(no subject)

[gone_byebye]

The door opens onto an alley in New York City. It nearly always does.

"We go around the front and into the Firehouse," Ray says. "The door tends to lock behind me when I head to Milliways. Don't worry, the guys are all used to me bringing home strangers."

Comments

[gone_byebye]

"well, yes, they-"

Ray hastily grabs a white and gold box off one of the shelves. "This looks about right," he says as the bubble bar bounces off the floor and smacks an unfortunate youngster in the butt. Alex yelps and grabs a chunk of the nearest thing at hand- one of the skin bars- as Joey pitches a blob of greenish stuff back Raven's way.

[creator_raven]

Raven ducks.

Or at least the effect as the same.

Theoretically he was merely bending over to get something from a low-lying shelf.

Really.

The elderly lady nearby looks very surprised when something soft and squishy hits her in the back of the head.

[gone_byebye]

"Exactly how fast can you put my credit card transaction through?" Ray says. "Alex! Joey! Stand down!"

As if.

[creator_raven]

Somewhere in the aisles, someone slips.

Two other children rock through, holding cans of glittery body something or other.

And Raven?

He has made himself almost inobtrusive in one particular corner, and is just laughing.

Loudly.

Oh dear.

[gone_byebye]

There's really only one way to solve this situation, isn't there?

"BOYS! RAVEN! WE'RE GOING TO THE MRS. FIELDS COOKIES STORE NEXT DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

[creator_raven]

That snapping sound?

That is the sound a Raven-neck makes as he turns his head quickly to look at Ray.

"Yes?"

He can move very quickly, when he has a mind to it.

[gone_byebye]

Ray nods. "Out the door. Turn right. Go into the very first door you see. You cannot possibly miss it. Alex, Joey, go with him."

He's still got to pay for the rapidly developing mess, after all.

[creator_raven]

Raven grins brightly and nods, adjusting his coatsleeve as he goes.

Mess? What mess?

It's just a little spill in one of the aisles.

Kids, these days.

[gone_byebye]

Ah.

Well then.

Ray smiles, signs the receipt, grabs his sister's gift box and heads on out.

Over at the Mrs. Fields, the boys are staring at a stack of cookies in the front window that are each roughly the size of their heads.

[creator_raven]

Elsewhere, in a--well, not a darkened corner, but somewhere no one is really paying attention--Raven is slipping the occasional cookie out of certain packages.

What?

It is taste testing!

[gone_byebye]

The Get Well Basket on display has particularly appealing cookies. This place is heavy on the chocolate chips. Oh, yes. Mrs. Fields does not mess around when it comes to high caliber cookies.

Triple chocolate cookies, anyone?

[creator_raven]

Possibly Raven will never leave.

Not even when the store closes.

Oh dear.

[gone_byebye]

"Each of you boys can have three full size cookies," Ray says, "and that's contingent on you behaving yourselves. YOu know what contingent means, right?"

"Means we gotta keep bein' good," says Joey, who's busy picking out his cookies. Alex just nods.

"Okay, cool. Raven? Uh, where did you-"

Oh God. He lost the Trickster.

These poor, unprepared fools.

[creator_raven]

At least this time there is no moving pornographic pottery?

Instead it is Mardi Gras far, far, far out of season.

At least for a block or two.

Raven is particularly pleased with the floating balloons that send showers of glitter on all that pass below them. Or almost below them.

Or, you know, above them, too. The buildings have never looked so sparkly.

[gone_byebye]

Outside, there are vendors of bootleg movies and sellers of perfume, street preachers and cops, homeless people and printing company executives and shoppers of every stripe.

They're all glittering. None of them have any idea why.

Ray pays for as many cookies as he can carry, grabs the boys, and says, "This is just where we came in."