"Charlotte, I can’t move like this, at least help a bit." Jas said as he was holding those big ass bags and at the sa ti trying to be stable with the cane.
"I said we need more people!" She shouted, as she didn’t even look at him. Nah, she was looking at a skirt that had cat print all over its fabric.
It was the first ti since then, the first ti she was alone with Charlotte in a mall full of strangers just chilling, shopping... though he didn’t believe it, and it was true.
"Mike, co on, help." He turned back, and there he was.
"Oh, the mission failed, I guess." Mike laughed as he reached out, his hand grabbing the bags from Jas.
"I an, being two ters away isn’t the best place to hide." Jas laughed up as he looked around. "And maybe if the others would try to blend in and not all in suits, it would also help." He said all of them were in the sa black suits and just looking to sus.
"Yeah, but at least one of them remained hidden." Mike said as he eyed Jas, who imdiately looked around again.
It’s gotta be Arine, but where is he... He looked everywhere but saw nothing.
"I give up. Where is he?"
"He is there." Mike laughed as he pointed to the side, and Arine was literally standing five ters away from them... looking different.
"I have no words," Jas said, as Arine was literally eating a hamburger, with a wig on, glasses on, and just blended in like a spy among the people. "I think he is enjoying that hamburger more than protecting ." He laughed at the absurdity of it, like that wig was just too cheap, literally glowing like it was made out of plastic or sothing, and that clothing on Arine, the flower-printed shirt, the shorts, the sandals... he looked like he’d been living in Maraci for decades.
"Yeah, maybe he’s a little too chill with it, but—"
"I want this!" Charlotte’s voice interrupted Mike saying anything, and when both of them looked at her... they were... speechless.
"No way, put them back." Jas imdiately said as he eyed the clothes in her hands.
"Why?" She asked back, looking with those big eyes at Jas like she wanted to bribe him or sothing.
"Because you are a child and not even a teenager, even if you were, I wouldn’t allow you to wear that." Jas replied, holding eye contact and fighting back her.
"I side with your father." Mike joined in as if his opinion would even matter in it. "Crop top and short skirt for a girl your age is too much."
"Exactly, why do they even make these for children?" Jas agreed with Mike as he grabbed them out of Charlotte’s hands, but she looked so... sad, like she was about to cry as Jas put them back. "Look, I am not against skirts, you can wear them, but longer ones, and you need to learn how to move in them, but crop top, no, not even for a second."
Without even noticing, Jas, for the first ti, was truly being a dad, which Mike smiled about. The way he said it, the way he controlled his voice and was worried about her... was just wholeso.
"This is much better." Jas continued as he grabbed another skirt, a longer one and it had so cat print on it. "With this you will look cute, adorable, and more age-appropriate."
"Would I really look cute?" She imdiately asked back, hearing those words from Jas.
"Of course, you would." Jas affird her, though he feared she might snap. No, he was kind of expecting her to snap, because Charlotte is much older for her age, and wearing clothes that are too childish might push her down, making her feel embarrassed wearing them.
But no, the exact opposite happened... she was jumping up and down.
"Really?!" She asked again, still jumping up and down, desperate for more confirmation from Jas.
"Yeah, you know what, just don’t even look at those clothes." Jas pointed at the crop top and the short skirt. "You look adorable. Pick what you like, but just be careful not to show too much of your body." He said this, gently pushing her to not even think about wearing anything too revealing. "You agree, Mike?"
"Oh, of course, a child should dress like a child." Mike agreed, though... it didn’t go as planned.
After that, Charlotte beca an unstoppable force, grabbing everything that ca across her path... what had been five bags suddenly beca ten. Still, it was a good kind of relief, pushing all the tension out of him from what had happened back at ho.
Though Jas knew he got ssages from Hector, and looked at the news too... he needed this relaxation and Charlotte gave it to him, though she spent ten minutes trying out what they bought for her and she was just so picky about everything, what matched, what looked good, but then it happened, and he was out.
In the first fit that Jas gave him, the cat-printed white skirt, and the grey t-shirt with a flower on it.
"Wow, you look cute." Jas complinted her again with the most boring voice imaginable, but Charlotte was happy about it.
"Thanks!" She said back with a big smile, hugging him tight, though that was the worst mont, because as she hugged him, she noticed sothing... a stand.
A stand that said "Face Painting," and she, without saying anything, just stord off and when Jas realized where she was going... he knew that he was going to be painted too.
"We can do matching ones!" She said as she pointed her finger at the paints on the table.
"Oh yeah... hurray." Jas wasn’t really impressed by it, but in the end, they did it.
Both of their faces were painted... tigers... they beca tigers in less than thirty minutes... and the best thing about it was that there was a third who joined the party.
Mike.
He was laughing so much at Jas that he gave Mike an order to sit his ass down and be painted, and sure, he did.
But after so much laughter, Charlotte ended up in Jas’ arms, sleeping while he struggled to even walk with her in one arm and a cane in the other. Still, he managed to make it to the car, and their day ended with joy... a joy that Jas hadn’t felt in a long ti.
A joy that Charlotte brought once again, lighting up everyone around her.
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