Sen watched out the window at the passing scenery from the front seat, Van and Ari were in the back talking about random things or what they’ll do for dinner. They soon stopped in a large parking lot of a mall that looked to fit a whole village in it. He looked back to his Boss and daughter but seen them exiting the car. He slowly got out and wondered what was going on.Walking into the mall complex they were greeted warmly and was given a map of the building. They were also given a quick exit strategy in case something were to happen. Ari was held by his Boss and they lead the way to where they were going.Looking around it was a great place to do some holiday shopping. Van entered a store that seemed to have only bed sheets. Ari picked out a few things that she would like for her bed and what does his Boss do but get her things that she so much as glances at. He wanted to argue about it but one look at his daughter and he knew the fight had ended before it even began. Soon they were walking out of the children’s section and Van picks out his own. He seems intent on dark solid colours, until Ari picked one for him. It was a duvet set, black with white flying birds scattered on it.“Are you getting anything?” Van asked looking back to him. Startled he picked a random set and it was soon taken and they walked out heading to a different store.“Wait, what?” Sen asked more confused now then when they went in.“Tomorrow is getting it and taking it to the house. We can just pick out what we want and leave it to them to figure out.” Van said simply as he walked towards a store for clothes. Is this what being rich feels like? He’s not sure if he’ll ever get used to it.“I can get this,” Sen said but was silenced.“It’s part of our contract, I pay for the necessities that you and your daughter need.” it doesn’t seem like he can argue with him and he seems intent on keeping to the contract. Relaxing a bit they did some clothes shopping for Ari and himself. Van was a decent help picking out a few dresses that would suit Ari and they seem to be enjoying the trip. Seeing his daughter smile while picking out a dress made him think of her future prom night. Who would she have as her date?Van picked out some clothes for him too, mainly suits that he would need for future events that will be coming up. He’s not sure which events would be coming up but it seems that he’s set up a schedule for him and Ari.“Events?” Sen decided to ask instead of guessing. What does his boss plan for them? Does he do this for all his employee’s?“Ari’s first tea party, picking out her knight, the Winter Ball, that will be her Debut.” He was about to list off some more things before he interrupted.“I never agreed for her to,” Sen started to say but a quick glance at her daughter and knew that he couldn’t say ‘No’.“Daddy, this dwess!” Ari ran up to them holding a pink flowery princess dress. He looked back to Van and seen a subtle smug expression that says ‘Still going to refuse?’. He gave up knowing a lost battle when he saw one. He nodded and picked out some suits that he would need while Van attended to Ari and her Princess Dream. Travelling back to his last vision of the future he could see Ari in a nice dress her hair done up. He couldn’t help but think that she looks like her mother. How was she doing? Was she enjoying life now?They head to the next store for shoes this time. It seems Van knew which shoes would suit her best and he started to wonder how he’s fit into the father role so easily while he was struggling to keep up. It also seemed like he was such a natural father. It was admiring so easy for him, it seems that this year would be great for Ari and less stressful for himself. He can already see them playing in the park while he went out shopping.“Hey,” Van waved his hand in front of his face, “are you just going to stand there or pick out some shoes? You’ll need some dress shoes, slippers, running shoes and whatever other shoes you can think of.” It seems that Van was looking forward to this shopping trip with them and went to pick out shoes and helped pick a pair for Ari as well. His thoughts travelled back to when he should ask Emily out, next weekend seems like a good call. But where would they go? They can’t do anything that would make her uncomfortable. Also how long would the date last?It was really admirable and oddly enough he didn’t mind if Ari ran to his boss with new shoes she wanted to try on. He picked out his own shoes and watched his boss and his daughter interact like they were family. The spell was broken when Ari looked at him and ran to him instead and started dragging him to new shoes she thought looked cute. He picked out some practical ones so that her feet won’t hurt and made a note to carry them with them when they went out with the dress shoes.He looked to Van every now and then to figure out what he was up to, noticing that he was either on the phone or talking to his bodyguard. Once they finished with the shoes they went to the food court to have something to eat. He smiled seeing Ari having a good time and talking about their day so far. He also noticed that Van wasn’t eating anything there and also realized that they haven’t had anything since breakfast.They gathered themselves up and started to officially browse the stores, Ari took the lead and dragged Van where ever she wanted and he happily followed behind a little worried that someone might snatched them up if he wasn’t looking. They wandered into a pet store and instantly he started worry if Van was thinking of buying her a pet.He was about to address it when Van announced that they were not getting anything else. Relaxing a bit he followed and tried to enjoy himself as they looked at small furry creatures and ones with gills.  Sen walked up to some reptiles and seen a particular looking snake. He looked at the price and was shocked that the darn thing costed more than a leg. What startled him was Van standing beside him also staring at the little serpent. It was interesting since the two had entered a staring contest and suddenly a woman was beside them asking if they would want to hold it.“Is that safe?” he asked as she pulled out a different snake that was a bit bigger and seems to only cling to her hand. It was yellow and brown and looked like a little sweetheart.“This is a Ball Python,” she handed the snake to him and he held it with cautious hands but soon relaxed seeing that it wasn’t going anywhere. Van watched them curiously his head tilting to the left a bit and soon the snake woman passed him a snake. His Boss was even more hesitant than him but he held his hand out and the snake was set in his left hand. It moved around more and he started to freak out. Holding his wrist with his right hand and holding his left hand towards the woman.“Ah! Get it off, get it off!” The snake was taken he shuddered animatedly and hugged himselfthen ran away quickly saying that he had to check on Ari. He couldn’t help but chuckle as his boss ran away from a harmless snake. He gave the snake he was holding back and the woman asked him.“How long have you two been together?” He wondered and thought maybe it had been two months? Could be three? He wasn’t sure.“Not long,” he answered forgetting the important part of the question.“Well you two seem happy together, mind you try not to scare him with a snake toy.” she said and left and he went and followed after. He noticed that he couldn’t find either his daughter or his boss down the aisles and soon came up on the display cases and seen Van and Ari playing with some kittens. He wasn’t too sure what had possessed him at that moment but he got the woman and told her he’s looking at some kittens. They walked back and seen them playing still but this time Ari was playing with Van as if he was a cat.He lay on the small floor area and patted a jingly ball while Ari waved a feather on a stick around his head. He turned to his side slightly and tried to swat the feather with a closed hand and went back to the ball. Some kittens were using him as a resting spot or just climbing on him for fun trying to get the feather.“Yeah, I’ll take the big black cat. My daughter seems to like him best,” the woman chuckled and went in to pick up the ‘Cat’ and brought them out and seeing him in a small cat collar and a leash was oddly satisfying to see. Also it was cute and Ari giggled as they rung up the ‘Cat’ (the collar and leash and a paper stating the he now belongs to him) and soon was given a name tag that said: Owner Sen Neko and ‘Doggy’ as a name. What surprised him most was how well Van took it like he didn’t mind. He started to feel a bit happy that he now ‘owns’ his boss.They walked out and Ari once again in lead but this time he was behind his daughter and Van followed obediently without complaint. Ari brought them around the mall some more, he forgot to take the leash off of Van so every now and then he seen that they got weird looks where ever they went. He wasn’t bothered by it since he was a sight to look at, he knew that. Ari took them around to the toys, went into a debate with Van about getting a toy. Sen knew that Van would have already gotten it by the time they left and went home.Soon they stopped at a little shop for ice cream. He was hardly surprised that Van paid for it and they sat and ate in peace. Until Van gently tugged on his hand, or the leash in his hand. Embarrassed he quickly took the collar off and put it in a bag with the papers for Van.Now he understood the extra strange looks, “I’m sorry, I forgot.” Van said nothing and just continued to watch them as they enjoyed themselves. Soon it was getting late and they packed up what they wanted and started to head for the car. He couldn’t help but hear Van’s stomach growl and started to wonder what he would want to eat when they got back.“You look tired,” Van softly said his voice going a touch deeper as he carried Ari in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. She wanted him to carry her and soon feel asleep as soon as she was comfortable in his arms. “You should get some more rest,”he said softly as they walked to the car.“Today was an eventful day so of course I’m tired.” He said a little more snappy than he intended, “I’ll make something quick when we get back.”