as he wandered.

Kit hated crowds with a passion. They were so confining and constricting. People busselling about did nothing to quell her fears. So many things could happen on a street. One could get pushed or pulled, shoved, or fall. Kit didn't particularly like any of those options.

After everything that she had been through in the last year, to say that Kit had issues with people would be an understatement. She had confessed some things to her roommate. It seemed only fair since she was still plagued by nightmares, and they were sharing a room. Nell knew all about Scott and what was done to her. She didn't want to scare the girl after all. Nell also knew that she was seeing someone to deal with her issues, which is why they were downtown today.

Kit was working on being near a crowd of people again, and Nell had offered to accompany her downtown. They were mainly window shopping, not really having a particular destination in mind. Kit had a bag from the music store in one hand, and Nell's grasped in her other.

She took a deep breath, as she looked over at Nell. "Thanks for coming with me, today," She said. She moved down the street, looking in the windows. "Is there anything in particular you wanted to look at?"

Nell would do anything for her friends and she was more than happy to walk around with Kit for as long as she needed her to. She kept an eye out for any particularly thick parts of the crowd and kept her hand tight in Kit's, feeling like a mother hen over her baby chick even though that Kit was older than she was.

Hearing about terrible things always upset her but even more when it was her friend. She wanted to protect Kit from all the bad things in the world because some people deserved the best and she wholly believed that Kit was one of them.

She smiled at Kit wide when she asked her if she was looking at anything in particular and she shook her head. "No, I'm okay with seeing whatever! I haven't a need for anything in particular~"

She let out a little surprised oh~! when they came upon a young man and her natural instinct was to step out of the way. Of course that forced her arm to extend, as she wasn't willing to let go of Kit. A giggle bubbled up at the silliness and she lifted their linked hands above the Asian boy's head.

"London Bridge~!"

A flash of annoyance passed across his face, but it was gone before anybody would notice it. Honestly, they looked old enough to not be playing games made for small children, but he could admit that it was.... it could be called cute.

He laughed, watching the pair. "Hello ladies~" He stepped out from beneath them, eyes more on the blonde one then the red head. She seemed to be the more....outspoken? Loud...? Outgoing....? No. Younger, for sure, but still... Her friend seemed more demur. "You seem to be having fun today~?" At least one of them was. Hmm...

Kit smiled, relaxing a little, but keeping her hand firmly ensconced in Nell's. "You don't need much do you?" She asked fondly. She was learning a lot about her roommate. She loved learning new things. She did most of her learning from books though, but part of her recovery was to try and let people on, but it was a slow process.

She felt like an incredibly lucky person to have found Nell, and hopefully the girl's infectious love of life would rub off on the redhead.

She had seen the Asian boy, and before she had a chance to let go of Nell's hand, their hands were raised above his head and they were on his other side now.

Kit tensed and tried not to morph into the boy standing in front of her. She really needed to stop doing that. "H-hi," Kit cleared her throat and tried again. "Sorry about that. Yes, I supposed we are... window shopping and all of that," She said with a wave of her hand.

She glanced at Nell, giving the girl a small smile before turning to Eli, noticing the backpack on his back. "Do you go to school around here?"

Nell giggled, covering her mouth politely as she looked to Kit. She just wasn't used to attractive young men paying her any mind but they'd run into him. "I'm sorry~ It's fun to be a little silly from time to time. We're having a lot of fun! " She bumped gently against Kit and then broke her hand way to offer it to Eli.

"I'm Nell and this is Kit! We go to Crawford! " She would get the conversation really rolling since she knew that Kit was trying to get used to people again. She really hoped that she was being of help, she wanted her friend to do well.

"Oh!" Kit was so observant, noticing the bag. She took her friend's hand again, brushing her hair behind hee ear with the other.

Eli smiled. "Well it's lovely to meet you Nell and Kit, I'm Eli." Nell and Kit, such interesting names~ "And I should have known such lovely ladies as you two came from Crawford." He grinned at them. "I go to Dalton." Crawford and Dalton shared some land he knew, but he didn't spend much time at Dalton so he didn't spend much time near Crawford. Most of the people he'd met either went to Dalton or the public school.

"I'm also window shopping. My cousin's birthday is in a week and I'm not sure where to start looking." He moved a bit closer, just a small step, a lopsided smile on his face. "So what's your secret, if you don't mind sharing, because you're both obviously having more fun than I am."

Eli wasn't a fan of shopping in the first place, but fun, yes, he was a fan of fun. And Nell and Kit looked like they could be fun.

Kit tensed slightly beside Nell, but moved easily with the bump, smiling a bit uncertainly at both Eli and Nell. She released Nell's hand and reached out tentatively to shake Eli's. "Nice to meet you," She said softly.

Baby steps.

"Dalton, huh?" She replied. "We're practically neighbors." She stepped back a step when Eli moved forward. She didn't run away screaming, so she chalked that up to being a good thing.

Kit looked down at their clasped hands for a second before looking at Eli again. "Nell," She replied honestly. "Nell is our secret." She couldn't help but feel a bit lighthearted when she was with her roommate, she just brought the best out in people.

She brightened a bit as she looked at Eli. "Oh, how old is your cousin?" She looked at Nell then. She shifted slightly back. "Don't you have younger siblings Nell?"

Nell giggled when the spotlight was put on her and she did a little curtsy. "How can you frown on such a beautiful day~?" God blessed her with many things, to feel down about the little things that didn't seem to go her way would detract from appreciating the good that were provided to her.

"Yes, I do! The twins are still young but Travis is nine!" She beamed at Eli, clearly very interested in talking about children because children were the light of the world to be sure. "If they're the same age perhaps we could help you..?"

She really did like helping other people, she hoped she could be of assistance to Eli. He was such a gentleman and she very much wanted to brighten his day as well since it seemed he might need it.

Well if Kit wanted to stay in the background, Eli was going to let her. His off day meant he knew it was probably rude and unfair, that it was unlike him, but Nell seemed to like being in the spotlight so much more than Kit. And then children, of course~

How old was Keegan? Five? Six? He was turning six, wasn't he? Hmmm, yes.

Eli's lips twisted up, smiling at Nell. "Your Travis is a few years older than Keegs, but you've already dealt with gifts, so~ Keegan is turning six next week, and I'd really appreciate any help you could give me Ms. Nell." He smiled at Kit. "I'd also appreciate any help you could give Ms. Kit." So maybe he couldn't let Kit stay in the background. Oops.

It was a horrible generalization that all females seemed to be taken with children, but it seemed to prove true in his current situation. Eli wasn't above using it.

Kit was starting to relax a little the more that she listened to Eli and Nell talk. She didn't feel that sheer panic anymore as she listened. She could actually tune into the conversation, which Kit felt incredibly grateful for.

Kit had a feeling that they were being nice to her, and her obvious discomfort. She really wanted to get better, but it was a slow road. Kit was lucky that she had patience, but she was not too sure about others unfortunately.

She glanced over at Nell, smiling a little. "Yes, I think we could do that," She answered the girl before looking to Eli again. The color rose in her cheeks a little at the use of the Miss.

How polite.

"What is he interested in? What are his likes and dislikes?" She asked. They needed somewhere to start after all.

"Oh there are just so many wonderful options at that age! I think it should be something for a little boy to learn with." She brushed her skirt down, tipping herself back and forth with a happy smile. "My brother really enjoyed Legos and the Kinex things, he really liked to build and it helped with his patience a lot!"

Even though with Travis their parents often had to sit and help him a long a little as he demanded that level of attention. He really could be quite the baby even now, though it was wrong to think on her brother that way.

"I know just the store if you want to come with us! Its only just up the block the way we came and its all really wonderful and learning oriented."

Patience? Eli wasn't sure a six year old could have patience. Harry never seemed to have patience when he was younger, still didn't have it as far as Eli was concerned. But then again, he was six.

Eli was an exception to that, of course. He'd always had patience, always been good. The ends of his lips quirked up in a sort of smile.

"That sounds like a good idea to me ladies~" His aunt and uncle would probably like it, educational and all that. Asians always had to be the best of course; that was a stereotype that they seemed more than happy to fill.

He held a hand out in front of them, as if to lead the way even though he didn't know where they were going. He could be a gentleman however.

He waited until they had slowly started to move before he said, "And to answer you Ms. Kit~ Keegs... Keegs likes to play outside." He shoved his hands back into his pockets. "He likes to steal his older siblings toys to be honest." Megan's actually, and well. "He likes building and sand; he always tries to tear things apart and put them back together again, but considering that he's only five, it doesn't go very well." His aunt tried to keep it to simple things, things that he could put back together with some help from a family member, but Keegs was five and didn't listen very well.

Legos was probably a good idea.

He smiled at both of them. "Thanks again. I'm sad to say I fulfill the stereotype of not being able to find my way through a store."

He was just full of stereotypes today.

Kit smiled softly. From everything that she learned about her roommate thus far, she knew that she cared about her family and would be able to help this young man. He did look to be a little younger than her.

"See, I knew that Nell would have a good idea," She said, reaching over and taking the girl's hand, giving it a little squeeze, letting her know subtly that she was okay to follow along. She knew that Nell would stop if Kit was uncomfortable. She was just like that. It was one of the reasons that Kit felt so comfortable with her.

She turned her attention once again to Eli as they moved up the street. "You know, if he likes the sand...." She trailed off as she thought for a moment. "Does he have a sandbox? If he does, you could get him some sand toys too. My sister used to love those."

Kit smiled a bit at Eli's statement about stereotypes. "That's why you have us," She said, glancing at Nell. "Right?"

"Right, exactly!" Nell giggled and nodded quickly, before gently leading Kit along, waving Eli along with them. She had a happy skip to her step as she made her way up the street, leaning a little to try and see where the little shop was that she wanted to show off to them. It was a Discovery store, so it should be perfect.

And there it was. She pointed it out before darting a head, gently pulling Kit along before letting go so she could go and pull the door open for both of them. She curtsied with a happy smile and motioned for them to go ahead in.

Once they were in she frolicked in after them, turning lightly as her skirt swirled gently around her knees. "There's so much here to pick from, all sorts of models and books and games and just everything you could need to learn and build and things like that, its a wonderful place for any child!"

She motioned quickly for Eli, extending her hands and almost taking his but it just turned into a little coaxing wave as she led him over to the building blocks and models section. "Here we are! I really do love this kind of store~"